eggzotic

Ah no idea - but it was essentially "1 step down" from the M5 (which at that time was the V10 - so a lot sexier I guess), and has a lot of "executive luxury" features.

Back to present-day - I bought this Sept 2021. It was imported from Japan earlier that year by the importer/dealer. I am the 1st NZ owner. The Japan owner clearly loved it - body condition pretty much as-is. I just dealt to all the so-called defered-maintenance under the bonnet (still have receipts for all of that) so that it now runs so-smooth. I dearly love this car - but don't drive it often enough and have had to take a new job & pay-cut - so trimming/slimming down to 1 (more practical) vehicle 😞

Anyone interested in a mint-ish condition 2008 BMW 550i? Here's the link to it's TradeMe ad: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/4614249421?bof=sXXl5r99

Price is $15k. Plenty of pics in the TradeMe ad. Here's a couple to get a taste...

I figure the audience here will appreciate this more than the masses.

Hi all, recently came across this which looks like it might give my Steptronic 6-spd auto 550i some paddle-shifters. Has anyone experience with these, or an equivalent?

https://www.motivemods.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MM-PA-7

Thanks Jared - I must have missed the recommendations about the center-bore previously... The offset mismatch was spot on, yes. Don't think these new ones qualified as 

On 12/26/2022 at 8:35 AM, Eagle said:

cheap aftermarket wheel

though. Have updated my profile pic with the new look 🙂

So, the work in the previous message did not fix the vibrations or the tyre-rub.

It turned out to be simply the wrong wheels were on the car (i.e. those that were on it when I purchased it in ~Sep 2021). Took it to Capital tyres in Hamilton to diagnose as it felt like CJ had just really missed the mark on this one.

The problems with the wheels were:

1. vibrations: wheels had wrong (too-big) center bore - essentially making it almost impossible to get them centered over the hub on the car, causing them to not spin in a true circle. I think the suspension could mask the resulting vibrations for lower speeds but not all. This was probably hurting the wheel bearings a lot and I should have got that seen-to earlier, sigh... This could have been resolved with Hub-centric rings, to take up the difference in size and ensure proper centering of the wheels.

2. tyre-rub: the rear wheels were essentially the wrong offset - and without any spacers in use, there was nothing to adjust or remove to bring them in (to avoid hitting the guards when going thru dips), so the cure for this was speccing some wheels that are actually a correct fit for the E60 550i.

Richard from Capital Tyres whipped up some options for me and I went with a new set of Forum Chargers (e.g. https://www.hyperdrive.co.nz/product/113832/forum-wheels-charger-gloss-black) - and they are very nice. Kept the 20" option, so existing tyres could be moved across.

Still planning to get in touch with Greg for future work though.

Cheers, RS.

So, there are no spacers involved here - perhaps indicates they're real BMW rims after all?

Anyway, a more recent development has been that my latest WoF required both rear-tyres to be replaced. I then mentioned that there have been some vibrations at ~80 km/h and ~110 km/h - so they attempted a wheel balance - and that led to them identifying that 3 of the wheels are out-of-round, and have been sent for some repair (suppose it's not called "straightening"?). All of which is gonna cost a packet. So other work will be on hold till I recover from that...

Cool, thanks Graham - yeah I've been happy with CJ for the work they've done but also suspected they might be effectively limited to recommending original BMW parts only. They mentioned "trailer springs" as something that once existed, but were not sure if they can still get them. I'll try Greg. Cheers.

Mainly rubbing on the outer edge of the left-rear tyre. This car has 20" rims, with 275/30R20 on the rear - presumably reducing the space between tyre and car, compared to the intended factory setup of 18" or 19". It's an import from Japan - so is just as-it-came from there - no further mods by me. As I understand these originally came with 18" or 19" rims - so not sure if this was an "extra-special" model, or the if the previous Japanese owners changed them up after purchasing it. The black-n-white BMW badges (boot & bumper), the black front-grills also seem possibly non-factory-standard? Being my 1st BMW, I was not sure 🙂. Was in pretty premo condition though, and low kms, so it seems like it was treated pretty well.

Cool, thanks for those pointers 🙂

Hi all, curious to know if anyone has recommendations for mechanics in the Hamilton area who are willing to perform basic mods to (in my case) an E60 5 series (2008 550i). I take my car to Coombes Johnston BMW for service and repairs (been a bit too much of that so far - oil leaks, Cam cover, PCV,...). But, hoping those are becoming "behind me", there's some other work I'd like, specifically:

- stiffer rear suspension/springs, to prevent tyre-rub during sudden dips when I have a bit of load in the boot or back-seat passengers (probably made-worse by the 20" rims)

- curious about subtle mods to the exhaust system - just a little louder as the factory setup is super-quiet

- curious about colored brake calipers (yeah, I know these are pricey!)

Anyway, that was just to add some context to my general enquiry...

Thanks, Richard.

solved now, thanks. Found a seller on TM in New Plymouth.

Have a 2008 BMW 550i without run-flats, and without a spare. Hoping to find someone selling BMW space-saver I can put in the boot. Happy to pay shipping from wherever in NZ, to Hamilton. Lemme know if you have one - cheers!

Richard.