Olaf

great progress. what parts have you ordered, and what's on your jobs list?

Congratulations, astute buying with some elbow grease and you're sorted.

I thought it was good for e28 also!

Welcome! Not so many here in Rotorua; great to see you aboard. Feel free to join in with any of the Welly Roadies or Meetups if you're heading down this way.

A somewhat unusual E60 M5 for sale in auckland at Buy Right Cars with asking price $37,980. I thought the "Unusual Edition" was a good badge, it's Indianapolis Red with White Leder interior, and only 40k kms on the clock. Please refrain from commenting that the low mileage is due to the previous owner was to scared to be seen in public in it; the buyer may ultimately join our ranks! http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1320656610.htm Nice to see an alternate hue. At first I thought the images had bad white balance... Then I did a google search on Indianapolis Red and found it is kinda rusty looking red; "a bit ginga" if you like. It's striking, I kinda like it. And here's that Nissan Maxima wood again... ....and, the obligatory rearshot: Sassy!

I think you'll find Bimmersport has an excellent mix of members, encompassing the gamut from 'young' to the 'young at heart'! Get along to some meets and experience it for yourself Many of us wear grey hair with pride... or at least, we can't afford Grecian 2000 as we spent our last $50 on parts. That's not generally viewed as a disability here on Bimmersport (we're a non-descriminatory inter-denominational bunch), the rest of the country long ago forgave those north of the Bombays syphoning off extra petrol tax to build more roads in Auckland... You gain extra points for disarming honesty!

such thoughtful design engineers... giving the mechanics that would spend so much time with them, something beautiful to look at

you're well made up, then!

Now why would you live in a bus shelter when you'd have a perfectly weather-right - if stationary - M5? ?

the margin on coffee will far outweigh the margin on fuel. fuel is what they sell to get you in the door, the high-margin stuff is what makes their profit. the manager won't be too fussed if you weren't a coffee customer!

PS - 8.5 litres is a lot of oil to drain! We had the car on ramps on my mate's gently-sloping driveway, with rear wheels chocked. Running a pair of cascading drain pans (leveraging the gradient), worked out fine. I may have to get a 10 litre pan.

Today 158534kms, oil change and filter. My first on the 545i. Used Penrite HPR 5W40. and Hengst oil filter, which is OEM filter (Hengst genuine filter housing), and the same filter as was used last time. It now sounds better when starting, and runs smoother. Result. May replace the oil filter housing, as it's drain bolt seems seized. Didn't want to faff around trying to free it up in case the car ended up incapacitated. Noteworthy: the Hengst filter comes with a new filter housing o-ring, copper drain plug crush washer, and another o-ring seal for the filter drain plug included in the box. Bonus!

thanks, folks! oddly enough I found the same thing - the top lid has a good foam seal. I have the drums laid on their backs. will look into a gear pump.

So yes, I've Scottish Heritage and don't mind saving a bob or two here and there, though won't cheap out when it comes to quality. THIS THREAD IS NOT TO BE AN OIL DEBATE, OKAY? I buy Penrite oils, now in 20 litre drums. This fits with Spike Milligan's "old Scottish proverb Money is flat and meant to be piled up". You save a decent amount on bulk buy, and when it's on 30% off sale, you're getting full synthetic 5W40 at around $8/litre incl. As they almost 'gush' around Liverpool, "not bad". "Okay then Olaf, so how does this work?", you ask. You buy your drum, lug it home, remove the bottom plug of the drum, tap it, and insert the tap (free from some stores, or up to $11 at others depending on how uncharitable they are), to release the oil. Trap for new players: ensure your tap valve is CLOSED before standing the drum up! Now, there does seem to be a bit of a downside. Leaks from the tap. Slowly. That is, not the valve itself. It;s where the valve seats into the drum. I'm nearly through my third drum now, and there's always seepage around the tap, which aside from potentially causing a slip hazard on the workshop floor, is bloody wasteful and flies in the face of buying oil in bulk on sale and feeding 'money is flat and meant to be piled up' theory, to put fuel into tank of V8. So how the *f%#k(!) do you tap the drums efficiently? I'm sure there must be a trick. Tapping the drum cleanly should allow the tap (with it's o-ring) to seat securely, and not leak. Your answers and advice welcomed.

... that goes round corners, too!

unforgiveable. better off repairing wheelbarrows. jebus, when I work on my own stuff I check and double-check, use threadlock as specified, and use the specified torques (so that I'm not relying on my amateur idea of what maybe it should be tightened to)... that way I'm reducing the risk of things falling apart on the road and causing a hazard for myself or others. My own bit of risk mitigation. /nuff said.

try the search function, this has been discussed recently and there are recommendations for Auckland-based fitters. You can also take it to a BMW dealer, not many people think of that. Do post in the new members thread, Andy. Welcome to the forum.

Keeping this thread up to date: Today at 158460kms my trans service was completed New pan/filter, bolts, mechatronic sleeve, fill plug; Fuchs synthetic Dex VI (as above), plus Diff service (new drain and fill plugs, Fuchs synthetic oil) Replaced left front door seal Page European did the work, very pleased. I may get to change the engine oil and filter this weekend, if it's not raining too much. EDIT: here's the link to the thread where I investigated what approach and ATF were most appropriate. If you have a ZF 6HP trans, you should find this useful

e60 545i: New pan/filter, bolts, mechatronic sleeve, fill plug; Fuchs synthetic Dex VI Diff service (new drain and fill plugs, Fuchs synthetic oil) fitted left front door seal Page European did the work, very pleased.

oh please. if anyone subscribes to this kind of bollocks they're better off living in god's germany.

oh if we're going small, might as well go N62B48! Wonder if anyone makes an adaptor plate to the Powerglide?

... I guess it'd be 'murican. Are we talking big block? Is there space between those towers for a big block?

That's a beauty. There were a couple of blokes in the BMW drivers club back in UK with Evo 2 and Evo 3. I remember one very similar to this. I think Birds used to do the 'official' RHD conversions over there. Or was it Sytner? Memory's getting dulled by time.

Nitrous, tubbed rear, and a parachute. Awesome on the quarter mile

I've been a (paying) Flickr consumer for more than ten years; for hosting your images they're rather good. The now free service is excellent when compared with photobucket. hth