BlackrazorNZ

Haha I’m actually selling the Leoncino if you know someone who might be interested.

Gone up in price so much recently. The 'new' version is over $5000 o_O

Oklahoma Joe! Nice one Q's are great - I prefer cooking on charcoal for the heat and flavour but nothing beats the Q for a few steaks or sausies in a hurry! Bit of low and slow, bit of super hot sear, and some in the middle. And yeh wind can be a challenge with some charcoal cookers, but for smoking an insulated chamber smoker will fix a lot of that. My Chubby (above) will go fine even in a howling gale. I buy and sell as a hobby so far too many to list, but here's some recent highlights.

Anyone else here into BBQ (and other variants of outdoor cooking) as a hobby? Other than cars, it's one of my passions, along with watches and a bit of gaming.

Yes I asked about that but apparently colour wraps aren't anywhere near as protective to stone chips etc as PPF film is. Plus, I'm considering 'eventually' smurfing it, can't really do it for the 3 years the car will be on a PCP - at the end I need to decide if I like it enough to fork out the balance, at which point I can start experimenting a bit with it, or just hand it back and start paying for a new model.

Haven't spoken to them, no, but the $3.5-4.5k range is based on a quote for approx $2.5k from the Wrap Shop for a full frontal PPF, plus adding up approx $2k from OCD's website prices for exterior and interior ceramic ($1k exterior ceramic, $0.5k prep, $0.5k interior)

Hi all, What are peoples' experiences with PPF, Ceramic Coat, etc etc in NZ? It's not cheap - do those who have had it done recommend it / still feel in hindsight it's worth it? Thinking about getting it done but a full PPF and ceramic treat is probably gonna run me $3.5-4.5k depending on options...

Anyway. Serious option : late 90's MX-5? Fun, safe, easy to maintain, and a quick scan of TradeMe shows reasonable ones available for around her price bracket, e.g.

I had a 92 so I was definitely in the thick of it. Controlled oversteer is the greatest joy in driving. Uncontrolled oversteer, especially lift off oversteer when all you're expecting to do at the time is slow down, is scary AF. Especially when you wind up on the wrong side of the road about 1m from the cliff edge you were heading towards. Only time in my driving life I've ever had to pull over at the top of the hill and gather my nerves for a few minutes. Even remember the exact corner : https://goo.gl/maps/5GxfGt43E5S2

I was 100% gonna recommend an SW20 MR2 but the lift-off oversteer can be horrific if not managed well and is probably not ideal for a beginner driver. Almost killed myself twice on the Hundalee's in mine and I wasn't even driving that aggressively.

My understanding is the new M-1xx's use a Haldex-like version of XDrive, where is full time FWD until it needs rear wheel traction. As opposed to the current implementation of XDrive on most cars, where it's a full time AWD system with a nominal 40/60 front/rear torque split, with the addition of an electronic multi-plate clutch and sensors that allow you to send up to 100% of torque to front, rear, or even 1 specific wheel. That's the advantage over the normal Quattro system Audi uses as the Quattro system will always apportion at least some torque to every wheel, even if they're slipping.

So via my dealer I got a definitive answer from BMW NZ - looks like no PPF's in NZ. Pretty happy with that, means the M Performance Exhaust upgrade is still on the cards!

Bit more info here : https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=745973 https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/09/18/bmw-stolen-hacking-kit/ https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1483070

Also since it’s a 2008 build, if you haven’t already, make sure that you get updated to the latest software (2013 or later) so that you’re not exposed to that OBD bypass that lets people steal your car with a dummy key fob. Mate in the UK had it happen to him

Welcome I saw another 130i in the car park at Countdown Botany the other day so you’ve got at least a couple car-buddies in NZ

Yeh they use electronics to sense front wheel slip and then kick in the rears via a hydraulic clutch. I’m not dismissing AWD at all - it definitely has its place. But personally I prefer Torsen and other full time AWD systems to modified FWD like Haldex and others. Actually I watched a really interesting video the other day that argues that XDrive from BMW has actually stolen a bit of a march on the Audi Quattro system (Torsen implementation ala S4 and higher) which is why Audi has adapted so many of the principles in their new e-Quattro system. I’m actually quietly looking forward to when EV AWD is affordable, each wheel having its own motor independently driven and all controlled by a central brain. Sure, possibly more to go wrong, but the control possibilities would essentially be limitless.

Lets them quote impressive 0-100's though, which let's face it that's why most people buy AWD's

Took one for a quick blat, it's pretty mental. Don't know if I could live with it as a daily, but as a weekender it'd be mint.

I actually don't mind them having AWD as long as it's a full time Torsen system with a rear bias set up. But the new 1 is an icky Haldex system like a Golf R or A3. Essentially a front wheel drive until it can't handle being a front wheel drive no mo'.

Here's the video in question if you want to see from other angles :

I think they've used the wheels from the X2 for the promo shot. I doubt they'll be that big on the factory model.

It’s surprising how much of a gut ol’ Clarkson has got in the latest season. Was one of the first things my wife and I noticed and I’m hardly a svelte machine myself. Life on Amazon money must be good.

Here’s a better comparison using the video BMW released today.

Ironically, it may be our sh%t fuel that saved me the indignity of a PPF - it appears PPF's don't work well on 95 RON or below.

I asked my dealer for a sample VIN number from a floor-stock M140i, and this one does not show a PPF on the options list via the VIN decoder (option code S1DEA). So I am hopeful NZ does not get them, hopeful because it means at a later date I can fit an MPE if I want. I guess from here it's just a case of wait and see