arros

See the sticky for this section- has all the lowdown

Ah, so that's where 'Five 4O' got to

Hey Adrian, all good mate. Yes the car seems to be a goodin. Slowly fixing things on it to bring it back to spec. Second baby arrived 3 weeks a go so I don't have much time to work on the car - you know all about it. You mates car does sound a beaut indeed. Mine is nothing particulary special and it's a 1996 so it's a bit old stock but I will probably keep it for a while as I got it for a good price and I know mechanically it's a good car. I'd love to have the extras of a newer spec but probably not a bad idea to build up this car- at least I know it's history. Now if I could only find some 18" Schnitzers like you had on your old car for reasonable coin I'd be getting somewhere... Any luck with the X5?

Like this guy on tardme (Auckland Radiators Ltd) and at $399 -good price. But what brand is it-unlikely to be OEM. Is is one of those " nastey aftermarket ones around which have been giving alot of problems" Glenn mentioned ? Ask the guy the brand. I'm surprised that you'd go along with someone using a seondhand one Adrian - knowing your pedigree

Trade you these and $350

Done

Ian, I'm going to ask you the same question you asked me a while back- remember you asked if I wanted to sell AC Schnitzers on my (white) 540? Would you be interested in trading on my wheels http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=212175488. Obvoulsy give you some dosh as well. These are to go on the E39 540- part of the upgrading I want to do before the car is 'worthy' of posting on BS I spoke of before. I'd dearly love the wheels. I know there's probably little motivation to swap wheels for you... but it would be a little more $ in the pocket. Q would obvously be: would it detract from the sale . Chr Adrian Dude you have put so much effort into the car- as tastic said fantastic buy for someone with all $ already spent. Gutting...

Yip 540 Touring is pretty rare- definitely the more desireable of the E34 wagons. It's the right car (ie great example) for someone searcing for one. Adam has had heaps of great comments on the car in the past- plenty of interest. I reckon there is a bit of a following for E34 wagons Edit: can't spull for shite

Nay Simon, not mine but identical this expired listing is my car. This car belongs to Dunknut (Duncan) BS member- PM him. He was looking at buying mine when he came across this one. He is selling to buy a boat. Can't vouch (sp?) for the car but Duncan seems a pretty cool guy. Mine was NZ new and sweet as car. Good price "I've owned two NZ new E34's and they are lovely cars. I'd much rather have this than a doggy old import E39."- I just bought a Jappa E39 540- also a sweetas car (needs a few things fixing which is reflected in the purchase price 135K km but imported at 17K km so is a 'good' import. Imports can be dodgy YES: some but not all. Having said that: NZ new is excellent! Adrian

Hi Keen, Did you manage to put in the passenger seat occupancy pad? Thinking of having a go myself. What was the cost of the pad and did you get a quote for the dealer to do it? Found this link- seems a good writeup

Not my car but I know the owner. Has been very well serviced- by Shelly BMW and Jeff Grey BMW in Wellington. Always used genuine BMW parts. What needed doing was always done. Shelly BMW and Mini in Wellington (04-499 9030) will have most of the servicing information There is a significant amount of service documentation which the owner's father in Wellington can be prompted to find Tardme linky Car can be viewed in Grey Lynn, Auckland. Contact the owner if you have any questions 021 979 309

None received. Just texted you

If this is the Tidy stock M3 link then stock standard for me. All that interior carbon fibre (lookalike) paneling really really is an aquired taste- looks like crap...way too precious. Agreed that the air intake tooks ok- but it would be just for show-the pod drawing hotter engine bay air is a waste of time (performance).

Like $14,000?

It's been for sale for frick'n ever, a least 6 months. pretty sure the price has stayed stationary.

This is my old car and it's a good'n http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-197217301.htm I sold it to this guy for $5700 (@ 165,000Ks) Bought the car for $9000 about 1 1/2- 2 years ago which looking back on it was too much even then but I wanted it at the time. Car took 6 months to sell. I'm not sure but I dont think the car has sold so if Palmerston North is close enough: check it out- good mechanically, transmission is strong as well. melowpuf's car is a good looking car no doubt. I had an E34 535 auto- my preference was the 540 for the extra power but the 535 handled better The 98 540 is obviously the e39- different kettle of fish: same power as the e34 540 but a little more of a standard, family car feel. the e34 is a bit more fun, more of a driver's car. I'm currently looking for an e39 540 myself - as an upgrade (or downgrade as Simon* put it). Go for a test drive locally (that's if there are any for sale locally)and see what you think of the difference between the e34 and e39. "a 93 540 with 186,000 for 8995" sounds way too high- 6-7K sounds more appropriate depending on extra's/mods- thus the " 94 540 with 172,000 starting bid of 5000" sounds better.

Yes you are all right- tis a buyer's market- am keen on the car but have a nagging doubt. Reckon it might be time to move on and wait for the guy to get back to me re inspection- i'm the customer after all.

Surposedly you press the accelerator to the floor 5 times with the key switched on to accessories(?) - not sure or the exact key position off hand to get the diagnostic lights come up- I tried it with no success on my e34- anyone successfully used this method? Looking at an E39 but I think procedure is the same for all models Yes I can find the procedure on the net but just wondering if anyone has used it? And if you do get the lights flashing is it easy to decypher- thinking of looking at a car to check for any faults, that the owner doesn't want to get inspected.

Allan and Nick021: to update you: nothing has happened- I'm still waiting- expected the owner back from overseas in the weekend still no contact. Through the third party the owner communicated that he does not want to have the car inspected- says it's a good car- he's had it serviced recently, he can't be bothered with getting it checked and he will just wait for someone who doesn't want it checked, with the dosh to buy it. When I fairst looked it over it showed signs of having been fairly well cared for. There is the possibly of dealing without an inspection- as long as I can see his recent (through his own garage) service documents and have aother look at it. Question is is this a "there's someting I know is wrong and I don't want buyers to find out" kind of bothered or " I'm busy, I know it's a straight car and I just want it sold" kind of bothered. I did have an Inspection 2 about 15 months ago- but that was 20K km ago- a bit could have happened in that time- like another Inspect 2 due (at $700- yiks!). Even bringing a BMW mechanic along for the ride probably wouldn't be much use- really you do need it up on a hoist and have is plugged into a diagnostic computer. Surposedly you press the accelerator to the floor 5 times with the key switched on to accessories(?) to get the diagnostic light scome up- I tried it with no success on my e34- anyone successfully used this method? Nick021- have you had any response form your email(s)?

BTW I ring Jerry Clayton wanting to check what service history they have on file about this car- I asked that if I purchase the car (applies to any car) i expect can get a copy (all on computer so it's just a button press)of the service history. The answer was no unless I get written permission from the perious owner- I guess the person that owned it for the period of documenation you are after. I could however get a verbal rundown. Slighty surprising- if it comes to it I would ask again making the point that all they need to do is blank out the person's name so I can't ID them- should surely be sweet (get the feeling they would not go for it though)

This thread previously talked about Jap having higher spec than NZ New- this car has no TV screen- just the radio and tape player where the TV would be in a higher spec example- example of the NZ lower spec of features (?)

Saw the car in the weekend- seems pretty good. I can't confirm the situation with the PDC's- I did not take note of them when I looked at the bumper. Yes the car is NZ new. the owner must have been mistaken- not sure why though- I say this because I have not spoken with owner- the telephone number listed is an employee of his to seems to be dealing with the car and advertising. This employee met me at the owner's house- Nick021- the owner travels a bit and owns a business or two and I think he is overseas at the moment hence no response- it's all a bit vague- I ask the employee a question- he then talks to his boss and gets back to me. Owner I think is Korean judging by the name. Possibly the employee is translating too. Last communication today when I ask him to get back to me regarding my getting the car inspected he says that he can't be bothered and does not trust the AA (I never mentioned the AA) The car won't be going anywhere near the AA I reply. Waiting for an answer. It's not much fun talking to a third party. Service history booklet has only 3-4 entries but calling Jerry Clayton there are (slightly sporadic but reasonable) service records for the last 3-4 years. As stated owner has a garage attached to his fleet car business so the has serviced it in-house since he owned it. No BMW servicing since October 2007 so could need an Inspection II soon- $700 as Kiwi535 pointed out Allan- Yes I think they are standard lights- perhaps NZ New did not get Halo and/or Xenon (presume you mean HID for this production year- late ,99)as his advert states he has put on a new front bumper- his garage (non bmw) painted and installed it so if the PCD's are amiss it could be to do with that. As you say an inspection by your local expert is a good starting place-waiting to see if he will go with doing that

Oh right- I was thinking the service book might be rather different than the NZ format- cool that means it will be pretty easy to follow. Hopefully the car checks out so that I can have it before the cruse day. Ta

Never seen a foreign (mainly talking about Jap imports I guess) service book before. Anyone tried successfully to understand a jap service book- if you are lucky enough to have an import with service documents that is. So a car is imported at say 100,000 km and the seller says it comes with service history- but is it of any use. If you can't read it how can you tell what has been done to the car. I'm guessing you can read the service intervals but have no idea what was done

Must be JPN- unlikely to be Euro spec if it was destined for the Japanese market- though I guess an individual may well import a euro spec car privately. Wonder what the 1/00 first NZ rego is all about- destined for Japanese market- landed in Japan then exported straight to NZ? Hmmm Typo?