benpaul12

^ Stupidly expensive.

Someone on a US forum did a mod on the cooling system with all metal parts and his e39 was running at 30 degree lower temp, probably not ideal...

^ the shifting of gears is very smooth.

Does it in N and P too.

Despite it not being due for a service just yet, the fact I've never had it serviced means it needs one to give me peace of mind. As I've just sunk $600 into the tyres I'd like to wait a wee bit longer before taking it in. In the meantime is anyone able to enlighten me... My 130 is doing two things: - The idle is not rough, it's just not still, even with the AC off it's fluctuating about 100 revolutions up/down and this can be felt/heard, this is not just a morning thing, it's doing it all the time. - Driving around 80 km/h when the car is very slowly increasing in speed in the 1800-2000 rev range it feels as if it's not steady, it's kind of softly lurching ahead every 2 seconds - not a constant or smooth increase, it's not bad, it's just noticeable. Any ideas?

^ Agree.

Be interested to see how you get on mate, I found my last tyre ordeal very interesting. Was very impressed with the Bridgestone boys in Greenlane if you want to venture down the road for better selection...

What size?

Do you need all four? Bridgestone have a deal on at the moment where the 2nd tyre is half price or the 4th tyre is free. I was pretty impressed with their quote for 4 Potenza RE003s (2 x 255/35/18s and 2 x 225/40/18s) that came back at $1k...

Before I looked at getting my current e87 (yeah I saw your comments ) I went on a good hunt for some e39s. I eventually came across a 2000 facelift, m-spec 530i that was in very good condition. Took it for a test drive. While I was convinced by the look, the feel and the fact I'd owned a 530i before - I wasn't convinced by something I felt hard to explain. Perhaps the $8k price was a little too high or that I was just over the prospect of owning another older BMW. I thought the joy and the lower price points of the 90s gen BMWs would've been enough for me - in the end I just felt over the older models. The only other BMW I considered when I was looking at the e87 was the e60 sedan, had to be m-spec and a dark colour with tints though.

I thought that the NZ dealers only recommended Continental?

Nice call on the e46 mate, I agree that it has aged really well and agree with your thoughts on the e90s styling interior/exterior. What about looking at the 330ci non-m-spec e46ers? Could be quite good for the engine conversion, they still look great and they'd be super comfortable without the harsh ride of the m-spec ones. My 325ci m-spec e46 I had was an awesome looking car with great performance although I got tired of the extra harsh ride and also the 5 speed auto-box, especially on the western side of the lake!

Very nice!

Awesome, are they filming things in NZ again?

Can only really be complimentary of the service at McPhails, just the product probably should've been removed from the shelf in 2002....above I was talking about a bad customer service experience at Tony's. You're right Kyu, they didn't really ask any questions or put up a fight (steel strands inside the tyre would've been hard to anyway!) - they even transferred the funds back into my account before I got back to the office! I just wish the guy was a bit more honest. I would only go back out there to look at their tyres again if I went with someone who knew a lot more than me.

Yeah I once went to Tony's and the guy basically tried selling the most expensive tyre in their catalogue. When I was showing displeasure in the quote he didn't even respond with some other possible brands. I just walked. I don't really appreciate places which are all about beating the competition, but only if you prove someone else's prices.

Just got two brand new Bridgestone RE003 fitted (manufactured in Feb!) for $570. Probably won't do the 2nd hand thing again.

There's a reason they were cheap!!! Went away down the line for the weekend and came back, once on the asphalt of the Bombay Hills the car had a horrendous shudder/vibration. Went to take it in for a wheel balance at Bridgestone and the whole tyre had slipped toward the inside wall and the steel was moving across, the other tyre had begun caving in the middle too. The near new 2nd hand tyres turned out to be manufactured in 1996. To McPhail's credit they are going to refund the purchase and didn't cause a fuss at all. Feel like a muppet really that I didn't know more, live and learn eh? Feeling a little lucky that Bridgestone are doing the 2nd tyre for half price at the moment. Bargin hunting sometimes doesn't always work out Also feeling lucky that the tyre didn't blow on the Tahuna road yesterday afternoon.

^ Yes the Mondeo is a great car, the euro influenced Fords are very good.

Problem is that the Australian market for Holden and Ford has become too small and too flooded with imports; every other car maker; barring most of the US models, are distributed worldwide. US models are probably in the same category as the Aussies in terms of value, build quality, specs and style - but they've got the entire US and Canadian market and patriotism is rife! The end of Falcon is pretty clear when comparing it with Commodore. The last two gen Holdens are pretty decent, equipped, competitive in terms of features, modern, mid-level cars. The interior of that new Falcon hasn't been touched since 2008. I actually hope to see the Ford Taurus coming to NZ to replace it, and am very surprised that they didn't just share the same platform because it looks the same as the Falcon anyway!!

^ Yes Mitsis are pretty decent cars, they're cheap too.

The effort required is pretty low, but this is probably the best looking Falcon that Ford has made: Disclaimer: not saying this is an "awesome car", I just think they've done a good job and look better than any other Falcon and the current Holdens.

Yeah there were 13 left in that size, but they were all different brands. I got the two newest ones there...

Where did you get yours done? I still want to get mine done along with the glass tints