Olaf

you guys might enjoy this article I discovered yesterday... ?

I will confess to being comparatively uninformed on Mini! Are they that bad?

result. looking forward to your next surprise!

Moving away from my bias, what about a BMW Mini? they're available for less than $5k, much stronger than an MX5, are popular and reasonably reliable?

and hey, it's your new Swedish boyfriend/girlfriend. You know, the Swedes are known for their permissive views, sense of humour, and generally well-adjusted place in the world. No parent is going to be concerned about you showing up in a Volvo wagon to take their offspring out. Strange isn't it, Rover had the viking symbol on their cars, though they were someone staid and rather pipe-and-slippers. Volvo has quite the opposite, beneath the surface: https://jalopnik.com/volvos-850-wagon-racer-was-all-sorts-of-two-wheeling-aw-1567506405 Image from Amazon.com image from Pistonheads

Is this where I mention it's had - in my ownership of some 11 or 12 years & just 54,000kms it's had plenty of care lavished on it: cam belt/waterpump/tensioner/rollers, total & complete cooling system replacement including heater core and turbo cooling hoses & genuine volvo radiator, shocks & all associated bushes, H&R sport springs, lower control arms, endlinks, drilled & slotted rotors, braided lines, IACV, cam position sensor, crank position sensor, fuel pump relay, front factory rebuilt brake callipers, coil, leads, plugs, cap, rotor, trans flush, mounts, fuel filter, air flow meter, PCV system, CV boots... and a fuel injection relay is on its way from the US of eh. It's not perfect as any 21 year old will remind you; it's well-dressed and well-behaved until you activate the party switch and then it likes to dance. It does like a drink. Show it a trip and you can nudge it under 9.9l/100, though blatting around the urban village teasing XR8/SS/STi and it'll chug 15-16/100. In serious leather, yesterday. (yes, it's a Frank Zappa reference). PS: and for trumps, it has FIVE cylinders. Yes, FIVE. They sound so cool.

looking good!

of course, I'm not biased, but I think you should buy for your sister a beautiful 1997 Volvo 855-T5 Wagon. With a stunning black leather interior. a mere 198k kms, a fresh VTNZ WoF, a new AA premium battery, and a full tank of gas. She can woody it up a-la family truckster, but she'll have the last laugh when she can travel with her mates and camp in the back of it, shift flats and do it all in one load, not be concerned about safety or traction alongside an e36, and never be concerned about theft. Comfort, great stereo, great braking, acceleration to surprise any XR8 or SS commode owner, and the cred of the only wagon entered in the BTCC, and it won races to boot! it's the anti-cool, and you know she wants it. Under $5k to boot.

sweeeeeeeet!

Amen to that, Dave. Our city councillors continue to make questionable decisions. ? .... still, it's all okay, right? We're the only captial city in the world with a FREE ambulance service! ? So when that force-field (inevitebly) fails, and a pedestrian and a cyclist have a coming-together, and the laws of physics prevail (conservation of momentum theorem, anyone?); at least there's a friendly efficient collection from the mighty Wellington Free Ambulance service. They'll scrape the injured off the road, attend to them with skill and empathy, and take them to Wellington Hospital, handily situated approx 7 minutes away in Newtown. ? /rant

take a look at @Jacko's thread here

Welcome Dan, fun car! Do subscribe (follow) the Wellington meetups room, plenty of runs/meetups/BMW Club monthly pub night (Bimmersporters always welcome)... Looking forward to seeing your progress on this, and hope to see you at an event soon.

The dashed lines? They are the carefully designed high-tech force field that keeps pedestians alighting from parked cars - such as your children or your wife or grandmother - from colliding with a head-down-arse-up cyclist doing 50, just 30 cms to your left. It's a f%#king disaster.

I'd take it, but I've been told in no uncertain terms a fifth car is not an option. I'm fairly certain that even if someone bought my 855-T5, a forth would not be a go. Which is sad, as in my opinion, this is a good opportunity.

I agree! He was subtle, funny, could clearly peddle, and he's a genuine car guy with great frontman skills.

looking forward to that!

Of Top Gear: I thought having Rory was a good idea; a genuinely 'man off the street' candidate. Unfortunately he turned out to be a bit of a big-head, and didn't really gel with Monkey Harris, or Joey - both of whom were pretty damned good I thought. I agree he was passionate about his job, and wore this well. Top Gear didn't used to have great gel - just check it out before 1998. It took some time to assemble the dream team, and then to change the format. I thought GT S3E1 was fun, though the pace was a bit slow. No new ideas, perhaps? And fresh ways of expressing an understandably reluctant Hammond to race.

Good point. So, with a bottle of this Steri-gene, and a bath full of water, and a bit of time, you should be right. If the food can ooze in, water and the anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-protozoan, anti-viral will get in there and kill it all.

followed. time for updates, I reckon!

Steri-gene. Destroys bacteria, fungi, protozoa, spores, viruses. www.eai.co.nz We had plumbers around for a blocked toilet I couldn't deal with. When the plumbers left, it was flowing, though Mr Hankey was all over the back yard. I visited my trusted Commercial Cleaning Products place, Phillip Moore Ltd, explained the deal, they said "Steri-gene, nothing else will do. It's not cheap, it is super-concentrated. It's used in Hospitals for sterilising rooms." Gloves, respirator (you already have something like that I see), spray bottle. Follow the instructions. It's outstanding stuff, kills, cleans, sterilises. And sunshine, of course.

great way to spend a day! Car looks lovely too.

quite possibly the coolest name for a transmission specialist anywhere on the planet!

I'm stunned the seller didn't check 'authenticated members only'; of course, leaving it unchecked makes it easy for him to use a fake profile like samiam61 to shill bid. Regardless, watching a bidder pushing up your auction where there's a risk of non-performance, is asking for trouble. The only fair thing to do is offer at the highest bid before the bidding went nuts... unless you've engaged a shill. It seemed okay in risk; difficult to determine extent of damage from over the descriptions. Worth a flutter at $2k? Hard to say. I wouldn't take it (got same offer) based on the seller's actions, looks a bit suspect to me.

what information do you have on fuel quality of Australia vs NZ? I thought we had fairly sh%t quality fuel regardless, though would love some fact.

I needed new a/c compressor for my e46 (common failure, non-rebuildable), for same price as a chinese unit from local supplier, I imported OEM Denso Compressor and receiver drier from FCP.