RvT

I paid $110k on road for mine with 25km in Jan. Price is always dropping in Japan but so is the the $NZ vs JPY. Bringing in your own has it advantages

Did a search on " 65126960516 bmw " As predicted $US45 but not sure if they send overseas http://www.circlebmw.com/cgi-bin/acc/acc.c..._records=Search Not sure if they will send overseas but if you have a relative or contact in US to send to .... http://euro-parts-america.com/bmw6.htm From personal experience, usually the Japan agent removes anything loose like CD changer, keys, log books when they get the car ex auction. From there, they on send the gear with the paperwork in a courier bag. I have had the odd time where they get sent later on or even overlooked and are sitting in the agents "draw". After asking, they materialise a few weeks later. Other times, the agent says they never were in the car at the auction so there is not much chance of ever getting them. Spare keys are a real pain in the a#$e as they don't materialise and cost heaps over here.

Hi Picture attached. $200 is unforetunately about right for an OEM in NZ. Suggest it could be half that price ex overseas dealers / traders. Have you tried to get one thru the previous owner?

I agree but it is not until you sit behind the wheel, everything changes. It is an amazing piece of equipment - more than I ever expected.

If it is the same as my e60, the CD case is not normal style and almost a 1/2 case with a 1/2 clear case. Part number on mine is ... 65.12-6 960 516 PM me if you want me to take a photo of it for you. Haven't seen one wrecking overseas of late so you may need to bit the bullet and buy from stealer. Suggest getting a price from the UK BMW parts guys like http://www.motormec.co.uk/ If you want fuel ecomony, don't touch the M5. Got from Chc to Timaru on a full tank !!! Averaging about 230km out of a tank but I am driving in "excited mode"

YES they are cheap. I spotted them too and was going to buy them just for the tyres. The rear tyres, 285/35x19 Pirelli P Zero rear, are worth $1250 EACH alone. I have just priced some new rubber for my car and that was the price per tyre. Was tempted to buy the set and take the rubber off and resell the rims alone

Found this link on another forum in US looking at what tyre to buy and why. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_li...eature/(page)/1 Interesting reading if you are like me and can't decide what brand.

I put 65 litres in the tank and used the BP Ultimate. Only used the M button twice and scared a passenger both times. Petrol light came on at 1/4 tank luckily. Haven't tried the LC (Launch Control) as yet. I never heard of it until I read this thread in the US ... http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=113072 So much to learn on the car

Ok. You guys are going to love this figure .... E60 M5 with the V10 motor. Just finished my 1st tank of gas and have been "learning" how to drive it ... 70 liitre tank and I got 230km out of it = 30.4 litres per 100km And it was worth every cent

You have to hire a container to put it in which usually costs around 2800 Euro so it works out to be $NZ 6000 - 6500 which includes clearance and cartage ex wharf. You should really check out the Japan market as the roll on / roll off works out at $1500 per car. Second issue is the BMW Compliance Paper which costs $500 to get. Japanese imports usually have the data on the dereg certificate but BMWs, ex UK, don't come with it so it is an extra cost. Third issue is that you can't tell from the paperwork if the UK has ever been in an accident whereas the Japan system will show it on the auction data.

Have bought in 2 ex UK and 10 ex Japan. I have a speadsheet set up in xls which is easy to use. Shows all the costs involved along the way. You fill in the purchase price and the on road is calculated on the bottom. PM me your email address & I will send to you. Happy to mentor you thru the process for a dozen Heinies once it has landed

Appreciate your trying Zenetti. Have been looking on the US M5 forums and most over there prefer the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 285/35/19 over anything else like the Toyos & Pirellis. Had a look at the Michelin web site for Aust/NZ and they only show a PS2 295/30ZR19 on their site. Not sure if it will fit the M5. How was the Conti price I have been quoted at $1250 stack up?

I had assumed that too as the e39 had a world radio in it. After dropping into the dealership today, they informed me that the e60 doesn't have the world radio any more and it is back to the old system of band expander. No doubt as more e60s come into NZ, this will become a topic of more forums here.

Yip I am stuck with RFT. Will check out your link next Just now surfing to fix next issue ... Radio changing from Jap fequencies to NZ. Malaysia has the same issues so checking forum there. Don't want to put a band expander in if I can avoid it. They talk about swapping the CD player to get the radio operating but still surfing for confirmation. 2nd problem is that car has Japanese Car phone option and not bluetooth option so trying to find if I can link them. Currently a retrofit on eBay at $US1,000 which is not worth the expense. So many ducks to line up to get the car where I am "happy"

Thanks The boot of the e60 M5 - Obviously a different rear spare which is surprising as I thought they would keep the same panels etc

Thanks guys for the links which is what this forum is about Had a look for the jack yesterday under the back mat and it wasn't good. There is no space for a spare tyre full stop unless it is less than 10" wide. Not sure how the other e60s get around it but the space is taken up with a battery, wiring looms and only a compressor plus a BMW can of glu which will links up with the compressor to pump up the tyre. I have to buy RFTs by default unless the spare sits in the boot which is not likely. The rear tyres past compliance test last week but there are some cuts in the side wall and a couple of chunks of rubber removed about the size of 50 cent piece so replacements are required. Falkons - are they RFTs ? I see on eBay that Pirelli make some - not sure if they are in NZ. Currently I am told nothing in NZ for my car but some Continentals about 2 weeks away.

Hi Stig I have privately imported about 3 cars ex UK and 10+ ex Japan so am speaking from a fair bit of experience. Initial comments is that importing cars is child's play and very staight forward so don't let that put you off. Second comment is that UK is not the best hunting ground for buying BMWs due to the higher cost of getting them to NZ. Basically you have to put into a container and ship across the world which adds about $5k more than getting from Japan. On the positive, the number plates are longer Euro ones so fitting NZ ones look better. On the negative is that the speedos are set to miles, not km. I have a spreadsheet which is very accurate to calculate the costs. Happy to email it to you if you are really serious. Basically your 19kGBP car at currency rate of .385 on the road and registered will be $NZ64k. If you got it for 18k GBP would be on road at $NZ61k. These costing incl GST which you will have to pay on entry. Before you settle on the 3 series, take a 130i for a drive. I did the BMW driver training in one and was more than impressed with it. I was expecting bottom feeder in the BMW range but left with a different view of them if you were looking for a shopping basket. Last word would be to buy one ex Japan rather than England. Should land at least $15k cheaper than your UK one and likely more options. They do come up in RHD but you have to be patient. Hope this helps

Good point about the West Coast etc. Do all the e60s run with no spare tyres in them? (I know my old z4 had no spare). I was a bit shocked when I looked for the spare and only saw a 12V compressor. Haven't checked if it has a jack as yet now I think of it - will look at it in the morning. I would feel safer with a spare in the car though. Zenetti - have you heard of bad experinces with RFTs and people being stuck in the middle of no where? Local tyre guy reckons you can get 200kms out of a flat one at 80km/h. Your thoughts or experiences ?

Car has Continental Sportcontact2 on at the moment. Local tyre place said replacement cost is $1250 each. Falkons are one option at half that price but not sure if they are run flats. Any other options out there in NZ ?

Bummer - hope you can get the car on the road asap. Must be painful waiting to drive your E60 M5! The battery is getting low from me getting in and playing with the iDrive and starting it up. So many options to play with and learn. Drive's totally different with the SMG than I ever thought it would. So used to tiptronic auto that the car rolls back when you are in drive and sitting at intersection - it is a manual car at heart.

If you want to hear gutting ... just getting my Jap import e60 complied and everything was fine until they couldn't find the Chassis Sticker (not the VIN engraved on the suspension). The dereg sheet from Japan didn't have the classification number on it so I have to go to BMW NZ for the official compliance sheet ... cost = $500 for a letter from them !!! and it will take 7 working days !!! Will - nice lines on the e36

I did some research for the same question a few months ago when Helen decided to test the water. At that stage, Euro 3 was proposed which was after 2000 build. Now the law is set for Euro 2 standard which I think was 1998 (you will need to check by googling "BMW Euro 2 emmission") The LTSA site with info is http://www.landtransport.govt.nz/publicati...sheet-2-08.html

There is a 2000 528i in Japan for sale which has full leather, TV etc and only 75kms on the clock. Landed price on road in NZ is $12,000 if you import it yourself. http://www.tau-sales.com/defaultMall/sitem...?GoodsNo=187313 I know which car I would be buying ...

It would be simpler to buy a LHD in Japan, bring to NZ then on ship to Korea. There are quite a few LHD that show up in the auctions and getting to NZ is only $1500 transport fee ontop of purchase price.

I asked Jochen the same question about my E60 M5 and this was his reply. Hope it helps. Ron.... The E60 and all other i-Drive cars are very very very very different when it comes to the stereo and nav systems Example: RADIO The radio hardware is identical world-wide, but the car's software settings tell the radio whether it should operate in Japan-mode, US-mode, or European-mode (we use European mode in NZ) So to fix the radio requires either: a) change the country code of the car to singapore, NZ (anything but Japan or US), and re-code the car (theory, never tried!) temporarily fit the radio to a Singapore or NZ car, and recode the radio, then fit back to the Japan car (has been done a few times, works) Approach a is the best, but it is a theory. BMW never authorise changing of a cars country code - so it is a try-and-see approach, and you need the right workshop software to do it. NAV The maps for NZ are available, so maps are not an issue. But the Jap nav unit must be swapped out for the Euro nav unit to make it work in NZ. That's because the Japs use a special Japan-only map format, not used by anyone else in the world.The nav hardware is possibly plug-and-play, but I have never tested it yet. Happy to try, and the risk is low - if you buy a nav for the car, and it doesn't work, you can re-sell the nav (buy and sell on ebay) Not so many around at the mo, I expect them to sell for around 500 Euros (NZD $1,000) In the E38/E39 the BMW architechture allowed for a swap of a Jap nav to a Euro nav. I've done loads of E38 and E39 navs. The only way to know on an E60/E65 is to try the first one.... Physically exchanging them should be straight forward - the issues are if the software is compatible - I have the resources of a BMW diagnostic computer if required to assist. May cost a few beers to the workshop... If you are willing to have a punt, I'm willing to help...... PS: I now drive an E39 540i with fully converted radio and nav. Everything works.... and the nav is very very cool. Jochen