hybrid

Short distances are fine. You only need to go after market if your doing some summertime long distance towing. Any good auto transmission specialist can do this.

Keep it in a dry location or get it painted/coated ASAP. Surface rust takes only a few days to sink in.

Sure is ... 29th bring it along. PS. Good stuff, will be nice to get a full review on here + photos.

The ZF 5HP24 transmission serves a purpose however its all based on the Ks done on it. BMW, Jag and Range Rover all use this trans and if your talk to the ZF agents in NZ. They say it doesnt matter what country they come from, if theyve had long hours in crawler traffic then they get a hammering. Its not exactly a weak point and a lot of moan on the interwebs is because of people who have had trouble trying to find out whats going on. Where people who dont have trouble dont have an issue so dont moan about them. Im on my second one, My first one was ok from a shifting point of view however it would overheat. It was easier and cheaper after replacing everything else just to put a new low K trans in. Anyways, Towing you will be fine. If you notice its starting to hold gears all the way to 4000 RPM then the trans is over heating. Alot of people who do heavy towing on auto use after market transmission coolers. Which makes a lot of sense.

80 - 120ks if your anal. 150-180 if you arent

The x5 comes with the ZF 5HP24 transmission. Like all good (x)5 and 7 series cars the cooling system is a pain point on these vehicles. It needs to be kept in tip top shape. This is the same for the transmission. Two main failures happen. Piston valve guide wear which will cause thumping between gears and tranmission over heat caused by various short-comings in the auto trans cooling system. EG Lines clog, Heat Exchanger clogs, Heat Exchanger thermo-stat clogs or the valve floats in the transmission clog. Any of these will cause the gearbox fluid not to cycle properly through the transmission and therefor cool. If you keep this all in check, theyre fine. Or get a manual, which is near on impossible in this country. + its a retarded thing to have for rush hour if you live in the city. Other fall downs are water cooling system. When things start to go, just replace everything. All pipes, water pumps, thermostats, pipes front and rear and expansion tanks and radiator caps. Otherwise apart from brakes and bushes and thrush arm bushes. Theyre a pretty good car. The v8 timing chain guides suffer in high K motors. They just wear out and need replacing. There you go, some fact about them

Get airfreight .. dont take the NZ retailer cop out 'it will be on the next shipment' ... haha sorry, been on the same road as you before an know how hard it is .. jus giving ya sh*t

All basic stuff there Graham, only takes a day to put it in.. youll have to better than that ...

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/03...r-was-shed.html enjoy ........... I think ?

That is a stunner ... GLWS

for s54: The whole thing, Sump and all. The s50b32 path isnt a bad system, just not as good as the s54 solution. I'm personally running a 528 pump and pickup. But my sump is an m50 one which is at the front not the rear as with the m3. It has no issues as the oil doesnt drain the sump well under heavy braking like the s50 does. Here is an old post on the issue. http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=14550 edit: just buy Jamez one

Go s54 pickup... its a much better system for the problem with the pump which is actually to do with hard braking then high g corners afterwards.

each to their own then Onx would be my choice. You guys would also be suprised which dealers order wood grain standard then paint over it for customers. The finish is so good it actually looks and wears better than factory.

The engine in conrads car is worth about the going rate for an m5 at the moment. A standard s14b23 or 25 isnt really the same engine. Agree with jamez, wanna go fast around hampton. Do s5X + e30

Agree, if its been done properly youll probably find its straighter than one that hasn't been done. e30's arent the most ridged cars.

Done ... sorry was yacking to another bimmersporter for the past 2 hours.

yeah .. normally dig new designs, but im glad there are only two. Looks like something from the 80's

Excellent re: 29th cant wait!

Can do a photos for you ... would be my pleasure to shoot your car.

Ask for a quote on how much to restore back to standard.

Heat is the problem at the moment. Getting the filters and some outside air away from the headers and also heat on the MAFs which has air flow temp.

Not to be mr negative, but possibly expect a trans failsafe program pop up on the MID in winter. Not enough grunt to activate the trans solanoids and throws a fault. You should really be running a DIN88. Good stuff on the restore, I need to do this to my headlights My give it a crack next weekend.

After that its pretty much to Motul 300v 5w-40. Castrol 10w60 is a good all rounder however and fine for track / race.

Cool see you on the 29th at the playday then ?

Really nice car. Youll be enjoying the s54 no doubt. Wood grain can be painted with really high qaulity interior paint. Gives a really nice silver finish that doesnt wear if your wanting to change the interior. Precision Autowerks does it AKL, Northshore. Talk to Paul Gibson, tell him josh sent ya and to look after to you