Kees

Good point, I probably should order a new set. Do you have to send them your old ones back?

The neighbours all rolled their eyes when the second one turned up 🤣 Ended up having a chat to the guy who lives opposite me. Turns out he owned a manual W8 back in the day. Crazy coincidence since I think there were only ever about 10 in NZ, with roughly 4 left now!

I believe it is in-fact in km. Here is what has happened I reckon: If we look at the carjam, it is recorded in miles. However, the car has an un-natural jump of 70,000 miles (over 110,000km) from 2019 to 2021. Clearly this is a mistake. In 2019 it was at 115,601 miles or 186,041km. It then had its next WOF 18 months later in July 2021, indicating the car probably was not used, hence the WOF lapsed. In July 2021, it was recorded to have done 186,932 miles, but as we saw the screen is in kilometers, so was most likely switched to km prior to the WOF and then wrongly recorded. 186,932km is 116,154 miles which matches the timeline. July 2021: 116,154 miles October 2019: 115,601 miles Therefore I think it is most likely at 187,000km, the WOF inspector just didn't do the conversion after the screen metric was changed. Good looking car too, and decently priced especially with the detachable hardtop being included. Good on the dealer for being cautious though!

Thanks! Haha yeah, we should burn all trees!!

Thought I would do an update on how the manual W8 Passat is going so far. In the month and a half I have had it, I've already done over 2500km! Since I am yet to find an undercover spot for it, I've been parking it at my house which has been bad for my wallet as I've been taking it out every other night for a cruise from the shore to Auckland CBD and back. It's really surprised me on how nice it is to drive. So far, not a ton of issues, but not trouble free either. My intermittent check engine light has become a permanent one and its fuel intake issue seems to be getting worse. W8 Passats have a highly sophisticated (over complicated) fuel tank setup. Volkswagen, in their wisdom, decided that because the Passat was getting a 4.0L W8 engine, it should have a bigger fuel tank capacity. Instead of making the fuel tank bigger, they decided it would be better to add a second 20L tank in the spare tyre well to compliment the standard 60L tank, and then have an internal fuel pump to pump fuel from the 20L tank to the 60L tank when required. This means the car has no less than 4 fuel level senders! The fuel tank also has its own control module which figures out combined fuel level of the two tanks which is then shown on the fuel gauge. The fuel gauge in my car does not work, most likely as a result of the fuel tank control module being faulty, or one or more of the fuel level senders not working. However, this wouldn't bother me if I could at least fill the car up. If I could fill it up I would just go 400-500km and then refuel. When I first got the car, if you didn't hold the pump at an angle, the pump would click off every litre. But if you had it at the right angle, fuel would go in just fine. However, over the last few weeks, unless you have the pump at an absolute dribble, the pump will click off every 30 cents or so, which means putting as little as $20 worth in takes about 5 minutes. Very, very annoying. It means I don't know how full my tank is because I can't just fill it up as the pump clicks off every second so I have no idea where the "top" is, and of course, my fuel gauge doesn't work! I stuck a borescope camera down the filler neck and it showed fuel seems to be sitting at the first bend which is in line with the top of the 60L tank. This would show that the car appears to be overfilled with fuel, yet I'll drive 200+km, and then still have trouble getting fuel into the car. Doing some reading online, I hypothesise the charcoal canister in my car is damaged. The charcoal canister breathes the fuel tank. What I think has happened is when the fuel gauge broke, one of the previous owners thought it would be a clever idea to fill the tank right to the top of the filler neck to hold as much fuel as possible. However, what this does is allow fuel to get into the breather line and turn the charcoal canister into a concrete-like substance, which means it won't be doing any breathing. In a normal Passat the charcoal canister is easy to get to, but of course, in a W8 it is sandwiched by the additional 20L tank, meaning you have to drop the whole fuel tank just to get to it! Currently I just go to the petrol station at night so I don't annoy too many people by being slow, put some music on and stand there for 15 minutes to put a bit of fuel in, and then work out how far I can go. My current plan to sort this is to try find the charcoal canister line so that I can vent the tank to atmosphere, and bypass VWs complicated system of sending the gases to the engine. Anyway, on to things that have been done, so far: A few days after my last post about the car I had it serviced. The oil looked alright but the previous owner couldn't remember when he had last changed it, and what oil he had put in it. The coolant looked pretty grotty so I was keen to have that flushed out. I took the car to Weissach Motors on the North Shore who are Porsche and VAG specialists, after my parents recommended it to me as they had done rear shock replacements on my mother's 911. The car got some Liqui Moly 5W-40 and had the cooling system flushed. Apparently, the reason the coolant looked grotty is Volkswagen used a material in the cooling system that does not like regular tap water, which over time makes coolant look bad as it degrades. Weissach Motors have a very slick email system which sent me a detailed inspection they had carried out on my car while it was there for service including photos of issues. A few things came up which I wanted to sort. Front CV boots were both split, with one leaking grease. Brake hoses had some cracking and there were some perished bushings in the front end. Hopefully next week the car will go in to have all this stuff sorted. I also had a nail in my front left tyre, so tyres jumped closer to the top of my "to-do" list, especially since the rears had un-even wear and pretty low tread anyway. The battery was also terrible so I replaced that with a Century one. One thing that I felt let down my Passat were the wheels. The factory BBS wheels are a cool looking wheel, but mine were in very, very bad shape. I took them to Wheel-Fix It, and since the centres were oxidising and all the lips were very curbed, to have them properly sorted they would need to be chemically stripped, which would cost close to $3K. They were so bad in fact, the guy said it would be best to find a new set and refurbish them instead. Considering I also needed new tyres, I started looking at a more affordable way to sort the wheels. I began searching for another set of W8 wheels, however seeing as W8s are quite rare, and to my knowledge the BBS wheels on W8s didn't go on any other Volkswagen, I couldn't find anything. I then thought about buying another W8 just for the wheels. I looked on Facebook Marketplace, hoping to find a very cheap W8 with somewhat decent wheels, however I couldn't find anything. I then had a look on trademe, and to my surprise I found a silver, NZ New auto W8 Passat, also with the rare Recaro interior, and with much tidier wheels wrapped in Bridgestone RE003s for sale at a dealer in Hamilton. It had been for sale for over 5 months so I drove to Hamilton with a mate and offered the dealer a fair amount (only about $1200 under asking price). I now had two silver NZ new W8s. We drove the cars home in tandem which must have confused other motorists seeing two; largely identical W8 Passats driving together. We swapped the wheels that night, and I was pretty happy with how it improved the look of the car. Driving both cars also made me realise how special the manual one is. They feel very different to each other. The auto is a nice cruiser but is way too laid back especially around town and very boring compared with the manual. The auto one went back on trademe that evening. Now that I had two W8s, I set about sorting a few things on my manual car, using bits from the auto one. My manual one was missing its boot gas struts, and had a faulty boot lock actuator, meaning you could only open the boot by putting the key in the lock. I swapped the gas struts and then the actuator. Of course the screws holding the actuator in place are located face up to the boot skin so you have to take the entire bracket holding the lock and plate lights off, and then squeeze the screw bit and a small ratchet in to get the actuator off. Got there in the end, and now I have a boot that opens by holding the button on the key. The button inside the car and the handle seem to intermittently work now when they feel like it. That night I took the car out to get some petrol as I was so pleased with how it was going, and was proud of how tidy the car was starting to look. Of course 3 minutes out from my house a tree branch fell down onto the car, leaving a nice dent in the bonnet which I will have to have pulled out. The bonnet is double skinned so will be a bit of a pain to sort as you can't get it from the inside. Was pretty pissed off. To cheer myself up a bit, I had my headlights polished and coated at Renew Car as they were yellowing and were faded in some areas. Car looks a bit fresher with polished headlights now. I also continued cleaning the interior. Did a wet-vac of the carpets which has helped remove the cigarette smell from the car, and I sorted out the peeling wood veneer trim with some 3M Outdoor Mounting Tape. So that just about covers what I have done to the W8 so far. Took it out for a few photos over the past couple days:

Agreed! Will most likely get some snazzy euro plates at some point in the future as my other car is sucking all my money at the moment.

Yesterday I was looking over my E34 which I hadn't driven in a couple weeks, and spotted some masking tape and half a can of gloss black plasti-dip. I decided I should mask off the front license plate filler, which was pretty battered from 370,000km of NZ's finest roads, to see if I could make it look any better. Didn't bother to do any prep work other than give the area a quick wipe with a rag and then began spraying. Took all the masking off this afternoon and it actually looks decent enough, and will be a good temporary fix until I can be bothered to order a new one.

Spotted this today and had to laugh. Not sure what you are going to tow with your Cayman!

I did a couple coats on my 540 in October and the paint is still glossy and hydrophobic. One thing I've heard recently is to keep the coating on for as long as possible you should use a pH neutral car wash. I think Autoglym and Meguairs have pH neutral options. I had been using a generic Turtle Wax car wash but I will be switching to something pH neutral. Just reminded me I did a polish and ceramic coating on my old S8 when I had it with the Turtle Wax Ceramic Black products. Photos are a bit rubbish but man the Turtle Wax stuff does a slick job.

Yup, living dangerously! 🤣

@Sammo WOW! Looks absolutely sensational. Love the wheels.

Since I got my Manual W8 Passat, the rooted wheels have really annoyed me. Went to wheel-fix it to see how much it would be to give them a refurb. The polished lips were oxidised and decently curbed, and the painted centres were bubbling. To have the wheels properly sorted they would need to be chemically stripped and painted which would cost around $3K.... Plus I was still on the hunt for new tyres. Came across an NZ New, Auto W8 Passat, with much tidier wheels, wrapped in RE003s, and in the same colour as the manual! So I made the unique decision to buy it just for the wheels. Is actually quite a well kept car with a service book which is completely full. Was dealer serviced until around 2015 and judging by the RE003s (which are now on the manual one), it had been pampered more than most W8s. Got quite a few looks on the drive home. Not sure how many times in human history, two silver W8s have been cruising together! Driving the pair back to back is very interesting. The auto is nice enough on the motorway but feels pretty sluggish around town. Manual transmission really transforms the car in my opinion. Also, driving them both home from Hamilton, the 6-speed manual got 9.1L/100km whereas the 5-speed Auto said it got 10.4L/100km. But anyway, having owned it approximately 24 hours and having swapped the wheels, the auto is up for sale! Would make a great tow car, long distance cruiser or winter beater. Has the rare leather and alcantara Recaro bucket seats which are electric and heated. Also has a factory VW tow bar and probably is one of the tidiest W8s left. Have no use for the car so its now on trademe if anyone wants it. Can do a decent deal for Bimmersporters, although I doubt anyone would want it 🤣 Depending on how long it takes to sell I will probably get bored and start taking more bits off it to swap with the manual one. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/volkswagen/listing/3556110221?bof=6Myl2HdR

I think I’m going to get a couple air tags for my cars since they are fairly inexpensive. Look like they work decently well and it would be nice to have the system integrate seamlessly with my phone and computer. However, have heard they can notify unfamiliar Apple devices that they are being tracked. My mate left his airtag he has with his keys in a mate’s car and his mate got a notification saying a foreign airtag unfamiliar to his phone could be tracking him. Could be problematic if the thieves have an Apple product (which lets be honest is quite likely seeing how popular iPhones are) as after a while they will know they are being tracked.

Anyone want to come view the car 🤣 I feel like we need a Bimmersport in-person investigation...

Is a bit strange its been to 5 dealers, but I guess spread over 3 private owners its not too bad. Could have gone for example: BMW dealer, first owner, dealer who does a dealer trade with another dealer, second owner, dealer, third owner. May also be a carjam error. From memory I think that one was sold from Tradein Post in Greenlane at some point. Was a thread on this car in the past too: (wonder if it was with its original owner until 2016 as the car looks to be in a fairly prestigious driveway indicative of someone who bought it new) Photos showing car was from Tradein Post:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/325i/listing/3538275807?bof=lkYJ4f9I Not sure if this one has been posted here yet, wonder what it will go for. Bidding currently at 2.5K. Lots and lots of rust and suspect blown head-gasket, so quite a large project.

@Sammo Was nice meeting you today, your e30 looks awesome!

Honestly I think he will get 50K+ for it. Higher ks than the first two blue ones which were snapped up for presumably $40K and $50-55K respectively, however it looks to be in better cosmetic condition and is an arguably more desirable spec. I guess the only issue is how many people are realistically looking for an E39 M5, considering there have been 4 total for sale in just over a month? If someone really wanted one they probably snapped up either of the first two. That said, if I could afford it, I would buy it. Love the spec, and it has original plates!!! In my personal opinion, this may be controversial but I think E39 M5s will be 100K+ in the next 5 years. Rare in NZ, NA V8, 400hp, RWD, with a manual. Can't beat it!

Was for sale in 2019. Such an incredible spec. The colour is an Individual Colour of BMW Laguna Seca Blue, meaning the colour was a special order and not a standard M6 colour. Is really highly spec'd. Best M6 on the market in my opinion. Here are the details from that listing:

Bargain! Body is all aluminium so the scrap value is close to 2K just for the body. Air suspension components also worth a decent penny if in good condition. Whoever got it can enjoy a luxury limo and then make more than they paid for it if something goes wrong.

Just checked my screen recording, is the same Trademe account, so must be the same owner. Bet the seller is glad they didn't sell it for sub 40K!

Amazing spec! Was for sale in September 2020. Sat on the market for a while too. How times have changed...

Completely agree! Don't understand why a whole new plate has to be issued for the same car. Only way to get around it in NZ is to make the original combination a euro plate prior to putting the Personalised Plate on as then you own the rights to the original combination, but obviously no one ever does this.

Saw that on the carjam and that really pissed me off. I'm quite OCD with original plate combos on NZ New cars since its something you cannot get back once you put a dumb personalised plate on it. Makes me even more mad when the plate has been on there for years like with that M5. Keeping the original combination really completes the car in my opinion. My W8, e34 540i and 207 GTI all are on there original plates. I'm so OCD I actively look for cars with original plates and would pay a premium for it too.

Just noticed no shadow trim either. Normal chrome part of the "comfort" spec like with the seats? Looks a bit weird having the chrome and then black wheels imo.