tmase

I know this isn't what you're asking but this is my experience; Don't assume that if both parties are fully insured you won't have to get involved in their fight. I have just come out of an 18 month process that started when my fully insured car was rear ended by another person who is fully insured but wouldn't admit liability. The two insurance companies couldn't agree on liability so we all had to go to disputes tribunal. Countless adjournments later they found 100% in my favour, that the other party was at fault. The advantage of being fully insured was that we didn't have to wait for the tribunal ruling to get paid as my insurance company had accepted my version of events and had paid my agreed value fully and refunded my excess. I did, however get an additional payment from my insurer after the tribunal ruling came through. The hassle is that even though everyone was insured, myself, my partner, the other party, witnesses and reps from both insurance companies still had to take time off to attend hearings. Maybe this isn't a surprise to everyone, but it was to me, that I had to attend hearings etc even though everyone had comprehensive insurance in what was a relatively simple case of failing to maintain a safe stopping distance. Anyway slightly off topic, sorry

This might interest you: http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=503417093 Not sure I could live with the interior, but if it's in good nick and has a service history it could be what you're after. Price is certainly competitive at the moment, guess it could go for more. Best of all it's just up the road in Kaiapoi.

Looks like a beautiful example, I wish I could justify buying this! Good luck with your sale.

Looks like a

Actually come to think of it, I'll be up for an IR one if I can't find where they've gone. Just my luck that they'd be dearer than the RF ones. Least I still have a non remote spare at home.

There are a few DIY guides out there on changing the ribbon cables in the cluster to fix the dead pixel problem that is quite common. The ribbon cable change requires complete disassembly of the cluster including needle removal. http://www.m5board.com/e39m5/Pixel-repair-v05.pdf Not sure if this is of help to you. There are some other guides out there too if you Google it. I have a few dead pixels in my cluster but the though of ruining the gauges trying to replace the ribbon cable put me off doing it myself.

Care to share with us the cost? My girl has just informed me that she can't find the keys to my E39 Might have to have a real man's look when I get home!

Welcome, nice E39, pretty sure this used to live down my street in 2010, 540i if I remember correctly.

Kevin Burt on St Asaph Street (I think!) Good independent BMW/Merc/Audi workshop. Not the cheapest guys in town, but still cheaper than the dealer. In my experience, very knowledgeable and easy to deal with. Does anything that comes up on my E39 and I've never had a problem.

This:- http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/...n-484688528.htm Or pretty much any Aston from the Vanquish onwards, gives me the horn!

+1 for the 530i. I am really happy with mine! I was tempted by the 540i but wanted an M-kitted one and they were a bit hard to find down in Christchurch in good nick. Once I drove a couple of 530i s I realised that this was probably all I was going to need anyway. Real world around town fuel consumption isn't fantastic, but it's not bad on the open road. I was getting 13.x l/100kms sitting in traffic averaging around 23 km/h but open road cruising sees that drop to 8.x l/100kms. My Fuelly record below hasn't recorded any open road driving. If you are looking for luggage space, I am sure you are aware that the split folding seats was a cost option, as well as a ski-port, not all cars have it. Another thing to consider is on Jap imports the nav computer is mounted in the boot on the underside of the parcel tray. This can limit what you can put in there a fair bit, depending on the what it is you are loading. Soft bags, shopping etc OK, large rigid suitcases are a bit of a nuisance. Rear seats are fine, but it's not massively spacious back there, looking at the overall size of the vehicle they are slightly more cosy than you'd think. Driving wise, great car, the 3.0 litre is plenty, though it is a heavier vehicle so I guess that explains the round town fuel consumption. I thought the 2.5 was just not quite enough of an engine for what I wanted, but still adeqaute. Mine has M-Tech suspension, handles really well, but is a touch harder than I'd like, especially over all the potholes on the shagged roads down here. At your budget I would think you'd get a really tidy, late model year, lower mileage example. I'd definitely, as Allan has said, get the latest model years as they can have a bit more fruit on them. Be aware of the usual cooling system gremlins at around the 100,000 km mark. My personal preference would be to get an M-sport one, I like the look, the standard ones have the whiff of old man about them, in my opinion!

Which insurance company?

A season of more than 6 episodes would be good. In the old days there used to be 12 or so episodes in a season. I know normally do more than one season in a calendar year, but still they are too short.

I have a feeling, and I may be wrong, the original shadow chrome finish was made by an Italian company and that the components of it contained a lot of lead so now it is hard to come by as it it restricted by environmental controls. Some people go to extreme lengths to get the original effect back - http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/show...ad.php?t=162503 As usual there is a lot of conflicting info out there as to how to best replicate the original effect. http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt...d.php?t=1449428

Pity I was out of the country, would have been tempted if I was home.

This seems too cheap, what am I missing here? http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=486253569

It was an option, some do, some don't, some only have a ski-port. My jap import m-sport 530i Sedan doesn't have any ski-port or split folding seats and the Jap ones have nav computer is mounted under the parcel tray which limits what you can put in there as well.

Jeez, how many of of you - that's a lot of data!

Fair Go are doing a thing on TCs shite customer service tonight. Might change after Vodafone buy them out next week. A lot of unhappy customers out there.

They just about have!

Got dragged through disputes tribunal process (small claims) due to complex insurance issue - long story short basically two insurance companies arguing with each other. The costs to file paperwork are graduated by the amount you are disputing, can't remember the exact amounts as my insurance company paid the costs to file but I think somewhere around $120 to file for our claim (over $5k). This was down in Christchurch where there were significant delays due earthquake damage last year. Took ages - filed paperwork in July, first hearing was set down for a week before xmas which we had to have adjourned, second hearing in January, further adjourned to March as the other insurance company reckoned they didn't have some paperwork. Other centres are no doubt faster. You can't claim your costs back either if you win. The hearing takes an hour or so with some faffing around before it starts, and by the time you have got to and from the venue you'd wanna allow for half a day off work. They do video link from court houses if you are in different places, and odds on the other guy won't show. Once you start the hearing it's relatively casual, just say what happened and then the other bloke gives his version. Can't interject but you get to clarify any points before the referee makes a decision. In my opinion PITA for any amount under $300. Though if you have time and patience and a higher threshold for that sort of nonsense you could do it but you won't get back what it costs in fees and inconveience.

What you have in mind looks exciting and very interesting!

Aussies are dash mat experts, pretty essential considering the climate, check this out from Ebay Australia - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BMW-E30-3-Serie...#ht_4084wt_1037 You'd have to sort out postage as it doesn't say anything about int'l shipping, but hopefully you'd work something out.

Choose front wheel drive over rear wheel drive tonight. So the Mazda got a run! Just dropped the missus off for nightshift - effin' cold out there! Saw some poor bugger arse off his motorbike on Harper Ave on the way home, looked to be okay, but you'd have to wonder why you'd wanna be riding around on a night like this, think I'd rather walk!

Welcome - great to see another E39 on here! Love my 530i - looking forward to seeing those pics