RvT

I can only speak from experience with the e60. Mine was Jap import so the Sat Nav was a waste of time. The radio is resetable to NZ stations by a company in Akl I am told - (I took the easy option of band Expander). Yes Euro plate on rear won't happen but it will fit on the front. Instruction book is available in CD form in English so you will have that. The iDrive has a command to change language so mine is 100% English on all instructions. BMW stealer can work on all the Jap cars except when you want to play with the entertainment systems and retrofit to it. The service history is programmed into the car so the dealer can plug in and see all history so Log Books are sort of redundant with the newer 5 & 7 series cars. A friend owns a '03 NZ new 745 and he has had a few issues with the electronics over the last 2 years as mentioned earlier in the thread, so the issue is not about where it came from but rather about the car and its complexity. They are all made in the same factory so the fact they have spent the first part of their life in JP is not a real issue IMO. I wouldn't right off a JP 745 too quickly because they are not favoured by some.

No disrespect to jochen and others who want the Sat Nav working in the car BUT IMO the BMW sat nav is not that fantastic when compared to the Tomtom or similar nor is it easily updated with map changes. To be balanced, you are thinking it is worth paying $10k more or invest $1,000s of dollars to correct the Jap sat Nav when you can buy a Jap BMW and save BIG bucks and then buy a $500 Tomtom or similar that is transferable from one car to another and can live in the glovebox until you actually need to use it. How many people actually drive with the Sat Nav on all the time in NZ? $10k extra for NZ Sat Nav is a bit extravagent. When it comes to later resale, do you think you will recover the $10k because you bought a car with NZ Sat Nav in it. Just my thoughts

Just had a look at the Japan auctions. There is a silver 745i e65 2005 RHD Fully Loaded going for auction tomorrow with only 36kms on the clock. They are estimating a sell price of 2.7m Yen which is $NZ43,000 on the road driving here. I know where and what I would buy . Import your own and save $$$$$$$$

I bought an Eisenmann Meisterschaft TOURING with Carbon Fiber Tips. There are 3 different exhausts made by them for the e60 M5, each with a different "loudness" profile. Sport is quiet, Touring is is Medium - 95 dB and the Racing is loud - over 100 db. NZ limit is 95 dB so do some research before commiting, in case you have options in the exhaust for the e39. I bought mine from the m5board.com. Suggest you do a google for the e39. Maybe a Wanted To Buy (WTB) post in ... http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=213 It is easier for transportation to find a seller based in California (Cal or SoCal) if you want to use the shipping company I use

Just searched my manual on CD and there is no oil temperature gauge or similar in the e60s. They only refer to checking the oil level manually. The M5 does have the oil temp gauge where the fuel vaccum sits and also has an digital oil level display as some V10 engines have an oil consumtion issue. Come over to the other side ....... PS if you need a CD owners manual for your e60 or any BMW after 1999, send me a PM. I was selling quite a few on TM as a service till the buggers stopped me.

Not sure if anyone has seen this. Apparently there is a franchise company in Germany who are applying printed foil to your car. Cost is around $US 3500 per car and when you are sick of the colour, you can just peel it off and you are back to original paint again. So far they have franchisees in Sweden and UAE. http://www.foilacar.com/index_gallery.php A good business opportunity for someone in NZ??

The M5Board.com had similar concerns but readers there found the fitment was OK. There was one issue with them sending a S/H piece out by mistake and after the US guys got extremely excited, the company refunded the $. I sent an email asking about a possible group discount or shipping a larger order but the answer I got was that they wanted to send my piece first before they looked at a group option. Bit strange. Once it is fitted, I might update threead for other on how it fitted etc. I like the RH2 Lip they are selling which is why I am working with them.

Just about to buy a splitter ex HK from a company called Revozport. http://www.revozport.com/revozportRT.htm They have a lot of gear for all models of BMWs. I was wondering if anyone else was seriously interested in joining in an order I am placing, to share freight etc. Pricing is on the web site and I was quoted $US 150 freight to bring in a single splitter. Note that GST is payable on entry to NZ but I can arrange clearance thru my business. I will be ordering my splitter around 23 May.

Suggest you have a listen to some of the exhaust setups on utube to gauge possible sounds from different international suppliers of exhausts. If you have time to make a decision, suggest searching on some of the US e39 sites, the US equilivent of this forum, and check out the classified listings there. I have just shipped a near new one from the US to NZ and the freight was very reasonable. The total cost was 1/3 of what it would cost in NZ. Only issue is that it takes a month to ship here.

Have you tried Conroy Furniture movers? I used them recently for moving some desks from Akl to Chc and they were user friendly. If you do a depot to depot service, will be the cheapest. I paid by giving credit card details over the phone.

I only got the T model as I am in EU for a month later this year and wanted the Traffic info. It gives you another dongle you hang off the unit which gives you up to the minute traffic warnings like accidents or traffic build ups on motorways so that you can hit the "alternative route" button. You probably won't need it and not worth the extra $.Beware that Amazon won't send electronic goods to NZ. You will get thru the process then it will tell you (I know from trying it). The eBay guy I dealt with was trustworthy and good to deal with compared with other eBay traders I have used. He had the 920 model as well as the 920T. Just landed one of these too. fits well and is more discrete than the window holder. http://cgi.ebay.com/Car-Vent-CUSTOM-SWIVEL...1713.m153.l1262

I bought the unit from this guy and was here in a week http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-TOMTOM-GO-92...1713.m153.l1262 Link to Tomtom is http://www.tomtom.com/ Maps is http://www.tomtom.com/products/maps/select...ge=8&D=1070 cost for NZ map was $AUS 150 but bear in mind the eBay had all the US and Europe maps pre loaded with a 1 year free map download subscription free. Definately go for the 920 or 920T model as it has all the bells and whistles on it. If you note the NZ Tomtom website will try to sell you the lower 720 model for $699 so the deal on eBay is great !!!

Just to throw a spanner in your thinking, I used a Tomtom in Europe last month and was impressed. It was easy to use and fun also. Ended up coming back to NZ and wanted one for here too. Went on line and everyone local was selling the basic models at high prices. Went to the head web site and found they are selling the latest model everywhere but in Australisia. Anyway, cut a long story short, ended up with the top of the range unit, Go 920T with all Europe, Canada and US maps on the 4GB internal memory landed here from eBay US for $NZ600. Downloaded the latest NZ map to the unit via the web and a docking port. It has Bluetooth for my phone calls, iPod interface and it can read out street names. I know we have a liking for local products but if you happen to go overseas this unit is ready to go with you and it is the best selling GPS brand in the world so will be supported in years to come. You may not need it right now but in a few years time, it may be a good toy to take on your OE or trip. My 5 cents worth

Saw someone on the m5board.com talking about it and has one for sale there. Available on eBay too. Check out this link http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthrea...ghlight=carsoft

Thanks Riley. I thought about local but that was as far as it went. Wasn't too sure who was any good hence the thinking Chc was the place to go. When it arrives, will drop in and see Ben and see if I trust him with the beast More than happy to take you for a strop. Really wanted to do a track day at Raupuna to open the taps up and get some learning. The Fiat day was just too soon and the car had just landed. You will hopefully hear the car rather than just see the car in Rga. PPlate is next mod then 20" rims & tires ex US are next on the agenda.

Just importing a Meisterschaft exhaust ex US and need to fit it to the beast. Any recommendation for someone in Christchurch area who can set it up perfectly and weld accurately? Thanks

Once you register on that site, they start to send you auction notices / listings / link to USS with the listings and model codes etc (ie BMW 3 series 2001 with 2.8l motor would be ... "AM28") Below is a free link and pasword to the USS site which is a grown up version to NZ Turners Car Auctions. Doesn't show you the start price and estimated finish price but you get that info by asking Kadoco once you have registered. Happy window shopping (Wed or Thurs has the most listings on line) http://bzl.cis6200.jp/e/ Password E72823

I think our petrol is quite cheap compared with Europe. I was in Germany 2 weeks ago and paid $NZ 2.90 litre. In Holland it was $NZ 3.20. It hasn't stopped people over there from driving. On the other side, it was $NZ 1.10 litre in Thailand. The price has a lot to do with government revenue rather than oil companies putting up prices etc. Correct me if I am wrong but the government makes more money as the price moves up due to that fact it takes a % of the fuel price charged from the oil companies.

Either way, buy direct from Japan. I see heaps of 1 series as well as Minis for sale on a weekly basis. Company to use over there ... best service and nice people to work with (I have used a few companies over there) ... http://www.kadoco.co.jp/ Any further advise needed, send me a PM

I bought the plates S/H from Plates and they were already Euro style which I thought was great. When the car landed, I realised that the e60s in JP have smaller bonnet holes which was annoying. Looked at a new M5 boot but Stealer wanted too much. Last resort is to put the Euro plate on the front and standard plate on the rear. Why buy a NZ new car when the JP model is $30k cheaper ...

If you think that is rip off, I got charged $82 by PLATES today to delist my plates from Euro ranking to plain. Why you may ask ??? Because the Euro Plate I bought won't fit in the gap of the rear boot and only an NZ original can. The $82 was for the paperwork and on Tuesday I can ask REMAKE to issue a normal plate.

Alias I too have been there and asked around. Audi Stealers said you can't change the unit and suggested a NZ Audi Radio but that will fill 1/2 the gap. I ended up putting in a band expander myself but still not happy I can't get the TV to work. My 02 Allroad did come with a Japan DVD for the nav. When I put that in, the display on the dash showed a compass on it which is better than nothing and the words "No Service" (I think that is what it says). Not sure if I can copy the disc but if yours doesn't have one, reply here and I will see if it can be disc copied. On another front, I found someone on an overseas forum who is mentoring me thru buying cables on eBay and setting me up with the software to convert radios on the e60s BMWs which have the same issue. The cabling may work also in the Audi as there is a VAGCOMM set up amongst it. If I can get mine changed, I will set up a sideline to convert other e60s for a small fee to cover the costs of the cables - not a cheap excerise so far. Once that comes together, the Audi will be next target. Will update progress in a few weeks time once I have worked thru it.

From last service invoice, Chc BMW put "Castrol TWS M/SPORT" into the beast and charged $184 +GST just for the oil. Had a look at the owners manual but no reference to trans Dipstick.

Deeveus525i Is your radio set to NZ frequencies by previous owner or are you using a band expander? I ended up with a band expander as all other attempts were dead ends. After Jochen's comments I am thinking I reacted too soon. My issue would be that I am based in Sth Is. $6k is $6k and think that a navman in the glove box would be a cheaper alternative when I need a map plus I could take it with me when I use a rental in Akl etc.. Realistically, I would never use the sat nav in the M5 although the Heads Up Display (HUD) shows the directions. If you ever have the option on buying a BMW with HUD, DO IT !!!! It is a fantastic piece of gear and very much worth having. Impossible to retro fit though.

Any excuse to go sit in the car at 11pm and answer the thread. Wife will think it is normal Yes you can program what you want on the RH side of the viewing panel. Instructions - Start screen - Push ENTERTAINMENT - Push Right (don't turn it) - Should highlight the RH side of the screen - Push idrive down - should show you different options for the RH side - Scroll to "computor" - Activate / push down All going well you will be happy. Jochen, interested in your comment ... "BM Workshop in Auckland can reprogram the radio tuner for you so that it is proper NZ frequencies, no band expander required" Is this for real ??? Have been all over the web trying to find how to do it and no one out there has cracked it. M5Board forum says it it is not possible to do it as Japan speced car requires you to change the factory build sheet for the car in Germany and then everytime you update the software after that. Local dealer is agrees and says BMW NZ are of the same opinion as we are stuck with it. BMW introduced it to stop cars moving between countries especially from US back to Europe. Sat Nav is impossibel with out shelling out $6k and replacing most of the brain & hardware.