Olaf

@Michael. do you take commissions? ?

that's a very special car.

and this is the crux of the thread. Some people are *hoping* for mint wheels for $500. The cost of refurbishing wheels on top of the current market rate for a set, takes the price well above $500. Eventually, the market will meet $800-900 for a set of 14 inch weaves, because the supply is low, demand increasing, and people prefer not to sell at a loss having put money in to bring them up to scratch. I'd happily refurb my steelies and hubcaps with great paint and new badges. Nobody'll pay $200-250 for em. So they'll go out patinated... or go to the scrappers.

Sounds as though they're all ducking and diving, running and hiding, for fear of a liability claim in future if they say something they can't substantiate, or say something you can later substantiate. Your NZTA answer = "caveat emptor". VINZ answer = "no, sorry" VTNZ answer = "we're not going to divulge anything we don't need to by law, and we've a convenient one to hide behind, thank you". If you decide to move forward, you're putting your faith/trust in a process that has inconsistencies. At it's base, if it's been declared a (statutory) write-off in Australia and they wouldn't have it on their roads, what's less stringent about their poor cousins on the East Island, that allows it to be registered here? You could well get a good car out of this. The damage codes you've provided appear to indicate it was not the scary flood damage, or accident damage. However, you could find it takes a very long time to sell as potential buyers will encounter the same stonewall in trying to qualify their potential bargain. If you save $4k at this end, would the cost of that money - when you need to sell - be $4k? As a percentage, how much under market is this vehicle looking for you? Interesting conundrum, Kyu!

The Auto Glym Bumper and Trim Gel is amazing

Just remember, before there was Bras n Things, there was: Brake aNd Transmission! BNT.

Graham. A set of rough 14" baskets is $300-500. if you need straightening, add another two-to-four hundred. Need waffles? USD125 each. Got waffles but need badges? USD50 for a set. Now think about refinishing. A day's labour to prep by hand. Now your paint materials cost - $110-150, as you're using quality materials. now another half day of your time to paint them. Now you want to put tyres on? $450-600. 15" baskets - two sets sold recently at around a grand.

just as it was before, choose FedEx from FCP Euro, FedEx will then tell you how much you need to pay, and they'll give you time ahead of the package arrival. Service. The only thing that has changed are the thresholds and a tweak to a couple of the rules. The customs process remains the same. FedEx bread-and-butter business.

We'll probably go for the cuba quarter in that case... ?

It's okay, MyUS.com still ships here, they're all sorted with the new laws and charges. Fear not! ... so you can buy on eBay, ship to your Florida address, aggregate, trans-ship to Niu Zild, and pay your Gubbermint Stealing Tax here too. Everybody wins.

Nice one @Mad_Max Geordie Let us know where you're staying, and we'll arrange a suitable location. I'll whip something up in the meetups room ? Be excellent to see you!

Sadly this move is "very unhelpful" to the established NZ Distributors... My suggestion: support your local distributor! They're the ones with the knowledge, product support, being a part of the community car shows on weekends.

not much to say really... I watched, while Jon did the work. It's tight. Glovebox comes down (needs support). Be prepared to unbolt the brake booster from the firewall, and disconnect the pedal linkage thingy from the servo. Centre console out. Plenty of towels for mopping up that blue blood. New O-Rings. Hmmm. I should have paid more attention!

got it all wrong. you need an iS badge!

Welcome to Bimmersport, Ron! Great to see you here, mate. And good luck with your sale ?

Today, @Autoglym and I gave Grey Thunder a clean before Mega Meet. Thanks Barry, it looks super - if I say so myself!

Potatoshop.

I found "listing withdrawn by seller". My point of view differs slightly from yours, Kyu. I'm buying, and I want to know what brand they are selling me. I make my own value judgement on whether it's a reasonable price. We don't rock up to the supermarket for a packet of peas, and get given their choice of plain-pack per; we have a choice and if we prefer McKain or Watties, we choose for ourselves. We can choose to buy from eBay, or the local BMW dealer, or even Aliexpress. This vendor's behaviour is more likely to drive those behaviours, IMHO. Who's to say the vendor wasn't selling OEM? We don't know, as he won't respond to anyone. I'd not buy from anyone evasive of the origin of their wares.

inspired by the Holden Sandman?

To be clear: I'd buy an commercially available off-the-shelf specialist system from someone like magnaflow, borla, remus, supersprint, eisenmann et al. And you can get some idea of how they'll sound from Youtube clips. I think the custom-made thing is a crap-shoot, you can't really predict what you'll get. HTH

I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a question to the same end. Nor would I encourage others to - singly - ask a similar question... though I wouldn't suggest they shouldn't, either.

Visiting Mecca. Auto 38, Newtown, Wellington

M40 316i Cloning School - one of my images.

I'd be going for stock, or a reputable zorst as per Kyu's list above. I've experienced the 'get a local exhaust specialist to build one' (that turned out bloody noisy, a little quieter, and then choked), and seen many others take this approach with a variety of quality, and usually the kind of noise they weren't hoping for. I've also experienced buying a full cat-back system from a specialist that sold them commercially, and was very happy with the fit and finish, and the sound to boot. More predictable results with the off-the-shelf system made for your car by a reputable manufacturer. HTH

Over to you, @allan. I'll need to know before Friday morning if you need my assistance.