gjm

No bill involved. All-up cost of well under $300, including shipping. Nothing to tax in it.

OK. By adding more things to my order, I was able to reduce the shipping cost. (My brain hurts trying to work that out.) So, all paid, package consolidated, shipped out of the UK, into Auckland airport and... That's it. 6 days (so far) 'Held for clearance'. Whatever you do when ordering something from overseas, don't make it time-sensitive, and don't pay extra for expedited delivery. NZ Customs will not be hurried.

QH have been around forever (it seems). In the UK, many OEM parts come in QH packaging, the same way Lemforder and so on also package. Not the top-of-the-line most outstanding product, but certainly good enough. OEM.

Just had a quick look at Mick's Garage... Set of Mintex brake discs for our Merc 190E - $231.52 including delivery, with no discounts. Include a set of pads - $321. There's links at the bottom of their page for their discount club.

Good dog! I have helper cats. All they do is remind me how slow I am...

Brakes are a problem, and NZ retailers know it, marking up accordingly. Find a 'tame' seller in the US and they can be shipped in a flat rate box, but FCP and the other suppliers don't use that method.

Looks like it is all a bit academic now. Auckland Council have decided that the speedway will go - last races will be in 2019. Western Springs have done a huge amount of work to reduce noise, dust and generally fit in with the neighbours, and have promoted the sport exceptionally well along the way. On this occasion it seems it is less a case of NIMBY-ism, but more a case of a bloody-minded council determined to do things their way.

<sigh> Want - yes. Want lots? - Yes! Unemployed - yes. Damn.

When I was in the UK, we lived about 3 miles from Deighton Hills Shooting School. Been there forever. You'd hear occasional pops from the school, but nothing else. Over time people moved in and complained. and complained. And as house prices went up, the complainers became more influential. Didn't quite get to the point where the school was closed, but it cost Mike Reynolds (former British Olympic shooter) a fortune in sound reduction stuff.

Could be. I'd not seen that. I think there is a family speedway at Waikaraka already? Might make sense to put money into developing one site rather than having two. Of course, that might mean more racing (as opposed to once a month) and that'll doubtless upset the locals (see Jon's post above!)

That's fair, and I don't think there would be so much concern if another location was being offered, proposed, or even considered. At present though, that's not the case. The action appears to be a simple 'shut the speedway and redevelop'.

Same story her e. How much Auckland was there in 1929, when Western Springs opened? There may be one or two people around who remember it opening, but they will be in the tiniest minority. It does seem to be newcomers who cause problems. It's happened time and time again.

No-one ever accused a council of being smart!

The point is that it wasn't an urban area. Urbanisation came later. If the council would like to provide an alternative venue - which they appear to have no intention of doing - then it might be a different matter.

Auckland Council want to close western Springs, the speedway which has been in regular use since 1929. Plans include turning it into yet another cricket pitch, which would see the end of any activity other than cricket. Currently, Western Springs hosts 12 races per year, countless concerts and cultural festivals, including the Pasifika festival. From the Western Springs Speedway site: "Western Springs Speedway needs your help – PLEASE SHARE THIS! If we don’t take the time to ‘Have Our Say’ with the Auckland City Council NOW, next March may be the end of Speedway at the Western Springs venue. Please take the time to either send them an email at this address - [email protected] Or post your feedback on Facebook at this link: facebook.com/aklcouncil Feel free to express yourselves, however, we don’t need any colourful language as it will have your submission thrown out. Here are some ideas to use in your message: • Speedway has been there for 90 years, since 1929. • It is family friendly and a great night out for everyone. • Only 12 nights a year • Mention how long you and your family have gone. • The crowds are huge, the atmosphere is unlike anything else in Auckland. We need over 50,000 submissions before 8pm Wednesday 28th March, so spread the word!"

Another turn-down... this one just said "Regrettably you did not make it onto our shortlist." Nothing else. I'd applied privately as the company had advertised the role themselves. Two agencies had contacted me, asking if I would be interested in role XYZ that they could place me for. They were quite literally falling over each other telling me that according to my CV I had everything the company was looking for, and some additional experience that was known would be useful. But... I didn't make a shortlist via a direct application. I wonder what the company is actually looking for?

I think these are discontinued Ruff R358s? TSW in NZ deal with Ruff.

What's the considered opinion on 'getting away with something..'? I'm talking about the third brake light on a 1990 E30. An identical car from 1989 doesn't need one, but a 1990 does. Am I fooling myself if I think we might 'get away' with not fitting the 3rd brake light to the (new) bootlid for the Baur?

Fusspot!

Fuggin' retrofit 3rd brake lights. Who's idea was this? From Jan 1st 1990 you must have a third brake light on a vehicle. Any car manufactured after this date and imported to NZ must have one retro-fitted. So that's BMW E30s manufactured in 1990. Not (identical) BMW E30s manufactured in 1989. I've got enough on my plate dealing with redundancy and trying to make ends meet while shipping Mrs M to the UK for her mother's funeral (we'd all go, but money doesn't allow that). So, having made the sad (not as sad as losing my Mother-in-Law, obviously) decision to sell the Baur if work doesn't turn up in the meantime, imagine exactly how pleased I was to witness the complete and utter shambles of a job which was done to fit a 3rd brake light in the middle of the boot lid. Basically - the boot lid is trash. Completely stuffed. Not only did the lid not receive any sort of prep or corrosion inhibiting treatment when the holes were gouged out of it (use the 1/2" drill bit straight into sheet metal - no pilot hole) but close inspection reveals it was creased when this was done. It's rotted across 50% of the boot lid, including rusting through. Most of the panel looked fine, but that was because corrosion from the inside hadn't broken through the outside paint. Repair is possible, but any welding is likely to distort the panel even more than it is already. So it'll be a replacement bootlid, prep, paint, paint matching... Wouldn't it be nice if others could make the effort to look after our cars as well as we will?

I've been ordering a few things from the UK. Nothing too big, nothing expensive - couple of £ here and there, several items. Shipping to NZ would be multiples of the value of any single item. Thought I'd use NZPost YouShop. So far, it'll cost me a lot more to use their consolidated service than it would to ship each item individually! - A book - shipping from Amazon less than £10; NZPost YouShop shipping: $22. - A bluetooth keyboard for our daughter - shipping would have been £12; YouShop shipping £17.25. OK - let's consolidate the two items into a single package. Consolidated shipping rate - no saving over individual shipping. £39.25. Perhaps I'm missing the point of using a service like this, unless it is to just make more money for NZPost? (By the way - you cannot get an estimate for YouShop shipping until they have received the items at their warehouse.)