Olaf

I saw it today too, out near hutt park raceway at lunchtime.

I think local bodies in NZ have long forgotten who they are here to serve, and who funds them.

mate, if you're still wondering, I'm happy to look while I'm up there. If indications are good, you then arrange a PPI (there's Jeff Gray or an Independent down there(, and then fly down and eyeball yourself before signing off on the deal. Much as it would pain me to drive a 335i! Last time I remote inspected a car for a friend was in Auckland, after I'd worked a long shift, and grabbed a couple of hours kip in my hotel room. Arranged for another friend to pick me up, and we errr brisky put the car in question through its paces. He subsequently purchased the car, a great VW R32 manual. I've sinces asked 'how come you didn't have me test drive your fiancé before you married her?'

heh heh. back in the 80's, there was a full page ad, black text on white: ethusiasm is no substitute for experience. and down in the bottom right hand corner of the page, the Durex logo. Applying that metric to your example, I'm conflicted. #; )

my $0.02 aligns pretty tidly with Nick G's, above. you'll pay the premium for the 50kms car, and although you avoid the cost of the 100kms service in 3-4 years at 15k per year, after 3-4 years your car is now approaching 100k's and everyone knows it's going to need a big service... so now your premium has vanished, you've compounded higher depreciation, and you field just as much loss as you'd have done buying the 110km car (at a lower price) that's had the big service. there's no 'right' answer, really. I can recommend that if you're really down to the $2-3k in worrying between case a and case b over 2-3 years, you might consider simply not buying either car. IME life's not like that (accountancy or actuarial tables), and predictions don't materialise in full benefit. eg despite your best plan, you get a girlfriend in another town and spend 2.5 years commuting on weekends, adding 10k kms to your projected use; or your car gets stolen; or suddenly you have a company car; or arrive at a family and have to sell that spiffy coupe - and subsequently take the loss. The observation I'll make, that I would place the greatest value in: they're not investments, they're liabilities. Sure, we love cars - that's why we're here on this forum. And naturally, we plan a little and try and minimise the downsides. I'm a planner, though I temper this with the addage "if you play, you pay". The 2-4 year case may work out well for you; if it costs you an extra few grand, hopefully you get the benefits of experiences/stories for the grand kids or retirement home! #8 ) Hopefully this alternate perspective is useful. Cheers!

thanks Brock, I should have (and meant to) add that someone with the actual experience will be along shortly

Barry, I was able to get to your website with ease over the weekend.

mate, that's superb. You'll be ready for a WoF in no time. And then tyres! Or have you sorted that already?

what's left to do on your e, E?

looks like they're both 4x100 PCD, centre bore 57.1... 5.5 or 6J with ET35. take a look around at wheel-size.com could be a go. HTH

ooooh, that sounds flash. time for a thread of it's own, I reckon! wax? nahhhh mate, the best fix for a failing clearcoat bonnet is satin black. The clearcoat on my brick has been failing for 7 years, and Mrs Olaf resolutely prevents me from breaking out the random orbital and satty-B. When we were first married we had a sigma wagon with a matte-black bonnet, ahhhh those were the days. PS: "you know it makes sense"

your parents are hoping they're not going to have to have the "you're not adding that shitbox onto our driveway - one's enough!!" conversation with you. You might consider concentrating your time/effort/resources onto one, mate. That way you've got a running vehicle; there's always time for more. #8 )

heh heh, you're selling up to have less to move to the new place, but not giving up - good for you Graham! #8 )

I didn't even know you were running an e39 as well. what's the new project?

this applies to any auto carwash. back when I was in high school, my saturday job was at a Rub-a-Dub auto carwash. How clean came out was directly proprtional to how clean the car was going in. made em shiny though. #8 )

so Elijah, are you stripping it this weekend? Pics or it didn't happen!

I'd rather kick tyres than the bucket, any day! I'll be in Napier third week April, if you've not found someone visiting sooner, Kyu. cheers Olaf

If you've nothing positive to contribute, it's better to say nothing, Troy.

starting the day with Them Crooked Vultures, my 10yo daughter beginning to rock out to it, before we headed off to school. it's been a rock-fuelled day.

life is choice: listening to the Foo Fighters One by One. on my laptop. streaming spotify. I'm knackered, lying down. the 10" vinyl is in the lounge... I don't care, regardless of the lo-fi of this rig I'm still loving the music nearly14 years later. I still remember unpacking it and firing the turntable up.

thank you for your erudite contributions to this thread, Troy. Can you review and consider your posts as worthwhile, elevating discourse, encouraging understanding and discussion? Or are you merely flinging mud? regards

mmmmm manual.

are my eyes deceiving me? Dave's grip is loosening on the seven-fiddy? #8 o

on my 855-T5 I'm running PBR Deluxe pads, ceramic, still low dust, though more initial bite than the Akebonos. Different setup though, braided lines and grooved+slotted rotors. Less modulation than my e46 but then it's a different setup, not sure how much I can attribute to the pads in terms of modulation. I have been able to induce heat soak in the Volvo.

I've been buying from FCP since 2006, they're consistently very good. if you want another freight option, do a search on "myus.com visa promotion" and get 2 years free premium membership, 30 days free storage, discount on freight etc. if you can buy at reasonable prices locally, better to support locals.