Kees

Same. So cool! Might compromise with this... 😂 https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/toys-models/die-casts/other/listing/5001136891

Not too sure as it's been months since I've used either of them as a daily driver. I would estimate probably in the range of the mid 5s to mid 6s per 100km? Looking back at some photos, according to the car, when I drove it up from Palmerston North I was getting 7.5L/100km. But bear in mind I do have a very heavy right foot. When daily driving it I would consistently get about 8.0 - 8.5L/100km and that was mostly urban.

Selling my genuine 2006 BRABUS Forfour. Yes, this car was done by the people responsible for the B63 S, 900 Rocket, and many other stupidly fast Mercedes products. Only 1284 made globally 4 in NZ (this is the only silver one) 177hp | 230nm Getrag 5 Speed Manual (not a semi auto like most Smarts) 1090kg Drivetrain is from the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version R (and tuned further of course) so is very reliable. Being so light it is very quick and it handles superbly. As some of you may know I have a black one of these. I bought it on a whim and it's ended up being one of my favourite cars I have ever driven. So naturally, about a year ago I found this one at a Turners in Palmerston North and couldn't help myself. I have spent the last year getting it back to it's former glory as best as I can and probably went a little overboard (as enthusiasts tend to do). Recent work includes: New Cambelt & Waterpump New Brake Pads & Rotors New Rocker Cover Gasket Full Set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Tyres Refurbished Exhaust Manifold Replaced Boost Solenoid New Shifter Bushing Going through the NZTA open data spread sheet, I can see a total of 4 currently registered in NZ. 3 in "Jack Black" (like my other one) and just 1 in Starlight Silver... THIS ONE. This car gets absolutely no use so would be nice to sell it on to an enthusiast who will enjoy it. Obviously, being a niche car I am not expecting a queue of people wanting to buy it, but would be nice to see it go to someone who appreciates it. Japanese reliability and European refinement in one of the rarest post 2000 hatches... what's not to like? Price: $11K ONO P.S: here is a review Kiwi Car Life did on my black one: (Note: the rattles he talks about are specific to the black car as my boot trim always falls off)

I think it's absolutely foul particularly in conjunction with the exterior colour as they clash with each other. Objectively it's awful and I think Chris Harris' name / reputation has skewed people's judgement on it. If it was someone less respected they would be getting rinsed. Maybe the colour would work if the car was grey / black just as something wild to contrast the exterior. But regardless, corduroy is a stupid material to use. I'm sure Chris Harris wouldn't have trouble selling the car if he wanted to because his name is attached to it, but good luck to whoever buys it if they want to sell it on.

Haha never knew the N55 was a "3.0L Flat 6"....

This is lovely! Pretty low mileage given its age. Excellent buy for someone.

It's been a hot minute since my last proper post here. A fair few cars have joined the fleet since then, I will write a post about them at some point as I'm sure some of you would find it interesting. But anyway, I thought I'd share how my Adidas shoe finally broke down, so I had to find a suitable replacement. Not sure how reliable it will be getting me from A to B, and the cost of maintenance will be more than the Adidas shoe, but hopefully it's worth it as it's a pretty special machine... Wasn't sure about the BBS RC wheels, admittedly they have grown on me quite a lot since getting the car. Plus it's a bonus that the rears are 285 in width - a feature that seems necessary when you've got lots of power, not much weight, and no driver assists. I have managed to find a set of factory wheels (which I am a big fan of). Will probably put them on once they are suited up with a fresh set of Pilot Sport 5s. General feedback from friends and family is that the interior is "bold". I personally love it. Nothing is more boring than a black exterior with a black interior on a car like this. It comes with an impressive history folder - every receipt, WOF, insurance document, even a note from a guy asking to buy the car in 2021. Surprising to me was the level of looks the car gets, especially from car people. I owned it a whopping 10 minutes before getting my first complement.

Curious as to what the S54 car was up for... can anyone remember?

Went to get two front tyres put on my 540i today and asked for an alignment too.... $250 to fit the tyres and do an alignment.... is it just me or is that really expensive?

I have a screenshot somewhere but I remember when this was for sale many years ago (perhaps when it was a fresh import) at Christchurch European.

Used as intended* and serviced accordingly...

I have driven this very car a couple of times as my friend owns it. It is fabulous and well cared for, if I didn't have 7 cars it would probably be joining my fleet.

Hi everyone, I’ve got an issue with my E34s climate controls (yet again). Having replaced the resistor sword and blower motor the climate control worked great for all of 6 days before I lost fan speed control again. (Fan only works on full) I removed my resistor sword (which was a working unit) and it still looks to be in very good condition and I can’t find anything wrong with it. I tried another resistor sword which was said to be working and still no luck… This leaves two possibilities: 1. both resistor swords which appear fine, are in fact buggered. 2. something else is causing loss of fan speed. I have also tried swapping the control panel with two others but no luck from that either. Is there anything else I should be looking at? The only other thing I could try is finding someone with an e34 to test whether the swords I have still work.

Frankly I would rather walk than drive a Cybertruck. It will age like a PT-Cruiser. The trendy EV hipsters think it’s cool, but objectively it’s absolutely hideous and quite useless. It’s already having range issues and it sucks off-road because it’s so heavy. Big yawn… buy something like a Ranger Raptor if you want a cool, fast Ute. Porsche’s synthetic fuel produced on a wide scale is the answer, not EVs. Enough said.

Rant 1: it’s too stuffy and hot at night in Auckland for a good night’s sleep. Solution: Go and buy a cheap fan from Kmart. Rant 2: on the way to buy said fan from Kmart you encounter a wide load pilot vehicle. They box you in next to the curb and tell you: “drive up on the curb asap”. But you’re in a low car that definitely won’t go onto the curb. Solution: Gingerly risk reversing up the nearest driveway which is steep as sh** (it was the only alternative) Rant 3: Even though you take a wicked angle you scrape your FRESHLY PAINTED front lip that you only properly put back on your car TODAY. Solution: At least you’re going to get a good night’s sleep to cheer you up because you’ll be nice and cool with that new fan! Rant 4: Kmart’s online stock level indicator lied to you - there were no fans. Solution: Be grumpy that your car got damaged for a net zero gain, and still be too hot.

Purchased for $25,085 in March 2023…. Well someone did well didn’t they. What would it realistically bring? 14k? For context, a friend of mine sold his E93 M3 for 25K a couple months ago… Good write up though.

No? I hope it wasn’t a manual! There was only ever 1 manual wagon in NZ, going through the NZTA open data spread sheet it looks like it’s no longer around - I hope that wasn’t it! Got a screenshot?

I have an update just in case this somehow helps someone in the future. So yesterday I started packing up my tools as I want to start working on my latest car (post incoming). Anyway, I thought I’d give the car one last crank and it fired up immediately. So there’s 3 possibilities: 1. it’s some form of intermittent electrical fault. 2. Leaving the key in the ignition for the last 2 days somehow fixed it (I doubt this) 3. I decided to apply some pressure to the panel below the steering column which usually has another panel attached (it was off because of me taking the blow resistor sword out), maybe some kind of loose contact under there? Time will tell if it’s fixed or intermittent, but I’m just glad it actually starts now.

HAHAHA the funniest bit is when I read @Sammo’s post I immediately went on trademe looking at those, exocets and Lotus 7 kit cars 😂 Looks like an awful lot of fun! P.s: meant to be buying another rare pos from Palmerston North this weekend… I actually need to stop haha

Yup currently reading up on it. These were the initial codes it had:

Update! Car has been scanned and there were heaps of codes for the immobiliser. Cleared them and this is the one that is sticking. I believe it could be for the on board computer as they store a code for the immobiliser and then somehow it’s lost it.

Pulled a plug out today, did smell of fuel so it could be flooded. Exhaust also smells of fuel. I tried cranking it with accelerator down to see if that would clear the potential flooding but to no avail. Will probably pull all the plugs on the weekend. I am yet to test if I'm getting spark, will have to wait until the weekend when I can get a mate to give me a hand. I also disconnected & reconnected the battery to see if that helped - no luck of course. RPMs aren't moving when it cranks but rewatching an old start-up video shows the needle never moves until the car fires up. My current theory is maybe something wasn't happy after I pulled the sword out, the car refused to start and engine flooded. Now with everything back together it won't start - not because something electrically is preventing it, but because it's flooded. Not sure if this is accurate thinking though.

Help! M60 crank but no start. Hi everyone, yesterday my 540i decided to do something it’s never done before, not start. – And its slightly confusing. Here is the context: On Saturday I took the car out as it was getting reviewed for a YouTube video. The car performed flawlessly throughout the day, and once the review was done I took it back to my garage to swap it for another car of mine which was getting reviewed. Car was perfectly fine. Then yesterday I went to move the car out of the garage so I could try figure out why my interior fan speed isn’t working (it seems my second resistor sword has failed), and this is when the car refused to start. It has fuel, and I can hear the fuel pump prime when I turn the ignition on. Given that it was perfectly running the day before and when I parked it, I’m scratching my head on what has gone wrong. Maybe crank shaft positioning sensor? Also, this is most likely a coincidence, but I had the interior fan speed resistor sword out of the car to inspect it prior to the car refusing to start. When the car failed to start I plugged it back in just to be sure it somehow wasn’t causing the issue, and of course the car still wouldn’t start. Does anyone have any ideas? Seems odd the car could have a mechanical failure overnight. Maybe something electrical instead?

All the parts that were painted were plastic. The clamshell is also plastic. Smart give you two paint codes with the car - one for the Tridion safety cell (made of metal) and then one for all the body panels which are plastic. My car’s code for the body panels is “Jack Black” which matches what is said in the sales brochure. This did cross my mind prior to me giving them the paint code, but luckily all the paint codes are listed on a Smart forum for every generation, and Jack Black remains the same. I also googled “Jack Black” to make sure every code that I could find was the same which it was. This is what I think has probably happened where they may have trusted the machine a bit too much - I think I might have a can of the colour made up at Wairau paint centre and see how that compares, just to be extra sure it’s not the paint code.

I did think this and did some research on it last night. I feel like it would make sense if it was darker than the rest of the car, but I struggle to see how the paint would get darker overtime. I also went through the press materials and other photos online which show the car is meant to be properly black, not a dark grey, hence I think something may have just gone wrong in the colour matching process.