andrewm

/\ I think I saw that one in the trademe thread, dont think the looks generated much support. (the E46 m3)

My jan build date e39 540i has been decat'd and had the airflow meter done at the same time, havent noticed any issues with the noise it makes but then i dont have anything to compare it to.

Ive done a lot of buffing and detailing type work as a hobby car painter, havent heard of the langka stuff but there are some good products out there for DIY. If the scratches are buffable supercheap sells the meguires professional range of machine application compounds, I have used these often and find them excellent. How deep is your scratch, some 2000 grit sandpaper on a sponge and then some good cutting compound followed by either a fine cutting compound or several extended applications of a good car polish will bring most scratches out. You can do it all by hand with cheap products it will just take more time.

Took my offer and I will be taking ownership sometime next week, thanks all. Will be certain to post pictures.

Am definately taking it to a bmw specialist, will check the tamper light next time i see the car thanks guys. Hopefully the lack of vanos means one less thing to go wrong eh heh. EDIT: Things wrong were worn front shocks and front "reaction arm bushes" and minor power steering pump leak. Had read on the net that a set of front bushes are prone to wear. After clear faults and a run and fault check again, none were found.

Region: Europe Version: Right-hand drive Transmission: Automatic Date: '98, January Ran my Vin and came up with this. If its a jap import shouldn't it say japan? Also being an Jan date is should be M62, cheers for the pics, will ensure this checks out. Thanks HELLBM I like the sound of that offer, the difficulty will be convincing the owner as he came on the test drive and trying to take the car for a half day trip from Waiuku south auckland to the North Shore may be difficult. I ordered the lemoncheck report which checked out fine, accurate kilometers but i dont know how good the guys on import are. Thanks everyone so far.

The 540i is a 1998, it was imported in 2003. Landed NZ in 2003 with 77,000km. As per wiki the end of 1998 was when the engines changed and im not sure its exact build date. Ok replace cooling system, i had heard there was problems. Would change all fluids immediately on purchase, I am one for preventative maintenance. Keep em rolling.

Cheers will investigate folding seats, as for PDC i thought i had read somewhere it was a 2001 onwards option. Will continue to comb old threads for info.

Thanks, the car has msport alloys, tv steptronic, 6 airbags, heated memory seats, sunroof and is very close to home which is good, i am yet to see if it m62 or m62tu as i believe the change was 1998. Did the online report on it, im guessing the low km's the previous 2 nz owners did was due to it being costly to run or having a spouses car for longer trips. I have done some reading around and will purchase the bentley manuals if i get this car as i am handy with tools, a spraygun and a mig welder. I did run a search for my information especially on the cats but am was unable to find the information required so far.

As per title im looking to join the bmw ranks through a e39 1998 540i. Ive been reading buyers guides and whatnot but will still get it checked out, it is a japanese import (Editx2 - imported in 2003) with 113,000km, automatic (steptronic), is there any specific issues with jap import stuff? Is there any good places to get it checked in South Auckland, I imagine Glenn's place is mon-fri and i cant easily get time off. Also the owner has de-catted it due to blocked cat, does this mean any o2 sensors need removed/replaced he said the garage didnt tell him anything about that. Any additional handy hints would be great, unfortunately it has no service history pre import which is far from ideal. Thanks