my_e36

Canon all round lens would be the 17-85 IS or the new 18-200 IS. If you happens to go by Newmarket, check out eTown (160 Broadway, next to Samsung store). Friendly bunch (and I used to work there). By the way, few good websites for reviews and comments... www.dpreview.com www.kenrockwell.com

In New Zealand, Canon is king for some reason. Probably to do with the fact that Canon has a dedicated marketing department for their cameras here and all other brands only have a distributor presenence. My personal favourite are from the Nikon range but the truth is you can't really go wrong by picking any camera here. Your skill and passion makes up for most of the end results anyway. My wife and I had a D50 then "upgraded" (depends how you look at it) to a D40. Didn't miss the D50 much, we use the new D40 much more often because it's so small and light. We take it almost everywhere. The point is, you buy a camera and all the kit, but many people doesn't take it with them because it's too bulky. So, make sure you are comfortable with lugging the thing around all day. Live View on SLR is silly, focus is slow and shutter respond is slow. It lost of whole point of an SLR where you want fast and precise. I have to say though, SONY LiveView is the better one amongst the SLRs, but still a lot of room for improvement. Second-hand favourites: Canon 30D, 40D, 400D, 17-85 IS, 50 f/1.4, 70-300 IS Nikon D80, D200, 16-85VR or 18-200VR, 50 f/1.8 Brand new favourites: Canon 450D Nikon D90

To relieve runny/stuffed nose, Ginger coke. Microwave a cup/glass of coke (80% full) for a minute add 2-3 slice of fresh ginger, when the fizz is finished, top up the coke to drinking temperature drink up BTW, for this drink, Coca Cola is better than Pepsi for some unknown reason...

I tried the tunnels on Sunday and I loved it. It's well worth the $2 toll and cut like 10 minutes (if not more) out of the trip. Shorter distance travelled would means savings in petrol money, so I just got extra 10 minutes for free. Even of those camera on the toll gantry works as a speed camera, you can alway slow down for toll and speed up after passing them. What's the difference to any other one we've got now? The other question comes to mind - What happens if you've got "those" Euro plates. Especially those one with the funny "0" (zero with a broken bit instead of a slash) Edit: spelling

I assumed you are asking about e36 here. 323i is not necessarily mean M-spec by default. Any M-spec bits are optional. To find out for sure, get a build sheet printed out by asking nicely from a dealer and see what's actually on it. There is also a build-sheet under the rear seat (rip the whole seatbase up) with just codes on it, there's decoder all over the net for those option codes.

I do, so the rule is useless.

This rule not only applies to side street, it also applies on driveway, car park entrances, etc... situations where path of 2 vehicle are crossed and without Stop or Giveway signs. The vehicle on the right always have the right of way.

Recently bought a e46 Compact for my wife. AMI quote is some $300 cheaper than AA (even with AA member discount and the fact that I already have my house & contents with). I have always heard good things about AMI and that since they were own by policy holders and suppose to have 0 profit. AA was pretty good, when I crashed my e36 coupe couple of years ago. I was allowed to send the car to my choice of panel beater. They paid out within 10 days after the panelbeater written my car off due to the damage. Phone call are always answered pretty quickly too, which is a good thing.

It's like all 1,3,5,6,7-series crammed together, shrink it and chop the roof.

yeh, and people signal right to go straight, and turn right from middle/left lane on roundabouts. WTF?

My AA instructor told me when this happens, signal the next driver (1 exit clockwise from you) to move. When he/she does, then you can safely proceed as the last driver (1 exit anti-clockwise) would have to giveway to that person.

Can call the cops I guess? This is technically hit-and-run. If the security gave you the details, disputes tribunal (or commonly "small claims court") would be your best bet. Have a few quotes from your favourite panel beaters ready and file them with the complains at the tribunal.

fame and fortune, you can have both just being around Heff. What else do you need?

I do, how big? What's the text you want on it?

Even Top Gear NZ copies Top Gear Australia, which copies Top Gear UK. I prefer Car over Evo, but for the latest car news, I like AutoCar Weekly.

Just checked out my own street, they must have took it at least 4-5 months ago. As for the van, I've seen it a few times, 8 cameras, GPS receiver, hub mounted speed sensor on each rear wheel (to compensate the images for veering/turn on the road). At least the photos are not good enough to ID number plates on cars.

Maybe grind the hump down (smooth)??

I always use 95 for all my cars regardless of age, model and make. Modern engines are capable to make adjustments to take advantage of it. Older cars use 95 certainly won't hurt and the exhaust pipes are noticibly cleaner (less soot). Using 95 can do more milage than using 91, and it's more than enough to make up the price differnce (and some). Also, petrol in Japan are 94-98 octane for regular (depend on brand and where you are in Japan) and 100 for premium. Given the choices availabe in NZ, you should really use 95 at least for a Jap import.

I have a Philips 47" full HD LCD TV, plays DVD and PS3 mainly, very happy with it. LCD vs Plasma - don't get caught up with the numbers on a brochure, let your eyes decide for you. I guess the few things to look for is 1. full HD or not - can you tell the difference at your watching distance? I can't tell the difference between the two at 5 feet away for anything below 40" 2. How many of each connections do you need? - Most have 2 HDMI and some high-end model have 4. Having said that, component is just as good as HDMI despite what all marketing people say. HDMI is more convenient being single cable carrying sound and picture though. 3. Intergrated FreeView (IDTV) - If you have Sky, you might not need it.

There are some micro Hi-Fi that has HDDs, Sony has a couple of model that have it at least. What about PS3?

Do you mean the rubber bits around the back window of a coupe? There hasn't been a e36 Coupe I seen that doesn't crumble. The $tealers will have them. Around $135 for a set of 4 (2 pc on each side) when I change mine few years ago.

Good ones or cheap ones? Cheap ones might want to try Taiwan, they are pretty car crazy over there and design/makes a lot of aftermarket parts.

They only send ticket to the upper percentage of all photos snapped. Maybe you are not fast enough on the day.

Hope your son is ok. Will keep an eye out.

Looks very tidy for its age and Ks.