Grant

Very cool - nice effort

It comes with a full tank of gas too.

That is one damn fine car you have there. Don't sell it!! Cheers Grant

Do you maximise the depeciation that you claim, or are you claiming it at the standard 4% (DV)? By breaking the building into its variuos elements, you can claim a hell of a lot more, especially if your commercial has a things lie carpet, lifts, air con etc, fire alarms etc. I have done this exercise for a number of clients, and have saved some thousands on their annual tax bill (admittedly many of these have been multi-level office buildings). Cheers Grant

Mine got delivered to my door (via Fedex). I did expect to have to pick it up from their base, especially after they phoned me and told me that customs would not clear it.My customs issue was because everything with a value of over NZ$1000 needs to have the importer registered with customs. I filled out a form and emailed it off, and it was done. The suspension turned up the next day. From what I was reading, customs do not actually have an area for clearing goods, they rely on the company transporting the goods to hold and clear the goods on their behalf (someone on here might better explain this, and provide a few more accurate details). In my case, Fedex must have a customs clearance area. What I ended up with was an import certificate that arrived with the goods as well, that must have been generated to allow it to clear customs. Hope this is somewhat helpful, Cheers Grant

This seems to be a hit and miss, I just imported $1500 worth of suspension from Turner Motorsport in the US, and even though the package got held up in customs, I didn't get charged GST or duty in it. I fully expected to pay GST at least on it.Cheers Grant

That looks a fantastic way to spend a day. Nice work, great write up. I hope you don't get sent the bill for the burnt out clutch. Cheers Grant

+1

Hi All I saw this topic on another forum, and thought it was pretty interesting. Basically what do you normally carry in the boot of your car (outside of the spare wheel and jack etc). I know there will be the odd person who will say "dead body". I'll start. In both of our E36's we don't carry a lot, basically an umbrella, basic tools, first aid kit, a few spare fuses, blanket, a few rags, insulation tape, tow rope and jumper leads and jackets. When I had my E30, although it was pretty reliable, I used to carry a lot more stuff, including a 1l of oil and some pre-mixed coolant/water. Cheers Grant

I've always found them excellent. Even though they are often booked out 2 weeks in advance, if your issue needs urgent attention, they will do their best to sort you out, even on very short notice. Cheers Grant

Bravo - my Income Protection is via AMP (I just checked). The broker I used was Aon - let me know if you want the name and details of the guy I deal with, I'll PM them to you. Cheers Grant

When you getting the E30 back? I'm sure its getting lonely at Glenn's.Cheers Grant

Agreed - thats what I did, as I had substanital need.Cheers Grant

My income protection, and life insurance, public liability, and professional indemnity insurance were all organised though Aon. I am pretty sure than the best deal that they got for me for Income Protection, and Life Insurance was from AMP (I will have a look at home tonight for you). Since we are now parents, I am insured up the ass, in case something happens to me. Cheers Grant

They shouldn't change a thing, it is perfect as it is in the mule guise.

I agree with Carl. The world is full of assholes, no need to stoop to their level (as tempting as it may be). Just take comfort in the fact that people like you and your mother had to deal with are most often like that because they lead miserable lives, and are generally unhappy people. Good luck anyway - hopefully you get off as lightly as possible. Cheers Grant

Cheers - it has come a long way.

There has been no noticable benefit (the car shifted fine beforehand), it was just done as part of the overall preventative maintenance on the car, for the sake of a few dollars, I'd much rather know that the fluid is in great shape.Any BMW mechanic I have ever spoken too has said that the "lifetime" fluid claim is a joke, and it still should be changed periodically, as part of the normal maintenance regime. Cheers Grant

I don't really have any additional mods I want to do in any big hurry. I will probably get rid of the orange indicators and repace with clears, but nothing much more planned than that.I will also get a couple of areas of paint tidied up as well at some stage (few stonechips, and minor scratches). Cheers Grant

I knew that the number plate surround wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but as I am a very staunch Waikato rugby supporter, it is staying (I put it on), even though it is pretty hard to support them at the moment with the rubbish rugby they have been playing as of late.

The invoice lists it as Elf G3 Synthetic Transmision Oil (Ask Glenn at Botany Motor Worx, he changed it for me).

Welcome Scotty Looks very nice and tidy. I'm sure you will enjoy every minute driving it. Cheers Grant

Hi All Finally my Boston Green 328i SE is in a state that I think that it is presentable enough so show here. It is NZ new, 5 speed, full leather, electric seats etc I bought it completely sight unseen on trade me 4 months ago, and paid not much for it. It is fair to say that it had one or two problems. I knew that it needed a new clutch before I bought it, however I have needed to have a fair bit of work done to it to get it to a mechanical standard that I am happy with. Many thanks to Glenn at Botany Motor Works for his and his teams hard work and patience with me to get it back to a well running machine. Here is a list of what I have done to it since getting it. Mechanical Work New clutch and dual mass flywheel etc New camshaft position sensor New valve cover + gaskets (original one was cracked and leaking oil) New crankcase ventilator valve New dipstick breather hose New viscous coupling Replace transmission and diff oil with synthetic New headlight glass (I managed to put a 10c piece sized hole in one) New radiator and fan shroud (as well as new coolant) New alternator tensioner New A/C tensioner New drivebelts New rear shock mounts New lower ball joints New reaction rod bushes New bumpstops All new filters (air, fuel, air con microfilter, oil) New coil boots (three of the original six were completely stuffed) New Bosch plugs (I am pretty sure the ones I removed had been in the car for many years) Improvements 17 x 8 BBS RK’s shod in Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin’s New Bilstein Sport shocks New H&R Sport Springs New Sony Ipod compatible headunit 35% Ash Cool Tinted Windows I've probably missed out a few other bits and pieces of work done to it, but I can't remember everything. Photos of are here:

Had the Bilstein's and H&R's installed today (along with new ball joints, bushes and shock mounts). Will try and give the car a wash and take a couple of pics over the weekend (I took a couple of before pics yesterday, so can make a comparison). The car is a completely different animal, and handles very very well. The drop in ride height is not too dramatic (thankfully), but is an improvement (especially at the front). Cheers Grant

I went yesterday, and was a bit underwhelmed by it, to be honest. However I like the idea, and hope it keeps going, and grows. What I did like was that a lot of the actual drivers (NZ V8, rally etc) were there, and were happy to talk to the punters. Cheers Grant