dazz

Hi I ordered the 13 pin connector so I knew that I would need a 13pin to 7pin adapter. Cheapest source I found was Megatyre. When I got the adapter and plugged in my trailer, all the lights worked first time. There were no alarms from the car about the unused pins. When I ordered the towbar, I elected to buy a 50mm ball. That may have been a mistake. 1 5/8" are more common. At least with the removable towball I have the option of buying a 1 5/8" version. I only tow one trailer so I have chosen to change the trailer ball socket to match the car. Dazz

Hello I brought a 735i E32 when Jap imports were still unfashionable. Since then I have had a E36 318is and E36 232i plus a NZ new E36 318i. The worst of those cars in the NZ new E36. It only became obvious after purchase that the owner/ repairer was slack on maintenance and repairs. I now have a 325i E90. It is in very good condition with low mileage (18k). It still has the awful factory fitted run-flat tyres. The most annoying problem is that the navigation system only displayed Japanese and the radio only received one FM channel. I have learned enough about coding to fix those problems and others but that is a steep and long learning curve. There are plenty of companies that want to charge a small fortune to make the coding changes. Fixing the radio is a 5 minute job. So if you buy a Jap import, make sure you have a plan regarding the Japanese language "features". This could include doing nothing and learning just enough Japanese to operate the car.

Hello I nearly imported a Westfalia towbar from the UK but then I found Westfalia NZ. The cheapest way to ship items from the UK is with NZ Post Youshop. The local price is cheaper but lacks many of the features of the euro versions. The local version, including the E90 electrics kit cost me $NZD800, unfitted. For that sort of price, I had high expectations that weren't met. I think I would have been even more annoyed if I had paid to have it installed, because I would have ended up with a generic electric kit, probably not CAN aware, and most, if not all, of the plastic under body panel would have ended up in the bin. Without CAN aware electrics, the parking distance controller would have remained active with a trailer on the back.

Hi I purchased a made-in-NZ Westfalia removable towbar for my E90. I am an Professional Engineer to I opted to fit it myself. I am glad I did. According to the website: "Every towbar is engineered to precisely fit the individual vehicles towbar mounting points. This results in an absolutely perfect fit and quick and easy installation. " Well not quite. These bars are significantly different to the Euro Westfalia bars. The NZ towbar is mounted on the centre line which means you have to cut away some of the plastic bodywork to make it fit. The Euro bars are mounted to the right, but the bar is angled so the ball is on the centre line. They fit perfectly. The NZ bracket for the connector can only be mounted on the left, which means most (if not all) of the plastic has to be cut away. All Euro bars have the connector mounted on the right where BMW left a gap in the body work. The NZ towbar is much shorter than the factory bumper bar is replaces. It removes crash protection from the left and right corners. The Euro bars are the same width as the factory bumper bar and preserve crash protection to the rear corners. The NZ towbar doesn't include the threaded socket for the towbar. The Euro bars include this. On the plus side: the quality of manufacture is good. the removable towball mechanism is well engineered and easy to use. with the towball removed, the installation is completely invisible. You can choose to fit an electrics kit that is specific to your make/model. Westfalia make electrical kits specifically for E90s, but I wasn't offered this. I was offered a generic electrics kit. I had to specifically order the kit for my car. It seems that this is unusual because I had to go through the catalogue to identify the kit for my car myself. They couldn't tell me which one I should select. They didn't have it in stock. It then took 3 months for them to import the electrics kit. I took the precaution of not paying and not taking delivery of the tow bar without the electrics kit. I could not legally tow my trailer without the electrics kit fitted to power the trailer lights. So what I ended up with was a genuine Westfalia towbar that is arguably inferior to Westfalia towbars made for other markets. It does include the ability to fit a safety chain(s) and it does comply with NZ regulations. I am willing to bet that if you had a Westfalia towbar fitted by BMW or an authorised installer to an E90/91/92, the "expert" spanner monkey would just remove and toss the centre plastic panel. The instructions do not say what to do with the panel. There is no cutting template. Nothing. I got very annoyed when I started to fit the towbar and realised that it wasn't a perfect fit as advertised and it wasn't easy to install to a professional standard. I didn't see why Westfalia should make and supply a product that was clearly inferior to towbars they make for other markets. I contacted Westfalia and complained. They would not explain why NZ gets an inferior product. They said I could return the towbar and get my money back. That wasn't a solution for me because I need a towbar. I decided to fit the towbar with modifications. Basically, I made a new connector bracket that fits on the right side of the towbar. Fitting this required only a small amount of plastic bodywork to be cut away, but not much. The new bracket allows the towbar to be installed almost as BMW intended. It is not hard to make an new bracket. I just used a scrap piece of 3mm zinc plated mild steel. Only basic tools were needed (hacksaw, files, hammer, vice). The bracket is longer than the factory version so I don't bust my knuckles against the connector when I release the towbar. The connector swings up so it is completely invisible. No cuts are required to the bumper skin. I have no idea why NZ Westfalia choose to mount the connector on the left side. It is just not meant to be there. The electrics kit is well made. I chose the Euro style 13 pin connector. There is also a 7 pin Euro option. If you don't have PDC installed, the wiring for the tow bar goes all the way to the dashboard so it is quite a job to install. It does fully integrate with the CAN bus and parking distance control system. No coding is required. The other problem I had with NZ Westfalia was missing bits. Specifically, they didn't supply the bag for the tow ball and two load rating stickers. They didn't tell me they were missing. The only way I knew they were missing is because they were helpfully listed on the instruction sheet. I had to ask for them to be supplied. The bag is a nice accessory but the load rating stickers are required by NZ regulations. I doubt I would get a WOF without them. Not including them in the kit is a serious omission. I don't like the way that Westfalia just didn't tell me things that I had paid for were not included. So if you buy a NZ Westfalia towbar, don't expect the same features seen on overseas versions. If you can, install the tow bar yourself. Make a bracket to mount the connector on the right side. Pay attention to the layout of the cable. If you order the electrics kit specific to your car, expect a long wait. I am still annoyed that the NZ version doesn't have the same features that Westfalia includes on towbars made for other markets.

Hi I have just started coding my E90. I have successfully changed the radio from Japan to NZ frequencies. The code settings that work, including RDS are: CTUNE CCC_ANT.C0C ------------------------------------------- RDS_AF_FUNKTION_CCC rds_ein_af_automatisch LAENDERVARIANTE_TUNER_ANT ece CAPPL CCC_APP.C0C ----------------------------------------- LAENDERVAARIANTE_TUNER ece ece = europe I just use a $20 K+DCAN / USB from Aliexpress. It works perfectly. It took a lot of effort to assemble the software, and figure out how to code. The actual coding is the easy part. At present, I am trying to figure out how to get my CCC to display English instead of Japanese. Has anyone solved this problem?