elmarco

Both of my last 2 Golfs ended up doing that too - so it isn't limited to BMW's....

I completely missed that!...

They may be a bit sensitive about that kind of thing at the moment. That hole in the fuselage was f**king scary.... Enough to convince me to stay a while in Manilla if I had been board!

What a way to go out! Blacked out 5 series.... Badass. Could be a dodgy CCD - had similar photos when a Minolta at work had the CCD go south.

Not a great fan of the Phoenix Yellow myself - although I could probably live with it at the right price . Thank god it has the black interior though - I have seen another one with a cat sick green coloured leather that would be a real killjoy for me. Still it is a hell of lot of car for $35k. Also, he says it is on 19's - I thought the M3 wheels were 18's? Were the 18's a poverty pack (if that exists at the M3 price point)?

Heard it a few years back - only it was Qantas at that stage. Still bloody funny. Love the evidence removed line!

+1 They really are a special car.

Where was that price from? Anyone in Auckland?... Sounds pretty cheap - I would have expected $3-4k for a full respray. Even when I had a mate do my old beetle back in the 90's it was $1200 cash with me doing all the prep work.

Who sells it here??

Sweet jesus that is some serious depreciation - $250k down to $20k in 17 years. Still a damn good looking car though I wouldn't want to have to fix one...

Laughing my arse off!

I was going to say it was the best looking Falcon I have seen!!

Jap import - built for small parking buildings.

Bummer dude - sounds like it wasn't insured if you are parting it out. Does the earthquake commission not give you any cover on storm damage? Maybe this is only for houses/property. At least you get a good story out of it....

And what's he got against Kawasaki's?? I like 'em!

Damn - it's like crack cocaine it's so addictive!

Was that before or after calling himself stinkysteve?? The CIA would be proud of the number of identies this guy has!

Yeah - and the sample size will have an impact on the quality and reliability of the results. The more common cars (ie: Toyota Corolla / Falcon / Commodore etc) on the road will likely have the most representative data / results. Still, I guess it gives some kind of picture of the crash performance over nothing at all.

Xenon is actually the brand name that Hella give their HID lamp kits - which is why I lumped it in with the others.... Yeah - that REALLY bugs me too. They can't be driving lights as they would only work on high beam (unless modified of course...). You are only allowed one set of low beams, 2x sets of high beams and 1 set of front fogs. As they are on with low beams (well the ones I've seen anyway) I have to assume they are front fogs (without having seen the E marks on them - this will always tell their type approved function). Daytime running lights are different again but have to switch off when the headlamps are switched on.

Hot topic.... Why does everyone want their headlamps to look like HID??? There have been plenty of discussions on this already - HID conversion kits are not legal in NZ. HID (also called xenon, GDL, discharge lighting) uses an arc between 2 high voltage electrodes to generate the light. The arc itself is the same idea as an arc welder and needs a special ballast to run. Normal halogen lamps use a tungsten filament which is heated by electric current producing light. HID produces a very intense output (much more so than halogen) and is commonly viewed as 'whiter' than halogen. You can buy halogen bulbs that are whiter in colour (sometimes called cool blue) - but make sure they have an "E" mark. You need to have an entire lamp specifically designed to use HID. You cannot simply replace a bulb with an HID burner - it is illegal, dangerous and irresponsible. The reflector and lens are designed to control the light pattern and rely on a very specific filament position - which is completely different between filament bulbs and the arc position of HID burners. The legal requirements for HID also require self levelling of the lamps and a washer system in order not to blind other drivers. http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/vehicles/...ghts-right.html If you must convert to HID, use a fully legal module from Hella - but be prepared as they are pricey. There is a reason that HID is an optional extra - $$$$.

I did try to get the Hefner / Playboy 6 door Mercs but they were being sold! Maybe I'll save the Diablo for the wedding anniversary...

Where's your sense of adventure?

Or you could try http://www.number1.co.nz/cars/ if you wanted. No BMW's in his toyshop, but some pretty damn special cars just the same. I'm getting one of the stretched Mercs for mine. Edit: The Mrs said no to the purple Diablo....

Wow - sounds like Clarkson has also mastered the science of cloning! Or maybe employed a stunt Stig / body double.

Yep - as Ford and Firestone "discussed" in a US court a while back.... Haven't met an engineer yet that can defy the laws of physics.