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Everything posted by Apex
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Thats not stupid, the safety system and chassis should all be sound providing it has been maintained and not crashed, its the passive safety devices like suspension and brakes that are the potential danger, I would hazard a guess that most E39's from that era have knackered bushes and shocks. By modern standards cars from 2000 would get say two or three stars out of five at most. This is something I have followed for years and have shown a lot of interest in since the mid 90's when it become a lot more relevant, as if it ever wasn't. http://www.euroncap.com/results.aspx has always been the real standard. As of 2000 I would have thought the premium euro's were the standard, these days its a different story with a lot of small cars setting new standards, the new Megane for example has raised the bar to new levels and is the safest car money can buy.
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Lol I have never even seen a E39 in Thailand, thats probably 80% of them. lots of E30’s on BBS splits though.
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Stripes look good. Needs meeeen James Bond gatling gun headlights to finish it off I recon.
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All dyno's are different, some optimistic, some realistic, my wagon made between 82kw and 99kw, same car different dyno's. Good luck with the sale, this is one clean car.
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Do want. Those wheels suck harder than my Nilfisk with a fresh bag.
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0-100 in mid 6 second bracket.. so more than adequate IMHO, do you need to accelerate faster than that on the road? They are no performance car, more a capable touring car. The M5 is the fast one.
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I think he is ignoring us, I recommended one too. Drove a couple a few weeks back and IMHO they drive as well as Euro's costing well over twice as much. I really want a Sportage, was blown away with the styling, packaging and most impressively pricing. Might have to get your details.
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So we could all just rent cars when we need them. Se my website. http://www.apexrentals.co.nz/?gclid=CJO_op...CFQYnbAodPWfmIA
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I have had GTR owners state the same thing, a couple that were on Targa had gone to the GTR from a long line of Porsche 911 Turbo’s and apparently the GTR costs three times as much to maintain They didn’t have to have a 7k service after every trackday but did comment it is about $1,000 in maintenance per 1,000km, carbon brake disks were the real killer at over $20,000.
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Balancing weights on the lip? I would Kill that tyre jockey.
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Can’t see a new BMW buyer swapping his own battery TBH. In 90% of new cars its just a same old swap over like the old days.
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Speaker set up in a M3 is the same as 318ci. Im looking at installing all my gear into our E46 CI, I just wish there was a aftermarket deck that would fit the E46 nicely.
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Being Toyota the engine hasn’t come a long way since 1991, both are relatively simple 4 cylinders. I believe both cars would be equal in all aspects of basic running costs and believe it’s all time relative, sure the modern car has more modern systems but so do the dealerships. Would you believe that when I took my hamster on a wheel 1986 Toyota to the dealership there was not one technician there that knew how to tune it up? That turns the tables on things doesn’t it, a modern dealership un able to service a car that most imagine to be simple. Same would go for an old BMW, I know it took Glenn quite a few hours and cost me a quite a bit of money just for fix an idling issue with the old E30, given it was modern Glenn could have diagnosed it with a scanner and save 8 hours labour and tedious work trouble shooting.
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It’s a hard one. Random thoughts. Is the $$$ cost to replace an Airbag or a skid control system is high vs the emotional cost of losing a family member when they die in an accident. Where would you cut costs? A 2011 is 1000% stiffer than a 1991, has more space, is faster and better to drive and in the event of an accident you may live, it will drink less fuel and require less servicing than a 1990 Corolla, also, relative to inflation and income a new Corolla is cheaper to buy in 2011. It does weigh 250-300kg more though and won’t do as mean a skid.
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Sorry, some of us (me) are a bit slow Grant. You have put in a way I can understand I can’t compare the BMW’s as they are not what Kiwi’s buy and don’t reflect a realistic portrait of what modern buyers are purchasing so in my head I am comparing a new Toyota Corolla to a 1991 Toyota Corolla and I would say it’s no different, I am equalling it out. It’s a hard comparison to make, would love to spend some time doing research though, I think you would need a couple of years and would need to take inflation into account, a 14†tyre for a 1990 Corolla is considerably cheaper in 2011 than it was is 1991.
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You did say all cars not just BMW in the OP. BMW’s tipping point, easy from my point of view, the E38-E39. Needed a dealer to wipe its ars and was always being called in for this or that and after 5 years started to fall apart. Needless to say that was the tipping point my old man who went back to a bread and butter brand and has never looked back. I believe we make choices though, like I have said to friends many times I would love a modern M car and could even afford to buy one but I would not be able to afford to maintain one, I could however buy an alternative with 90% or more of the performance and have just as much fun with low maintenance costs.
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A new M3 may have all the driving aids but they can all be completely switched off to reveal pure unadulterated V8-Manula-LSD fun. I don’t think many of you that complain about modern cars and computers have actually driven any decent modern performance cars, maybe in your dads VE Commy the traction control is annoying when you’re trying to pull a one wheelie squealy in front of your awesome girlfriends but it is completely switchable on the decent cars and even if it’s not and you do reach the point where they intervene maybe you are doing something wrong, most modern cars I have driven have the threshold set quite high and only kick in when your fists turn to ham and drive out of your comfort zone. I switch mine off on the track or on a event but when driving on the road just leave them in place, if im having them kick in on the road im either driving like a fukwit or it is a genuine emergency, I have had stability control save the missus from putting our at the time BMW 545i into a paddock. Triple edit special. Clap clap for the dyslexic handicap
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I do understand the point of this topic and to answer you I would say that we have yet to reach tipping point, cars like most technology has constantly evolved, and we have always had to adapt to it, you don’t go pulling your I-Phone apart yourself do you? A lot of the “every day people†cars are still simple to work on and designed to be user friendly so I believe it comes down to choice. If you want to buy say a late model out of warranty BMW/Audi etc and can’t afford to fix it and more importantly maintain it properly to prevent big costs more fool you, that’s the price you pay for driving something flashy and pretentious that is maybe (or not) in your initial purchase budget but is way out of the long term budget when you could have instead purchases less showy new car with a 3-5 year warranty for the same money. When the day arises that all cars even econo-boxes become completely dealer only serviceable that will be the day of the tipping point.
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New genuine parts are as expensive for a 20 year old car as they are a new car. I am unaware of a significant increase in cost. Was expensive to have a new BMW serviced in 91 and it is expensive in 11. I have got great bang for my buck out of the last few new cars we have had. A new 25,000 Ford Feista is better equipped and safer than a what what was a 100,000 BMW less than ten years ago. As for new cars getting slower and heavier, what a crock of sh*t, even basic modern hatch backs are faster than what were highly ratted performance machines of 90's and on top of that they are much safer and install a lot more confidence when driving fast. My main grip with new cars is the price.
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I would get a Kia Sportage or new Sorento-R.
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All a clay bar does is safely and un-abrasively take built up contaminants, it’s no good for tar or bird sh*t and it won’t correct swirl marks and make anything shiny and it wont bake you a cake or service your missus. Without seeing your cars paint it’s hard to know if it needs it, I would give it a go in any witch case as the more sh*t you can remove the less likely swirl marks when you get to phase 2, polishing. Most important thing is removing as much crap as possible before you use the clay bar, buy some turtle wax Tar & Bug remover and do the sills and bumpers, give them a good dousing and leave for a couple of mins, then wipe off with pressure. Are you using a machine polisher?
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Because we are talking about E92’s? Mine has real wood, from the back it’s the unpolished wood.
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It’s actually real wood, clear plastic coated thin wood. I have replaced a stereo facia in one and it remember it being hard to find one from the same batch/tree.
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Mothers yellow or Meguiars white, stay the f**k away from Meguiars Blue.. looks like that stuff above. Detailing spray is good but overkill and a waste of money for the job, if it’s a one off its not so bad but when you are doing it regularly it can mount up. I use a solution of dishwashing liquid and water to keep the panel slippery. Dishwashing liquid is great for removing old wax/dirt whatever. Also how bad is the paint? Clay is only really needed for heavily soiled paint IMHO. If its just a bit of tar and a few bugs I would just use a tar and bug remover where needed and go straight to polishing/cutting after a good wash with detergent. I have an account with Mothers so if you don’t need the clay kit today or this weekend I could get you one next week and sent it to you at cost, I have my own car to do and need a few bits and bobs.