gjm

I know. Unfortunately we're 12000 miles and 12 hours shifted from them. The lawyer maintains they are acting in the interests of their client. Their client may be happy to believe that, of course.

I'd like to think so, but with the neighbour being uncontactable at present, it wouldn't get far. the situation is very similar to that experienced by some buyers in rural NZ - boundaries exist, but are somewhat fluid. The issue in this case has arisen because the wall was built *on* the boundary, and not on one side or the other. the solicitor is being an overly judicious arse and demanding formal representation and agreement, and doing so in the name of making more money protecting their client.

'Make work' is exactly what this is. We've seen it before, with the sale of my grandfathers house. Payment to the solicitor may be withheld but more worrying for us is the buyers desire to move quickly. We could lose our buyer.

f**king solicitors (in the Uk, but this may be an accurate generalisation). Selling mother-in-law's house following her passing away earlier this year. Have a keen buyer. House ckeared - a traumatic experience. Buyer has finance and is keen to move. Solicitor notices there is a 3' high wall directly on the boundary, separating the two driveways. It's been there 26 years and is regarded as, and described as, a party wall meaning shared responsibility between the neighbours. Buyers solicitor refuses to complete until they receive written documentation from the neighbour... Who is away until mid-August. Buyer is livid. We're livid. Solicitor is running up a bill with phone calls and letters.

I've found the devil is in the details and that the tiniest straying from a role description has sidelined me. In fact, meeting every requirement is insufficient - I need to exceed, by some margin the experience stated, in time-served, qualification and breadth, before I make first interview. I have to consider that I am doing something wrong, but the feedback I get (when I actually get any feedback, which is very rare) doesn't support that. I seem to be consistently second, in areas I know back-to-front and inside-out. By deciding I don't want to work in Auckland, or live more than 4 hours from Hamilton (where Bex is at Uni) certainly does limit the field, and I accept that.

Rear rims are 2-piece Mille Miglia (Mille 1000) Revenge IIs, 18x8.5. No idea of offset, but they fit. I'll check the fronts but looking at tyre fitment, I suspect they are the same size. Shocks are BMW (Sachs) all round, and springs are from Eibach.

For anyone who is interested, here's the 'official' LVVTA tyre size guide document. LVVTA_Info_01-2009_V2_Tyre_Size_to_Wheel_Size_Compatibility_Guide.pdf

It's fun for a while... Good luck!

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It was perfect timing. Well, sort of... The whole point of selling the 318Ti (and others) was to reduce the number of cars we have, not get some money together to buy another one! I do like the E46 Ci. Great shape, nice car. And this one is pretty close to what I was looking for - a very late M43-engine production (this one is within the last 2 months of production), in an unusual colour and with good spec. I'd have been happy without the bodykit, the 18" rims and the sunroof, but I am looking for something of a unicorn!

Could be very keen - just need to check the rears will fit on the rims on our E46. Happy to collect!

The Z4 is a great car, almost regardless of the engine up front. I say almost: if buying one with the 2.0 N46 engine (in particular), ensure it has been meticulously maintained.

That actually sounds quite tempting at the moment...

It'd be less than I worked in the UK...

I was talking yesterday with someone and got to thinking how good a M43 would be in front of an autobox in an E30... I do have some odd ideas, sometimes.

I had this when I first arrived in NZ. 'Experience in NZ' killed jobs for me, especially given Telecom (now Spark) had just released so many people into the jobsearch market. The functions are the same... There may be some cultural differences, especially around Maaori culture, but it's no a complete change. I'm not culturally profiling, but I have found a lot of Asians do change their names, sometimes fundamentally, when moving to an English-speaking country. It's not a new thing - so many are known as Paul Kwong, for instance. We had a homestay student whose name was 'Samantha'... Except it wasn't - that was her Western given name. At home with her family she was still Wing. I suspect it is for same the reasons 'Frank' did the same. It meant he appeared more familiar to those he approached , in his case,for work. But yeah... that surname. Wow.

Just saw a job advertised in Hawkes Bay. Not for me, but one of the requirements had me scratching my head... "At least two years New Zealand experience of working with Photoshop, 3D Studio Max and Archicad." Presumably NZ has it's own versions of Photoshop and so on...? This is exactly the issue I faced after landing in NZ - everyone wanted NZ-based experience. Nowhere else came close.

I would have liked to see more of the Zakspeed Capri, but some nice footage of many cars. Including, of course, the BMW... Gruppe_5_at_Goodwood.mp4

? Here's home to two of them:

A quick (it's cold!) and not-very-good pic to show what I'm working with. The driver side wiper arm is bent - looks like someone had the bonnet up, pulled the arm back from the windscreen (perhaps to change the blade) and the bonnet closed on it.

E46 318i. I'll check all the bulbs abd holders for corrosion, and values/types. Update: following a visit to Kyu's for coffee and chat on Sunday morning, the consensus seems to be a wiring issue with the supply or earth to the rear offside indicator bulb. We swapped the bulbs - same problem - but using the hazard lights shows no issue, other than the rear offside being not as bright (regardless of bulb) as the nearside.

An indicator flashing at double speed normally indicates (Lol) a bulb out. But what if the indicator is flashing at double speed, but all bulbs are lighting? What could cause that? It's only happening on the right turn - left is fine following a bulb replacement - and it sometimes returns to normal flash speed. ?

Complete fluke. When I was working in Manukau/Papatoetoe, one of the car firms opened a yard opposite our office. I'd been over and spoken to Mike, the manager - just kicking tyres, talking about BMWs and Mercedes. No interest in buying. That was months ago. The quite literally the afternoon we sold the 318ti, he called asking if I knew anyone who would be interested in a 2-door BMW he had in his garage. It had been his daughter's car, but she'd been on OE (5 times, from what I gather!) and having come back to NZ, got a job with a company car. He wanted the space in the garage for a kitchen refurb, somewhere to put stuff. So we pottered up to have a look, liked it enough to make an offer, and came away with it. He said he'd posted it on Facebook but just got a lot of random mess-around people calling and PM'ing, so he gave up on that.

Coolant flush completed. Engine hot, heater controls on hot, pop the expansion tank cap, release the bleed screw (next to the expansion tank cap. Now, where's the rad drain plug...? Actually - that's a great question. Where is it??? I know where it should be but there's nothing there. (Not easy to find any =way because of the position of the oil cooler, but all the same.) OK - pop the hoses off the engine, stick a hose pipe (gently) into the expansion tank, and wait until water coming out of the engine runs clear. Of course, this means the engine is now full of water, so reconnect the bottom hose, and slowly pour coolant into the expansion tank. Once it runs green from the engine, replace last hose and check everything over. Start car, wait, and... Heater blows hot air. Seems unlikely to be an airlock. ? Result. Unfortunately, the previous owner had a boyfriend who was a 'mechanic'. He's removed the cabin filter housing (and the rubbers, the plastic engine trim, and carefully put it all in a box in the boot. Such a shame he didn't think to include the special torx-head screws that are used when fitting... ? Plan for tomorrow is to pull the wheels, see what they actually are, check the suspension... Oh - paint is Graugruen metallic. Some small dents, some scratches (especially on the boot where something has been slid across it). Nice colour.

Quick update having done some research... The car is a Singapore import. Not sure if it was originally sold through Opera Autotechnik, but they fitted a rebranded Kerscher exhaust, lowered the suspension, fitted a decent quality bodykit (although the sills require some attention), and 18" rims - 225/40-18 on the front, 235-40/18 at the rear. Only fault showing was 115, the coolant temperature sensor. This has been replaced. It has a BMS46 Hybrid ECU, from a BMW / Siemens joint development.