jon dee

I don't have any information about the outcome. Most likely they all got to go home with scrapes and bruises seeing as there was no impact involved other than with the ground. The video is a great example of the adage... play stupid games, win stupid prizes I saved it years ago because it was such a hard hitting visual. When young people start bragging about the dumb things they do with their mates on the road, they need to see something like this. Of course I'm not suggesting that anyone on this forum would endanger themselves or others by dangerous driving. But with the current popularity of drifting and doing skids, there might be someone you know on a learners licence that needs to see this video !!! Cheers...

Skidz are for kidz... I'll show you how to drift a ute !!!

Bit of an update. Wasn't really happy with only getting around 12.45V in the battery after the first rejuvenation cycle. So I figured I would try a couple of things to see if I could get a better result. First I hooked up a 35Watt bulb and used that as a constant 3A load to drain the battery. It took 12 hours to get it down to 11.5V so I couldn't be bothered waiting to get it down to 10.5V which was my original target. Hooked it up to the charger and ran the rejuvenation cycle again with the final charge in CAL mode. This time it is sitting at 12.85V twenty-four hours after coming of the charger. Still dropping very slowly and out of curiosity I will wait another twenty-four hours before hooking it back up in the car. In any event the charger has certainly perked the battery up and I will now register it as a new calcium battery. I'll update again when I have done that and driven the car a few times. Cheers... Mildly interesting fact #1: My car has holddown locations for no less than 5 alternative battery lengths.

Yes... I think the early camera units didn't work properly looking thru the rear glass... and they had that cool light that flashed to make your plate light up and let you know you had been "trapped". And since those early days the police philosophy has not changed. It's still all about trapping people rather than pro-actively influencing drivers and changing their attitudes. An empty police car parked on the side of the road will make people think more about their speed and moderate their behavior than a fine arriving in the mail weeks after the event. If you want to train (or retrain) behavior patterns the feedback must be immediate at the time the mistake was made. Being chased down the road by a car with flashing lights and then lectured, makes a far more lasting impression that getting a "fast drivers tax bill" delivered by the postman. Ask me how I know that Cheers...

Indeed. NZ is already over regulated and over governed, yet the standard approach to every behavioral problem is the draconian ... "pass more laws and increase the penalties" solution. The trite response to anyone who questions this attitude is... "if you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear", witness the covert introduction of widespread facial recognition technology by government agencies. But I digress When mobile speed camera were first introduced they were placed in unmarked white van. For one brief moment the vans wore stickers identifying their purpose, but that bright idea quickly disappeared. White vans were also considered to be too easily seen so the move was made to unmarked vans in bland colours.... all in the name of "safety, and as everyone knows, once "safety" is used as a defence to justify a negative change in enforcement, all opposing arguments are automatically voided. Contrast this with a pic of a camera van in another country that is deliberately made highly visible. Parked up on the side of the road this van will cause drivers to reduce speed (even if not speeding) and makes a worthwhile contribution to road safety... without inflicting a fine. Sure, it does not generate as much revenue as a plain, unmarked green van, but then, collecting revenue is not the purpose of the exercise according to many police spokesmen over the years. Cheers...

While on the subject of traffic camera I would like to take a moment to discuss the psychology of the different approaches taken in some other countries. In NZ it is basically the Old West approach... the bad guys lay in ambush, shoot the unsuspecting travelers and steal their money. This negative style of enforcement is typical of local authorities and government agencies in NZ, and in general only serves to generate resentment in the victims and disrespect for the enforcers. Contrast this with the type of traffic camera shown in the attached pic. Here the location of the camera is obvious and the posted limit is clearly displayed. The readout (in the large black square at the top) shows the speed of the approaching vehicle. If the driver chooses to drive faster than the limit the camera displays a red light above the lens and takes a picture resulting in a fine. If the driver chooses to comply with the speed limit, the camera may display a green light (depending on the version) and it does not take a picture. Local drivers pride themselves on being able to pass the camera at 1 km/hr under the limit This style of enforcement puts the decision to speed or not to speed entirely in the hands of the driver. There is no ambush and there is no bad guy to become the focus for your annoyance and resentment. This is overt and passive, not covert and active. The only person a driver can get angry with is him/herself. Maybe it is time NZ dropped its negative approach to enforcement and tried applying some positive reinforcement... after all, everyone likes a pat on the back. Cheers...

Kind of an interesting event from an engineering perspective. A bit of google mapping shows that the van was likely parked in the shadow under the overbridge where there is a bit of extra width over and above the normal road shoulder. Judging by the location of the SUV and the fact that it was upside down, impulse and momentum being what they are, the SUV probably stopped dead on impact (no pun intended and no offence to any person involved). On the other hand the camera van would have been punted forward with a great deal of force, as can be seen by the relative positions of the two vehicles. If the unfortunate operator of the camera van was sitting in the drivers seat at the moment of impact, he/she would have experienced momentary but extreme G-force. Assuming seatbelt and airbag both worked the collision could be survivable as the operator would have been forced back into the seat. For the unfortunate occupant/s of the SUV the collision was not survivable. They would have continued to move forward at high speed for a few milliseconds after the moment of impact without the benefits of support from a seat, and then stopped abruptly. It is a sobering reminder of the damage caused in a high speed impact either between two vehicles or vehicle versus tree/pole. It also highlights the danger of stopping a vehicle on a motorway for any reason... even changing a wheel on the side of the road is a high risk activity. Safety first is always a good motto. Cheers...

Looked it up... Extracted from NZTA public information...

Pretty sure there is a code stipulating where camera vans are supposed to park when working. Also pretty sure that it does not allow parking on the shoulder on a motorway. My understanding is that they have to park clear of the emergency lane, but open to correction on that. Cheers...

Not a BMW but kind of relevant to what's happening here in 2021... Chinese Hiphi electric car with gullwing roof and RX8 style doors. Better looking that some recent efforts Cheers...

OK.... it was a bit of a battle but I got there in the end Main issue is that just because it is my laptop and I am the only one that uses it, I assumed that I would automatically be classed as the admin. But noooooo.... finally worked out that I had to actually log on in CMD as admin, and then the activations worked. INPA seems to be working but I can't plug it into my car until I put the battery back in, and that won't be for a couple of days. Voltage seems to be settling at around 12.45 so not as bad as I thought. I'm going to give it another rejuvenation cycle and then see how it goes back in the car. I take it that I can check the battery details and make changes (if required) with INPA ? As in, I don't need to install ISTA to do that ? Cheers...

Good suggestion... I don't have INPA but I do have a K+DCAN cable that is marked as INPA compatible. So what do I need to do ? Just download the INPA software and install on a Windows laptop ? I have an old laptop here running windows 10, but seeing as it was originally an XP laptop it is struggling to stay alive I'll see if it can download the software. Other than that are there any major obstacles ? I'm not a computer geek so generally speaking I like simple plug and play handheld tools, but since we have a few quiet days I have plenty of time to give INPA a shot. Cheers...

Well phark me !!! Talk about going down the rabbit hole Since getting interested in this thread I have realised that I am guilty of doing the very thing that I advise against... not using the car often enough and letting it sit with a partially charged battery. So although I have never had any starting or battery related issues, I thought I better check the resting voltage... and yeah... sitting in the 12.1 to 11.9 volts range. That is usually classified as dead but not fallen over yet Used my $300 TM portable generator (nice little unit by the way) to give it a quick boost for a couple of hours and it showed 12.7 volts... all good. The following morning it was back down to 12V... not good. Thought it would be better to pull the battery out and get it near an outlet so I could let the Projecta loose on it in rejuvenation mode. Twenty four hours later it came off the charger at 12.9V and half an hour later settled to 12.65V... liking it so far. However I have been monitoring it and the voltage is slowly dropping... down to 12.4V after a day, so obviously not a well battery. In the meantime I did a bit of investigating. The battery is a BOSCH SM MegaPower 58014 80Ah 730CCA made in South Korea, and the internet tells me that this is a "calcium" battery. The internet also tells me that the BMW started using calcium batteries in the late 1990's and then switched to AGM batteries for a range of "electronics heavy" models around 2002... my 335i falls into that grouping. Both types of battery are acceptable so long as thy comply with the factory specifications. The DME has separate software settings for both types and I believe that the charging algorithms are different, meaning that both the battery Ah rating and type should be checked or amended when a new battery is being registered. This is where the water gets a little murky... I have not been able to confirm the type of battery fitted to my car at the factory, but being a European assembled Japanese market car I expect that it was probably the AGM type. I think that the current battery was installed here in NZ and although there is a sticker on top of the battery with years and months in a grid, no-one bothered to mark the grid to show the month of installation 😐 So I am left wondering if the battery was ever correctly registered according to capacity and type ? Going by the recommended charging voltages shown higher in the thread, it could be that the car has been undercharging the battery and that has lead to some deterioration. Any way, I am going to get a scanner that can check the battery history (if there is any recorded) and register it correctly. Until that arrives I will run the rejuvenation cycle again and then bung the battery back into the car. One good thing about lockdown is that there is plenty of time to mess around with stuff like this Cheers,,,

It is generally accepted that automotive batteries (indeed, all batteries) should be replaced on a "like for like" basis. Battery manufacturers produce a wide range of shapes, ratings and types with helpful guide books, to try and ensure that consumers can buy a battery suitable for each application. With very few exceptions, problems only arise when the replacement battery type does not match the specifications of the original battery. As can be seen from the table above, there is very little variation between the four traditional lead acid types, but when minor amounts of calcium or silver are added to the lead the charging voltage is raised significantly. As I had to buy a battery for my Mitsi recently, I scoured the internet for the best deal on a reputable brand. I found a number of sellers who had this type of information... MrPositive had this to say.... Calcium batteries are in fact acid batteries. They differ to traditional lead acid batteries as their lead plate is impregnated with calcium. Calcium batteries offer both advantages and disadvantages in comparison to their traditional lead acid counterparts. They are more resistant to vibration, produce higher cold cranking amps (ccA), discharge much slower and are known to be less prone to sulphation. The disadvantages are that they are traditionally much more expensive than their lead acid counterparts, are much harder to charge once flat and are incompatible with some older vehicle electrical systems. However, I also found many sellers who stated their batteries used calcium technology but made no reference to the need for the battery to be fitted to a vehicle that used a factory fitted calcium battery, or that a special charger is required. IMHO this cannot really be seen as deceptive, as calcium batteries are rapidly replacing traditional sealed lead acid batteries and are factory fitted to a wide range of new vehicles. Most people buying a replacement battery for a typical Asian car car less than 5 years old will require a calcium battery. Thus the onus for choosing the correct type of battery for an older vehicle now lies with the owner or service centre supplying the new battery. Unfortunately, while a calcium battery requires at least 14.8 volts to charge correctly (some require more), the charge voltage for a traditional lead acid battery is just sufficient to partially charge the calcium battery and keep it running for a while. But running a battery partially charged is the best way to shorten its life. I haven't checked it out but I have seen passing references to some BMW's being able to be coded for different types of batteries. Maybe worth looking into ? Cheers...

Yusss... good move As this information does not seem to be collated in some easy to steal form, I have made a little chart to highlight the difference in charging requirements between the commonly available types of lead acid batteries. Calcium and silver are added to otherwise normal sealed lead acid batteries to give the manufacturers something to crow about in their advertising. The downside is that they are much more difficult to recharge, and the vehicles electrical system must be specifically designed to work with a factory installed calcium or silver battery.... if its not, then they don't work As it happens, my car has a calcium battery, and because the car gets very little use at this time of the year, I have had to come up with a method of keeping the battery fully charged. Not having the luxury of mains power in my garage, I tried maintaining it with a solar charger. The result was more like a negative charger... seemed to introduce a decent parasitic drain, so I have abandoned that for the moment. Currently I am experimenting with a small portable generator to power my Protecta charger, and it seems to be working More results as they come to hand !! Cheers...

While it is certainly true that modern cars have more electronics and electrical devices that create load on the battery, most of these are unlikely to be active when the car is parked up. And it goes without saying that the manufacturers upgrade the battery capacity and charging system to handle the increased load when factory accessories and other automated systems are active. So it is not like the old days when you added a 500Watt sub and found your car wouldn't start after an afternoon listening to music with your mates at the beach Generally speaking, I have found factory batteries to last at least 5-6 years if a car gets a half decent commute as this represents optimal charging. But repeated short trips when the car never gets up to temperature coupled with cold starts can kill a battery in a couple of years, regardless of the age of the car. The battery never gets fully recharged and basically the voltage just ratchets down until one morning you need a jump start. By that stage you have already lost a percentage of battery capacity, and each time it happens you lose a bit more, until eventually even recharging the battery can't revive it. Using a battery maintainer works and regular recharging to keep the battery above 85% charged works , but either method is a chore and a bore. I guess you have to weigh that against the cost of a new battery every couple of years 😐 Cheers...

What he ^^^^ said When batteries were made here in NZ during the era of local assembly, they were big clunky things with lots of lead in the plates. But as the motor industry progressed the demand was for smaller, lighter and cheaper so that is what the battery manufacturers provided. Now that all batteries are imported from Asian countries and improved design, materials and manufacturing techniques are employed. The end result is a battery that is only just big enough to do the job for the warranty period if used in a well maintained and easy to start vehicle.... I fkn love marketing I suspect that the AA has tapped into a lower cost source for their batteries to improve their margin. This may have the mildly embarrassing side effect of shorter battery life but the attitude is... never mind the quality... feel the width !! So if your vehicle is getting on in years and does not start as easily as it once did, you do a lot of short trips and use all the accessories thoughtfully provided by the manufacturer, you can look forward to buying a new battery from AA every three years. This information is lifted directly from the AA website... Calcium batteries are the most commonly fitted battery; they also go by the name of ‘wet lead acid’ batteries. The basic ingredients are no different to the old style, but these batteries are more durable and have more starting power. They have a good shelf life and are maintenance free. But they require regular use, so when drained they must be recharged using a charger to bring them back to optimal health. Modern vehicle charging systems will struggle to recharge these fully when they’re drained. What is not stated is that you need a special charger for calcium batteries, and that if your vehicle was not factory fitted with a calcium battery, the vehicle will most likely not be able to recharge the battery fully. Thus the battery will never be operating at optimum voltage and battery performance and service life will be reduced. It is a classic example of where a so called improvement (good shelf life and are maintenance free) that benefited sellers, was in fact a performance downgrade for buyers. Cheers...

It's not often that I am stuck for words.... but... WTF is that ??? Surely proof beyond doubt that two wrongs do not make a right 🙄 PS: Yes... I know it is a rendering but still.... WTF ????

1150hp and 1100kg... could be a bit of a handful in the wet Ran 3rd in class and 9th overall at PIkes Peak this year.

Fugly doesn't come close....

Don't really like black cars as a rule, but I would make an exception for this one Cheers...

https://www.daytonwirewheels.com/pdf/catalog_volume_92.pdf You could do it... Dayton still do the 72 wire classic lace familiar from old Jags etc. Personally I would stay away from the 100 spoke type that are commonly used on low riders. Unless of course if your E30 is a low rider Cheers...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/3210909502?bof=gpGNrZAS Check out the list of baller items on this car. The wang is for racing... Tranzams here I come Cheers...

If I had a big shed to hide this from public gaze, I would love this car It has all the crazy stuff already done... and when you are done playing boy racer you can off the wing and still have a SC M3 to drive !!!

Austin Healey 3000 factory wires. Competition version was 72 spokes and the standard version was 60 spokes. It was wires or steelies in those days Cheers...