benpaul12

Yeah the RE003 is really good value and the Bridgestone outlets do the AA Smartfuel thing, so it's a great deal!

They're pretty highly rated on here: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Bridgestone/Adrenalin-RE003.htm

Thanks for your reply, popped up to Bridgestone this arvo and got the two new front RE003s. Nice to have a complete set now!

If I have a horror story with the tyre-goo tool it may change my mind with RFTs...

Anybody got any further comments on this?

I've got the mobility kit and two 6-month old (awesome) RE003s on the back. My front tyres need replacing and I was planning on getting RFTs - however - reading this thread and the costs associated with them, I'm thinking of just getting another set of RE003s for the front.

I've got them on the two rears, they're excellent. Grip well, quiet, wet performance is great and the look awesome.

Who's complaining about diesel?!

Diesels with big engines are amazing.

My dad's got a Q5 with the 6 cyl turbo, and it's $60 to fill, it regularly does Auckland-Turangi and back on half a tank.

Please don't get an Audi lol...http://dougdemuro.kinja.com/audis-boring-styling-has-turned-its-sedans-into-shoe-si-1529905532

^ Careful with the add-on insurance though. When I financed my car they tried to add insurance which was an extra $2.2k to the total bill, which is quite a bit when you're paying interest.

Look around and get it separately if it seems expensive, I found AA had mechanical insurance for a Euro at $70 per month.

Welcome! My thoughts:

3 series e46 wagons: probably the best looking wagon BMW has produced. Stay away from the 4cyl options here as the smaller 6cyls have a beautiful sound, feel and performance. The boot isn't that big, but the rear/front seats area is very comfortable. You might find in the used market that many of these by now have had their radios updated or converted. The M-spec e46s have a firm ride and based on how light (in comparison with new models) it is, the ride can feel rough at times.

3 series e91 wagon: not the best looking wagon, but a very good car. Comfortable with heaps of people in it, nicely kitted. Stay away from the 4cyl versions. Needs to be m-spec to look decent. 335i wagon would be AMAZING.

5 series e39 wagon: awesome looking, big, but getting old. Ones that have been well maintained and good looking combinations of colours are harder to find.

5 series e60 wagon: looks like a van, but excellent, cushy wagon. 525i would be a good bet here in terms of power vs. fuel economy.

I'd probably pick the 325i e46 if it was up to me, but I have nostalgia for the e46.

I know many people don't like it, but have you looked around at the X3? Some of them look awesome, and are a good small size SUV.

Top Gear is a bit like U2, lots of people like them, lots of people hate them.

Even the old Mk4 Gti is more fun than my E39 in all honesty

Not surprised, two completely different style vehicles!

At least the new 7 looks more aggressive, something that they achieved very well up to the e38.

The e65 is horrendous, but I do actually really like the F01 as a soft, cushy looking limo.

^ very very funny.

E302NV on Esmonde Road this morning, awesome.

I hope it works out like this:

Top Gear continues with Star in Reasonably Priced Car and the standard reviews.

Clarkson, Hammond, May do the challenges and over the top reviews.

Because I will certainly watch both! It's probably going to be like Top Gear vs. (a better) 5th Gear.

Sooooo. The man who interviewed Clarkson above, the white Ferrari lover is the new host of Top Gear.

Has anyone seen what the other two are doing? Are they joining him?

I don't know too much about Chris Evans but from what I've seen, he's in a similar vein to Clarkson in terms of being outspoken, but perhaps a little more in-touch.

Looks awesome, don't like the gizmo video though. Many seem daft.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/7series/sedan/2015/showroom/index.html

Understand that this vehicle is in the class of silly features - Merc S class - but these features are presented quite poorly. Kind of hollow video.

Should be more like this:

Check out ECS tuning: http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E82-128i-N52_3.0L/Exterior/Electrical/

As it's based in the US they don't have the model, but you could search based on part number to figure out the match.

On my N52, I kept getting the error code 2A99 (Crank Shaft - Outlet crank shaft, correlation). I had a rough idle when cold starting and noticed power surging while cornering uphill on winding hill roads. The other symptom I noticed was when coming to a stop from time to time, the engine felt like it was going to cut out as it changed from second to first gear. I cleaned both solenoids and noticed a slight improvement but still surging. I cleaned them both a few more times but it still wasn't 100%. I swapped them around and the car ran really badly so I realised one of them was faulty.

Replaced it and now no more error codes, smooth idle and no surging.

Thanks for posting this.

While I've noticed some definite idle improvements and some slight improvements in the lower rev range, the surging is still present, it's not as bad though.

So yeah improvement but not the change I was looking for. As they parts are only $70 USD for two on the net I will replace both with new ones and give that a go.

To try and sort out my slighly rough idle and 1500-2000rpm surging issues I performed a VANOS solenoid clean today. I followed this DIY: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=486201

I've taken a couple of snaps to show how it was all done below.

Overall this was a very easy DIY, when I removed the solenoids they were both very dirty. I used degreaser and a lot of dirty oil came out. I didn't remove the engine cover, all I took out to make access easy was the snorkel that leads to the air filters. Putting them back in, I swapped the solenoids around.

Tomorrow's commute will see if this DIY has made a difference to the idle and surging. Hoping to see some improvement to performance and fuel economy too. If there isn't a difference I will replace the parts with new ones, if not will go from there with scanning etc.

The first shot is the front of the engine with the solenoids removed.

The final two shots show how clean they were after I did it.

^ completely agree, I find it hurts my eyes.

^ because those single ones on Mercs look really odd.

^ nice

Saw a 525ix going past Princes Street today, didn't think they made 4WD versions back in the day...

This happened on my e39, turned out to be the battery.

There's talk in another thread on here of how the batteries in e39s cause big issues if they're starting to lose their zing.

Get that checked if you can...