Gabe79

Just now, kylie-anne said:

Sooooo I looked underneath my car for the first time ever and yeah, oops. I knew I'd scrapped it under there a few times but never looked until now.. don't know of the vid shows how badly I've f*cked sh*t up under there! 

20170303_151345.mp4

I've seen worse. Mine is missing the entire under tray and fender liners. PO scraped them off.

Your bumper could do with some loving, but that's not so bad. (my perspective is a bit askew since mine is worse off than yours!)

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-expansion-tank-e30-17111712641

$130 USD shipped with lifetime warranty.

3 hours ago, *Glenn* said:

We charge $195 to do the job- 1 hr labour & 3 X 1.5 liter bottles of genuine coolant + Gst. This process is only required on vehicles with electronic water pumps. All the others are bled in the normal fashion.

Thank you.

Looking to bring my car back to stock height. I'll replace the entire suspension eventually, but looking to undo the crappy lowering job that was put on it.

Anyone looking to sell their stock e39 springs? Msport or non, I don't mind for now. (slight preference to Msport fronts)

9 hours ago, *Glenn* said:

You may need to use a diagnostic machine to vent (bleed) the cooling system. It doesn't always work as seen on UTube. And you will need a 14 volt charger on the battery while this process is carried out. 

Sorry to hijack, this made me curious.

Glenn, How much does this venting cost if done professionally?

Is it time intensive, or 'just' a matter of having the right tools?

21 minutes ago, My545 said:

Yea cheers, I watched this one the other day, I actually bought a repco restoration kit for my E39 a few years ago which I never used, comes with a can of UV protective sealant so hoping that will do a similar job to the clear coat in this vid. It only comes with 600 grit sand paper and a coarser soft block sander, so will get some 1000 - 3000 options as well.

I actually couldn't find the super-high grit sandpaper here. I got them from the US. Trivial cost on Amazon, just bundled it with something else I was ordering at the time.

Just now, My545 said:

And will give it go restoring my headlights myself, any tip?

 

I've used this method successfully:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEJbKLZ7RmM

I am traveling to the US at the end of March and can bring that back for you at cost. You can buy it, post it to California to my address there and I'll bring it back, or I can order for you and you pay me back invoice cost when I bring it back. I return on the 25th of March.

What surround? Are you talking about the fog light at the bottom?

Like this? (not my ad)

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/electrics/auction-1268179206.htm

Do you have a part number for this?

Seat fold down is an option from the factory. It's not by model for the sedans. 

Edit: On my 530i the seats fold down and I still have the bulge. 

bump

4 hours ago, My545 said:

I have no Aux, I have a TV I can't use!! but no aux, bit annoying. Cheers for your advice though.

On the cheap you can try this if you're inclined:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/239729-bluetooth-streaming-audio-cheap.html

Or for more money (and keeping things stock...)

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/m5-e39-e60-tips-tricks/168081-e39-very-affordable-bluetooth-retrofit.html

23 hours ago, Olaf said:

welcome, Sam.  Tastey looking motor.  I believe factory bluetooth wasn't introduced until later, though there should be options available for you to bluetooth in.

e60's rock.

You can retrofit Bluetooth and it isn't particularly hard, but it is a bit tricky to find the bits. More so than it's expensive as such. 

http://www.bimmernav.com/BMW_E39_Bluetooth_Installation_Instructions.html

Has oodles of info on this. 

The easiest way to check series from nothing.

Input your license place here:

https://carjam.co.nz

Grab your VIN from there and enter it here:

https://www.bmwvin.com/

It'll give you all the info you ever wanted about your car.

Without trying to be constructive at all here... Could you videotape everything you try? That'd be worthy of popcorn and might end up edumacational for someone else having the same problem someday.

Copy-pasted from here, which I used as a reference. 

I've personally used Bellars and endorse them.

Bellars Motor Works

Unit 2/3 Vega Place off Constellation Dve Mairangi Bay Auckland

0-9-478 7011

Andrew: Talk to Ken. Great guy and ex-BMW so knows his stuff.

BM Workshop

Grey Lynn

0508 349269

Grant: They looked after my E30 well once I moved to Auckland

JP: Took my e30 in, came out with a large dent on the bonnet which they would not own up too. NOT HAPPY!

Botany Motor Worx

East Auckland

0800 269 583

E30stz/Andy: would recommend Glenn and the team down there

M325is/Shelley: Prompt and helpful service and parts

All are Highly recommended. Glenn from Botany Motor Works is on the forum, PM him if you would like any info.

2 hours ago, Golfboy666GTI said:

Why better off from the US? The have a number if different changes to the rest of the world.

For me personally, I have ample contacts in the US and could, for example, source cars at trade-in prices from people whom I trust implicitly who work in the industry and know what they're doing. 

In general, the point stands on the basis that it is a huge market, which has a lot of cars at a range of prices, which tend to be better than just about anywhere else. 

25 minutes ago, BreakMyWindow said:

A lot of performance European and American cars sold in Japan are LHD.

At the 20 year mark, US imports will be a boon. I had no idea. It'll be nice to be able to source cars from there.

5 minutes ago, gjm said:

LHD cars have a lot of kudos in Japan. It's a status thing - the driver can pull up to their favourite restaurant/club, and get out of the car on the kerb side so they don't have to walk around the car to get to their destination.

The world is a more interesting place every day for me. 

1 hour ago, Golfboy666GTI said:

Well for starters they will be LHD.

 

Why would they be LHD from Japan?

If one is ok with LHD, it'd be better to import from the US.

Wish I had the budget for this. Nice car! That offer is cheap-as on trademe mate. Good luck!

Saw this gorgeous M5 in the far end of the parking lot in Stanmore Bay today. Is this someone here?

There are a lot of e90 wrecks on trademe. You might be able to find what you want in one of them?

I only have experience with the US.

The trick is finding a good forward shipping company.

You pay taxes on the cost of the items, plus the cost of shipping. Be careful here.

Having said this, the price difference can be such that paying GST on the item+cost of shipping usually comes out cheaper than buying locally anyway.

EDIT: Note that "cost of shipping" includes cost of any insurance you get as well.

Check out these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd8rSgiWifY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfCJd82qjs