elmarco

Good on you!! It can be a really rewarding career, but can also be pretty tough as well depending on what you are dealing with at the time. I have family in the force and I think the shift work is the worst part (apart from dealing with the scum of society every day at work...). Not sure about the entrance tests, but I know the period at training college is pretty full on. It is a very sad indictment on our society that the Police seem to get the shitty end of the stick more often than not recently - sometimes deservedly I admit. The more sensible coppers on the street the better as far as I am concerned. Good luck with the entrance exams.

No problemo...

Chrysler is also cutting production and recently announced a plant closure. Not sure if the Japanese 3 (Toyota, Honda + Nissan) are affected, but Mitsi nearly went belly up in the US a couple of years back. GM's most profitable vehicles are the big SUV's and trucks which have been getting a hammering in the last 12 - 24 months. It isn't easy or quick to turn a ship as big as GM (very beaurocratic as you would expect an organisation that size would be). They have known that they need more smaller cars for a while - it just takes time to get them into production and to change consumer habits. Even getting the Opel Astra (current production model in Europe) to the US wasn't all that easy as I believe it needed re-engineering to meet the SAE / DOT rules which are completely different to Europe (and NZ/Australia etc). Big $$ decisions and if they get it wrong, it can literally cost billions.... As kiwi535 says - it will be an ongoing problem until they get the product plans changed and in step with reality. There will always be a market for big SUV's and trucks, but nowhere near what it used to be (the Ford F150 was the largest selling vehicle in the US for a lot of years!!). Just hope they haven't left it too late... One thing to note is that I believe it only affects the US - the GM Asia Pacific operations are doing very well from what I have read. And GM are not the most reliant on SUV and truck sales either - that honour goes to Chrysler if my memory serves correctly.

Yeah he sold both the Hefner Mercs last month. Both went to a businessman in the UK and 1 will eventually go to India, the other to London. That's after they go back to Stuttgart for a full rebuild by Mercedes.... Hate to think what the new owner is spending on them. I tried to get one for my wedding, but they had been sold. Gutted! They really are special cars. He also has a Landaulet (soft top) Mercedes 600 limo which he acquired off a Columbian gent who was in the import/export business.... That black Phantom is one hell of a car - the photos really don't come close to doing it justice. It is just unreal to see in person - most impressed and I didn't even go for a ride. A really imposing car. Rates are fairly steep (as you would expect - we aren't talking Avis here) and run by the hour.... It is an absolute toy shop in his showroom - really has to be seen to be believed. Not too often you have to choose between the purple Diablo, the black Phantom, or the SL55 AMG...

If you want LED's in place of the front fog lamps, Hella have some new LED daytime running lamps. Look pretty good too. Was thinking of getting some for my E46 - just haven't got around to it yet. Oh - nice E46 by the way

Only in the west.... Dissapointing lack of mullets to match though!

I'm not entirely sure what you have done there.... The lenses on that style of headlamp control the light pattern (they are called a parabolic lamp). Newer style headlamps (like the E46) use a clear lens and the light pattern is controlled by the reflector (called a free form reflector). Have a look at http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=73 - shows the difference. Messing with the photometric pattern (ie: the lens in this case) on a headlamp is both illegal and dangerous for other road users. The low beam pattern is specifically designed so it does not blind oncoming cars (no rocket science there) and removing the lens means the pattern could blind oncoming cars even on low beam (yours might be OK - they look to have projectors which are a bit different again). The change to the high beam might not impact oncoming drivers so much, but may mean that you can't see anywhere near as well when you need to.... Message: don't mess around with headlamps unless you know more than the engineers that designed them. They are safety items are designed for optimum road legal performance. If you want to see better at night, try perousing the Hella aftermarket catalogue. Good driving lamps make a hell of a difference to driving at night.

One of the big carmakers was pretty hot on this kind of thing in the US a few years back (forget who it was - Toyota or GM maybe). They were mainly using it for training and were investing millions in the technology. Pretty cool stuff alright.

Mine actually did this once too. It was in the middle of a really hot day and I put it down to vapour lock in the fuel line (the car had been parked for a while after driving and only did it on restarting). Never done it since. Best you get it down to Glenn for a scan.

Bummer wild_weston. The only water I would want in the back is a jaczuzzi with bikini team installed. I've not noticed any water in mine, but have felt the seatbelts a little damp after sitting in the rain all day (no different to the last golf I had).

Yeah I floored one on a test drive and actually thought my old Golf 3 diesel would have eaten it for breakfast... Pretty heavy car for such a small motor.

Do you need to change the front foglamps and rear parking sensors as well Heresharry?

I believe Mitsubishi also say that 1l / 1000km is acceptable - so it isn't just BMW. I personally would not be happy with that (although my 330 uses about 0.25l / 1000km) and it probably says something about the black oil shitstain up the back of plenty of Mitsi's... I had a new 320i as a rental in Germany 2 years back. I filled up with gas, and popped the lid for a quick look before thrashing the nads off it on the autobahn and there was no oil on the dipstick! No oil warning lights, but a dry dipstick... Scary stuff! Took 3 litres of oil before I was comfortable leaving.

I don't know for sure (never worked on any BMW projects) but I would be very very surprised if they aren't coated (this is the standard for PC headlamp lenses). The coating is normally used for UV protection (clear PC will go yellow with UV exposure without protection) and for scratch resistance (it is really strong, but also relatively soft). From memory the product normally used by the lighting guys is called lensguard (not something you can get from Repco). There are a lot of older Altezza's running around with UV yellowed headlamps and Toyota are a little bit sensitive about the subject now.... If skyline_400r's lenses are yellow all over and it is consistent (except where it is covered by the bonnet), it is likely to be UV fading and there isn't much you can do. If it is just a build up of road grime, then it may come right after the scum is taken off the surface (if this is the case, the entire front end will likely be filthy...). I guess it could also be corrosion of the aluminised reflector (the reflector material can be a yellowish colour before coating), but that would be pretty obvious. Although they are coated, this is not normally protection against harsh abrasives (like rubbing with jif etc) - it is designed for normal car wash machines and domestic car polish etc (but not prolonged rubbing - especially with an abrasive). If you break the coating there is a chance it will start to flake and peel like any paint when the surface is broken. Course, when you break the surface, the natural PC is exposed underneath, and will start to yellow. Note: the yellowing process normally takes years (not months) and we have unusually harsh UV in this country - so it isn't something that you will see overnight. I think the other guys are referring to glass lenses which are much harder and can be polished etc with jif and other abrasives (I think even the E36 lenses are glass). Not sure about the rainbow colours, but it is entirely possible this is the reason. Have never come across that particular product - I would just give it a go with normal car polish (Turtle Wax or similar) initially as they are designed for normal domestic use and car care. But don't put more elbow into it than you would normal paintwork... This should take normal grime off. If it doesn't change, and the yellow is more like some of the Altezza headlamps (consistent in colour over all exposed areas - a diluted piss colour!) you may have to replace the lamps. In this case, I guess you have nothing to lose by getting stuck into them, but I would be careful if you don't want to end up replacing them. You mention the side repeaters too. Are these the problem, or is it just the headlamp lenses? You aren't talking about the standard amber indicator lenses are you?? These are an amber plastic - you can't change the colour unless you replace the entire lamp. Can you post photos of the issue?

Just remember that the E46 lenses (like most new cars) are polycarbonate not glass. Polycarbonate is one of the most sensitive plastics to chemical attack and this is well known in the plastics industry (especially in the automotive lighting industry). I have seen PC lenses crack in windscreen washer fluid (containing methanol), and completely dissolve in commercial truck wash. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarbonate You'll be sorry...... Anything that will scratch stainless steel will scratch your lenses.

I'd be more concerned about the theory of a fold away mountain bike.... No thanks!

Mmmmmm3.... Looking forward to the photos!

Forgot to add that E46 headlamps, like all new vehicles, are glued together. Not sure if it is hotmelt or a 2 pot glue in this case - but it may not be possible to ever get the lens off in one piece. Heating it off could warp the housing or the lens.

Are they the Bosch OEM lights? I'm assuming they are for your E46? The ability to polish the yellowing/fogging out may be dependent on the reason it has discoloured in the first place. Clear polycarbonate will yellow with UV exposure unless it is coated (OEM lenses are, but some cheap aftermarket ones don't get the same treatment). If it is just road grime you might be OK. If it is inside the lens or there is any melting, you have a whole other problem - like high wattage bulbs overheating the lens or reflector problems. Don't use any agressive chemicals to clean them - PC is very sensitive to chemicals like alcohols, MEK, fuels etc and will dissolve or stress crack in front of your eyes if you hit the right combination... You can use normal car polish - works wonders with acrylic lenses (normally only used on side and rear lamps), and although it doesn't work as well with PC you may still get a result with it polishing any grime off. Also be aware that PC is actually relatively soft so agressive polishing can cause permanent scratches - I wouldn't use Jif as it is too agressive. Glass lenses should be OK with normal glass cleaners/polishes - standard E46 headlamp lenses are polycarbonate not glass though. Good luck!!

Can't get the old Evinrude cranking?? Forget I asked...

How much did they charge you wild_weston?? I wonder if Glenn is able to do it at Botany Motor Worx?

That is a good idea - hadn't come across it. Guess I only sell a car once every 3 years so don't have a large exposure to some of the knuckle draggers that inhabit Trademe....

Looks like a real nice wagon. Good price too - wish it was on the market when I was looking 6 months back...

At that price I could probably live with the colour.

Go the engineers!!