johnm51

My 206 came only with one remote key, that was all.

I did however get the credit card for purchase of extra keys - you may have trouble without it, may pay to ring Peugeot parts and ask if they will supply key off VIN number, best to know before it is urgent

I guess the car was ex Japan ? Quite common for only one key to be supplied unfortunatly

No the car is New Zealand new. You have triggered something for me though all I need to do is look in the service book and contact the dealership that sold the car new. Thanks Greg. Cheers

I recently purchased, well 2 days ago a 2006 307 for my wife. It came with 1 remote and 1non remote is this right?

Also missing is the ID Card for key codes.

Who says it was built in 2001? I've seen alot of prefl cars registered as late as 2004, and fl as early as 2002. Remember havin the import vehicles doesn't help, sometimes Japan etc get models earlier than we do - for example they could get a fl vehicle in 2005, and nz may not get the fl till 2007 - however if that 2005 jap vehicle gets imported into nz say in 2009, it is still a 2005 model - whereas the equivilent nz new vehicle would be 2007 or newer. Yes i am with them.

It pays to ask questions

Thanks for the information. I thought it was 2001 model not 2003 as it is NZ new. But hey shows you how little I know, perhaps I should stick to Holdens.

Cheers John

Cars can get a PD whenever. We do ours when the vehicles arrive at our dealership. The year of the car is determined by when it was first registered. For example if a 2001 build/model isn't registered until 2002 - it becomes a 2002 vehicle. Works the same if we get - say 2011 model and register it in 2010 - it is still a 2010 vehicle. fl and prefl vehicles always cross-over years because all prefl vehicle don't necessarily get sold before the new fl ones start getting registered.

Yes I can see 2001 being registered in 2002 but 2003? Did the the link work?

Are you with BF in the Hutt?

Debadging was a 318i and 320i thing the japs usually did to hide the power model engine. It kind of caught on as a thing to do when youre modding.

Personally cant really see the point but yeah, its a personal pref thing I guess.

OK

How do you know with an E46 if you are buying a 2001/ 2002/ 2003? From what I gather they have a different line under the lights, in 2001 according to my research was updated in I presume late 2001. So why are some listed as 2002 when it clearly have a 2001 front.

I have put a hyperlink in but not sure if I have done it right.

You will see that this car is listed as a 2003 yet in pic 17 pre-delivery says 2002 and it has a 2001 front?

Am I missing something here???

[url="http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/BMW/auction-272314002.htm"]

And there are others.

'De-badging' was an option when the vehicle was new. The main motorsport options were bodykit, suspension, sports seats, black headlining, alloys, steering wheel, interior trim, sill plates, lip spoiler.

I sell cars for a living and think it is very important how long a business has been around for - if they have been around for a long time they must be doing something right. If you've been in business for 5mins who knows how much longer you will continue? There is alot of trust involved. However we at least take a picture of the interior....! The company I work for has been in business not far off 40years and sells more than 200 cars a month.

On the subject of hand-picking cars - this is true in our case. Most of our used vehicles come from trade-ins. We keep the quality stuff and wholesale the s**t. We rarely buy cars in as we are pretty self-sufficient but when we do we make sure we pick what we want.

My 2c from the other side of the coin...

Fair enough.

But you have to admit like I said "some" do go on more about themselves and not enough about the car. After all you went there looking for a car.

Wouldn't all cars be hand picked or can you buy in bulk?

I have a couple of Q's.

Firstly I am looking at E46 2001/03 and notice that some have no badge on the back denoting engine size or M if motorsport. Did they come out like this or is it panel damage and the badge was not put back on?

Some M/sport do not have an the usual M/sport steering wheel but is divided in two. Is this an M/sport wheel?

Off the subject,

I find it annoying with some Tme dealers how they have a big spiel about themselves how trustworthy they are how long they have been in business how all their cars are hand picked.

B****r all about the car and 4 pics all of the exterior

Well that's my moan look forward to your answers

Here is a good nz new smg 330ci , Maybe over your price range but very well spec'ed and a good service history.

>>Trade me link click here<<

Hi guys had a few days away so just catching up. Jason the SMG model seems odd to me as it is listed as a 2003 but the pre-delivery paper states it is a 2002. What puzzels me is it has a 2001 front?

Thanks for your comments on the blue 330. Guess I just fell in love with the colour and the wheels.

Here is a good nz new smg 330ci , Maybe over your price range but very well spec'ed and a good service history.

>>Trade me link click here<<

Yes I have seen that car I could buy it but it's a bit more than I want (allowed) to spend. What do you think of this on Tme

I think at the end of the day if you are happy with the buy be it nz or jappa then go for it. I made sure i confirmed the service history with mine (an import), it had full service history (i contacted the service agent it was done with).

Came with all the keys and books, pretty high spec'ed the only thing it did not tick on my box of things i wanted with mfl wheel but Gavin at euro Italian has hooked me up with the retrofit kit for it at a more than great price and its a easy install.

To be on the safe side though i took mine for a pre purchase inspection at Gray's bmw here and it came out with flying colors so i am more than happy to drive around in my jappa

Thanks Jason, Yes I would only buy one with a service history and keys as I know a remote key can cost $500.00

You have six months. Wait and something will pop up that is within your budget at a bargain price with a nice spec.

I would be happy to buy a NZ new car with higher kilometres knowing the car has been cherished and had accumulated kilometres on NZ roads, Jap cars should have a timer like a digger and they should be quoted in hours.

The Kiwi car won’t have a screen with a crap TV and ten year old outdated Japanese Sat Nav that doesn’t work in NZ, it will have the same crap sound system. Be prepared for that big loss.

Personally I would buy a NZ new 6-Speed 06 Honda Accord Euro L-Sport, it’s a better car.

Funny you should say that I have had 4 Honda Accords and before I got interested in bemmers I was looking at late model Euro's

Jap cars still do come with leather, maybe not as many. They certainly do offer multi funtion wheel too - can't say I have noticed numbers specifically with E46 but certainly have seen Jap ones with it.

I am on the fence with import/NZ new.

Yes, I have a Jap E39, I bought in myself with a documented (& genuine) 24k, service history matching, got all manuals, all four keys & a car without a single stone chip. A high specced car too.

I have no problem with a Jap car as long as I can be happy with it's history.

Being in the trade, have seen some horrors over the years with ex Jap cars & plenty of people been burnt with dishonest & Tokyo traffic, non serviced cars.

Yes, there may "generally" be more transparency with NZ cars but equally there are plenty of kiwis who don't look after/service their car properly either.

Bottom line - a car with specs to suit (Jap BMW's are generally higher specced - never seen a NZ E46 with TV/Nav or from memory - heated seats) BUT also as above - regardless of origin, have it checked by a BMW specialist.

With BMW - The origin normally reflects the buy & sell price - a Jap car cheaper than NZ version to buy initially & possibly/probably conceeding on sale price at other end.

With a good one though - you can end up with more bang for buck.

Thanks Grant, I have been looking for a few months now (online)and the only 3 series E46 with multi-function I have seen are Singapore cars. Yes I have seen some with leather but as you say not often. Cheers

Yep, I rekon there will be some conflicting opinions regarding this but here's mine anyway.

I prefer NZ New mainly because of the documented ownership, service history and stronger resale value at the tail end of the ownership. With my current vehicle I also believe they're more sort after being NZ New perhaps hence a better resale value. Yes you get more buttons than normal on Jap imports but I prefer to have less as it's less to go wrong. In saying that my X5 has enough toys to satisfy an IT technician.

I guess when it comes to some cars though it wouldn't worry me. Anything post 10k worth I would go NZ New, for everything under this I guess it wouldn't worry me too much. I guess it really comes down to a personal preference. I had a 2001 BMW X5 import about two years ago and whilst it was a bloody nice unit, our local BMW dealer wouldn't trade it because it was an import & whilst that might be just them, I guess it re-iterates the fact that NZ New is perhaps easier to move in the 50k + price bracket anyway.

I would prefer NZ new but from what I can see I would have to pay 4/5k more for a car with twice the ks

You do have a choice. One is expensive and one is cheap, the cheaper option is going to have implications, the only people who will tell you otherwise will drive Japanese imports themselves.

Unfortunately, if you want a car with a nice specification and proof of previous service and care you will have to buy NZ new, they will both depreciate at the same rate and when it comes to resale you will get the difference back again.

At the moment on Tme there is an E46 330 NZ new 117,000 k. Is this better than A Jappa with papers and 69,000k? Both same year

Hi John,

You will have a choice - mainly ex Japan or NZ new. A few ex Sing cars.

You will probably get conflicting views on here as to import or NZ new.

From my experience - no problem with ex Jap - if they come with a known documented history.

You will often find the Jap cars higher specced - nav (needs to be converted) ,TV, heated seats. Post 09/01 build cars have worldwide radio tuners in them so can be programmed for here. Can suffer from pixel failure in the dash - this can be repaired. This problem not excluded from NZ cars either.

Conversely, NZ cars tend to a lower spec with bells/whistles.

I have seen some horror stories with ex Sing Benz's but not so much with BMW

Either way - you should have the car properly evaluated by a suitably qualified BMW technician

Thanks

I have noticed NZ new seem to have leather and a multi-function wheel as do the Sing. cars but Japan don't?

Nothing wrong with imported cars in general, a few horror stories from back in time but I think most of the dodgy practices have been stamped out now. Whatever car you buy make sure to get it checked out, best off by a BMW specialist, rather than the AA. Provided it checks out Ok then there is nothing wrong with the import.

Sellers do try to get a premium for NZ new cars, which may be worth it if you are after service history, etc. You would certainly have more options and a bigger range of choices if you go for imports, especially with the kind of cars you are interested in, I would't imagine there would be too many of those NZ new coming up for sale.

Thanks for the for info.

I have noticed NZ new seem to have leather and a multi-function wheel but Japan don't

I am looking hopefully in the next 6 months at buying my first BM. An E46 325 or 330 2001/02/03. Do I buy an import? Cheers John

Hi guys my name is John and new to this forum. I'm looking at buying my first BM. At the moment I drive a 2004 Calais V6 (wife) and a 2002 SS ute V8. I am looking at buying an E46 2001/02 but unsure wheather to get 325 or 330? Japan import or not? I believe Singapore is no good because of its humidity?? New Zealand new seem to be higher k's and more dollars. Greatful for any of your experiences Cheers John