Avenged.SSE

FBT is for employee-related benefits, meaning you need to be registered as an employer and filing EMSes 12 times per year. Also doesn't detract from the fact that it needs to have prominent company advertising and depreciation recovery applies on asset disposal The US has much better laws associated with claiming things like cars as company expenses!

afaik, they just put it on the name of the person the car is registered to and if it was someone else driving, they need to fill in a form to transfer the fine. A friend got demerits from one of those bus lane cameras, which is jut ridiculous...

Depreciation recovery and GST recovery on sale of asset, not to mention if the car is being sold into the company without being primarily used for business purposes = defrauding the tax department, also not to mention that it must have prominent company logos/advertising on it in order to claim depreciation on it. That's just a few quick points, there are more. In terms of severity, I think a few demerit points is better than defrauding the tax department

I'm not sure 100% sure what's going on with the battery, but based on everything I read, I figured it must be the battery needing replacement... here's the story; First time battery related problems happened... I guess I am at fault, I didn't do much driving, used all the toys, battery recharge icon appeared... AA came and jump started it. Second time... After the first incident, I drove the car for a bit, then the car sat in the driveway with no usage for 2 weeks (had some issues which I was sorting out with the seller). Took the battery to an auto electrician that recharged it (no battery low warning icon appearing on idrive). Third time... after the second time, car went to the the mechanic, sat with the mechanic for 2 weeks (he told me the battery was on charge while the car was being worked on) everything was running fine. Then... yesterday, I started up the car in the morning, it went fine.. as I was driving on the motorway, parking brake error, then everything followed. I stopped the car. Battery was dead. I also remembered that the night before the third battery incident, I flicked on the car locator feature as I got out of the car for pathway lighting (the car locator feature on my remote activates both interior lights and exterior lights). I donno whether this has something to do with it because afaik the car locator features is only supposed to switch on interior lights, maybe the headlights were rewired?

Any idea on price estimate? Cheers

Hi! Been having some trouble with my E66's battery... have had to jump start it twice now, got the alternators checked out... everything appears to be good there. Battery is factory original - car was first registered in December 2004. I'm thinking of getting the battery replaced. Any ideas for a price estimate? I'm also not too sure on the BMW OEM battery vs Aftermarket.

Purchased as post-2004 facelifted E66, rough transmission shifts going from 1st to 2nd, apparently common issue with the 7 series up to 2006. Cost to fix is over $3000, dealer was kind enough to take care of the issue, other than that it's a really nice car to drive, easily better than my 2004 S class merc.

AMI's refusing to insure me given my age. Even though my history is impeccable and haven't claimed once! I also have a feeling if they did insure me it would be at least $1300 whereas State are doing it for $1100ish. Kinda happy I didn't go for the 745, would have only made things worse!

Thinking about switching AMI to state, new car 2004 facelift 735Li, any experience in dealing with state? claims etc? cheers.

Sadly, I don't know how much more competitive they can get. I feel sorry for NZ retailers, if you want to provide goods/services on a local level, the population you're catering for is quite small, if you want to provide products/services on an international level, you've got the distance barrier, and, China's always going to do it cheaper.

Am with Autosure, they cover S class mercs. Looks like 7 series are more of a problem to get cover for. I haven't come across anyone that covers them yet, I've just purchased one and I'm still unsure on whether I want to get it insured.

Purchased one for my S class as everyone told me how high maintenance it is, I've owned it for 2 years so far - haven't claimed once on it. Excess is $350, so haven't really had anything costing more than $350 in one go. Maximum claim is $5000 (from memory). I guess it depends on the car you buy, I'm thinking I won't get it again.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-297649045.htm this is fully optioned, although GPS wouldn't work here.

Main probs in the 2002/2003 years are that they're early production models, hence they bore the majority of mechanical problems/idrive related issues. Apparently from 2004 onwards, most of these were fixed. I wouldn't recommend a 730i for 2 reasons, firstly, I wouldn't go for a non-long-wheel base version because this is one of the defining features of the 7 series, aside from keyless go, eletric boot and soft close doors, I can't see any significance over the 5 series. Sure it's bigger, but imo the 5 series is spacious enough. Secondly, the 730i would be minimally equipped, I know this because I made the mistake of buying a 2004 S280L which has very, very few options compared to its larger engine counterparts. Also 3L v6 is underpowered for a car of that size. I'm currently in the process of getting a 2005 745Li. From when I last looked at trademe, all of the 2004 745Lis were HEAVILY overpriced, so don't think that's the market price just because it's advertised on trademe, imo the real difference in market price between a 2003 and 2004 745Li isnt that large, so waiting till one pops up for a good price might be an option. You also need to be aware of Jap vs Singapore vs NZ New models. In terms of equipment lists between a 735 and 745, I'm not sure how large a difference it would be, BMW are very good with options, the majority of Singapore cars come standard with everything, only differences I can think of are alarm, heated/cooled seats, sunroof, tv, dvd changer, rear console in the back. All other features will be the same. 745 is more powerful than a 735 as you can probably imagine, so that's something else to consider (268 vs 328BHP). The 745 is really a jewel of its time, it can compete (and maybe even out-compete) a 5L V8 S500 of the same year.

I also noticed that the 745Li are much better proportioned than the 745i, the extra length suits the width of the car

On these big car, soft close is amazing. I have it on the current S class and would never go back. I saw that 750Li, got some additional pics, looks damn amazing, but its selling for $48k FOB NZD, so $10k out of range. In terms of Singapore horror stories, I'm all too familiar with them, but I really think it depends on where/who you get it from. I've sourced my current S class from Singapore as well as previous 2002 525i, both have been problem-free. Kiwiauto are amazing for sourcing cars, good service and they're willing to fix up any issues with the cars. I'll post some pics of the 05 745Li I'm eying up atm once I get em, specs look pretty decent, apparently even a sunroof is included. NOT looking forward to insurance quote.

Lexus was singa import as far as I can remember. I found an 05 Rego'd 745Li from Singapore, looks promising. I suppose I can let go of the heated/cooled seats, sunroof and tv which are native to the Jappa for the GPS, Radio, Phone, nicer wheels, better looking iDrive text, better mileage and euro plate holders which are native to the Singa import.

I've done a lot of research on the E66s as I wanted to get one before this S class, apparently the early production years were fraught with probs like idrive (2002/2003) but 2004 onwards they were sorted. I would love to get a facelift, but afaik they didn't facelift the 745, so it would have to be a 750 which is a problem because I haven't seen any sell on trademe for less than $50k (upper-price ranger here is about $38k) and the insurance company will probably have a heart attack, due to my age.

Hiya! Been a while since I've been on bimmersport. I'm in the process of ditching my 04 S280L, in for something like a 745Li. I've never been too keen on NZ new cars (can't justify the extra price), my last 3 cars have all been imports with minimal issues. I don't have too many criteria... Has to be 2004 or newer, Longwheel base and price can be up to $36k. I was looking at this option on trademe... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-297649045.htm doesn't seem too bad aside from the mileage. I haven't had any previous experience with Japanese imports though. How does this look? Anyone know if this E66 will support the NZ nav DVD? Also, with the mileage, is this palatable or too high?? Thanks for all help

Hmmm this has got me thinking about how many stars my facelift W220 would have O.O google is not being so straight forward

That price is so stupidily unrealistic... you can get these http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-260378499.htm + http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-257713804.htm and still come out better off, having a remaining 20k to spend on petrol.

And my download rate is hitting up a solid 150-200kb/s ... what the hell!!!!

Best option imo would be to save up some extra money and buy a facelifted model (2003+), you'll end up spending the same money (if not more) on maintenance, repairs etc. and on top of that the 2003+ models come with a much nicer COMAND system! I have a 2004 S280 Long wheel base, overlooking the tiny engine, it is one hell of a car, looks, space, toys etc. So definitely would recommend it! [Edit] In terms of reliability, it has been as reliable as my ex-facelifted E39 (thus far, in the 4 months that I have owned it).

17s! I was looking at the Pirelli website, it said P7 can go on the W220, approx how much would 4 of those cost? and what about the Michelin alternative? Thanks a lot for your help

Hiya, I've recently noticed that the driver's side door on my merc (W220 2004 LWB) is making more noise (squeaking) than it used to when it gets sucked in via the door close assist thing. I also noticed this is more prevalent in dry weather as opposed to rainy days. In terms of quietness, the rear doors make next to no noise when sucked in, the passenger side make a barely audible noise and the driver's side is most prevalent. At a guess, I would say it has something to do with either lubrication or the seals on the door? I'm also quite certain it's wear/tear related due to the fact that the rear/passenger door are not used often hence make little to no noise. Any ideas on options??! (The suction mechanism itself works fine, just the noise that is really getting on my nerves).