gjm

Gull have shaken pricing up no end. OK - many of their stations are unmanned, reducing overheads significantly, but taking diesel as an example, diesel at Hampton Downs is 26c a litre cheaper than at the Mobil at Mercer. Mobil in Drury is several cents a litre more expensive than Mobil on Gt South Road in Papakura. Buyers are obviously not sufficiently discerning, or prices would be a lot closer!

Therein lies the issue - until today, I'd not seen 95 available at any of the stations we frequently pass, so the choice was between 91 (not ideal) and 98 (at a significant difference - up to 30c per litre - in price). I remarked to the cashier at the station where I bought 95 today that it was nice to see it available. They seemed almost surprised, and certainly pleased, that someone was using it. 98 was 12c per litre more expensive than 95. Bearing in mind the simpler EMS on an M43, are we going to see enough benefit to make it worth using the higher octane fuel?

Don't see many BPs on my south (of) Auckland travels, and the ones I've seen only have 91 or 98. And BP are typically 5-10% more expensive than Mobil. Fingers crossed Mobil do sell non-ethanol 98. I know the Gull 98 does contain ethanol. We don't have what would be considered high-performance cars so while 98RON wouldn't necessarily be wasted, it'd not be of the same benefit as it is in an M3, for example.

I've been looking for 95 for a long time, and simply not found it locally, anywhere. Today was the first time I have seen 95 at a local station. 98 may be great, and definitely the right thing to use in anything performance-oriented, but it is typically hellishly expensive and the 10% ethanol can make a nasty mess of fuel system components in older cars. I'd hoped to find that 95RON was brewed differently and didn't contain ethanol. This is the case in the UK - 95 is petrol, 98 is often (but not always) a petrol/ethanol mix.

Mobil have (finally?) introduced a more widely available 95RON unleaded fuel. It has long - always? - been the case in the UK and Europe that unleaded petrol was available in 3 forms: a lower octane version, a good version (95) and a super version (98). This morning, we found 95RON at a local Mobil station. The Mercedes much prefers this, and so (I think) does Miss M's 318i. At 170.9 per litre, with a 10c per litre discount for spending more than $40 on fuel, I couldn't see a reason not to use it. We have been running 91RON, but the car seems smoother and generally happier with 95. More so than the occasions when it has had a tank of 98. I've spent a few minutes looking for details of the fuel specifications/compositions online but they appear pretty well hidden. All I found was reference to Mobil's 98RON fuels sold in the Wellington area potentially having up to a 10% ethanol content. Still... 95RON fuel = A Good Thing.

PM'd.

Personally, I prefer the look of the E34, too. And (I think) it will be a simpler car meaning hopefully lower maintenance costs.

Sounds like it's an option and something to look and check for, rather than expect. Thanks.

Do the rear seats in an E46 coupe fold down for through-loading from the boot, or even just for more load space?

Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica...

If I ever have to sit through any of that again, it'll be too soon!

Looks really nice, and I prefer the ACS rims. GLWS.

It's a pity that the gearbox has gone - that would be a key component of that car.

Today - nothing. It's persisting down, blowing half a gale and generally speaking, outside is not a place I want to be. I think I'll go and get my hair cut.

I saw the N42 bit and (perhaps unfairly) thought the same thing. I'm sure there are good cars with those engines around, but I doubt I'd buy one out of choice unless it was very cheap, and had something about it that I really liked.

Yup. You're guilty...

Took a break from gutting the front of the E46 to replace the door check piece. Can you imagine how infuriating it is to try to work in the front of a car when the door keeps closing on your leg? Having removed the old one and compared with a good used one, it's easy to see what the problem was. I'll do a write-up on this too.

I'll get to that once it's sorted.

Yup. Today I moved on from evisceration to complete disembowelment. Top tip - don't shut the boot on your E46 wagon when the battery is disconnected.

PM sent

I eviscerated the front of the interior of the E46.

It's about as predictable as a lottery result? When we moved to NZ, we used a well-known company to ship our 'stuff' in a container. One of the benefits of this is that MPI 'know' the company and are less likely to open the container to inspect the contents, leading to potentially significant delays. I suspect the same could be true of bringing cars in from overseas - a private individual importing a vehicle may be eyed with more suspicion than a dealer chain buying 200 Nissan Micras at a time.

That fee was door to port - it'd need collecting at this end. Additional transport available for $3-400 for port to Huntly. I figured it could be done a bit cheaper than that; besides, stopping at the port levels the playing field. MPI is missing from this and I cannot find anything to give an indication of what their costs might be. Hadn't considered port handling. Will check it would be a part of the shipping fees.

I may have found my answer. Shipping (RORO) is around $1700-1800. Costs in NZ for compliance are quoted as: Customs GST (15%) Registration 1 year 280.55NZD Government Transaction Fee 49.24NZD This assumes you get all the paperwork sorted correctly, and no issues with compliance. Surely though, there must be an inspection fee from MPI or similar?

Is there such a thing as a guide price for importing a car from Japan? NZRC will take a cut, I have no doubt, and the amount involved will be a percentage of the purchase price of the car (plus shipping, insurance...) After that, there are presumably different shipping prices depending on the departure and arrival ports. Is there such a thing as a rough guide to what this might cost?