318Touring

Point taken :-) I know about integrated sat-nav, they are cool (well very cool). However it's very hard to part with $7k when Wellington is quite small, and if you're lost you can always stop at the nearest book shop, covertly consult with one of the maps they have for sale, and on the way again... What we need is those new car buyers to start specifying sat-nav when optioning the cars, so when they've traded the cars (thank you depreciation), voila, sat-nav in the dash without forking out $7k!!

Ah, you've got tow bar. Lucky you. Nice ride BTW.

All fun and good. However to retrofit Nav to non-Nav car, a $7000outlay is required :-( So, have fun when you do have one !!!!!

M6 in herald " ... Calem a young man with an unhealthy M-car obsession and unnaturally detailed product knowledge for one so young." Unhealthy? Should be amazing and thorough, as expected from a member of the family of a BMW owner.

Twin, debadged, add M5 rear spoiler ($150 in TM + painting).

The fan is for the a/c system only. Have you checked that water pump isn't leaking. Leaking valve cover gasket will be my first suspect.

Is it an E60 or E39? Any pictures yet?

This topic came up when chatting to Pat Connelly, the GM of Team European, who is ex Shelly. The only manufacturer that doesn't do this kind of thing is BMW. Merc takes their customers to Boomrock. And I think someone here wrote about Merc sponsored driver's day at Chch' racetrack?

Right, so a few weeks ago I got the invitation to attend one of the four sessions available in Welly. I booked a couple of places for myself and the missus. She already said that she's not driving. Well, fine by me!!! On the day, we were actually the last when we arrived at 8.25 am in the Brewery. Gosh, people are keen or what. After a presentation about the cars and prices ($250k for the S8!!), we went outside to jump on the first car. Oh, there are basically 2 S3s and one each of 3.2 TT, S4, S6, S8 RS4 and Q7. I tried the TT first, the S-tronic is amazing. The difference between slotting the transmission into D and S was very noticeable. I kept going from 30-60kph alongside Jervois Quay just to feel the response from the transmission. BTW, the route was from the Brewery to Martinborough and back. There are several stops along the way to swap drivers and cars. We had to keep the order of the cars so would be easier when changing cars. So it goes driver swap, car swap, driver swap and so on. The front car was piloted by Audi NZ's GM and the walkie-talkie guy. The GM set the pace, and it was a good pace. And he was a good driver too. Did I mention that the missus didn't want to drive? Oh yeah..... Next, the S3. After 3+ years using auto I have to start shifting again :-(. Had to learn quickly as the S4 at the front had disappeared!!! Got caught in the wrong gear a couple of times while climbing the Rimutakas, and thinking 'doh, wrong gear!'. The S4 did a few of the 'slowed right down then quickly took off after the road in the front cleared' manouevres which annoyed a Mazda 6 behind me. Yeah, eat your heart out Jappa. Got the S4 just after the bridge at the bottom of the hill. It was fine, fast, nothing memorable though .... After morning tea at Martinborough, on the way back to Welly, I got the S6. Very impressed, very capable. This example was an Avant, amazing that it was like sitting in your living room while blasting through the countryside. Just before the climb back on the Rimutakas the S8 was mine. Hmmm, I had high expectations, but sadly the S8 is more an autobahn cruiser than a hill climber. I had the suspension set to 'Dynamic' and still had to work very hard taking the car through the curves etc. I was trying to keep up with the RS4 in the front, and failed miserably. The S6 and S8 share the same 5.2 V10 engine from Lambo Gallardo(?). The sound ohhhh droooooling ..... At Upper Hutt I got the RS4. After the first second of accelerating, I knew that this is the one I want!!!!! It felt amazing, the soundtrack was much much better than anything else (except F1 and A1 GP cars of course). I got this all the way to Welly. Deliberately got myself stuck on traffic lights so I could roll the window down and blip the throttle (juvenile). Ohhhhhh .... the sound!! Conclusion: I want the RS4, but since the missus can't drive manual I have to settle with the S6. My advice, don't get the S8 unless you're planning to do 255kph most of the time. Oh BTW, I can't afford any of these cars anyway, so I'll keep dreaming :-) Here are the cockpit pictures. There are lots of RS4 pics as well :-) Audis Sample

LOL, wait until I buy the dealership off Jeff Gray, then 'Special Price' for you mate

Who's here been to this event? Got invitation to RSVP to one of the four sessions Audi's running in Wellington. Have to attend a complete session which either one of 8.30-1.15pm or 1-5.30pm. Just interested to know what the format etc.

Rog, I completely understand. Before buying my E39 I test drove a 328. Absolutely no contest. While the 5er was smooth and made the right noise at the right moment, the 3er was more 'sporty' (made the right noise ALL the time). That's why an E90 wasn't even in my radar when I was replacing my E39. I looked at E60, E-class and Lexus.

On TV3 last night, the serious crash investigator made a comment about there are more and more crashes involving BMW that he has to attend. This is due to boy racers starting buying powerful BMWs.

Congrats on the new car. You'd probably want to put these type of grilles on to make yours look updated (shameless self-promotion).

Also just saw an Alfa 156 with euro plate, and Italian flag on the left and Alfa's symbol on the right. First time I ever seen something like that.

Hmmm... 1st car 1986 Honda Civic S hatchback 1990 Toyota Starlet 1994 Toyota Corolla 1996 Rover 216Si 1997 Rover 600 1996 BMW E36 318 touring 1986 Suzuki Alto 1998 BMW E39 528 1996 BMW E36 Compact 318ti * 2003 BMW E60 530 * * currently owned

Brilliant!!! Hopefully this is already available in NZ. We're always behind other countries when getting new technologies. More: http://www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFacts/view...9&topicID=5

I received the same letter on my E39. However I just ignored it, what were they gonna do? Come over to my house and ask to inspect the car? Wait somewhere in town in case I drive by? Put my details with the tax collector .. oops sorry police, and ask them to keep an eye for my car? Note though my euro plates were NZ replica, so they were harder to distinguish. BTW, I had the same discussion with martyyn and we agreed that the plates are illegal...

Another horror story ... Long before bimmer time, took my Corolla to PitStop Thorndon (Wellington) for a simple oil service. They had a special maybe about $49 for oil and oil filter change. Went to J'ville after the service, heard a small bang and smelt oil but think nothing of it. Oil light didn't come on. Got home and saw oil dripping from the car, opened the bonnet and oil everywhere!! Apparently they forgot to tighten the oil cap! Therefore bang, the cap dropped somewhere in the middle of Ngauranga Gorge and the engine bay got an oil bath. Took it back the next morning and got them to: 1. top up the oil again, 2. buy me a new oil cap, 3. steam clean the engine bay. Obviously I checked everything before taking the car back. It'd had cost them more than $49 to do all that. What incompetent idiots.

How true!!! Unfortunately State's call centre is full of people who is following set scripts when answering inquiries. No initiatives or ability to think for themselves. Even though State's call centres arecnot India based (or are they), lots of the workers there behave like it is. However their insurance is still the cheapest. For example, for E36 Compact--> State ~$300, AA ~$500 per year.

Michael, how long is the promotion will be on for? BTW, any promotion for E60 ?

Yep, however I just learned that the software caches places one level down from the main menu. Meaning if I have just been on radio (on Entertainment) then go to OBC to see my fuel consumption, I can go straight back to radio again by moving the iDrive knob down for 2 seconds without having to press the 'Menu' button then select Entertainment.

Thank you for the kind-hearted comments!! Surprisingly the run-flat on the E60 feels much better than in the 1 or 3 series (loaner). Remember though that my car has Dynamic Drive. In conclusion, if running run-flat you'd want to make sure that your car has dynamic drive. I personally will be happier with the old fashioned tyres (more due to they're much cheaper!!!!).

I don't think it's that simple as you'd need the receiver, install software then get the DVD player. Knowing that a cupholder costs $300 I'd rather not think how much retrofitting the NAV system.

For those who've been following the thread E65 vs E60 here're the pictures of the car: Features: Active Steering Dynamic Drive Emergency Wheel 18 inch Run flat Wood trim PDC rear + front Xenon Adaptive headlights Cruise Control Auto light Rain sensor iDrive Pictures Cons (so far): A pillar gets in the way when I'm trying to see my 1 o'clock Which one of those German engineer suggested moving the stratification control to iDrive was a good design move. Usually you move the knuckle as in the highlighted area to get the air to be warmer or colder without changing the climate control: Now I have to get through 3 steps to get to the scren shown in the blog.