Auzeras

I only dug up this thread because I had the exact same issue. Fenix rad for an E32, about 30mm too wide. I note on their site they advertise two E32 compatible radiators. One being 30mm smaller! Interesting to see the exact same issue though. So buyer beware - if you're getting a Fenix confirm the dimensions! I bought mine from a seller on trade me who allegedly was selling stock from a radiator shop that closed. Not horrifically upset about it as I paid less than $100. Considered asking fenix if they'd trade it in as a core return but my old rad still works for now. Can't adapt it in as the rad fits exactly between the frame rails. Absolutely no space to move. Interestingly the fenix is far lighter than the original BMW - I'm guessing less aluminium, thus thinner tubes? Something to consider.

Obviously the wrong number

Thanks BM World, the guys at headmaster agreed they reckon it should be okay. I'd upgrade if I could - we all know that but for now this M30 is just going to be hauling from A to B. Far too much work to go full out rebuild right now! I rang your shop a few days ago, parts department said the only had valves for M20's? At this stage I'm waiting on a new valve from a supplier in Australia. Headmaster in Wellington are going to combine shipping with another order, it was about $25 + P&H so if you do have a similarly priced unit in stock I can pick it up and cancel the Aussie order no problem.

So over the last few months I've been finally rebuilding my M30 head, cam rebuilt and welded up by franklin cams (can't recommend them enough) and the head is being done at Headmaster In Wellington. The other day headmaster called me and said when they pulled the valves out one of the exhaust valves was badly bent. I was surprised as the engine had run okay up until the day I parked it up, none the less I decided to investigate a little more closely... Turns out cyl 1 high fived a valve at some point, I rotated the engine over and there's no scoring on the cylinder walls, a little wear but no worse than the other cylinders. Honing is clearly present 93% of the way around, the rest a little more polished but still okay. Looks like any debris from the impact vacated the engine without scratching anything up. I know the real answer is replace that piston.. But I'll ask anyway, do you think that damage is worth leaving in there? It's a daily driver not a race car. Piston comes cleanly up to the top so rods aren't likely bent. Bearing may be damaged, I'll look at that when I get the oil pan off, rotates smoothly. Just give it a little peen around the edges, pray to the gods of oil and leave it?

Self explanatory, one of my exhaust valves did a bender and I need a nice shiny replacement. No one in NZ stocks them Anyone happen to have one?

As per title - M30B35, rebuilding head due to cam wear (those of you who know me - about bloody time right!? I kid you not everything's off the engine save for the head itself because it started raining ) Banjo bolt fell out of the oil spray bar with the previous owner and the valvetrain at the front of the engine suffered the rear not so much, motor has about 220k on it. Cam is being rebuilt along with new rockers, eccentrics but with my inexperiance I haven't been able to find any data on when to replace the rocker shafts themselves, would they be worn due oil starvation? The rockers, cam and eccentrics are obviously worn but I can't see any wear on the shafts, although I guess that won't be seen until I pull them out. Are the rocker shafts worth "just replacing" so I have an essentially fully rebuilt head or should they be fine unless visibly worn? Also with the valve guides, worth throwing $100 at them? Valves, unless burned or damaged I plan on just lapping - should be good right? Previous owner had the head gasket replaced at 150k ish km's but I have no idea if the shop did new guides, they did replace all the radiator hoses though because they're nice and supple so they *may* have done. Also if you need parts from FCP I'll be doing a big order. Save on those shipping costs Thanks for any help - hopefully there'll be an M30 burning tyres in the drive by Chirstmas

Long overdue update - things got busy at work so I didn't have time to be throwing time and money at dead E65's. Just got good news (ish) Botany BM Workshop confirmed that the plate matches a vehicle that came in to their shop 4 years ago thus pairing the reg#on the car to a service sticker on the window meaning despite all the other evidence adding up to this car being "genuine" and not cloned I'm now 100% confident that the body matches the plate & if I order a key it will work. That's the next pain - BMW want $650 for a key and $150 for EWS encoding. Yowch!! Anyone know of an alternate key supplier & encoding other than BMW direct! So far these are my facts: No service for 4 years Sitting for at least 2 years Has done about 170k km's @ an average of 100km's a day for the last 4-6 years of it's life it was abandoned Not stolen or vehicle of interest (police confirmed) No money owing (securities register) How good ya think the engine will be? I'm expecting it's shot myself. $1000 for new battery & key seem a bit of a high gamble if it's toast. Thoughts?

I'll just nip a couple of aluminium atlas trays off the plane! I reckon she'll be a bit more drifty on those! Thanks for those videos though KwS - very helpful, a bit of a pain you need a key to do everything, BMW won't order a key until the sale's done & finalised with the parking people so I've got to wait a week or so for it to go through and then another week or so for the key it to arrive from the peaceful Germans. Looks like there's no point even trying to tow it without a key as even if you get in with a wedge there's still the trans and brake to manually release. Guess I'll order a key & update when avail.

At the moment I'm trying to find a decent tow company, so far I haven't had a solid lead. Off to Newmarket BMW to inquire about keys etc now See http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/55630-recommend-a-towing-company/ for suggestions

Got a quote from one company, $160 for the dolly & $110 for a flatbed - only requirement for the flatbed was it had to be unlocked & in neutral - I may be wrong but how are they planning to move it on the dolly without it also being unlocked an in neutral? By the sounds of it they aren't going to be able to "break" in to unlock it? Find a different tow company? Only bonus is the car's in nose first so being RWD you could get away with it, only complication being the steering isn't straight.

Now begins the amazing journey of learning how to E65... which sucks because I still haven't found a flat with decent workshop space, It's going to suck paying to do all the silly works I normally do myself. At least the car itself wasn't a cost (I speak too soon - it's probably going to be a complete PITA)

Nah I moved to Auckland to take a job with an airline, car's up here too. My E32's still in Wellington though Cheers for the heads up M3AN - would have been expecting a flatbed anyway but a good reminder to make sure that's what they show up with!

I need to move a car, who's a reputable towing provider in the South Auckland Area (between Epsom & Manakau)? Only tricky part is the car will have no power & I have no keys for it yet so the towie will need to be fairly competent I imagine. If the locks are anything like the E32's they're in for a fun time. I'm not stealing it Explanation see http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/55432-free-2005-750d/page-2 Cheers for any heads up!

Hope his kidneys are still good, they're worth a bit. Just got the final word from the Police - car's owner no longer contactable. Vehicle is yours to do what you wish. So I guess beers at mine once it's running?

Sweet, I'll see if it's still there - the one on both my cars has faded out due to the harsh sun from when I was in Wellington!

This might explain a bit of what happened though - looks like it had a fairly sedate life, then sat for a year. I'm assuming some old bloke bought it origionally and subsequently passed away. It was then sold/obtained by a family member and driven nearly 20k km's every 6 months which is a pretty impressive amount of driving. After that it ends up in a carpark. Given that I'm expecting minimal maintenance "drive it till it dies" attitude of the previous owner, also does kinda explain why it would end up like that. Especially if someone inherited it.

I won't share the plate till I have anything finalised, not because I don't trust you guys but it's a public forum and it would totally suck to have it swiped from under me Badge on the back says it's a 750D however carjam/motorweb report it being a 4.8 litre petrol, could be a mistake on the site or the previous owner may have bough a new badge. It there a way to check the VIN without unlocking the car? I plan on ensuring that all the identification matches up before taking it on, as most of you will be wondering there aren't many good reasons to leave behind a 7 series. So far it all seems fairly legit with regards to the plate being inactive from a WOF/REGO point at the same time the car was presumed to be abandoned so it would appear that the plate was correctly/legally attached to that vehicle & it wasn't stolen and given a new plate. So that's good. I don't know much about the E65's having spent 5 years of my life messing about exclusively on E32/E34's - I even had to google where the battery was on an E65 - on that note do you have to use an AGM battery or can you substitute a normal flooded cell without letting out some magic smoke? I would be beyond amazed if the installed one had any charge. Assumption is it's well dead (possibly along with the entire car!!) Plans for tomorrow (provided I don't get called into work) - Visit BMW to inquire about keys & service history, confirm details with police & notify them of my intention to remove the vehicle/finalise any last details prior to doing that. I'll If it's anything like my last two 7 series - heck yeah! Can't wait to find out all the electrical screw ups. Honestly I expect the whole thing to be a lemon & have no expectations of a totally awesome (semi) free car but I'm prepared to spend $500 or so bucks on a gamble. Worst case scenario is a parts car which can recover at least $1k - so far known faults include missing part of a wing mirror and two bald tyres. Interior looks okay but is getting sun damaged from being out all day. 166km's at last registration so it's possible that the engine/trans is in need of some major work or completely shot. The sort of owner who leaves a BMW behind doesn't strike me as the sort of responsible caring type who gets it serviced reguarly.

A good point, may look into it depending how the last notes from the police go. Once it's fully confirmed as abandoned in their investigation there's no going back for the "owner" should they decide to come forward for some odd reason later. The vehicle is dereg and then I legally become the new owner. If there's any grey areas I'll get some proper advice. Going to pop into the dealership and see if they have any service history on it & esquire about the keys, I still reckon it's a total lemon otherwise it wouldn't have been left behind soooo no celebrating until it's reged in my name and driving down the highway. It's had at least 3x plate changes in it's history. Next time I'm at work, although on the outside not much to really see, just an ordinary 2005 750D I'm still disappointed it wasn't stuffed to the brim with coke and hookers (well, ya never know - I haven't opened it yet!)

Thanks on the heads up with the keys, never thought about that. Yeah dereg, was just reading through the paperwork on getting it re registered. How can you prove that you're the person entitled to register the vehicle if you haven't bought it off someone? I guess they must have a form for that. Provide a bunch of ID, fill it out and good to go? If I do end up with it it's going to be interesting to see how much of a write off it is, the fact someone abandoned a 7 series with a two near bald tyres leads me to suspect it wasn't a loved vehicle. Here's to hoping it is in good nick but for whatever reason it was easier to leave it behind than sell it! EDIT - Further good news, a search with the securities register revealed no finance owing. I'll go into the local BMW dealer on my day off tomorrow and see what they can do regarding a key as well as checking with the AA about what's needed to register it.

Well interesting update, after a few emails with police they confirmed it was abandoned.. Going to get in touch with AAL and see if they're happy for me to cover the paperwork/recovery costs at which point I have successfully obtained a 750... that's been sitting for two years and I have no keys. This will probably be less fun than imagined.

I'll see what happens, at the end of the day I might just end up claiming his parking spot so even if I don't get the car I'll get a space closer to the terminal. If there are a few corpses in there I should thing that will help my case in the case of sale, I can just see it at turners "One mint 2005 750D, boot lightly soiled" Certainly is one of the weirder things I've come across, one of the other guys at JQ has noticed it since he started in march 2015 so it's been there 12mts

So at my work carpark there's an abandoned 750D - Last odo reading late 2013, rego expired early 2014. Dust and cobwebs creeping all over. Carpark is massive so very rare to see cobwebs, even on cars parked up for a few months. It's been 4 months since I noticed it looked like it had been stationary awhile and it certainly hasn't moved since, although given the reg and odo dates I'd say it's been there for at least two years. I kinda want to claim it, heck who wouldn't want to give a 750 a good home? Only problem is I'm pretty sure that as it's parked on private property the owner of the land gets first dibs. Anyone claimed an abandoned car (legally) before I'm guessing file a police report, pay the salvage cost & you're done, would the fact it's on semi-private land change anything? Yes I have contemplated just towing it out no questions asked but I have a funny feeling the only car ride I'd be getting would be in a commodore with disco lights

Regulations aside I have my doubts about any commercial shop being willing to let a stranger work on vehicles in their business, I don't even trust my neighbor with my socket set on the weekend let alone a fully equipped shop. I definitely wasn't expecting any business to open their doors for me. Thanks for the PM's though guys - some really helpful stuff there All things going well I might be opening a build thread soon.

Not a abandoned, just on "Holiday" - Can't stand the parking situation here, no free parking on weekends! Really need to buy another motorbike too, shouldn't have sold mine. Cheers for the heads up Olaf, seems that sadly that business shut down. I'll keep my eye out for a friendly garage who might rent me some space in their shop. Only thing that makes it difficult is I wouldn't get more than two days off in a row meaning I'd have to take up space in their shop whilst waiting on parts/machine work - would probably be too much of cost to the business. Worth a shot though. Cheers Bronze, I'll check that out too.

Bit of an oddball question, recently moved to Auckland and finally have a bit more time & money to be spending on my '89 735. Unfortunately the place I'm renting lacks a garage or any form of secure area for me to work on my E32 (needs a bit of a rebuild). Are there any people/places in Auckland where one can rent a garage or workshop space for a month so? I tried trademe and a few classifieds but no luck. Doesn't need to be a fancy space, just enough to pull an engine, strip the head and put it back together without getting caught in the rain. Ideas? I know it's a longshot, pretty unconventional situation. Other solution is just have a shop do all the work but the cost kills it, that and I like doing work myself. No such thing as a bad skill A few years ago some friends of mine rented a workshop/warehouse in Whakatane - about 6 of them worked on their cars there, of course the rent was so cheap I think it only cost them about $65 a week each incl commercial insurance. Looked at that as an option but the going rates seem like it would be expensive in Auckland.