andrewm

Building paper/ moisture barrier needs to between the studs and the tin to be effective. This stops water ingress from outside reaching the studs and insulation and any condensation that forms from dampening the studs. Insulation is not a water barrier and instead will trap water, webs of black mould will grow through it nicely. It has a minimal effect on sound and really is just for temperature stability. If you are going to be here long term, paint brush apply clear metalex (like an oil clear stain that is a timber preservative preventing rot) to all the studs then line the walls with 12mm ply so you can fasten anything anywhere. Dont put insulation in. alternatively apply whichever lining but not completely sealing the wall, i.e leave 50mm gap top and bottom so the studs still get air movement. Again no insulation.

You consider an x3 or x5?

I was running NA on my c63 but yes with a tune it was getting full timing around e35, was pulling timing a little on e20 and a bit on just 98. US dynos were showing 5-7% HP gain running e40 vs 98 (US 93) and I could tell the difference, expect it only to be more significant on a turbo car.

I used to mix e85 and 98 to get around e40 but I have a flexfuel kit installed. Now gull has stopped selling e85 I can only find it at ~4 dollars a litre if bought in 200l drums.

I was in the market for one but ended up getting a c63 amg instead aftermy 540i. It doesn’t have the classic appeal of the e39 m5 or a true manual gearbox but i found it cheaper for a facelift 2012 c63 vs a 2002/2003 m5 and superior in every other way. noise, power, handling, tech, reliability, (facelift only) and definately braking. With the new c63 likely a 4cylinder turbo hybrid theres starting to be some price increases on the later model 6.2 litre ones. Its a clutched automatic, no torque converter so i actually use the paddles on it and they do something plus the kickdown noise is great.

Wave some $$, there are a few around but tightly held and people who know about them wont tell you. Last I heard a nice late model example with under 100,000km turned down an offer over $50k

Bit of a mouthful requires a big mouth. The design all makes sense now.

I know 1 person with one and 2 people that had them, all 3 said it was the most unreliable car they have ever had bar none. These are people who have owned m3’s, c63’s rs4’s m5’s etc. On a good day though its a brilliant car.

Giving a heads up for anyone considering moving out of one, in late feb ill be looking to trade the mrs x3 upto something newer and larger. Ill be looking for ideally a 2014-2016 f15 30d in white or black msport prefer 7 seats. Will also consider white or black 2011+ msport e70 x5 30d again prefer 7 seats. also looking at current model xc90’s in the off chance someone has one of them. Am aware of everything on trademe and have my eye on a few cars. Will consider all sorts of other things, at the right price.

Im sure that one was up 8 years ago when I bought my 540I, it was a ripoff then too.

Meguiars hyper dressing is waterbased and you dilute to your desired level of shine. Being waterbased it doesnt last long and requires weekly applications or less if heavy rain/wet driving. I bought a 4l for about $150 and it diluted to 8L as a satin product and lasted me a few years of weekly applications. I have moved to chemical guys tire kicker and it seems to last a bit longer and also claims to be water based, I dilute this a bit because yeah its too glossy as is.

No, one of the big US mercedes forums. Ive had pretty good luck with NZ purchases.

I found buyer protection useless for scammers because although paypal processes it as a refund by charging sellers bank account, if there is no money in the bank account associated with the paypal account then the process goes no further. I bought something off a forum seller overseas because I thought I had paypal buyer protection - they had plenty of feedback and posts but they never sent it and went to ground. I eventually filed with visa and they did a chargeback on paypal so I got my money but paypal kept replying ' refund process is underway' then 'refund is processed' even though the image was of 'refund failed'

Lower control arms and balljoints on an x3. Pretty easy, the old balljoints were mint after 150,000km but i changed them anyway. Note to anyone doing this that the oem balljoints have torx bolts that need an e12 socket, where as the replacement bolts take a t40 socket. Guess which socket i didnt put back and spent 40 mins looking for -t40. Also dont try and pry the balljoint out (forums and youtube use this method) just get a hammer, drown the balljoint in crc and tap the whole arm near the balljoint to put it out of its press fit housing, mine cane out easy as.

To get one in - If its steel arm, freeze the bushing (in ziplock bag in freezer overnight) and heat the arm a bit, not too hot, 80c or so should do it. Make sure to lube liberally and this drastically reduced the amount of force required to put the new one in, only had 1 out of dozens I couldnt push in/out with 10t mini press. To get one out - if it wont push you can hacksaw blade from the middle out, be careful as you finish cutting, presses much easier once cut through. 5-10t presses are available for 2-400 bucks or walk into an engineering shop with some change, think i paid $40 for a guy to push one out and the new one in that I couldnt move with 10t.

Because british electrics were known for their reliability. I wonder if Lucas is in the mix somewhere....

This, ive had 4 euros with 80-100kmh steering wheel shake and its been thrust bushes / lower control arm every time usually around 100-120,000km on the bushes. Alot of force transfers through them, you wont feel it by hand, I didnt notice using a mid size pry bar but changed them anyway.

But did they say 'cash' or even more valuable - 'cash today.' As If everyone one else was trading in potatoes

FYI report any fraudulent sales you see with proof attached to MBIE Ive found them super responsive when reporting fraudulent sale practices if you send them the proof although they dont give you any updates you can usually see the output of your work. Business near me had a permanent sign installed saying discount 'today only' after about 2 months i took some photos over a week then I reported them and the next day they were taking it down. Also a major NZ hot water cylinder company that sells online sold me a 'no hidden fees' cylinder replacement online - i read all the fine print and bought on visa just incase, sure enough when they came around they quoted and additional $750 ($500 for electrician to switch the wiring over and 250 because needed to drill two holes in hollow cinderblock wall.) I told them to piss off, 'I bought a no hidden fees replacement' and they refused to refund my money, i told them this was an illegal bait and switch and reported them to MBIE and 3 days later I had an apology from the director and a refund.

Bought the 2.5 a while back for the wife, has been a stellar car, we have put 150,000km on it and only failure was the front control arm bushes and a plastic gear in the transfer case actuator. Buy the whole new actuator as a bosch or land rover item to save a fortune or just replace the gear. Reason we bought it vs a wagon was ground clearance and price for a 4wd version. Petrol consumption is sitting at 10.2L/100km

Ive done it to various cars with different brands (KW, fortune auto, bilstein) and usually regretted it, never used the super cheap junk especially after seeing some shock dynos. If you go for camber plates then you need bearings or it will bind and your car with groan and clunk all over the place. If you go bearings and camber plates then you wont have a rubber strut mount and you will feel tiny imperfections all day long. Then the cert is a pain +$4-500 and then you are fixed to a width and size of wheel permanently, you cant even return to OEM without re certifying for another $4-500. If you have $4k+ spare and are fitting kw v3 or anything better(ohlins) then go for it, if you are wanting anything less then dont bother.

I feel for you seeing this, the person will almost certainly say 'but you can still get out' and if you cant get a parking warden theres bugger all you can do. Our solution below. I remember our student flat in wellington used to have this issue at both sides of the driveway. Rather than causing any damage to the cars we got two guys on each arch and just dragged the offending end out into the middle of the road. Only had to do it a few times at the start of each year. No idea what happened to the cars but they were never there when we got back from uni or ever again.

Id be interested to see crash data with tire info - some of my mates freak when they are passengers with me not because I speed but because I take a 65 corner at 90 or 100 if I know it. I didnt really understand the issue for years as I had always bought pilot sport or similar max performance tires (PS4S in the c63 now), then I drove a mates shitter 1996 civic to diagnose a noise and got loose on the first roundabout I came across, land sail or some such hilarious brand tires. 14x165 and $60 bucks each apparently.They weren't tires those were ice skates and apparently they sell in droves. The stopping distance from premium and even mid range tires to ultra budget are huge, one comparison I saw was 62m for PS4S , 70-80 for mid range tires and 103m for some popular cheapshit tire. Two things I never skimp on - tires and toilet paper, im sure theres a skid joke in there somewhere.

Having worked on scenario modelling using software and databases that cost ~>100 million to setup and rent supercomputer time to process, I just cringe whenever I read things like the police media release ' going 10km/h slower in a crash reduces risk of fatality by x %' so we are just going to cut the 10km/h tolerance. Nothing works like that in the real world and often you get the opposite effect. Some things I would expect to see if this was properly considered, each may have only a fractional input but together could have the opposite effect. - physical factors including complacency effect or drowsiness -Increased risk taking to overtake - Increased road rage - increased speed differential between hoons and general population - increased time spent looking at speedo and not the road -worsening skills of drivers as speed limits reduce -cheaper tires bought as people no longer see less value in high performance tires - older drivers continuing to drive longer (feeling less pressure to keep up speed)

Man I wish I was worried about 96 in a 100 which utopia do you live in lol. I wish people would manage more than 80-85 in a 100.