318Touring

If you wait til the new X5 hits the market officially, you'd get the E70 at lower price than right now.

E60 M5s are now very good value for money. Scary to think how much the original owner(s) had lost over the years. If using BMW's kit is fiddly look at solutions offered by Dension. Both options will be costly.

What!!! Less than $13K!! That's very good bargain, if you don't mind sharing, where did you get it? I'm (will be) looking for a manual, reliable (see below) BMW for teaching and eventually used by my son. BTW the N46 engine is somehow has a not so sterling reputation for having oil leaks coming from different places. I have what I think a PS pump leak, and with only 80,000kms on the clock-FSH NZ-New, that plainly sucks.

Thanks gang, it's the N46 engine which apparently leaks from everywhere. I pulled the underbody panel, cleaned everything, can't see anything that was dripping oil. From looking at how oil had been distributed along a narrow part of the bottom right of the engine, seems that the power steering pump is the source. Coupled with low PS fluid I can safely say that PS pump is the cause. On top of that this guy was talking most common leaks on N46 engine, and PS pump is one of it (youtube). The seal between the PS pump and coolant pump gives way, apparently. I won't be bothered replacing the pump ATM with one costing US$400+. I looked very hard, left it overnight and still couldn't see even any oil dripping, and I spent hours on the weekend under the engine. Would be safe to say that it's a (very) slow leak. I also suspect that the oil sensor (no dipstick!!) might be misbehaving with sending erroneous low oil message inconsistently. The best way to ascertain whether it is not broken, is to drain the oil and measure how much you have collected. If it's low then the sensor is fine, otherwise replace sensor. Hence I might as well get the car serviced, and ask the garage to measure the oil level. This is starting to annoy me as my E60 and E36 had been very reliable (apart from the Active Steering error message from time to time). Jon. I'll PM you re sourcing a bottle and other stuff

I need to top up the E87's PS fluid. Unsure which ATF fluid I should use as supercheapauto has different brands etc. The cap says ATF Oil Only SCA It's a 2006 118i, auto.

Want to swap grilles, as I guess that you want the standard ones?

Dang I was hoping I could see it before doing it myself. I might have to go ahead and just do it...

You need to get your priorities right! Wheels should be ahead of exams My son thinks black wheels only work on non-black cars, he's only 13 though .... Might be summer project, I'll take the wheels off one-by-one using standard Porsche jack. My hydraulic jack won't fit under the Porsche. Please PM me when you've got some pics, as I don't check bimmersport daily.

I'll be interested to see how your experiment on the 911 turns out. Mine is also black and has been thinking of plastidipping the alloys.

He's going to come in tomorrow (Sunday) morning. I emailed him and after a couple of weeks we managed to arrange for a time. I'll let you know, he said if it can be skimmed then both discs (from the same axle) needs to be done to avoid imbalance. Around $100?

Thanks mate. I'll give him a try.

Anyone knows who does mobile service at Welly?

Yup it's a bimmer (E87), and I haven't done anything yet. Now I know what needs to be done, it's easier to plan. Thanks again.

LOL, I think disc quite ruined from the look and feel of it. The ridges are around 0.5mm deep, might have to be thrown away. Would be more economical to just replace them, DIY. I just need an impact driver to remove the bolt on the discs in case it's stuck. This crowd might even have them cheaper than ex UK ones

Right! Once again thanks for your feedback. I might get a garage to see whether that can be skimmed. Seems that rear pads & discs cost around $250 ex UK. According to the OBC rear pads still have 41,000kms life on them.

Thanks fellas. Previous owner was older couple who had the car looked after by JG in Chch. This only happen on one wheel (RR). Would brake usage differ between the four corners of the car? Or differ between left and right side of one axle?

^+1 I love shopping in the States. Last trip I bought bottles of polishing liquid and pads which could had cost 3x more in NZ.

That might be true, however it seems that it had been looked after by Jeff Gray in Chch. I suspect they wouldn't cut corners. Also this is only on one corner not one axle. I don;t have the tool to measure disc thickness unfortunately.

This only happens on the right-rear disc, the pictures might be able to tell the story. Braking is smooth, no wobbling, no effect whatsoever on braking at all. I suspect it might be FOD (foreign object damage) caught between the pad and disc causing this. Pads still in very good condition, around 40000kms the OBC told me. I'm wondering what my best strategy is: a. Take the pads off and try to clean the surface of both pads and disc. Would this cause brake wobbling though? b. Leave it as is and replace pads and discs when the time has come. c. Replace pads and discs ASAP. TIA!

I meant servicing parts.

Find the later version of V1. Mind you though it won't make you invincible. Ask me how I know :-)

Actually 986 and 996 C2 and C4 share the same parts. However you can save a lot by taking your car to an indie instead of OPC. I also do a lot of work myself, these cars are easier to work with compared to my E60. I have changed A/C condenser (involved taking front bumper off), rear pads, air and cabin filter. I can even change the engine mounts myself. Buy parts from the UK (design911.co.uk) and get OEM not genuine Porsche for more saving. Cost me ~$550 for yearly service + brake fluid service + drive belt replacement at OPC which is very comparable to BMW dealer prices. I did supply the oil myself, 9l of Mobil 1 5W50 (Repco) with genuine Porsche filter from the UK ($20?).

Actually Porsches only attract the attention of other MALES especially on the 50-60 age group. Females don't give a damn about a Porsche regardless whether it's a 911 or Boxster. Their comments would be 'nice Carerra' :-) because that's what's written at the back.

We just got a 118i NZ New (2 weeks ago), not because of expanding family though. Hers is 2006, and it has ISOFix everywhere. Previous owner had swapped to non RFT, which make me nervous. However on long journeys I'll just grab the spare and tool kit from the Porker so that shouldn't be too big of an issue. We are used to traveling light (a must in a 911), so having a spare wheel in the boot won't be an issue. A combined m'way & urban driving shows around 320ks in half a tank. This is really good as our Compact would be using 3/4 of a tank to travel that far. I'm grumpy about noisy modern BMW engine and LCD display on the radio gone funny. The display in the Compact is still fine after 16 years!! Obviously some quality issue there. And a 118 is not a pocket rocket!

My wife's E87 doesn't have RFTs (previous owner ditched them) and it doesn't have spare wheel or a jack. Any suggestion which jack can fit E87? Tried the Mazda's one which is too big. There is a BMW genuine jack kit which will cost north of $250 here in NZ. This worries me in long distance driving (I had one flat a long time ago in my E39 just north of Ohakea so getting a flat is always a possibility). Or I can always put the collapsible spare wheel and compressor from the Porker when traveling out of town. However Porsche's jack can't be used on 1 series. My trolley jack is too tall for the 1 series! Now I can't even take the wheels off to clean them!! BTW I'm getting used to the clatter of modern BMW engine again. I forgot how noisy they can get. UPDATE: actually the Porsche jack fits quite well, I can chuck the whole lot to the BMW when driving long distances.