Olaf

I lived and drove in LHD countries for three years, with only a month in an RHD country in that time. I *never* drove on the left in a left hand drive country, and *never* drove on the right on return to Australasia. The only challenge I had was in car-parks; for the first year, I naturally turned to the left to avoid cars heading toward me. furthermore, when I lived in UK and drove in France, Spain, or back in the USA, I had no issues driving on the correct side of the road, no matter if I was driving a RHD or LHD vehicle. One simply needs to *think*. I think it's simply brain laziness - or being accustomed to not being switched on when driving (eg disengaging 50% of concentration behind the wheel), as the significant contributing factor to driving on wrong side of road.

there's something similar in the Volvo 855 - a very high-pressure cartridge, Stabilus, I think. I first bought some cheap aftermarket replacements from the US. They failed within 6 months. My keeping the old ones was vindicated. I was able to have them repaired by the NZ agents. You may have some luck as follows (my rebuilt units are still working 6 years later - recommended!): Gas Strut Services http://www.gasstrutservices.co.nz/ In my case the lower north island agent was out of Palmy or Levin, I think. Came in a van, workshop in back. I seem to recall mine needed to be sent to Auckland for a rebuild. Worth a crack mate, hope that helps. Summary: Steer clear of anything other than OEM or Original parts if you're replacing; or try Gas Strut Services (or similar) for a rebuild. cheers

outstanding outcome, Tony. this is the thread/vehicle that keeps on giving!

Graham, great progress. Agreed, those style 73s look dead classy - especially they're now all cleaned up. I should've bought them from you when they were for sale! Still, wasn't in a position to then, or now even. keep rackin' up those miles! best regards from the windy city.

win the battle, your wife will ultimately win the war. mate of mine learned that each time he made an unapproved purchase, he needed twice as much dinero, as his wife bought something to the same value. Therefore a bargain $3,500 purchase cost him $7,000. Happy wife, happy life. Take her on holiday to the gold coast/noumea/rarotonga for being so understanding. Must say, very impressed with the number of lumps you bought for the money! Just prepare yourself for new leather lounge suite/cosmetic surgery!

I used to use Castrol Edge 0w40 in my M54 e46 325i for the last 3 changes (I'm doing 10k km intervals with fresh filter). It has about 145k kms on it. 2 weeks ago I changed to Penrite HPR5, after excellent experiences in my Volvo 855-T5 with HPR10 (10w50). I scored a couple of HPR5 5w40 full synthetic 5 litre - on sale at Rip Every Poor C%nt Off for a price that makes a mockery of their nickname, half that of the usual Edge 0w40 price - and promptly changed oil filter, air filter and oil. Car is happier, (smoother at startup and during the warmup) be interesting to see if it uses less oil as occured when changing to Penrite did in my Volvo. My wallet is also happier. It's BMW LL-01 & VW 502.00/505.00 compliant - though this matters little to me as I'm running 10k interval as mentioned. Very happy with the performance of Penrite full synthetics, and happy with the pricing. Buy on sale, profit. FWIW I used Castrol synthetic 0w40 for years in my Volvo, Castrol Synthetic 0w40 and then 5w30 in my old Maxima, and Magnatec for a few changes in my Volvo. HTH

thanks all. unlikely the vandalism thing - parked against a fence on the side of the street with no footpath, next to a drop onto the street below; they really had to want to get to the left door. no other cars in the street touched on this occasion. it's just the hassle factor. hey ho.

let the proclamation stand: that whomsever aquires these rare items of 80's modification frivolity shall use them only in the manner in which they were originally intended: * cassette deck only * female passengers MUST wear shoulder pads and leather skirts with heels * music - on cassette - must include "Future Shock" by Herbie Hancock, Duran Duran's "Rio" album, "Sigue Sigue Sputnik", Depeche Mode "speak and spell", New Order, or The Human League. * Tyres shall be no lower than 60 series - without a note from your parents. * the interior shall be leather. * the exterior shall be black, red, white, or perhaps - GOLD. (Hmmm, perhaps Spandau Ballet added to list - but must be "Journeys to Glory") * male occupants shall wear either a leather jacket, or brightly coloured jersey. A moustache is mandatory. Suspenders (braces) are optional. you will wear brightly coloured socks. It should be noted there may be addendums to this proclamation at future dates, as noted by this cryer. Non-compliance will be considered in a court of kangaroos and BMW historians, and old gits who remember the 80's. That is all.

well bugger me. we've been back in niu zild for what, 13 years. our own little bit paradise. house (mortgage), kids, even scraped together coin enough to get a modern replacement for the e30 touring I had to sell leaving blighty. yesterday morning, the minister for war headed down to the car with our offspring in tow, while I fumbled with shoelaces and alarmed and locked the house. got to the street, admiring the beautiful orientblau metallic, and the faces of my family. only, my significant other is not looking as cheerful. "notice anything different about the car?" she asks me hmmm. "errrrr, there's some birdshit on the bonnet" "no" "errr I dunno" "look at the mirrors" "eh? what... where are the mirrors?" yes folks, some miserable twunt stole the door mirrors from our e46 overnight. BROKE them off, rooting the brackets. not to be outdone, the cut all of the wires. Fekkers. thoughts of 'paradise' abandoned; we're actually living in a third world country, where idiots are thieving parts from 13 year old cars. There must be Karma. I imagine the NZ Herald... "Dateline Wellington. Man arrived in the early hours of this morning at Wellington Hospital A&E, with funny gait. Doctors later removed car mirror that had been rectally inserted. When interviewed by this reporter, the man claimed he had no recollection of how the mirror - or the boot marks on his posterior - got there. Medical staff were suppressing their guffaws. Police said they were steeling themselves to look in to the matter, but were waiting until breakfast had settled." So, can anyone explain: is there a new market for e46 mirrors? A black market? Modders - are they great on e36's or Familias? I just don't get it. I know they're (my touring mirrors) are only for the sedan and wagon; the coupe and convertible have different units; the Ti are unique; the M3 different again. I figured they're pricey. Called insurance, filed police report. If anyone can help me understand what someone would use my beautiful, orientblau, now-broken, e46 touring mirrors for? Answers on a postcard please. Meanwhile, if this scumbag needs more mirrors, I have a spare 850 door mirror in my workshop. I'd be very happy to 'introduce' the two of them. Perhaps he'd make the papers. 'wearing' a mirror might give him a new perspective. Choose a more useful direction in life. Hmmm, direction. It's not like we can see what's around us when we change direction, at the moment. Did I say earlier, this person must be a right koont. Off to a couple of insurance co nominated repairers tomorrow, to get this underway. Our insurer was great. /rant Olaf

nothing like a chip on both shoulders to keep in balance! Bob was clearly smart enough to have excellent accountants, if he was paying less tax whilst building a property empire, compared with a specialist retailer/health professional. as any good accountant will tell you, it's about tax minimisation, not avoidance. You talk about "hiding", when sharp businessmen and women are in fact utilising opportunities available *within the law*. The law applies to all... regards

I ran an e30 325i Touring for a while back in 2001, it was a fun car. Capable, comfortable, reasonably quick to boot. You should have some good fun getting this ship shape.

another lefty nonsense idea. I've heard so much piffle in the media in the last 8 months about "those who earn more should pay more tax". Guess what?! Those who earn more *do* pay more tax. This would be another unfair twisted taxation scheme.

yeah, and they were 2.0l NA. even the Volvo 855 was 2.0 NA. awesome.

I bought the colourlock system, really impressed with the results on my volvo. http://www.colourlockleathercare.co.nz/

yep - I was early 30's, full NCB from NZ (driving 15 years), 3 years in Mexico full NCB, insurance in UK quoted 2,400 quid on a 2,500 Saab 900 or 9000. I purchased an old Vauxhall and ran it for 18mths to get a history, then bought e30 325i touring that cost less than 100 quid extra to insure (under 500 quid per annum by that stage). that was around the turn of the century; I understand it's all much more pricey these days. in short, if you've no history your risk is deemed as high and they charge you accordingly. buy a cheap 4cyl hatchback and put in your time to build a history. there's lots more to spend your coin on in UK than wasting it on huge insurance premiums! Or, get a job that includes company car as a perk, then you're sorted. Plenty of perm jobs come with a car in uk. HTH

oh yeah, the mid-late 90's BTCC was nuts. largely very average repmobiles driven to within millimetres. toyots, nissans, vauxhalls, fords, audis, volvos etc. Quite a contrast to DTM.

nice work. gives me a w00dy, for sure.

this should provide some entertainment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3zgzK6zBms

I spotted same car some weeks ago on way home from work. momentary e30 touring pining for my old 325i.

MyUS.com works brilliantly for me. the only thing approaching 'out of the ordinary' is when I ordered a kitchen knife; they took a little longer to process, to ensure it was allowed into NZ under customs rules. Great service. Nothing amature such as changing addresses and fogetting to mention!

GPS on your dashboard gives you a speedo in your line of sight #8 )

it's in the catalogue at supercheap http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/online-store/products/Permatex-Ultra-Grey-RTV-Silicone-Gasket-Maker-Rigid-High-Torque-99G.aspx?pid=5359#Recommendations maybe there's a supercheap branch close to 'rednecksville', so you don't have to go to Pukekohe? Given I'm south of the Bombays, where's rednecksville anyway - is it Henderson?

ooooh you guys gonna have fun. as with any partnership, be sure you are both in agreement what your exit strategy is - before you start! bringing it down? H&R Sportsprings should do the trick: Looks like OEM Sachs and Bilstein struts are around the same prices... one assumes you're not saddled with a self-levelling system in the rear to delete, or electronic controlled dampers? cheers

Permatex usually available from Supercheap IIRC, so the Ultra Grey (sounds like a description of my haircolour!) should not be too much of a mission to track down.

you might find that simply getting it back to OEM in the suspension department will sort out the wallow-y-ness. Read back on the road tests from '87-'89 - ISTR the e32 was renowned for tidy handling, with excellent ride and comfort to boot. It was one of the cars the australian car comics that when a new falcodore would come out, would usually be compared with in the road test. Usually a large amount of license was employed - or a large line or two of white powder probably. One only had to drive the VP Commode on its release, it certainly wasn't anything near the 5er/e300/7er of the time, contrary to the encouraging reviews in the comics had you believe! It's not too late mate - you could buy a hyundai accent!