camera doctor

Thanks Guys, Went smooth as ( once I searched thru my boxes of crap and found a SATA Data cable ! ) Only other 'issue' I had that would have been best to fix first was that I could not select the OS from the Boot Manager screen, as the wireless keyboard would not work without OS ! Easy fix, enabled Legacy USB in BIOS, all working great! Cheers

Cheers Heath, Basically, I've been down this road before, and it is a case of once bitten, twice shy! If the PC was for my use, I'd reformat and start again, as all photos, documents etc are on a separate drive anyway, BUT as this is the 'family' PC I need to be careful. In the past, when I have upgraded, I got myself into strife by loosing games saves, emails, files, programs etc, that I did not even know were in use! So I figured, if I install W7 on a totally separate drive, with Dual Boot, the family can continue to use Vista, and i can play with W7 without upsetting them!! :rolleyes: Don't even get me started on the grief I get when I change ISPs !! Even though I setup our own Domain so emails could be transferrable, the family still uses the ISP emails ( told them not to! ) , which can be an issue when changing ISP !! Oh, the joys of family

Thanks, I'll give it a go and Post my results

Cheers Simon, What I am trying to achieve is to install W7 without modifing the Vista install at all, as I don't want to run the risk of loosing data on that drive A Google search suggests that if I plug in the new SATA drive, put the W7 DVD in, Windows should ask me which drive to use, and it should also setup the boot manager, but I'd feel happier if someone who has done it can confirm this for me A link to a good guide would be great !

Hi, I currently have Vista on one of my desktop machines, and sitting next to it is a brand new SATA drive and a Full copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. What I want to do is install W7 on the new drive, and have the machine Dual booting W7 and Vista on separate drives, so that i don't get in trouble with the 'war dept' for deleting anything off the Vista drive !! I have Googled for a 'How to' but seems, as is the case on the Internet, there are as many suggestions as there are questions! Has anybody done this, and can they please walk me through it. TIA Edit for spelling

Looks like a Hi Ace with BMW Grille!! Made in China would you believe !! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Thanks Guys Just spotted this, as I was in Perth for a fortnight. Cars spotted in Perth - Fezza 430 Scuderia ( was pulled over by Cops ) and a Black Gallardo passed me on Mitchel Freeway. Also saw a hideous Purple / Pink coloured E46 in Westfield Carousel carpark! - sorry no pics. Back to work this morning, catchup on 800 emails etc etc !! Good news is my 540i started first turn after being left for two weeks while I was away

I use http://www.paymex.co.nz/ for my business credit card payments from people out of town - it costs 55cents plus 3.5 % but you get sent an email with the payers details etc, and they have a good accounting system, plus you can use it to accept credit card over the phone.

Have you considered second hand? Photographers tend to be 'gear freaks' and bail out when a new model comes out! I would recommend Nikon D70s or Canon 20D as good rugged models to buy used. Just watch the shutter count, the shutters fail at around 40k shots ( average ) and cost $$$$$$ to replace. For example, I paid $2500 for my 20D, and sold it recently on Trademe for $600 As someone else suggested, the lenses are often more important than the body when it comes to image quality. Newer models have larger LCDs etc, but with an SLR you do not use the LCD as much as a compact anyway. If you are wanting to buy new and keep costs down, the Sony gear is hard to beat for price at the moment, and they take Minolta AF lenses if you want to get some used lenses. Best of luck

Heads Up for those men who may be regular Bunnings or Mitre 10 customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out Shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don't be naive enough to think it couldn't happen to you or your friends. Here's how the scam works. Two seriously good-looking 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say 'No' and instead ask you for a ride to another hardware store. You agree and they get in the back seat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts fondling you, while the other one steals your wallet. I had my wallet stolen August 5th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th & 24th. Also September 1st, 3rd, twice on the 5th, three times just yesterday. So tell your friends to be careful.

Brent is advertising on Trademe for one of these, perhaps he could buy this and put one of his V8's in it???

Last WOF I went for they tried to fail my car for SS Braided lines, even though they had the correct tags and numbers, so I think you would be unlikely to get through with 'DIY' ones.

Done Posting to Test

Just leave the spare at home when you go for WOF ! I think some new cars do not have them at all - I rented an Alfa 159 in Ireland recently, and it had a can of sealer and one of those small compressors that plug into the ciggy lighter, but no spare.

That's right Ollie - but my gripe is that mine had tags! And they are known brand - Goodridge Oh well, just hope the Monkeys put a note in their computer so I don't have to do this each 6 months!

My Pug 206 GTi has been in NZ for nearly Four years now, was Vinned by VINZ locally, and has had all it WOF's there since. This week, they tried to fail it because it had 'braided brake hoses' These were on it when it came into NZ, when THEY inspected and Vinned it !! Aparently there are cheapo lines out there with screwed in ends - they made me take one of the lines off to prove it had swaged ends. So I guess what I am saying is beware, don't fit cheapo ones, or you will be refused a WOF, or worse if they fail and cause a crash, the Insurance inspector may refuse claim??

I must say, that 3 door touring reminds me of the car I drove as a teenager ... Vauxhall Viva HC Estate !! Sorry

RealOEM Vin Decoder says : RealOEM 02/1989 E30 325i Touring M20 Europe Right hand drive Automatic Production Code: AG62 Not sure if any of this helps ?

M5 Twin Turbo Goodness

BMW X1 Full preview

Jochen - Thanks. You are a wealth of knowledge as usual Hotwire - I'll PM you re VM Cheers Guys.

Thanks Grant, Thought I'd test the theory with a digital camera before I order a camera from Ebay. Pleased I did, cause I have run across a problem! My car is a 1996 Ex Japan E39 540i with MK1 Japan Video Module ( Loewe Branding ) I cannot get it to change to Reverse camera mode when I ground pin 17 of the blue connector. I wired a relay through the reverse lights to supply a ground, this works, the relay clicks and the output goes to ground, but no change on the display. I have even tried grounding the pin 17 direct to the car chassis- nothing happens! At this stage I have plugged the camera into the AV in and that works of course, but that means I would ned to manually switch the display onto TV mode. Spent quite a while on the net, BMW Nav forum etc, and it seems another guy had similar issues with a MK1 unit, but there is no answer. The other thing I read, ( but cannot find reference to now ) was a suggestion it was to do with the fact my car has trailer wiring - is this correct? Is that likely to upset things, cause if so, maybe I can wire in an isolation switch for the trailer wiring?? Any help / experience would be appreciated. Cheers.

1996 Ex Japan 540i E39 Reverse camera install. Just spent the last half hour searching thru past forums, but no answer to this, so here goes. I know the camera needs to be NTSC, but does the car do the mirror image swap, or do I need to buy a mirror image camera? Has anybody fitted a camera, and can advise me of a suitable one? Jochen / Hotwire?? Thanks

Is it just me being pedantic, or does the spedo read 38 824 and he is listing it at 22 000 ?? Plus, who else thinks the two BMW rondels on the rear look silly? Other than that, cool car. Yea, perhaps i am being pedantic