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Ethereal

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Posts posted by Ethereal


  1. Just wanted to share a positive experience at Discount Tyres in Grey Lynn. They fitted 2x replacement rear tyres for my '10 335i and did a great job. They even had a go at cleaning up my rusty hubs and applying some grease while the wheels were off.

    They also did a wheel alignment for me and had some recommendations around how to reduce inner-side tyre wear. I said ok, but didn't like how the car drove afterwards (too much toe-in on the rear made the car feel a bit unstable at high speed). They fixed it up to BMW specification for free, told me to come back again if it wasn't right and even called me after the weekend to check how things were now.

    As BM Workshop Grey Lynn is just over the road, I think they get quite a few BMWs through. My only complaint is they really need some BMW friendly jack pad adapters or to jack on the rear cross-member/front jack point otherwise they'd have 10/10 from me. I'd be willing to bet not many, if any tyre shops would have these however.

    - Josh

    post-51311-0-58150100-1394398912_thumb.j


  2. Most plans, post and prepaid, have unlimited text messages and with apps like Viber and Whatsup, its a bit of a non issue

    Imma let you finish, but iMessage has benefits above and beyond that of avoiding increasing billed SMS count.

    • Messaging to OSX as well as iOS.
    • Delivered/Read receipts.
    • No character limits.
    • Extended emoji keyboards.
    • Encryption.
    • Free international messaging.
    • Messaging non-data devices (e.g. iPod Touch).

  3. Nexus 5 or iPhone5s. Don't get the iPhone5c unless you want to basically buying a plastic iPhone5.

    I'm hesitant to change away from Apple as my Mrs and I iMessage relatively often and enjoy the benefits of non-SMS messaging.

    If you want an older one, 1day.co.nz often has sales on old refurb Apple stuff.


  4. Hmm, I'll speak from experience and say that I had a difficult experience buying a Japanese import when I purchased my Audi A4 1.8T a little over 3 years ago. I am of the opinion that they don't look after their cars very well.

    It came in to the country desperately needing a service, leaking coolant and oil.. I'm not sure why I bought it in retrospect, I think I was infatuated with the concept of owning it as admittedly it is a very nice car. I luckily bought a warranty along with it and claimed more than my money spent on it in repairs as well as quite a significant amount of my own dosh that wasn't covered by the warranty. I had a fuel pump fail which left me stranded as well as the initial costs of having to get it registered and replace all four tyres, etc.

    That said, it's been pretty reliable over the last little while once I ironed out everything that I feel may not have happened had the car been looked after a little better.

    I've recently (on Friday) just bought myself a 2010 BMW 335i which has come in from the UK. It has 63k on the clock and I can already tell it's been looked after a lot better than the Audi had coming in from Japan (even accounting for the difference in age). This one flew through a pre-purchase inpsection at the BMW dealership and was praised as one of the cleanest they'd seen. Considering it was love at first drive, it had all the options I was looking for around at the right price I jumped on it, but even so I was very careful to make sure I picked up a warranty along with it. I'm hoping I don't need it, but 4 years with AutoSure for around $1800 is what I'd call that a good deal, even if not used for anything other than the peace of mine based on my previous experiences.

    At the end of the day Le Roy, do what makes you happy. A car is never going to NOT be an expensive item to own, especially if you have a taste for Euro cars (the only people who argue that are the ones who haven't driven a decent Euro car).. Just do your homework, have a pre-purchase inspection done and make sure you're happy with it. Expect to have to do a few things yourself and expect to have it in the garage a few times along the way. I've put about 500km on my BMW since Friday over around 12 hours driving time, I consider the inevitable costs of running and repair (and the mods!) a small price to pay for the happiness and freedom it has/will bring me.

    Also, I agree with elmarco in saying that you should stretch for a 6 cylinder engine if you can. BMW are famous for them and mine is a joy to drive (even more-so with two turbos attached!).

    • Like 2

  5. Sounds like a great buy! - 6MT are rare

    What sort of KM is on the car? Mine was around 40K when i bought it and it needed the walnut blasting on the intakes to clear them - then i had the BMS OCC installed

    You can definitely make it a M3 Killer without spending much :D - Some quality mods there, - you should be set to run higher tune without going into limp mode- i don't think you need the downpipe fix (flash tune it's coded out) and from memory with the JB4 it clears that code - i think the mod was there for previous versions of the JB4 (double check tho)

    There's 63k on the car at the moment, so I think it's probably due for an intake clean. I might get the guys over at BMWorkshop to take a look for me and get that OCC on ASAP. I think you're right about the DP fix too -- I remember reading that somewhere now.

    Agreed that meth is probably too much of an issue for a DD, but from what I'm reading the benefits are supposed to be huge. Where do you get your E85 from? Looking around I can see only Gull Pukekohe sells it (according to the Gull website).

    Are the mods listed in your signature current or planned? If current you must have a monster of a car, I'd love to see it in person some time.


  6. Ahh the last N54 version before they switched to the N55 engine, the N54 is a lot more tunable for power then the N55

    Yeah, this was partly the reason I jumped on this car when I could. Everything sorta fell in to place, I love the Dakota leather interior, it had the sunroof, was the last of the N54's while being the newest shape, had low KM's, flew through a BMW pre-purchase inspection and was praised as being one of the tidiest they'd seen. It is also a 6MT which I had trouble finding through my 2-3 months of looking around. I even got it for a good price compared to the other models I saw around.

    I see you have mod list already sorted :D - I am still trying to work out if i am switching to a JB4 or Cobb tune from the PTF guys - would be keen to hear about how the JB4 goes with your car

    Once I have a bit of spare cash laying around I'm really keen to get just the JB4 in. Even the extra 100HP at the crank on an otherwise stock car is going to make a huge difference.

    For shits and giggles I've priced up a few mods and for not a huge amount of money you can really do a LOT to the car.

    Prices in USD:

    • JB4 PNP (N54 Stage 3) plus USB Cable and Dual Cone Intake Combo - $599
    • N54 135/1M/335 - BMW Oil Catch Can by BMS - $179
    • cp-e 135/335 Intercooler - $839
    • Optional Add-On Oil Cooler for use with CPE intercooler - $129
    • cp-e™ BMW 135i, 335i & 335xi 3" Catless Downpipes - $579
    • BMS Downpipe Fix -- N54 Twin Turbo Motor - $100
    • BMS Replacement Downpipe Gaskets/Hardware - $19
    • cp-e BMW 135i / 335i Blowoff Valve Kit (TiAL) - $550
    • BMS Stainless Steel Brake Line Upgrade Kit - $119
    • BMS Meth Kit with 2.3 gal. Integrated Tank, solenoid, including FSB - $529
    • Shipping to NZ - $200

    Total = $3569.00USD or $4256NZD

    I guess with all that though I can kiss my 4 year mechanical warranty goodbye as it's a LOT of mods to strip off if I need to take it in!


  7. Hi everyone -- am new here so thought I'd say hi.

    Currently have an Audi A4 but looking at buying a used 335i. Have test driven a few and love 'em to bits.

    Had a test drive in the new 435i as well, they're amazing cars but they're a very "digital" experience (HUD, lane departure warnings, etc.). The Audi is good but there's no denying RWD is a blast!

    • Like 1
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