GorGasm

Good dealers are the exception. I remember when I got my M5 It would CEL after a hard run due to a faulty ionic control module (knock sensor). I diagnosed the fault myself, proved it by swapping it to the other bank and in the end the dealer said to go to AC BMW. AC BMW couldn't fault it but took my word for it and replaced the ICM. The dealer had to give me his CC number over the phone to pay for it, man I could hear him cringe when they said the price. I also wanted the wheels balanced and aligned as it was driving pretty lumpy. They said they fixed it but it was still lumpy. I eventually got it balanced and they took a whole pile of weights off as no one had re balanced it in ages. It was a complete ball ache to deal with. I have had very few good experiences. The only one I can think of was a place in Mt Welly near the old Moyes.

I meant blocked from import, not applied to stuff already here. Something like SIVs would do the job. Century is arguable... There's some real junk coming in, tidy junk, but junk.

I have two 10 year old cars and I consider those pretty old. 1990's 4WDs and other fad cars should be blocked immediately (looking at you Toyota chasers, centuries, crowns). They are destined to become junk that we have to look after. I have no issue with M3s, Supras, GTRs and period classics.

Cost

Potato phone picture. I took the kids out to the playground on Saturday.

Also just looking at pics of my E55 and M5 make me cringe with remorse.

One of my best sorted cars. Amazing ride and handling, 6 speed, 3 litre flat 6. Hard to believe this was 10 years ago:

Yep you can leave the IBS unplugged. https://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/78058-impact-of-leaving-the-ibs-disconnected/ Yep you can code it for a non-AGM battery. Can't remember the exact size I got for mine, cost $350. E B080 BATTERIE_80AH //80 Ah-Batterie E B090 BATTERIE_90AH //90 Ah-Batterie E B110 BATTERIE_110AH //110 Ah-Batterie E A090 BATT_AGM_90AH //90 Ah-AGM Batterie (SA536) E A080 BATT_AGM_80AH //80 Ah-AGM Batterie

Also unplug the IBS cable. I got a 100AH non-AGM battery in my M5. Just coded it to the car. Saved a couple of hundy over an AGM.

If you want it, buy it. If not, don't buy it.

Read up on the Japanese financial crisis. It f**ked them for decades.

Sweet example. A+ would hoon.

Pretty much everything i have owned, since I made big losses on everything. Stupid car itch that needs scratching.

Well blow me down, the 728i is apparently faster 0-100 than the 730i.

Did one of those actuators on my M5. Part is not cheap, but a fairly easy DIY job.

Looks nice but I remember my dad's old 730i V8 being slow. I can see a 728i being positively pedestrian.

Got a quote from Classic Cover over email for less than half what I am currently paying. Will certainly pursue but will be sure to read the fine print. I'll occasionally drive the Maserati and park it on the street for work, and it goes to the shops and the like, but the majority of the time it will be in the garage at home.

Will give them a call.

Yeah when I bought the car I was ready to replace them as soon as I drove off the yard. But I gave them a couple of weeks and some wet weather and they have been perfectly fine since then. It gave me cognitive dissonance, how could these cheap crap Chinese tyres which I know to be bad actually be good. I don't push them at all though, so maybe i just don't get anywhere near their limits?

Provident at the moment. They're OK I was just trying to get a sharper price.

Eh, the servicing isn't so bad. It's like having kids, no one tells you what the REAL problems are before you have kids. I can handle puke and stinky poos all day but 3.5 years (and counting) of putting your own needs aside is taking it's toll. The real problems with owning a Maserati: Having to deal with Winger Maserati. Insuring a Maserati. I had a 90 minute conversation with State about insurance, asking questions like "how much experience have you had with high power cars". I had to kindly explain to the lady that the Maserati is a 4.7L V8 and my last cars were a 5.0L V10 and a 5.5L Supercharged V8 and that supercharging could be considered the same as turbocharging for insurance purposes and that both were more powerful than the Maserati. She was obviously just parroting the information on to the underwriter on the other line. It would have been much more efficient to just conference the underwriter in. They eventually did offer insurance, but they wanted $2400 a year and had silly exclusions like no glass cover and no other drivers. I stuck with my current provider. If I went and bought a nearly new Alfa Giulia worth 10k more the premiums would be about $1000. Such a messed up business.

Yeah I'm very close to needing two rear tyres for my 535i and hyper have 4x 255/40/19 Hankook Evo S2 for about $1150 fitted. That is cheap as chips for an upper mid range 19" tyre. The Triangle TH201 (LOL) I have on there at the moment are about $600 for 4 :o. I have been pleasantly surprised by these, they were new on the car when I got them and have done a decent job and lasted 25000km so far. So tempted to get them again at half the price of Hankooks.

Petrol cars have become much more efficient in the last decade and RUC has increased, which has narrowed the gap. My 535i can do 8.5/100 outside of Auckland making it about 20.5c per km. It averages about 10/100 in Auckland. Can't be arsed paying for RUC and the N55 is plenty grunty. Diesel would still the go for big rigs and towing though.

Nice, tough toss up between that or a B5 RS4 for me.

and BMW. LOL. I have PTSD from the BMW warning ding noise.