gjm

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?

Talk to Chris at Suspension Tech - www.stech.co.nz.

Looks a bit on stilts at the front... Probably had suspension replaced with stock, non-iS parts.

An iS should be a fun car to drive, even with less power than many have become used to.

The pistons used in the M42 are slightly different to those in the M43. I don't know if the difference is significant enough to preclude using the 16v head on an M43.

Sweet.

New bellhousing/adapter for the switch from 240 to 260?

You'll have to see another of my threads for that.

Fair enough.

I had to find some excuse for not coming up with $150k (or whatever)!

And I thought the German TuV was draconian. At least with that you can fit a tested and approved part to your car - the onus is on the part manufacturer to acquire approval and certification - and so long as the car is safe, you're good to go. Here, every car with a deemed significant modification is tested individually and that car is then locked in to it's modified condition. It seems even returning to stock/standard requires further certification. The UK is another case entirely. Too relaxed.