Olaf

rednecks in utes in provincial new zealand towns. picture, if you will, a rainy saturday in Napier. Weekend trip away. Saturday morning in-town to exercise one of the oldest tourism practices: retail tourism, allowing one's family to shop and jettison money into local economy... 30km/h zone in town, no parks to be found... pull to side of road (with indicator), put hazards on. Rural "gentleman" in silver japanese ute drives past, glaring and gesturing and honking his horn repeatedly. huh? what a welcoming presence. What, you don't get to safely pull to the side of the road in a small town, to deposit your passengers? Perhaps navigating his way around a stopped vehicle causes significant pain and discomfort, due to the chips on his shoulders. I'm sure the same guy would bitch and moan if there was a decline in tourism income in Hawkes Bay, too! Perhaps his job title is "director of first impressions". Thankfully these idiots do not get to carry sidearms in NZ. /rant

$470 is about $100 per corner, and the cost of a courtesy ride and a coffee. It covers cost of some broken trim clips in the boot, replaced... not so exhorbitant in many respects. and a bit of healthy margin. And as the OP says, he saved valuable time not taking it elsewhere. Hopefully they did the alignment with the weights on the floor as per factory spec. As for Mag and Turbo? Why would anyone go there, for anything? Would you buy food - to eat - from McDonalds? Sheesh. If you want a specialist job done, go to a specialist. If you want a hamburger, you can go to Ronnie Maccas or Booger King.... or go to Burger Wisconsin or Burger Fuel. There are good independent workshops around for suspension work, if you prefer not to go to a BMW independent.

you're absolutely right, Kelvin. Only, it's like his first real girlfriend. He's decided he wants to marry her. He had sought this unicorn for years... his mother even liked her! Only, then he found out she wasn't the virgin they said she was. He knows she can be 'made good as new by a plastic surgeon. But, it's a deal breaker for him, as to his mind, he was marrying 'the one'; to his mind, 'the one' had to be an authentic virgin.

Do you guys not remember top gear before 2002? It's been going a f#%kload longer than that, and used to be pretty dry. It's going through a slow and painful metamorphosis - just give it time. I think MLB is an excellent host. Rory is slick, though needs a bit of humility. Most particularly he is totally lost amidst Monkey's pithy barbs. Eddie Jordan - BZZZZZZT. Get Och Aye The Noo Crazy Dave Coulthard. Evans gave it a shot, but basically "whoo hoo" every week gets a bit boring. I'm sure Jezza spent a day a week writing metaphors and similes, culled them next week, and thus had a strong list from which to effortlessly draw whilst mid-corner. Evans was hamstrung by his personality, but clearly didn't do his homework. The producers f#$ked up by directing him to emulate Jezza. Never gonna work. MLB, by contrast, injects his own New York cool - and being an actor, has plenty to draw on. I enjoyed the seasons - though I'm sure few viewers would have appreciated Weird Uncle Eddie with his spoon accompaniment! If only they'd chosen "Spoonman" instead of abba.

hooray! sad days though Lewis, I think these looked ace on your e46

+1 - NGK. My M54 uses Iridium. Consider your coils as well; over time these degrade. Sure, they're producing a spark...

statistically, one of niu zillund's most enduring pastimes is known as "messing around in boats" couple that with kiwis being tightwads, only the one-percenters (or successful plumbers) shell out for marina moorings. Peasants use trailer sailers or fizz boats; the rest are left with a wet solution. Thus, there is a constant demand for deep water or 'swing' moorings. The requirement for a successful mooring is a large lump of useless, valueless scrap metal on which to secure the yacht or launch in question. It is for this purpose that lexus and toyota powerplants have become renowned. Their time on the open market really is 'blink and you'll miss it'. This kind of market velocity has even the most cold-hearted Auckland Real Estate Agent looking on in awe.

plus Allan's beast... (Tim325) edit, well, his is an e46. more of the same really, only better!

I called BMW NZ about 3.5 years ago, recent japanese import I'd had for about 6 months. They said the local dealer would be in touch when mine was scheduled. Last year I purchased a key, and took the opportunity to ask about the recall. JGBMW sorted it out to be done when I was there collecting my key. Moral of story: if you've an opportunity to do business with your BMW dealer, it provides an opportunity to get the recall attended to. I'm have the feeling they updated firmware, the car was running better after that. HTH

it's not these marks you're trying to remove, is it?

Hi Dave, you might consider getting your amp repaired? It might be worth calling Ashley Audio in Wellington (if they're still around), they specialised in fixing the really tricky stuff as well as sales/installation. Iain has always been excelent to deal with. Come to think of it, it's time I had my MD deck looked at... I'll search them out.

keen for you to have a go in mine next time we meet, John. Although it still *looks* like it's on stilts, it's a very different vehicle from when you drove it. not perfect, but much, much more satisfying to drive.

I've just started watching Extra Gear. Oh dear. It reminds me of a micro-sketch starring Ben Elton on The Young Ones "Nozin Around" Very contrived. For the first time I was hoping a stage light would drop on Chris Evans like something out of Road Runner & Wylie Coyote, he spent about 35 seconds ad-libing about the new track and failed miserably, then crossed to Sabine who was precise yet strangely boring. My laptop has survived, my reactiuon was not as extreme as Rick's reaction to Nozin' Around at the end of the sketch. Come to think of it, Rick Mayall would have been better than Chris Evans. This .gif of Rick Mayall as 'Rick' in The Young Ones is more entertaining than the first 5 mins of Extra Gear, IMHO. I'm off to self-flagelate and watch it to the end in the hope it improves. Extra Gear, not the .gif. Okay? PS: Sabine is not a supermodel, we all age, I would encourage television that allows people - particularly women - to wear their age with grace instead of subscribing to the perpetual american beauty image illness. /rant

I'll have to have a look for this! #8 )

wow!

I watched it last night, taped (Voda cable tv box) from Prime. Dave - hey that was good news, it was indeed in HD! I thought it was pretty good, actually. Chris Evans? Well, he was being himself. Really. Everyone knows he's a bit of a knob, particularly Chris himself. I like that he's largely unapologetic about it, he has a bit of genuine about him, along with that cheezy energy. He should have a shave though. Designer stubble just becomes 'Aqualung' when your beard is more salt than pepper! I thought Matt LeBlanc was very good. He's self-assured, a confident peddler, and is a purveyor of dry new york humour. I was a bit bored with the top gun segment, though appreciated the constant nods to the movie. Sabine was relegated to being unable to beat Evans because her vette wasn't up to the Viper? Hmmm. I thought Jessie Eisenberg with Gordo was largely un-funny, despite Eisenberg's sharp wisecracks. They were wasted where Evans was fawning over Gordo. Different format, better research and questions needed. Top Trumps style pitting guests against each other? Missed opportunity! What would Parkinson think?! Anyway, the new Top Gear wasn't terrible, was pretty funny, and a change of presenters always takes time. Oh, and updating the star in a reasonably-priced car into a rallycross with the minis - brilliant! Love the sound of those Minis, too. I'm looking forward to the next one. My 0.02 worth.

Talk to the recomended service agents. The trans in the e60 is significantly more complex than the earliers trans models, and has a number of 'features' (re risk points or failure modes), you'll do well to get preventative maintenance completed. Plenty of info in "so you just bought yourself an e60" - the most recent copy I have is v3.3 - do a google search and you should be able to find a copy with ease. Nice car, I drove one today myself. This example was a bit of a shitter, aircon didn't work, sunroof broken, transmission very jerky shifting into 2-3rd, and it smelt bad inside. I felt sure a good one would be a nice car. HTH

welcome, Tim. Nice looking cabby!

thanks Dave! I guess I shall have to be patient and watch it in low-res, fast forwarding the adverts. I'm-a-gonna look for it somewhere I can stream it in decent res. I've gone completely off broadcast TV and Sky. /rant

bloody jetsetter! Time to re-shoot Goldfinger. With a BMW. Yes, sacrilege I know... the most perfect Bond film ever. It is quite awesome though, great way to appeciate its curves.

gidday Greg, and welcome along. e39's rock. You should find there are Christchurch-based Bimmersporters with e39 experience, and plenty of knowledgable and helpful folk on here. top points also for adding your location to your profile, for area-specific assistance. Nice wheels too!

slightly west of(f) topic, I've just watched TG S22E8 (Netflix). Funniest TG I ever saw! Brilliant! Hammond's prize - and the way it was photographed - in the classic car challenge was superb. The lifestyle SUV challenge was par-excellence. I've just showed it to my kids and they were cracking up. Interesting to note Clarkson wailing "I hate working on Top Gear" during the river crossing section. They were tired, it needed to move on. Now, where can I watch this new season?

oh. e60? I know little; have heard they do flood, that there are a number of control modules in the low-point of the floor round the back seat area, below sound deadening and carpet. e.g. - if the water's found its way in there they could be drowned. Here's hoping you're not in trouble. I think the guys at Page European have been seeing this happening on e60's, you might want to enlist their help. Here's hoping your electronics are intact. Let us know how you get on, Greg!

I gotta credit Billie with good sense, or at least coming to her senses!

Hi Nathan, which stereo version is it? If MD, is the MD working okay? if it's the CD version and cosmetically excellent, I'm keen. thanks in advance...