TermiPeteNZ

Take a chill pill bro - you've said your bit and knocking others' views in an immature way doesn't actually make yours any more right. I look forward to reading your detailed research report on the matter some point down the track I'm stepping out of this and I'll leave you to it .... find someone else to convince.

Hey Julian - sorry if I wasn't clear - I believe our diesel is fine - in fact I've always bought BP Ultimate petrol but now my local BP has dropped it and just does 95 - now the *premium* fuel they are offering is 'Ultimate Diesel'! As regards what to buy - as many others on here have said buy on condition - not age or mileage ; get an independent inspection done and cover your risk with a Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI) plan - ideally from Autosure/Vero.

Ah we just enjoyed the 'opinions' + 'opinion of opinions = stupid' in the ex-govt 730LD thread I agree when you look at TCO then 'higher fuel use = more$$' no matter what the rate per km is. But if there is a focus on the l/100km rate itself then open road driving does mean you get more km for the $$ you're spending. It feels better spending $10 getting to the next town than getting to the next set of lights. If you're going to drop more than $30K on an X5 then there's no argument that a modern diesel is just awesome and that's where the market is focused today. Diesels do carry a premium and do have better resale. I would much rather have my boss' 18-month old X5 M 4.0D than my V8 X5 I can assure you - not least for the performance If however you're like me then a V8 is cheap ($10k) and I think fun - costs way less to buy, sounds way better, goes well and because I can only drive one of my V8s at a time the kms won't be very high (maybe 7500 per year). My 3 lads think it rocks and my 6 year gets to choose which V8 we take in the morning (most days).

Might be keen - my E53's LCD OBC display has lost heaps of pixels and I need to get it fixed...

I generally like bigger cars - both those 135 Ms are just awesome - and I the colour is great.

Yeah that one looks very nice. Love the contrast interior.

Have to have a drive of one and then think some more.

If you're doing mostly urban and a bit of motorway probably around 15l/100km. All urban ~17l/100km. Plenty of figures on the web. My older E53 4.4i X5 is 15-17 with mostly urban use - giving it occasional welly but mostly cruising. You don't buy something like this for fuel efficiency (unless you do mostly long-distance open road travel )- you buy it because it is awesome and has 261KW! Price seems to be fair for mileage, condition and V8. You could spend ~$32K and get one with the 200KW 3l 6 instead which will certainly use less fuel (urban listed at ~13l/100km.

Still play with the idea of late run E39/E38 Motorsport vs my E60 545i Highline . . . character vs much more modern and powerful ....

Discussion of politicians' vehicles is always going to be a source of humour, derision or taxpayer annoyance They are premium luxury vehicles with a short life in service that look like conspicuous consumption - just like the huge numbers of $1000 iPhones and iPad being used by public servants. There may be an interesting or surprising business case that actually makes good sense - but there's still the smell of 'bling' Peter (the other not me) is just voicing what many/most will think and I don't think his comment warrants others (inc. a mod) having a go at him. Let's keep it friendly dudes. Anyway - do wonder who ends up buying these - Ls are huge and the flagpole attachments must be tempting to use!

Forgotten glory and long list of problems. Sad to see in this condition. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1076751657 Would be a good project for someone with plenty of time (not me).

Serious? Had a full repaint???

Ummm - looks really tidy to me! Sue some of the Auckland crowd will have some recommendations - there's another thread on much the same topic.

Welcome from Welly - looks great - body kit etc plus some serious pipes

Welcome from Welly - new wheels look great and $400 is a score

Very nice!

Welcome! Prob need to get the ABS unit repaired - by 'the guy in Nelson ) which is a few hundred bucks. Just doing this for my E53 X5... could just be a wheel sensor.

Holy crap - they're game Both awesome vehicles but the M3 sedan is my pick.

Looks like a bunch of the government 730LDs are up for tender @Turners! Wonder what they'll go for. But who really wants to look like a driver for Winston Peters or JK? http://www.turners.co.nz/Cars/Search/BMW/7-Series/14994850%C2'>

Sounds frustrating Ray - glad you got the wty.

Congrats Russell - nice quick sale! Sure you have mixed feelings 'bout this....

Looks nice! Not sure about value... but it looks like a better deal than then cheapest M3 on TradeMe: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1063334149.htm $500 less and needs a bunch of work.

Their before and after pics do look impressive

+1 on this I think it is like $150 and Joe can do it in about 15min. No hardware changes etc - just recoding and all sorted. Getting nav sorted does involve extra hardware (gyros etc) but it does work a treat. I had Eurosurgeon do my radio and nav for $748 (they come to Welly regularly) late last year, but after having the CCC die on me and getting it replaced by Autosure i have not wanted to chance a repeat (CCCs cost heaps). So I've left the nav in Japanese and only had the radio recoded Bit of a waste of $$ from the nav but I don't want to risk another CCC failure and have an argument with Autosure who honestly have been fantastic to deal with. I don't think Eurosurgeon's mods caused the CCC failure - it looks like whatever numpty (PO/car yard) put a band expander(why!?) in the car did some substandard wiring and also unplugged the cooling fan - over time (and the summer) it cooked. Bluetooth etc costs buckets so personally I think radio is good. Eurosurgeon can sort an Aux jack easy enough ...

Awesome!