tmase

Definitely a euro boot lid. I should look at swapping mine at some point!

Great fan of E39 M5s, nice to see another one on the board. Best of luck with the fix-up. The black paint and the tan interior are a cool combination.

Looks great, love the interior/exterior colour combo.

I could be, and often am way off base, and this is not my area of experise at all but could it have something to with the fact that M cars have WBS (BMW Motorsport AG) as the manufacturer VIN code whereas your regular 5 series would have WBA (BMW AG) as the manufacturer code. They might treat M5s (and other M cars) as being made by a different manufacturer than other non-M BMWs. Though I think that the last M5 that was hand built on a separate line was the E34. Not sure how this would apply to the Type R question.

I was trying to remember the name of this website when you mentioned "shed of the week" in a post the other day. Has kept me entertained for hours in the past!

I've only ever found the 16 pin one under the cover just above the driver's right knee on my 2002 E39. Think the 20 pin connector might have only been on 2000 and before models. A kit I bought came with a 16 pin female to 20 pin male adapter, you can have it if you want.

Don't know if this helps but, I recently had a fragile 35 kg object that was just over half a cubic metre freighted by Toll Logistics from Tauranga Nth Island to South. $106 for depot drop off to home delivery in Chch. Mainfreight quote was over double this amount ($236 I think) and weren't really all that interested due to the fragile nature of the consignment. Toll might be worth a look.

It's funny how insurance companies are happy to take your premiums and offer no excess glass cover as a point of difference when they know what make and model your car is, and should have a good idea what quality parts cost for these vehicles regardless of their age. I mean if you had an E-type Jaguar or an old Bentley I bet they wouldn't try this on with Chinese screens and the like, or maybe they would? Keep persevering with them, I and others have had progress with insurance companies on this.

You may find http://e38.org/2000Manual-5Sedan-SportWagon.pdf useful, it is for the US market and is for a 2000 model year, but it is the earliest I could see.

Auto lights might have been an option in 97 maybe? The dimming mirrors develop a greenish tint when they dim, your wing mirrors might also do it too. I think the system measures the the amount of light hitting the forward facing photo cell, and when it determines that it is dark enough it will dim the mirror when a bright light source hits the reflective side. So yeah really only noticeable in the dark. Not sure what the on/off switch is for, my car doesn't have it and no mention of it my owners manual. BTW if you ever get your windscreen replaced make sure there are no bubbles trapped between the glass and the sealant over the sensor, otherwise it won't work. BMW dealerships change out the sensor at the same time the glass is changed but as this is expensive most insurance companies won't run to that expense and reuse the old sensor.

A tidy E31 840ci behind me as I dawdled out of the Tower Junction Bunnings yesterday.

The sensor/photo cell on the reflective face of the mirror and on the opposite side are probably for the auto dimming function, so that following traffic doesn't blind you with their headlights at night. The one against the windscreen pane below the rear vision mirror is for the rain sensing wipers on my E39. In there somewhere is the auto head light sensor as well. As stated, the red thing/clown's nose on the is probably the IR sensor for your remote locking if it is a jap import, though it could be an alarm indicator light if you have an RF key. Instructions from my MY02 owners manual (your MY97 could be different): To activate rain sensor place the wiper stalk in the intermittent position, wipers will travel across the screen once. You can leave the lever in intermittent all the time, then all you need to do is turn the knurled wheel on the stalk once to activate rain sensing. The knurled wheel is seven settings that vary the sensitivity of the rain sensor. Auto lights are activated by switching the headlight selector anti-clockwise from off to the (A) position. Low beam headlights are switched on and off automatically depending on ambient light conditions. The auto dimming mirrors sometimes leak a fluid from them which stops them from working. There might be a change in tint separated by a horizontal line on the face of the mirror if this is happened. I understand they are expensive to replace, but you can get non dimming ones much cheaper. Looking at the pictures though I doubt that's happened.

I was a watcher on the last auction, pretty sure the offer was 17k.

I hope you don't have to get rid of your E39, after all of the updates I have seen you post on here over the last year or so I know it'd be a bit of a heartbreaker for you. I reckon your sedan looks great, and the upgrades you've done have only served to enhance it. I don't know anything about the touring you've posted, but I like the colour, PDC is a plus (and rare on an import, from Singapore maybe?), and the M additions make it look sharp. Best of luck getting rid of the Mazda and I hope it works out for you.

I assume these guys - http://www.trademe.co.nz/services/trades/a...n-549464136.htm are the agents in New Zealand. I haven't dealt with them personally.

Meant no disrespect Glenn, fuzz is just a colloquialism in my part of the world.

Last You Tube comment; You guys didn't dob him in to the fuzz did you?

I had the same discussion with the AA a few months back. Wanted OEM but they wanted to go after a few phone calls settled on a Saint Gobain/Sekurit (same manufacturer as the OE part, but without the roundel stamped on it) screen. I wasn't happy with a Chinese screen for the reasons that el marco stated. When I spoke to the dealer they advised against after market as well, their quote was $1200 though they don't reuse the rain sensor, you get a new one. Novus installed my replacement glass and re-used the rain sensor. It might pay to make sure that the installer is familiar with the BMW procedure for windscreen replacement (I found a copy of the TIS on Spaghetti coder but I see it's been taken down) because if they get it wrong you can apparently get quite a lot of increased wind noise. Also if they re-use your rain sensor make sure that it is adhered properly to the screen after re-installation, any bubbles will effect it's sensitivity detrimentally. The installer did guarantee the work, obviously, and said they'd re-so it if I wasn't happy with the wind noise or rain sensor effectiveness. Quite happy with the screen I had fitted, wind noise not an issue, but pleased I persevered and got the better screen. Good luck.

TRD Laser FTW!

You and me both!

Got mine Friday morning. Looks great, good work all those involved.

Just got my car back from the workshop after having front pads and rotors changed. Had a bit of a chat to the mechanic about brake dust. The OE BMW pads have a high graphite content to keep them quiet but this makes them very dusty, the workshop I go to use an after market pad that is less prone to making dust and still retains good feel and braking properties. These pads come from Roadhouse, who are apparently a big player in after market brake pads, and they come in a reasonable amount cheaper than the dusty OE pads. I paid 120 ex GST for a front set. I don't think they use OE pads unless specifically requested to due to the amount of dust they produce. I have only just driven them home so can't comment yet on how well they really perform, but they seem fine at first glance. As for the dust, time and more kms will tell, but off overseas tomorrow so it might be a while before I do much more driving. Hope this is helpful and it provides a more inexpensive alternative to ceramics.

I had my back pads and rotors changed when I bought my car as they were at minimum thickness, they produce bugger all dust compared to the fronts. This is understandable as the brakes are front biased, but I agree, the fronts on mine are shockers for dust. I am getting my front pads and rotors changed on Friday, hopefully for some that still stop the car but don't paint the wheels black inside of 200 kms. I'll be sure to ask what brand they are and let you k know how they go.

Good question. Seems they believe their own hype about it, from the TDS; That simply isn't true and they must know it.

It's 95.2 Octane http://z.co.nz/assets/TDS/ZEL-TDS-ZX-PULP.pdf