bravo

Hey martyyn, regarding your bonnet prob - this is from the sept TBMW and although the car in question is a different model, it may work and be worth a try. "Q. Please help! I have a 1989 320i and the bonnet cable has just broken. How on earth do you get the bonnet open? A. That's easy! Look inside the passenger front grille, between the centre chrome grille and the headlamps, and you see two 10mm bolts that hold the bonnet release catch to the front panel behinf the grille. Between these two bolts is a hole and if you insert a long flat blade screwdriver through the grille ( a hole will have to be drilled on earlier cars) and into this hole, then twist the screwdriver, you'll find that the bonnet will open." Now obviously this won't work exactly on an E38, but there may be a similar method for it.

I was in the garage fossicking for my axle stands, and I came back to find this... Lesson - always put axle stands in BEFORE removing wheel! Should have been on the drive using my trolley jack in any case.

Ahhh, the Mojito (the "j" is pronounced as if it were an "h" as the word is of Spanish origin). A truly great cocktail if prepared correctly, and with the right proportions so as not to make it too sweet. Goes fantastically on a sunny afternoon with an antipasto platter.

Oh, also, I was hitchhiking on NYE and a boyracer from Takapuna picked me up. He had a V1, and we were driving in the police-logged Paihia area, and we got no false alarms, and picked up every cop before it would have been a problem had he been speeding. Having never seen one in action, I was very impressed.

Interesting article in todays NZ Herald (yes I read it when I'm on holiday too - shame on me!) about a Herald Poll regarding speeding and speed cameras. Ididn't think much of the media hyping a poll like this without any real scientific backing (they didn't even say whether the people surveyed were motorists or not, just that they were all over 18) as media hype can be damaging. However the poll results were interesting nonetheless. I try not to speed now (used to be a chronic speeder) due to being the passenger in a vehicle which took a corner too fast and crashed and I fractured my spine. I recovered, but have ongoing back problems. Still, I occaisionally catch myself upto 15km over the limit without really realising it, I then adjust my speed accordingly of course, but it happens. it is not that I am not paying enough attention, its just that my attention is on the road, not the speedo, and I am moving with the traffic flow. When speeding in these cases, it does not feel unsafe - I have a big following distance, and the potential hazards are minor. I am also a motorcyclist, so I am in the habit of looking down every side street and drive for potential cars that may come out and hit me off my bike. This habit transfers to when I'm in my car, and so during city driving I almost never break the limit as I can tell when I'm speeding by the fact I don't have time to check driveways, but on the open road it is much easier to scan for hazards and it is easy for speed to creep up with flowing traffic. That is my excuse for speeding. It won't stand up in court, but I do not beleive that it is unsafe speeding either. It is also interesting to note, that although I have had one or two accidents they have all been at 30km/hr or less, and although I have a driving conviction, in that case, I was in fact stationary and not at fault, but my age worked against me and the police believed the fabricated story of the old driver of the other car. So it seems that you can in fact get yourself into trouble by not speeding too. BTW: I don't have a radar detector either, and have never had a speeding ticket.

never heard of vdo dayton - must have a listen when I come across them. RF as above is not really MY taste, but I totally forgot JBL. Haven't played with any JBL headunits, but if the quality of their amps is anything to go by, then they will be very good.

Doesn't sound too good. That really sucks. JVC has a good reputation for quality - I would place it above Pioneer, Sony and Panasonic about on par with Kenwood and Alpine, and below the likes of Clarion and Blaupunkt. But before you all flame me, this is just MY perception based on a mixture of experience, personal listening tastes, exposure to marketing and brand awareness. They do seem to get hot though which is why a lot of them have those big heatsinks on the side. (I have never liked the sound produced by the big american brands like Kicker and RF etc so didn't list those). Head units are pretty damn cheap now - you can pick up a Clarion with MP3 and WMA without breaking the bank provided you get one of the base models - and if you like JVC ( as I do) you can get a 50x4 MP3/WMA with multicolour LCD for under $300 for the base ones and less than $500 for mid range. The multicolour LCD means you can then match it with your dash lights as most single colour units are blue or green.

The barrier is always badass. Which harbour you stay at? Did you "tent it" or "DOC Hut it"?

Without knowing all of the specifics regarding the sale, what was or wasn't said, and how long ago it happened etc, it is hard to say, but it sounds like you have grounds for complaint against the vendor under the consumer guarantees and fair trading acts, and there is a separate act which deals specifically with motor vehicles. The first place of call would be the LTSA - helpline number is 0800 699 000. Or the LTSA website This case brings up the importance of a prepurchase inspection before buying a vehicle, even if you just get your mechanic to have a quick look, although a proper check by someone like the AA, or a BMW service centre is recommended. There are heaps of links on the net for those wanting advice on what to look for when buying a vehicle or you could get a copy of the dog and lemon guide mentioned elsewhere on this forum and available from your local bookstore which has a quite extensive prepurchase checklist with information (albeit a little harsh in some cases) on individual makes and models. The LTSA also has a info sheet here. Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on.

Thanks Napier - I had a look on the TNZ website and found the warrant check handbook - my car was first registered in '97 - jap import imported for the wife of some big-shot at BMW NZ, so has all of the electrics etc, but none of the go fast bits . Anyway, means I need the light. Interesting reading in the handbook though - it is a must read for anyone thinking of modding there cars as there is a lot in there I didn't know even just regarding spot and driving lights etc. Link to warrant guidebook

Na, na, I mean painted orange needles. I reckon the orange lighting is the shizzle. Mine is orange on low and almost red on high intensity. Love Audis bright red. But during the day orange needles??? Anyway, thanks heaps for the comments, I reckon white faces with red needles is prob the answer but still keen for other opinions. Tim, you got an photos I could look at? Where did you get them from - I am looking at importing from the UK as I haven't seen any in NZ (mainly I think because I don't know where to look).

The site would be cool if it wasn't frequented by such a bunch of lying and/or nasty wee buggers. The rides are often not theirs, and then they rubbish everyone elses. We have our own version here in the rides section which is how such a site should be - AFAIK all the rides are legit, and in the most part the criticisms are constructive. Don't need to remove the thread though, just let it drop down the list - you're right someone may be interested.

After successfully putting some life back in the bimmers carpets, the itch to tinker is still there, so I am thinking of sprucing up the instrument cluster. I got the ide of painting the needles a different colour (like red) from one of the cars in TBMW's E30 special, and as it would be an absolutely simple mod, I was just wondering what people think. Would you recolour yours? If yes what colour? I am considering red as orange is dated, and yellow would almost ruin it I think - too much rice? It also got me thinking about the instrument faces themselves - I can get replacement faces in white, silver and one or too other colours, but without seeing them in a car am unsure - what do you all think? Cheers.

Would have said it a little less harshly myself, but you can't argue with the sentiment. The boy is right.

Hah, ended up with 4 free tickets to "the overpriced thing..." Feelers, OP Shop, Evermore - ended up rocking pretty hard. Lots of drinkies and so on then to the firestation for another mad session, then scored a sober lift back to my place at about 4.30am for a car load or two, so it was all on the shooters and other until sunrise, then breakfast and bed at 7.30am. One of the best NYE ever. Up at 1pm yesterday for a day at the beach - weather is so kickass up here for the last three days - sun,sun,sun! and a BBQ at the firestation to finish up. Great start to 2005, hope it is an omen for things to come.

I like Holden styling. I used to own a VK when I was at uni. 3-spd Auto box that would pull a wheel spin for a good 30 or 40 metres at the lights without having to drop it in gear. Just select D, release brake and stand on the gas - hard! Only pro was aerodynamics - front used to lift up at 180 and I'd lose steering - f**ken scary in a heavy beast like that. Sold it as it was too gas-hungry, cost $50 to fill when gas was under a dollar a litre, and only went 450km on that with above driving style. (Of which I have now grown out of - I haven't had the bimmer over 120 and that was during a passing manoeuver ) Holdens and fords are tractors though which I think was the point of the pic. I have driven a selection of older Mercs and Audi's like an old 1977 230C, a 190E 2.3 (with the cosworth engine), a couple of Audi 80's and 100's, and a nineties A4, and although I really liked them all, I still prefer the bimmer. Audi's go really hard and have cool interior, but I don't like the exterior styling although I do like the new grilles. Mercs have cool exterior styling - love the W124!!! but they are much heavier, there seems to be less feel when driving them, and although the 190E 2.3 went like a cut cat, I just didn't feel it was as much of a drivers car as an E30 325 say. As far as the original topic goes - not worth the hassle dude. Sorry. Oh and as far as this goes: Laughing my ass off - in theory its all legit - hahahaha!

I have a copy of the 2004 Dog & Lemon. If you read the whole thing (i.e. the articles at the beginning, obviously not every page!) you will discover that the authors are total cynics, and don't trust the automobile manufacturing industry. They rate EVERY sports car as not recommended because more people die in sports cars than any others to give you an example of how loopy those guys are. The guide is invaluable as a pre-purchase tool as because it is so picky and in depth on known problems with cars, you can use it as a head's-up when looking at a used car in terms of what to look for, but in no way should you believe it all, or take it too much to heart. For instance, it advises readers to avoid E30's with more than 150000kms like the plague - and as we know, a well looked after example with many more kms than this if priced reasonably is a perfectly good automobile.

Exactly Not so, the following is from page 62 of The Classic Mecedes-Benz by Phil Drackett "Energy Concept was the reply of one manufacturer [Mercedes] to outside pressure to make cars less demanding of the worlds fuel supplies, and it introduced a number of modifications designed to reduce fuel consumption. The cars involved had 'EC' added to the model code, for example, 380SEC and 500SEC." I don't think there was an SE coupe. There were C's, SC's and SLC's for example the 1977 380SLC 3.8L V8. I have read this somewhere before - a site on the net somwhere I think. My reference to E was to the E after the model like 320iE. I am not sure how the numbering system works except for the fact that it has appeared to have changed recently with the sudden increase in numbers, and a much larger spread of numbers which may indicate that each "series" may now have its own range of numbers rather than just a chronological increase as in times past.

Even then, the original E mecerdes was to indicate a petrol fuel injection model as in the 230E or 190E etc. Only when they changed to the letter in front of the name and they becam classes or series as in a-class, c-class and e-class etc did the "E" come to mean executive. As far as bimmers go, I thought E was for the Energy efficient models with the ETA engines, but I could be wrong of course. As a side note, mercedes energy efficient models were the EC's as in 500SEC. EC stands for "Energy Concept" The normal model was simply 500S, 500SL or 500SEL.

Thanks for that - think I will need a light then esp. as the car is an import and so was first regeistered in the nineties. Bugger - LED all the way then.

Cool car man! Love the new spoiler and mirrors. You still need to remove that ugly-ass jap mounting bracket, and I liked the factory wheels better - sorry, just my opinion. But its what you like that counts aye! Still lovin the car though. Big ups!

Never done it before, but heres how I would tackle it: There are two screws/bolts attaching the hinge to the glove box which are readily accessible from the footwell. Undo these. ( have someone to help you support the weight of the box so you don't break anything or use a prop to prop it up. Lower it enough to feel in for the straps on either side about half way between the back and front of the glovebox. You can push the plastic pins out on the bottom of the straps and release them from the glovebox allowing it to drop further. Hopefully now you have enough room to make like the rubber man and get your hand in and release the latch manually by simply pressing in on the catches. This may be easier if you own a small child. The only other option is to employ a lock smith, or sarcrifice the lock with a great big screwdriver and some force.

Hi Allistair - sorry, didn't take a picture of the hole. If you look at the fourth picture which shows the tray and seats and light all missing, you will notice a big hole in the seat backing which wasn't there before. This is where the ski hole is. There are two ways to access the hole. 1. From inside the car: Remove the lower half of the rear seat by lifting up firmly at the front (it is on two very robust clips - no chance of breaking, and not too hard to pop off). The bottom then just lifts out. Then if you look down where the seatbelts attach at the bottom, there is a small 12mm bolt (mine is behind a small flap of vinyl) which bolts the seat back on on both sides. Undo these and then ease the bottom of the seat back out to release it. You then simply lift firmly to unhook the seat from two hooks at the top and the whole thing lifts out. On my car there was a carpet-like lining behind the seat glued to the boot firewall. It was perforated where the ski hole is so I didn't even have to cut it, I just pulled out the hole. The ski hole itself is also perforated, so a pair of tin snips, or even better a hacksaw will make quick work of it. I cut one or two strategically placed perforations and then kung-fued that sucker like Bruce Lee. Fun Fun Fun! (Just make sure you don't go right through the boot lining or remove it first). 2. From inside the boot: - much easier if you do not have to remove the seats for anything else. Simply remove the boot lining over the boot firewall which is easy, just grab the small central bit of the plastic clips holding it in place with a pair of pliers and pull. The central bit pulls out, followed by the rest of the clip - you may have to remove the floor lining first (easy, just lifts out), but shouldn't have to touch the side linings - little bastard things that are hard to remove, and worse to reinstall. You then need to cut all of the skihole perforations as if you kung fu it, you'll wreck your seat. Done! Good luck. I have not cut a hole in my boot firewall lining yet as I want to try it with it undamaged for resale value, but if it is not a workable solution, I will cut it, and maybe source a secondhand one as a replacement on sale.

All in a days work - literally

Viola! Done!