gjm

I had the trans fluid changed when we bought the car - I don't think it had been done before At that stage it had covered nearly 225000 miles. The fluid that came out was thin and dark, but completely free from any sort of debris. Quite remarkable. It's been done once since then and I'll be doing it again. The last time, the fluid was pretty good; still no debris. I don't flush, just drain from the gearbox sump, then remove the sump and replace the filter. A BMW (or good OEM kit) includes a gasket and new bolts. Filling is a PITA as you have to remove a fill plug on the side of the gearbox, and pump the fluid into the gearbox - no check of dipstick tube in the engine bay to make it easy. The E46 diffs don't have any inherent problem. Curiously, mine seems to lose a little oil between changes - nothing significant or worrying. The oil that comes out is generally darker than when it went in, but has been good (so far). Better safe than sorry.

BMW consider diff oil to be a lifetime fill, just like gearbox ATF. I change it every time I do the transmission fluid - every 60000 miles (100000km) or so. ATF is the super-duper Penrite stuff, at $60-70 per 4 litres and I'm buying 2 at a time. I use Mobil 1 75W90 diff oil; most E46s take just over a litre but M3s need nearer 1.5. No idea how much oil the X5 'boxes take, but $200 sounds bloody expensive! Still, it does maintain a dealer history and that can be worth a fair few $ when it comes to resale or even trade-in. The oil that comes out of our engine isn't thin and watery, but the oil is changed every 6000 miles / 10000km or so. It is black, though - I thought most diesels turn oil black in the first 1500km or so! Maybe the newer engines are better in this respect.

Apologies - it's been a while since I've done a proper update. Let's see if I can recall everything. (I'll edit and add pics where possible later, if necessary.) Cabin fan 'hedgehog' resistor replacement. Oil changes. <sigh> EGR delete, including thermostat, cooler, and fitting blanking plug on exhaust manifold. Swirl flap blanking plug install. Intake clean and refresh. Air filter replacement. Crankshaft pulley/damper replacement, including serpentine belt replacement. To do: Turbo and downpipe replacement - will wait for the next oil change. Transmission fluid and filter change. Rear cat delete? Towbar and electrics. Tidy bodywork Front wheel bearing replacement (both sides) Front bottom outer balljoint replacement (both sides) Current mileage - a whisker under 300000 miles.

I'm surprised at that figure. I'm not (yet!) disputing it, and accept that speed can be and is often a contributing factor - let's face it, if no-one was moving (zero speed) then there'd be no accidents. In order to keep this on topic we need to consider 'inappropriate speed' distinctly from 'speeding.' The hard and fast argument stands - don't exceed the speed limit and you're very unlikely to be stopped for speeding. However, would this actually reduce the number of accidents on the roads? Research suggests the answer is maybe, and only very, very slightly. The war on speed is a visible and public way for the police to be seen to be doing something, while filling government coffers. Like the speed limit, it is arbitrary rather than an application of research and fact.

Very true. The flipside is the "why?" behind 100km/h... Speeds between 56 and 65 mph have been shown to be the speeds at which a driver is most likely to doze off behind the wheel. 100km/h sits in the middle, at just over 62mph. As such, one argument for road safety would be to either reduce or increase the national speed limit.

I saw a Alpina B10 3.5 yesterday, southbound on SH1 before it got off at Takanini. I gather it was also seen in Pukekohe yesterday afternoon. Brent knows the owner, who has had it for many years.

I wrote to Auckland police suggesting that police officers carry folding screens that could be erected around an accident scene. This would shield those involved from traffic, and removes the possibility of rubber-necking, one of the biggest causes of hold-ups and more accidents in this situation. I never received a reply.

This morning, a police motorcyclist was parked hidden by one of the bridge piers on SH1, northbound, between Alfriston and the Manukau exit. I thought the role of the police was to prevent crime, not catch someone who had just committed an offence?

Hmm. D'you think this might be an issue? The rubber part was held to the pulley by less than 50mm of rubber. Sheeeeeit. It does potentially explain why I could hear the noise sometimes, and not others. For those who are wondering what this could cost, if unattended - new radiator and fan would be a starter, with the potential for damage to anything hit by a piece of vulcanised rubber releasing itself at x000rpm. As it is, one of these (from BMW) retails at $740 (for a whole one). And you need the $28.50 bolt as the torque used in fitting these is huge and the bolts stretch. I need to check, but if it is the 'big' bolt, 100nm torque, followed by 60, 60 & 30 degrees should do it. Try holding that sucker still without any special tools. BMW identify this as an issue. You can tell - BMW Auckland stock several on the shelf. Fitting will be tomorrow.

Auto38 are in Masterton, about 1.5 hours away. Not quite so local, of course.

It'll help, but more gain will be had by fitting a cross-brace to connect the subframe to the chassis rails; this helps stabilise the chassis and reinforces the lower front end, significantly reducing chassis flex. It'll cost more than a strut brace, but the benefits are significantly more, too. Of course, both is the ideal solution.

In the UK, the focus is on keeping traffic moving smoothly. No harm, no foul. (Over 85mph constitutes harm.) You may be stopped for speeds in excess of 70-75mph (in a 70mph limit), but typically you'll get a good talking to from the traffic police and sent on your way. As far as I know, if you're stopped over here, you are ticketed and fined - no officer discretion is allowed. In itself, that's sheer lunacy. Why aren't speed limits higher here? I've heard excuses like 'the roads aren't up to it.' Well, build some decent roads then, instead of scraping squirting some tar, and throwing some chippings down. Not all roads are equal - good highways could easily accommodate 70mph+ (110km/h+) or more. Many secondary roads ought not have a 100km/h limit, yet there it is. There's no rhyme or reason to speed limits, or their monitoring, in NZ, other than the revenue raising aspect. Improving driver ability costs money and doesn't provide income. So the only solution is to charge motorists, one way or another, more, so that income can be increased. It has *nothing*, or very little, to do with safety.

BTW - just envious I didn't get in first!

FFS! 1 minute? Wow.

This is quite long, but worth a read: http://revenueraiserresistance.com/camera-swindle/ It backs up research done at the TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) in the UK, and several locations in the US. I doubt it'll make any difference, but it is staggering to learn authorities are forecasting revenue from speeding fines and incorporating them in future budgetary projections! Can't let the real world get in the way of revenue raising, eh?

If this is your first, there is a good chance you've not heard of RealOEM - www.realoem.com. Enter the last 7 characters of the VIN of your E39 and browse through. It'll help find the part numbers.

And.... that wasn't the problem. It is a pulley having a squeaky session - power steering, I think. It'll have to wait. It's not as if I can get parts this weekend! So I did lots of other things instead. Little jobs, like removing the inlet manifold and giving it a clean up, removing the rest of the EGR gubbins and fitting my 'custom' blanking plate on the exhaust, replacing an errant brake sensor cable, and replacing the air filter. I've got some pics which I'll post in my 'high mileage' thread. (No, I didn't change the oil this time!) Still, made good use of a nice day. We could have gone out instead, and then today I would have been working in the rain! I do have to find a 3/8" drive 10mm deep socket that slipped down the side of the engine and didn't get as far as the ground. I think it is on the undertray or one of the steel beams. Anyone who has been there knows the pain and hope - ding (sh*t - dropped it) clang, clunk, ping, donk.... Silence. sh*t. No thunk sound of metal socket hitting concrete. I wonder where that's gone?

Had a bit of a squeaky noise from the front of the engine. A quick look didn't show anything and I'd thought it was perhaps one of the pulleys feeling tired. As a result, driving was limited to 'absolutely essential,' and the 500SE pressed into service for shopping. (Mrs M hates going shopping in that!) Today, pulled things apart and found the aircon belt hanging off the front of the compressor. The smooth side was polished to a lovely sheen, and the ribbed side cracked all the way around, although nothing is missing. We were very lucky - if it had caught on the fan things could have been very bad indeed. These belts never get changed. BMW don't stock them in NZ, and RealOEM only shows a kit comprising belts, pulleys, and so on - p/n 11282339103. However (and for anyone who might need to know) the belt is a 4PK 968. If possible, get a 4PK965 as the 968 has the tensioner almost fully extended; the 965 doesn't fully compress the tensioner but does give a teensy bit of stretch leeway. While you're there, you may want to check the main drive belt, another 'never gets changed' item. Again, RealOEM shows this as a part of a kit, p/n 11282339099. Again, you can buy the belt separately at ~$90+GST from BMW (they have 1 in Auckland, but more often than not bin them when shelf life expires), or from a factor as 6PK2090. The aircon belt can be replaced from under the car (remove the engine undertray), but the main belt will require fan shroud removal, which requires removing the fan.

Sad. Still, in good hands now, eh? (May be worth dropping the sump too.)

Could be poor maintenance prior to you getting it? When in the UK, my Audi was like that. Took 2 or 3 quick oil changes to get things sorted.

The Mazda Tribute we had required a more-or-less complete interior removal to do the handbrake cable.

Yuck. Hopefully next time will be better. How long have you had it?

Driving without due care and attention. Is that an offence in NZ? He's admitted to it when stopped.

Changed the engine oil and filter. In the Mercedes, for a change... 1 hour, end-to-end, including getting everything out of the garage, clearing up afterwards, and even having a cup of tea in the middle. Then went for a nice drive south.

Sabine is an interesting choice. She's a farmer, holds a helicopter pilot's license (she owns a Bell JetRanger) and first raced the 'ring in 1994 at the age of 15. She's clocked 400000 miles 'round the 'ring, won the 24h race twice (^ as Nathan says) and held the lap record at the age of 19 after clocking 8.16 in a Sierra Cosworth. She also held the record for a NA car at 7.07 in a Porsche 997 RSR. She still regularly races professionally, and prefers racing in the wet.