elmarco

Good plan if you ask me. Putting the modules in s one thing, but aligning them properly is a whole other mission without the proper equipment.

If the H7 lamps are physically different to the original xenons, they wont have the high UV lenses needed for the HID burners. Im not sure your interpretation is correct - while these are modules, they arent a complete headlamp unit - hate for you to stump up the readies & then work out they arent legal. I would be trying to get some complete xenon lamps from Ray, Brent or ebay.

I would personally prefer tax at the pump as it would make my life easier, but the pragmatist in me says that what we already have is actually the simplest system. Everyone who wants to deal with IRD more please raise your hand now....

330ci every day of the week.

You cant ignore the large off road diesel consumers - everything from shipping, personal boats, earthmoving equipment, gen sets, pumps, heaters etc. And the fuel consumption on some of those will make the annual fuel bill for a light vehicle look like someone missed the decimal place a couple of times. Taxing at the pump will make their life much more complicated, as will the cost of managing the refunds for IRD (and that wont come free). And whats to stop the guy with a truck, digger & ute from fillng the road vehicles with diesel from the tax refunded tank besides his moral compass? Really, theres nothing to stop that. I believe in the UK (JTP or GJM could probably confirm) that off highway diesel is dyed red which stains the tank - I have heard of customs & excise stripping a car on the side of the motorway to check if the tank was stained red from off road diesel. But that seems much more complicated (& expensive to operate) than he system we already have.

Bm workshop in grey lynn.

Last one i had done at BM Workshop was $170 if i remember correctly. Gve them a call

Get BM Workshop or another BMW specialist to do the check - VTNZ & AA dont know all the things to look for on these.

The yellowing is UV fading of the polycarbonate lens. Normally headlamps have coating (it used to be diamond coat from Rohm & Haas - but that was a few years back) that protects it from the UV & scratching. Once the coating is peeling off exposing the bulk material, it will continue to yellow in the UV. You can continue to sand, polish etc, but without the clear coat protection it wont get any better. The clear coat needs to be specifically for polycarbonate lenses as its very sensitive to chemical attack (particularly around any stressed areas). This was one reason we used to avoid it like the plague & use acrylic wherever possible. Where we had to use PC it was a stabilized grade & we never used it colourless (we used a smoke tint) so it wasnt noticeable. Since then, there are new materials like optical nylon which are much better for UV & impact resistance.

My 320d gets up to 1200km to a tank on the open road, and 800km around town. But its nowhere near as smooth & quiet as the 6cyl petrol. Think you will probably find there isnt actually a lot of difference in the fuel economy between the 320 & 325 particularly if you have a heavy right foot.....

ifixit.com is your friend. Replaced my 3GS battery for $25USD & back to 2 days between charges. They have online how to instructions, all the tools for the job & warranty their batteries for 6 months (unlike all the sketchy trademe & ebay ones). A lot cheaper than dropping $900 on a new one. Personally would only go for a 5S as 4G will be more common in the future but you might still find Apple selling the 4S for $500 ish. Still many more dinero than a battery. Once youre in the apple eco system everything else feels clunky to use (speaking from the company giving me an S3 that was less friendly to use). No doubt this will start the usual fanboi bullshit.

The only way you will know if there are exising problems is via a pre-purchase inspection - regardless of the mileage. As to the E90? I think you get much more for your money in a nice E46. I owned an E46 & now drive an E90 - the E46 was a much better put together car. Some of the electronics in the E90 scare me (electric steering lock, no temp gauge), and the design seems to attract squeaks & rattles. Mine has no space for a spare wheel (designed to use runflat tyres which are a terrible ride by general consensus) and every now and then my radio freezes & needs a power cycle. The E46 had its faults, but felt a lot more solid. Personally, i would go for a 6cyl version (325 / 330) - if youre getting a BMW you may as well get the benefit of the silky smooth straight 6....

I fnd it funny that the new car buyers decisions when they ponied up the readies is second guessed by people buying the car as 4th, 5th or 6th owners 10 years down the track because it doesnt match what they would have done if they ever went and bought a new car.

Yup.

Oil leak onto the exhaust? Had that before which was only noticeable at the lights through the vents.

And now cue the supplier network exit notices. Those that dont have a diversified aftermarket presence are going to see business evaporate in front of them. Particularly brutal will be the local factories that are part of big suppliers - like Bosch, Autoliv, Scheffenacker, TI, Tyco. While the loss of the car assembly is bad, the supplier base loss is probably worse - its much wider spread.

Christ - it's physically bigger & heavier than a std big block Chevy! And if you start talking Donovan, Merlin, Dart or Keith Black, then you're up in the same power range with less weight again. Hell, a Teague Marine 1365 hp engine even comes with a 12 month warranty! And thats only 565 cubes! I too would expect more from nearly 1000 ci.

I miss the brakes on the 330. That f**ker would just grip on and hunker down like nothing else I've ever driven. Not the lightest car in the world but christ did it stop when asked to.

Dunno about you, but I saw 184mph. Cranked over. With a stone wall on the outside. A special kind of madness required....

Stretched A-Team van has to be the money. Holds many more guns than the std edition.....

Hate to see the parts pricing if thats all it takes to write one off!

I agree - thats a bloody slick setup. What's it tare in at Brent?

Holy sh*t - thats scary! Must be like riding a horse in the corners

What condition are the wheels in? Any kerbing, dings or repairs/cracks? What breed & size are the tyres & how much tread is there?

Bummer about the offset - otherwise i'd be all over them....