aaronmartin

The last few weeks I've noticed that my aircon was not particularly cold driving around town, and only really got working at open road speeds, but even then never really cooling down to the nice 18C that I like. Today I finally figured out that my aux fan was not working, and that the 50amp! fuse for it was blown. Since there was a spare fuse sitting right above it, I thought I'd try my luck replacing the fuse and seeing if everything worked ok. However the old rule that fuses only blow for a reason was true, and no sooner had I replaced the fuse and walked around to the drivers side when I noticed a huge plume of smoke coming up from under the front of the bonnet! I ripped the fuse back out, but it was already burnt out. The smoke was coming from the aux fan, so I assume it is stuffed? Replacement fans seem massively expensive ($200 on EBay, $600+ locally) so my question is could it be the fan that is at fault, or could something else be faulty, and that has killed the fan (and will kill a new one?)

If you check out the staff carpark at the airport, you'll find most pilots driving early 90's corollas / nissans etc. Only management drive BMW's :-)

What are they like for daily use? When I last changed from Yokohama to Hankook, I noticed a massive decrease in wet grip and more understeer in the dry, so I wonder if these will be better / worse than the Hankooks.

It might be worth asking on the xoutpost.com forums, as they are X focused, and there is alot of discussion on there regarding trailers and towing.

Just wondering if anyone here has bought some of the Altenzo tyres, and if so, what do you think of them?

I have had my PPL for 5 years, and get to fly quite often for work purposes which is good. I write software for the aviation industry, so I know quite a few people in the industry, so have seen all the different methods for getting through the system. The CTC course is good, but a bit expensive. Most aero clubs are also doing full time courses now, usually in affiliation with Massey or NMIT or someone similar, so after 3 years (and about $100k) later you end up with CPL, MEIR, B or C-Cat instructor rating and a bachelor of aviation studies or similar. Doing your training through the clubs also gets you industry contacts, and remember the people teaching you to fly at the start, will probably be your captains later down the line. Ever since CTC came on the scene, they have pushed the national pay rate for instructors up to the point where full time instructors can actually make a living and no longer need second jobs. While this has made flying more expensive ($200+ per hour for a 2 seat trainer) it has also made it easier to move from student to earning as a pilot. Fully qualified you can either work as an instructor, or work for the GA airlines i.e. SunAir, Skyline etc, doing crappy hours and getting minimum wage, but clocking up the hours. This is probably the hardest part of the career path, and you get really good at spending time sitting in airports. This sort of flying probably looks better on your CV than lots of instructing time, as it is generally twin engine IFR rather than single engine VFR. You generally need 1000+ hours to get a job with the feeder airlines i.e. Air Nelson, Mount Cook, Eagle, QLink but generally once you get a job with these guys, you've "made it" as they are all owned by AirNZ / Qantas and it is just a matter of doing the time to move up to command, then bigger planes. It is not a career where you make the big bucks, and it is a bit of an inside joke about everyone wanting to become "rich pilots". There is a saying that to make a small fortune in aviation, you need to start with a large fortune.

There are a few options for sub's in a E53 X5 I added a Fusion 12" Tube Sub to my X5, made a huge difference to the overall sound quality. Another option, which I would like to do one day, is to build a custom sub enclosure that fits in where the factory sub would normally go: X5 Sub Project Custom Sub Install Or if money is no object, go for an off-the-shelf sub designed for the X5: BSW Sub JL Audio Stealthbox

I think we should adopt Soviet Russian rules = small car gives way to big car. Kinda like Remuera.

With the first one, the reason I was told for this new rule is that for the car turning right (across traffic), they have to give way to ALL traffic coming towards them, and cars turning left can just keep moving and get out of the way. Having driven in USA and Europe, this rule actually works really well as it stops cars queuing in both lanes, only the people turning right queue up. Many accidents happen now because people try and turn in front of a left turning car, without realising / noticing a car behind it that is going straight through. Also the for the car turning left it can be hard to tell whether the right turning car is going to go, based on straight through traffic from behind that the left turning car can't really see. The right on red rule works really well in USA, but I don't think it (left on red) would work here, Kiwi drivers are just too agro. In USA causing an accident can cost you ALOT of money, so people are much more careful at driving than in NZ.

Used some 600 and 1200 grit sandpaper, cutting compound and plastic polish to remove the hazing on my drivers side headlight, also got the steptronic selector replaced under warranty after a stupid little plastic part broke in it.

I'm pretty sure the warranty would be null and void if they found out I had the car on a track :-)

How much does a test cost?

They look really good, where did you get them?

I get around 12l/100km on open road, and 15l/100km around town, which I figure is not bad for a 2+ ton V8. My wife's Legnum VR-4 is lucky to get better than 17l/100km anywhere. It used to average 14l/100km but suddenly changed one month (our fuel card reports monthly fuel consumption). Taken it to Mitsi twice, they can't find anything wrong, so it might be time to get the emmisions checked on it. Any one in Hamilton able to do this?

I'd love to do a track day one day (once my warranty has expired) but I worry that a X5 will just be embarrasing or scarey on a track? I wonder if anyone does SUV track days...

I get anywhere from 600 - 750km per tank, depending on whether it is all open road or not. Can get past 800km per tank if I am gentle (but thats not often :-)

Was at 120k when I got it, now up to 177k, 2 years on and I still love driving it :-)

Yep Breyton Vision 20's, missing the center caps on one side though, and so far impossible to replace. Reliability has been pretty good, had a few issues with the fuel line being very sensitive, it was disconnected on two seperate occasions by BMW technicians for different reasons and not reconnected properly causing fuel starvation, and I've had to replace a few bearings and window regulators which I've read is pretty common around the 160k mark. Servicing I have a third party warranty which forces me to do service every 15,000km, even though I still have 3 green lights showing on the service gauge, but generally only costs $250-350 each time. I actually wanted to buy a diesel, but at the time they were around $10k dearer for the same year / milage, and I just liked that V8 grunt too much :-)

I actually discussed this with the service manager at Coombes in Hamilton, he said the 4.6is felt almost exactly the same to drive as a 4.4i, not a noticable increase in power. However he said the E53 4.8is really has alot more power. The E70 4.8 though is just too heavy and soft to make use of that power. Parked side by side, the E70 is MUCH bigger than the previous E53. Apparently the one to buy (if you have a spare 100k) is the E70 3.0sd. Almost as quick as the V8, but only 7.9l/100km average. Before I bought my X5, I test drove many examples of the 4.4i, 3.0 and 3.0D. The 3.0 was too gutless, and the diesel, while cheap on fuel, costs too much to manitain, and I worried that I'd always wish I'd bought the V8 instead. So I did with no regrets 2 years later. On long trips I average around 12l/100km, and around 15l/100km in town. My average in the 60,000km I've owned the car is 13.8l/100km, combined open road, city and towing my boat. Best whole tank average I got 10.9l/100km and worst was 19.6l/100km.

I do around 1000km a week, in Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga and sometimes Hawke's Bay, and Tauranga is by far the worst. The Hewletts Road approach to the 'harbour bridge' is shocking, 3 lanes into 2 lanes then into 1 lane is classic for road rage every single night. I just sit in my lane and watching everyone else jostling for position, finger pulling, light flashing, it would be funny if it wasn't so indicative of many drivers attitudes in NZ.

I get the feeling that a quote from Jeremy Clarkson a few years back that BMW's are now geeks cars is starting to ring true :-)

Try doing a whole X5! Takes 1.5-2 hours just for a good wash and dry.

I've actually still got a old 3 wheeler, only 350cc but solid rear axle, awesome on gravel, scarey as hell on tarmac!

I'm in Melville

Cool thanks for the advice, I couldn't care less what people think of my high beams (if you see them, then you've done something stupid), I just wanted something brighter than the factory ones. Having HID low beams just shows me how bright HID lights are compared to halogen. I think I'll just shop around for some better halogen 9005 bulbs. Any suggestions?