Olaf

cool man. same company, but the team's based up there?

congrats on the house sale. Nice e39 Msport 530i Touring showed up on face balls yesterday. though you know I'm gonna say 545i is the solution #8 )

that's gold. +1 for Bentley. Had Bentley for my VW GTi A2 16v (clutch job, water pump, suspension, brakes); e30 325i Touring (general maintenance); and my e46 325i Touring (brakes, suspension, general maintenance). The books sell easily when you're done with them. They have a metric sh*t-ton of info in them, excellent wiring diagrams, and put Haynes manuals to shame. If you can't find it locally, Amazon's a good source. HTH

cool! you must let us know which inbuilt beltronics you have, too.

I only just read the bit about blaming the apprentice. "oh, well, that's okay then mate". Not. Does he kick the dog as well? As Nathan says, it's his name above the door, and he's responsible for directing and checking the work of his apprentice. Not worth dealing with. You might consider writing a letter to Mr blame-the-apprentice, detailing your experiences and discussions to date, state you're unhappy with his actions to remedy, ask for your money back. Meanwhile get it done by someone who knows what they're doing... like Glenn! Yes you're paying twice, but you can chalk it up to experience. You can always take Mr blame-the-apprentice to small claims, if you can be bothered spending the time. At least you have the letter if you need material. Brakes no. 1 safety item, get em sorted. HTH

the wooden wheel's a bit gauche; it has an aftermarket stereo (no bad thing)... other than that it looks clean and tidy. It's not an M-sport, the 20th Anniversary is like "all of the luxury options"... You really want a V8, eh.

welcome, Shiman. I'm a big fan of the Z4 coupe, congratulations on your new ride. In terms of finding that wheel or those seats that you want, @BM WORLD is your man. Do update your profile to indicate your location, better for the crew here to help you with advice. Also consider subscribing to the 'meetings' room for your locale. If you're in Auckland, they meet regularly for cars and coffee. Down here in Welly we're meeting more regularly (than we used to), though infrequently. We're also plotting and executing roadies from time to time. Did I mention it before? I dig the Z4 coupe.

Back on topic... Yesterday at 158190kms I had Page European drain my trans and refill with their brand of full synth DexVI (I think they're using Titan, now). Also installed one of my new door seals (acquired from @BM WORLD)... I've been too damned busy to get to that job myself. I asked what the fluid was like that came out of it was like. 'used; brown (not black), not burnt smelling but certainly "used" oil'. Sounds like we're lucky with the timing. When it's black and burnt smelling you've lost friction material from your plates, and it's suspended in your ATF. I've only driven it home, first impression was that it was shifting a little smoother. I'll know better when I've driven it from cold (later this morning). It's the first step in Trans service, in a couple of weeks time it goes back to have: drain drop pan replace mechatronics sleeve seal new pan/filter/magnets/bolts refill with fresh Dex VI. It's gonna take me a couple of weeks to clock up 500kms, I've dropped the big daily commute now

On e46 the auto-dipping Kerr mirror for reverse doesn't work if you've left the adjustment switched to the left mirror. surely you have CD and CD changer??

Yeah, that 540i looks clean and sharp, rather than "off".

US shipping doesn't have to be expensive; UPS from FCP Euro is pretty reasonable, though UPS Service in NZ can be dire. and this is where we get to variability of charges. I was raped by UPS recently for a shipment that was NZD 5 over the threshold, total cost under NZD400. They can charge whatever brokerage fees they like. DHL or FedEx are far more reliable and reasonable. I'd not touch NZ Post youshop with a barge pole, their terms of service are shocking - they're written by some paranoid who expects all clients to be scum. If you want a reliable forwarder in the US, MyUS.com are good, and if you search for their Visa Promotion you'll get gold service for two years for free. W00t! Discounted freight, free amalgamation and a month's free storage, not to mention a choice of reliable carriers. HTH

you need www.whatsmyduty.org.nz as soon as the combo of GST and Duty on your import (including freight charge) hits NZD60 you get kablammoed with all manner of fees and raped for over a hundy. EDIT: your brother was lucky not to be incarcerated for class A importation. LSD indeed.

Yep. You're right. Sounds like those made to high standards probably manufactured in china parts are working out really well.

What about a modern 600 or 750... these days more power than the 1100's of 30 years ago (100bhp)

It's interesting that people buy or choose Brembo rotors on the basis they'll be good (seen as a premium brand after the fitment of those coloured callipers to Ducati, Holden HSV etc. for the last 20 years or so...), though they're not an OEM supplier to BMW, and (according to BNT) most Brembo rotors are made in China, so no better than any other vanilla aftermarket equivalent part! @Jacko Is your workshop a specialist independent?

mind you, how bad could it be? http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mercedesbenz/auction-1341579811.htm

The ML is basically sh*t, though. Not Mercedes most shining moment! If you actually need to be offroading - rather than driving across muddy fields - you'll be wanting a Land Cruiser, a Pajero, Disco, Range Rover, Patrol. Nothing comes cheap - they all have maintenace risk/headaches. Well apart from the Land Cruiser, which instead has high entry price. Oh, the Suzukis are excellent if you're not needing to carry much.

^^ this.

what about the KTM390? That's a cool bike, without going straight to eyeballs-wired R1's or similar. PS - congrats on your licence, Paul!

pretty good outcome! the noisy A/C compressor is a feature of the e46... I had mine replaced along with new receiver drier. Page Euro get a guy in to do their A/C work. Jacking pads are inexpensive. They'll knock out your window regulator in no time. Mine went at this time of the year also, left front, decided it was better replaced than my good lady lowering window and being unable to raise it. Page Euro did a beaut job, easy.

91. It doesn't run as good, but I'm tight. really, totally, scotsman tight. so 91.

I trade in $2.15 in savings for 50litres. The cashiers usually make a fuss - it's as though they don't see that very often. Redeem, pay no money for your 50 litres. Small satisfaction. Best to gas up on the 10c days. BP or Caltex. You only take multiples of $40 (eg you need to spend $40 to be able to accumulate. You can clock up two lots of $40 before you go in to pay. If you've room for another, you can pre-pay at the counter. "Accumulate" or "Redeem". Who doesn't dig on redemption?

because we don't have a vomit emoji. Blahdy hell, that'd be sad if they're selling Gull at Mobil. Is Mobil 98 working well for you, Brent? Do you run that across all three vehicles?

How do you static reset the Active Steering? Keen to know.

given the number of petroleum processing facilities in NZ (bugger-all), if Mobil's 8000 is Ethanol blend in Wellington, I think you'll find it's Ethanol blend in Auckland too. /smugface