Olaf

I've not been fancy enough to have Alcantara, thanks for the pointers👍. Leather's hard to beat for durability! When your kids are young, leather's the best for cleaning out dropped sweets, ice cream, vomit, nappies. When they're older, pie crust (grrrr!)... so much harder to clean out of fabric.

Trycycling improves fuel economy, lowers tyre wear. My picture, Nikon D4s+AF Nikkot 70-200 2.8 FL/E, B+W Kassemann Pol filter.

Bissell carpet cleaner, job done.

question: as the e39 shares so much with e46, is cruise in the e39 simply adding the multifuction wheel, retrofit wiring and 'bingo' like it is in the e46?

adulting is overrated! you can be a grownup without being surrendering everything!

Date: 22 Mar 2025 Distance: 217,700 kms 1. Fresh Rubber on the rear. As described above, two RE003 245/70R17 fitted to the rear. Care taken by my tyre professional, carefully wire brushing the beading surface inside the rim on both edges, to remove rubber buildup and enhance beading seal. New valve stem and valve core. fitted and dynamically balanced. Didn't do an alignment as the wear on the rear tyres is really nicely flat and even. Nothing like the feel of fresh rubber on your car. 2. Wiper Blades front & rear Replaced wiper blades front & rear. Much better. 3. Monitoring Left sitting for nearly a week, wet wet day, it started on 3 or 4 cylinders. Really not happy. Cycled off, restart... up to four. Then a couple more cycles, up to six, with a really faint misfire. I'll scan the codes soon, find out what it's complaiuning about. I'm guessing moisture tracking on dirt somewhere? Needs a bloody good wash. Totally loving the steering wheel, it's so connected. The car steers well, is planted. Need to get on with that stereo build.

Today I ordered some tyres for the rear, as measuring last weekend revealed 2.5mm on one side, 5mm on the other (puncture a while back). My supplier warned me only 13 RE003 in 245/40R17 left, Bridgestone NZ may not re-stock as they're a slow-mover. Bugger. 4mm on the front, still. They'll get fitted thursday. Time to replace the wiper blades as well, they're a bit crusty and hard after summer. A few things have been getting in the way of getting the stereo sorted. Fuel economy has improved since last year's servicing. Still loving it!

heya Cam, how's simply red coming along? Sending some mojo from Welly, man.

That looks superb. Very individual. I’m finding myself in the very unusual position of being envious of your stick 😎

argggghhh my eyes!

I just dig the open-road journey for these, four-up traveling as a family in my little tractor. The F25's a bit short in the boot for four adults, sadly. The Turbodiesel drivetrain just rocks. As you say, cruising at lower RPM, and the surge of torque whenever you need it dispatches overtakes swiftly. Relaxing to drive, by and large.

Some forward-movement on the audio front, I've ordered the KMM-BT408. This weekend I'll have some time to clean up the cabling I have and potentially bench test all the kit, ahead of install. Hopefully in the next week or two I'll get a front door panel off and figure out best approach to 3D printing speaker adaptors. I mentioned earlier on the thread about the steering wheel control adaptor from the e46 CANBUS to the Kenwood, and saw the Enfig stuff https://shop.enfigcarstereo.com/bmw-3-series-1999-2006-e46-radio-replacement-parts/ I see there are loads of UARTs on Aliexpress for e39 and e46 - does anyone have a clue how these works? Sadly none has "use this one for your steering wheel controls and all will be good, Gweilo" on them... eg https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-BMW-e46-CANBUS-UART.html

IIRC a leaking fuel cap seal can wreak havoc on your emissions and the DME tries to adjust, easy to throw codes. It’s a service item, relatively inexpensive to replace. Best I check ours!

e60's great though at 20 years old... they need care. Lots of love and attention. You've owned a BMW before, you probably know a 5er can't be treated like a Camry. Nor for long, at least. I too would take the msport wheels.... vendor claims well-maintained though funishes no detail of what they've done. Perhaps it was all the previous owner. Had they spent money on maintenance they'll be bursting to tell you about it. So this owner has spent their money on BBS reps, budget tyres, put in a K&N, maybe done the tints - so they've spent $3,500-$4,000... and now they're moving to "something else". Are those dark tints legal? Borderline? Will they be a cop-magnet? When did it last have an alignment? An oil change? Has the IBS been updated? (It's not a recall in NZ, though it will f#ck your day up if it rears it's head if your on holiday with your family on board). It's a sweet colour. Though it's 2 cylinders - or a turbo - short. Go in with your eyes open, download "so you bought an e60" and read the whole lot. Best of luck!

No. you are levied duty and gst on the goods purchased. GST only on the freight. There's an exemption threshold of NZD1000 on goods for personal use. Here's a worked example: However, once you're over the threshold - you'll pay the duty and GST on the goods, GST on the freight, and you'll be charged IETF, BESL: "you have the Full House". And the kicker is - and it's not part NZ Customs website - now the freight company gets to charge you Brokerage - in recognition o how much running around they need to do to clear your shipment on your behalf! It's pretty fair really. If you're a useless tw*t and are unable to furnish the correct info responding quickly, they really do earn their fee in legwork. And of course there's the question of whether you need a Customs Client Code aka Customs Number - if you're doing over a grand in a shipment, time to get practiced at filling in those forms. What's a lad to do? Read the documentation, understand the processes, the laws, the thresholds. Buy smart. Before any lefty claims "but your exploiting a loophole you nasty petrolhead" be clear that you are working within the bounds of the law, importing within the thresholds set. Easy.