E30 325i Rag-Top

I haven't seen many Jap M5s come in, most have been ex-UK. As for total numbers, that's an interesting question. I would say no, not yet but this will change as they get a few years older, especially in UK.

Another 3 deaths, in the Waikato, over the week-end. Ute crossed the centre line on a "State Highway" I believe it was. Median barrier, or even a central reservation, stops the small error becoming a big accident which increases the road toll. And again, as 3Pedals says, the Darwin effect is negative as the one bad gene has taken out two innocent genes.

@Allan, yes good point, how you react at the initial point of loss of control (which I think is what 3Pedals was on about car control) can have a great effect on the outcome of the situation. The only way to train this is on something like a skid pan, or closed track, etc. Even simple things like being able to steer whilst heavy braking through the use of ABS is alien to very many people - ever noticed how many trees or power poles manage to hit smack in the middle of a bonnet? Continuted driver education is a huge plus, as are things like "Defensive driving" or "advanced driver training" courses, perhaps these could be either subsidised by the government or even made compulsory though insurance companies?

3Pedals, due to things like Health & Safety coupled with a "where there's blame there's a claim" mentality in the UK, Europe and much of the rest of the world which hasn't managed to pervade the Kiwi "she'll be right mate" attitude the design of roads, junctions, safety barriers, etc. are much more advanced across the board. Pot holes in roads get fixed very quickly otherwise someone will have an accident and sue the relevant authority for not fixing the issue. In NZ it seems to be a case of put some paint on the road to fool people into thinking it's going to get fixed. Safety barriers are one of the biggest and most noticeable differences, any road with a steep drop off from either side will have proper steel and concrete barriers, so that should a car not make the corner it doesn't drop from a great height making a small accident into a much more serious one. Most NZ roads have NO barriers, or a spindly wooden fence which couldn't stop an empty push chair from going over the edge. No to mention the great idea of having drains and ditches at the side of the road, so should you move a few inches off the black stuff you are into a serious situation. End result? Small errors of judgment end up in major accidents, there is much less or even no margin for error. @Jacko, there have been a number of studies (mostly in the USofA) that have looked into why all the modern developments in car safety, from seat belts to ABS to airbags, collision avoidance systems, etc. have not resulted in reductions in the number of accidents and deaths. The broad conclusion of most has been that the safer the driver is made to feel, the more dangerous their driving becomes, either due to complacency, inattentiveness or driving faster / closer, etc. Perhaps the answer is to remove all the things that make driving easier as you say?

What is going on in Waikato? How can there be more road deaths there than anywhere else, even Auckland.

Says that's the Style 5 centre cap, is it the same as for the E30 15" weaves?

Factories haven't changed much..

Your comparison between roads in rural Europe v NZ is way off, major "highways" in NZ are with only a few exceptions, poorly surfaced, poorly maintained, very twisty, much hillier, un-lit and single carriageway. Even minor roads, well off the beaten track, in Europe have bridges and tunnels so they can be relatively straight and level. Older, small towns and villages can be more of a challenge with narrow streets and confusing junction layouts and road rules. NZ is slightly better off in this respect as the urban development is much more recent and most town planning has accommodated the motor vehicle. However, as the traffic speeds are relatively low in these areas, the size of the accidents are smaller and don't contribute so much to the road toll. The roads in Sweden were amongst some of the best I have ever driven on, even well up to the north of the country away from the major population centres. Why do they not crash on them in the snow... because of the level of driver training I would suggest? Having just been given an NZ licence for being able to answer 30 multiple-guess questions on the road code, I have no idea how much of the driver testing in NZ takes place on the "open road" or highways. Is it like the UK used to be where the test is all in and around town, with no motorway training or testing? As you allude to, this is the more difficult driving situation, higher speeds, fewer sign posts, etc. I used to think those big yellow "cornering speed" signs were a good idea, until I got a decent car and realised you can go round them at much higher speeds without detriment to you or your passengers. Perhaps more training in these driving situations would be a step to reducing the numbers?

NZ roads are not the best or easiest to drive on, as such the education and hence skills need to be higher than most countries. I come across an ever increasing number of drivers on the road that have basic to non-existent driving skills. The skills of many young drivers and dare I say it, new to NZ drivers are particularly bad. Just because someone can drive in another country, different roads, signs, side of road / car does not mean they have the skills for NZ. Until more effort is put into driver education, across all groups, the road toll will continue to rise with more cars driving more kms on the roads.

Not one, but two E36 compact race cars. First was on a trailer heading onto Southern motorway race number 318. Second one was being driven on the western motorway, black with RCIS stickers on it. They seem to be replacing the E30 as the track car of choice, maybe as the E30 is getting to expensive to be a base anymore?

Have a look at the list of models affected in U.S., no Diesels in that list. Whole host of reasons why you could end up with an under-bonnet Fire. Linking it the U.S. Recall is a big assumption. Sucks about your car man, hope the insurance pay out what it's worth and the process is painless.

There were not one but two De Loreans at the Brit & Euro show recently. The "Back to the Future" one and a mint standard one. I was amazed.

Flat head screw driver in the raised squeezed bit, then push and wiggle to open it out. a bit rough, but it works for me!

Blame it on the trade unions, make a one man job a two man job! And then wonder why the company is in financial strife..

What beer do you drink Chris? Interested in your suspension.

I could be a real pedant and suggest that is because the wagon is an F31, but that would be silly. Very few NZ New 3-Series wagons sold but the wagon is quite popular in the UK so a few imports come in from there, not sure about Japan, usually have to hit that 3 year old mark before they plummet in value and come over here. Will mean they will all be petrol though, the xDrive diesel wagons are a great all round car, especially the x330d!

Thanks for that explanation Donald. There are more than one flavour of Prius, that have different electric drivetrains and ranges. The one worth having wasn't sold in NZ, and the new non-fake one is just about to go on sale IIRC.

Biggest issue is the 335i Active Hybrid does not count as an "electric vehicle" for incentives and bonuses, etc. as it is not a "plug in" type hybrid, it purely generates charge from regenerative braking and using the petrol engine as a generator. Also, pretty poor electric range as only small electric battery pack. Without the benefits of a full electric car, then the price doesn't really stack up, so available pretty cheap in UK and as a result importers are trying to bring them over here to sell and make a profit. When trialling the 535i Active Hybrid, the only thing we were using the electric motor for was the "eBoost" kick of acceleration, LOL.

See the post from TLH above yours. I can't keep trying to explain it in different ways.

Gone already? did look good in the photos.

Quite possibly if the NZ spec was to add all those options, the point I am trying to make is that the level of content in those cars is not linked to the "HD12" aspect, but the options added to get up to the NZ Spec levels. Still a big difference between an M5 and a 535i, even with the M-Sport kit and some fruit added.

HD12 is simply the model code for the vehicle. It is just used to designate various standard equipment for the vehicle, as there can be more than one "320i" model or "535i" model either in production at the same time (for different markets, etc) or within the same series designation. There is absolutely nothing "special" about a car being a "HD12" as opposed to a "HD11" LHD version or any other model code for a 535i. The differences between will be within the options added to the factory standard equipment to bring it up to NZ specification, which can be found on a VIN decoder.

Copied from the TradeMe advert.. Garaged all it's life, grade 5 import in emasculate condition. This vehicle will have to wait a few months until it can be registered due to the importing legislations in place. Complete cock-up on the speclling aside, I always thought it was a case of having to be 20 years old on the arrival date in New Zealand, so as it's here already waiting a few months for the car to get to it's birthday won't help with getting it complied as it's probably only a Euro 2 emissions. Even if those kms are genuine and you could get it complied and registered, I still can't see the value in a poverty pack E46.

I'm surprised you even managed to find that many useable parts after that smash.

Technical Admin types are on the case..