Kees

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.

Hi everyone, bit random but I sent off a few parts from my Brabus ForFour to get painted. These were: - Bonnet (which has faded in the middle) - Front Grille (which was covered in stone chips) - Front Lip (which had stone chips / scrapes) With these parts redone my car would be looking quite a bit better. So anyway, I thought it would be best to just drop the required parts to the paint shop. This is because to take the grille off the ForFour, you have to remove the front clamshell leaving the whole front of the car exposed to the elements (I’ll put a picture of what it looks like). So I figured this was best as my car can stay in a dry garage rather than being stuck at the paint shop where it could get rained on etc. The clamshell is also quite fragile as it’s plastic so it’s best it isn’t moved much once it’s off - something I can guarantee when it’s in my own garage. Anyway… I dropped the parts off and included the car’s colour code C21L - “Jack Black”. I assumed that with the parts still in the colour they need to be + the actual paint code, a relatively decent colour match could be done. I’m not expecting perfection especially since they didn’t have the rest of the car, but as long as it’s pretty similar that’s alright. Now to be fair, the job they have done is executed brilliantly, the finish is mint. BUT, when I was putting the car together in the DARK last night, I could tell the colour was wrong. And in the day light it’s fairly obvious, even with rain on the car. So now I’m wondering if I contact them about it? Or is it to be expected given they didn’t have the whole car, just the parts? Seems like the colour is just straight wrong, it’s quite grey/brown whereas the car is just plain black. Any advice very much appreciated! Car with front clamshell off (this is why are just gave them the bits as I wouldn’t want this outside a paint shop getting rained on) Before shot: you can see the bonnet was faded in the middle (edges were still fine), and there were stone chips concentrated on the lip and grille - the clamshell was basically unmarked though. Fragile front clamshell:

I need to make a proper update at some point but just got my car back from my mechanic who serviced the transmission and installed the genuine M5 springs I managed to get. Pretty happy, car looks great. Just need to figure out how to lower the rear, and then I also need my side skirts on and an exhaust job - I need muffler suggestions if anyone has any. E34 exhausts seem to be a pain because of the odd shape and limited space.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/291828843783442/?mibextid=9R9pXO Might have already been posted / be an old listing but this just came up in my marketplace. Another white m sport 318ti. Looks to be in Silverdale judging by the photos.

Been using the ForFour as my daily the last couple weeks, a task those rubbish old Hankook tyres decided they could not handle on Tuesday when one of them split on the side wall most of the way round. To be fair, I’m sure the heavy right foot did them no favours. Michelin Pilot Sport 5s now on, difference is huge as expected. Will be interesting to see how they behave in the wet as the ForFour was almost undriveable with more than 15% throttle in the rain before.

As a kid Phoenix yellow was always my favourite. I must say that it’s now been demoted to number 2, with Laguna Seca blue in first place.

Couple more spots. Phoenix Yellow SMG E46 M3. Questionable artwork on a Z4….

Couple spots from the week: Rubbish photo of an estoril blue speck… but E46 Clubsport Convertible BMW outside an indoor Golf centre… am I even surprised @cleanish_e46

Just your average tow vehicle….

I’ll send you a direct message with my contact number. Would love to come check out the car sometime and let you know what I think.

Nice buy! I’m based on the shore and have seen that car around a few times in various places. Definitely a well kept original example, plate is very distinctive. I have a big box of cleaning / polishing products + a Dewalt polisher you can borrow if you need to start your detailing journey on the car. If I were you I’d aim to polish the car (depending on how swirly / oxidised the paint is you may want to do a light cut too), then ceramic coat the car + do some protecting work to the soft top. Interior, if it’s leather I would recommend moisturising it. With the top down it would be way more exposed to UV so I’m guessing it could be dry/cracked in places. Also get a wool wash mit, sponges are for wheels only!! I did a detail on my 540i a couple years ago, it’s due a light buff and re-ceramic coat soon, but came out pretty well for original paint that had travelled ~370,000km… much easier to keep the car looking nice once the paint is properly protected.