gjm

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/535/auction-666110866.htm Pity they cut a hole in the bonnet for the air filter, in my opinion. No need for that. Wa-a-ay back I had a 5.7 V8 E28, ex-Thundersaloon race car in Martini livery. Frankly, it was hopelessly impractical (roll cages do that) and a bit of a handful, but great fun. And no holes in any of the bodywork. That's well over 20 years ago, now...

They've managed to disgrace themselves too, though. "NZ Transport Agency road safety director Ernst Zollner said the holiday safety campaign would be welcomed by most New Zealanders." OK... I can't see anyone complaining about something that will genuinely improve safety. But... "A clear majority of Kiwis supported police enforcement of speed limits to prevent crashes, he said" ^ this is complete fabrication, or at best, an abuse of statistics. Further, "The AA recommended that vehicle users should check their tyres once a month to ensure optimum safety" implies vehicle users have sufficient knowledge and technical skill to be able to tell when their tyres are unsafe. Those frequenting forums are a tiny minority, and may know what to look for, but most vehicles users will check there is enough tread on the tyre and drive off. That's hardly a comprehensive check!

Unfortunately, until I pull the turbo from the car I'll not know the extent of any work that will be required... And then the car will be off the road, something I can't afford to have happen at the moment. The best option does seem to be the one that has been discussed - get another unit, check it over and repair as necessary, before replacing the one in the car.

£800? That's about 1/3rd the purchase price of the car! I am exploring options. TD are good, but the price is likely to be prohibitive as not only is there the getting a turbo to them issue (I'm in NZ, they're in the UK) but when it is returned to me the postage is likely to be another £80+, and I'll be paying import duties and so on. Those come to nearly £200. Steve at Motorsport Engineering can do the rebuild here, if necessary. I can delete the EGR for about the same cost as reprogramming, and I'm going to have to get in there to clean it out anyway. On my car (EU3) there shouldn't be any 'extra' issues as a result of the removal.

OK - the EGR valve. It will be removed. I've done lots of research (I really am careful about what I do!) and removal seems the best way forward. For anyone considering the same, it appears simpler on the EU3-spec cars than on the EU4 ones; simply removing the EGR valve on an EU4 spec car will probably result in the check engine light coming on. Permanently. There are ways to get around this (properly) - I'll post more details once I get things sorted.

Had a chat with the ever-so-helpful Mr Murch earlier - he's not keen on the GT1749V! Oh well... We'll work with what we have as replacing it with something better is a much more involved job. He recommends the 'buy another one and fix that' approach too, so I shall be contacting some folk back in the UK. Regardless, and given the description I gave him, he's confident that some work is relevant, if not essential. In the meantime I'm looking at the EGR valve and planning either a clean, bypass or delete. Claims of fuel economy improvement of well over 10% on cars that have covered less than half the distance mine has are reason enough to spend a few hours quality time under the bonnet. (No idea if the EGR on my car has been looked after, but I doubt it.)

Took a trip to Okoroire this weekend - lovely place, by the way. The first golf course I have found where they give you a chilly bin (with trolley) to carry your beer around the course. I couldn't play golf before, and I'm not sure beer helps. Car performed well, but the spectre of a turbo rebuild is looming. Or at least, reseal, or hose work. Under hard acceleration there is a noise very similar to a 'short away' whistle (in border collie herding parlance - see here for sound bites) which is a repeated short whistle with a rising tone. Only happens under hard acceleration, which is when I anticipate I am looking for more boost. I'm also finding that the turbo seems a little sluggish to kick in. Give it some beans and the sensation of boost is apparent, but sometimes it seems to take a lot more effort to get it spooling than at others - sometimes it feels eager, but increasingly often it feels much the same as I did on Sunday morning. Could this be s simple case of not using the turbo enough? Cruising at around 2000rpm is hardly going to challenge it.

And doing twice that in the middle lane of SH1...

I used Penrite Enviro+ 5W40. (@360k kms.) Full synthetic, correct spec for diesel engines. Castrol is reckoned to be very good, and my car has original factory stickers saying that BMW recommended Castrol. Ignore the service indicator - it reckons you should get 20000kms between oil changes.

Yes. That won't suit everyone, but I don't consider it an issue (for me), and it opens up possibilities with regard to the software that can be used.

This caught my eye: http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.asp?id=668332168 Anyone have any experience of them?

http://www.bmwarchiv.de/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html Results in German and English, and you can download a .pdf.

We all know I didn't pay much for my car, so that is inconsequential. I have spent a fair bit on it, making sure things are as they should be, but I cannot say if the related costs would be different had I bought a secondhand petrol-engined car. Current distance travelled is around 250km per day. Fuel consumption is around 16km per litre (I paid 142.9c per litre this morning). For comparison, petrol would be around 10km per litre (at - say - 204.9c per litre). If I travel 240 days per year (arbitrary number), I'll cover 60000km. That's 3750 litres, $5360 + $3180 RUC. Call it $8500 In a petrol-engined car, I would use 6000 litres of fuel, costing $12300. If I had a petrol-engined car that would return the same economy as the diesel, it would be cheaper by around $800. But I don't. In fact (and in my scenario), a petrol-engined car will have to average 14km per litre for it to be equally viable.

What a wonderful term 'wombling' is. May I suggest the use of 'bimbling' for drivers travelling at limit -20% on single carriageways, and 'wombling' for those drivers who come up a slip road, cut across traffic to the middle lane of a three-lane highway, then stay there regardless of speed of other vehicles, before carving back across a packed inside lane to the wrong exit? OK, so much of NZ doesn't have three-lane roads, but I'm sure you recognise the type.

Already happening - down Bombay every morning all you can see is a stream of bright red brake lights as people shed speed to avoid having their picture taken by the unmarked van parked at the bottom.

If they'll just admit that targeting motorists in this way is about raising revenue, and quit with the 'it's for your safety folks' bollocks, then many people wouldn't mind so much. I wonder what would happen if everyone stopped speeding, and drove at the legal limit? Of course, I never exceed the limit so it won't bother me.

860 miles, 87 litres. Call it 16km per litre, or disappointingly 6.25 litres per 100km. Oh well. I suppose I've not made any real effort to drive economically.

Looks nice, but... There's a good-looking 525i Touring on TM at the moment, too.

The 1,490 kg (3,284 lbs) plug-in hybrid adopts a 2+2 configuration and boasts a carbon fiber reinforced plastic passenger cell. It borrows many styling cues from the concept, slightly toned down, and will be fitted with LED headlights as standard; laser ones are optionally available. The concept had see-through doors which aren't on theproduction model, but they do still open upwards. Power is from a plug-in hybrid system consisting of a 1.5-liter, 3-cylinder petrol TwinPower Turbo engine and an electric motor. The conventional engine outputs 231 HP (170 kW) and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm), and sends power to the rear wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission. The electric motor provides 131 HP (96 kW) transferred to the front wheels via a two-stage automatic gearbox. The electric motor receives its energy from a high-voltage lithium-ion battery with a 5 kWh capacity. Consequently, the i8 has a combined output of 362 HP (266 kW) and 420 lb-ft (570 Nm) of torque, enough for a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 4.4 seconds. Despite this, it remains very economical: 2.5 liters / 100 km (94 mpg US or 113 mpg UK). It can be driven on electric power for up to 22 miles (35 km) during which it can hit a top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h). Combined range of the production BMW i8 is more than 310 miles (500 km). 20-inch alloys are standard but lightweight carbon wheels are an option. Other optional equipment available includes rear view camera, high beam assistant, speed limit info with No Passing Info display, Surround View, Head-Up Display, and Collision Warning with pedestrian recognition.

Someone needs to buy the widebody-kitted E36 and put this in it. Too much work for me.

Mrs M does like our 320d, and would happily take it over. Unfortunately a 530d (and I mentioned this to Brent the other day) while aspirational will have to remain that for now - it's out of our price range. Ultimately, a 530d M-Sport Touring would be lovely. <sigh>

I like it! Or would, if the wheels looked like they fit properly. At first glance, it reminded me of the MG X-Power SV. Desperately needs a V8 and open pipes. If I had the money and could get away with it, I'd make an offer. I wonder if I can get a similar kit to fit the Touring...?

In a bad light, it's the same colour as my car. My car must be worth lots more, then.

Anything with animals that remain loyal no matter what. Greyfriars Bobby. Hachi, which was shown on TV last night. I'm just a big softie!

This seems to be the crux of the issue, for me. Driving at 200km/h on a public road is illegal. In some circumstances, it may be safe but that doesn't change the law. There are plenty of circumstances where even 50km/h is dangerous, but the law doesn't necessarily legislate for that, either. This kinda calls for a definition of 'excessive speed', but that's tricky, at best, and quite possibly subjective. Certainly it varies dependent on a huge number of factors. The cop who said "excessive speed is always a factor in serious crashes" is at one level, correct. If the vehicles involved had been going slower, they may not have crashed. However, there are crashes, ergo there is excessive speed. Logic of the worst kind. Even the RTL in the UK proved that most accidents don't have speed as a predominant cause (although it may have been a contributory factor), but the British press, government and anyone similar categorically ignored the results, calling for a different set of statistics to be used. The driver of the 740i should be penalised, and was. Whether the sentence fits the crime is another matter - it might have done had he sorted a decent defence. Individuals will likely disagree. However, some of the statements given in court appear to be based on rubbish... Poor reporting, or another case of brainwashing the uninformed public into thinking the motorised horseless carriage is an uncontrollable and dangerous beast?