vonripsnorter

Yeah, it is pretty coolwhen a new car was launched, BMW would fly us up to the likes of pukekohe or Taupo where they will have booked out the race tracks & we would have a great time, then Jeff Brabham (son of Jack) would take us out for hot laps in an M3 & I mean "HOT" laps they would also have a few other cars there to compare which we also get to drive ie, at the 1 series launch, we also had a good go in the Alfa 147, Peugoet 206, Renault megane, Mercedes-Benz A class , VW Golf, & last but not least ,Audi A3 interesting to compare, thr A class was a joke the Peugoet to me seems like an old car the Renault was very "french" read, solf , ok but not for me the Alfa was hot, but the gear box noise had me worried for a car with only 7000km on it The Golf was a "real nice" drive & so was the Audi ( infact just like what was mentioned on top gear, by the time you spec your 1 series to a usable car, suddenly it gets a bit expensive. The car we had to test was a 120i & with its spec it was a $72000 five door hatch ( ouch ) the Golf on the other hand was $38000 for 72 big ones you would upspec the Golf to an R32 & for those that dont know , thats a 3.2 litre V6 with 4 wheel drive 6 speed manual that goes like stink !! so as mentioned last night on tv, you are paying for that BMW badge, is it worth it?? like I said before, nice car "but"

So what does every one here think of Jerermy Clarkson & his co hosts on Top Gear, I think its a fantastic programe but they always seem alittle harsh on BMW, though in saying that , last night, pretty much every thing said about the 1 series, I would have to aggree with. Really nice cars " BUT " I'm also not a fan of the runflat tyres that BMW seem hell bent on putting an all thier cars. I find it give a jittery ride to all of them, I have tried the new 5 with runflats & one without, & the difference to ride was amazing. Infact, the only thing I didnt like about the new 6 was its ride!! ( due to the runflats), for a big car it too was a bit jittery & in one slow corner that was a bit uneven the car actually jitted a bit sideways in much the same way you get in some boyracers old corolla, it felt like the springs had been chopped!! not what you would expect for over $200,000

$8000 in tickets Ali, I hope you were ashamed!!

see haow much this are from the places that Andrew mensions, genuine are expensive & remember , for an E39 you need two of them. genuine are like $60 plus each

There is still plenty of Diagnostics, & its diagnostics that mark a good techthere are plenty of times when the computerin the car has stored no fault codes but theres still something wrong, & its electronic, then you need to be a good tech to sort it

sounds like you have some real old books there the germans are into exchange units ie they dont list any auto trans items in ther epc , if it goes wrong, replace the whole thing!! the same goes for most starter motors, alternators str racks etc etc if they go wrong, do dont fix them, you replace them on exchange, & send the old unit back to Germany

Wow, a carb, whats that??, just kidding, its only every tenth blue moon we ever saw a car with a carbtimes have changed long ago in that respect, infact even a simple job like adjusting the idle speed on the new BMW's is not a case of open the hood & adjust a screw, its now, plug in the Computer & down load the new specs !!

Hey sounds like I touched on a sore point with you, not intendedI saw many E30,s come through our work shop every week & I'm sorry, but 90% of them are not nice cars any more but the people who had them tought they were the best thing out, !! Then we would fail them on a WOF because of worn suspension , leaking shocks . trans leaks etc etc etc, & yes some of these people ARE in the BMW club & do think they look after them, I guess most are just plain worn out!! As for no nice quattros around, I can see one from where I'm sitting & there are many around!! as for the OLD UR quattro & some of these date back to 1983, there are some real minters around NZ, infact I bet you have NEVER seen a sad one!!! ( remember I said UR quattro, this is the model that Jeremy Clarkson of "top gear" likes so much, it was even his his top 100 cars of all time!! ) most are owned by real car enthusiasts & tend to be way out of the price range of most so called boy racers (so most arnt trashed) Dont get me wrong BMW make fine cars, but so do the other German car manufacturers anyway, if you have a nice E30 you should be proud

They can get very busy, there is alot of compter work ie all the workshop manuals are online, all the information systems are online, alot of the Diagnostic work is all via computer & then there is the reprogramming of various control units etc etcthen of course there are the older cars which all have there usual faults & some not so usual

I've always had German cars, Never a BMW

what if I told you , "from Volkswagen to Audi to Porsche to BMW to Mercedes-Benz"Ive been there , done them all ( and thats just the german brands) theres Fiat , Lancia, Hyundai, Holden . Rover, Landrover, Isuzu blah blah blah, I think I have been in the Automotive trade too long

unfortunatly the accessory brochures we get in NZ are a generic worldwide publication so there will be items in there that are not applicable to some markets & or cars .The worst brochure was the E65 as it showed all sorts of items but when you looked into many of them were only available as long as the car had been spected with various other items from the factory , many of which were not retro fittable, it was a bit of a pain, this mainly applied to anything electrical

Funny you say the things you do, I hear this from every one, I know for a fact that the sales & service depts at cookies would have me back anyday & that the new guy is shall we say "hard work"thems the brakes you should make it be knowen to Boyd , what you think of the new guy there, trust me, you wont be the first to have made a comment & if you tell boyd, he will go to John with your comments infact, it would be interesting to see what you get told

man you were tucking them!!!!!that's the most expensive of them...... List 628.33 Trade Wsle 502.66 damn... profit = good LOL, ok ok, that was a few years ago so maybe the price has come down on the Isuzu part, but thats still expensive eh??

point in case, if it gets done as often as it should & with quality items, this would not happenhope you use a genuine filter !! =)

Ah, i see, BMW are not as expensive to buy parts for as most people seem to think infact most japanise cars can be alot more expensive to but genuine parts for Things that come to mind , I remember people needing new drive shaft couplings for Isuzu MU's & Bighorns these are $800.00 & the owners would say " wow, I'm glad its not a BMW" all of them straight away think the BMW would be more expensive!! I would tell them (with glee ) the BMW equivalent retails for $124.00 =) that always shut them up I could give many examples like this were the Jap car is not just alittle more expensive, but a lot more!!! I can think of a panel beater who had a BMW & a Toyota in his shop, both needed the same kind of parts, ie hood, headlamps, grills, radiators etc etc he priced new genuine parts for both & said that the Toyota was three times the price more expensive in almost every part!!

sorry, im not sure what you mean by this??are you saying that the markups that BMW put on Landrover parts was high?? I'm talking the price from BMW NZ to the dealer & then the dealer to the customer, ithe margins are not as great as some would beleave

80% at a minI would say between 80 to 95% my self the nice ones are good cars, just too old now & too many Jap import ones that most wernt that good even when they were imported. Also lots of people buy them & dont really look after them as theyshould ( ie people who have never seen a service book & only get the car looked at if something goes wrong!! trust me , there are plenty & I mean plenty of E30,s that havent even had oil changes in years!!! yes YEARS this also helps in there demise coolent & brake fluids chould be changed every two years too, how many e30s get this done!!

Proberbly not the best idea to drill a small hole, I would only do this as a last resort as when the car is moving ( ie down the motorway ) due to the difference in air pressure, it can create a small vacuum & actually suck even more water & dust etc into the unit & if they are on and warm, some of this water will of course turn to vapour, but now, not only have you got a water problem, (which will still be getting in from its "original" source) but you have also allowed dust to get in, & you know what water & dust do !!

The E46 Compact isnt the most , shall we say the most stunning looking car from BMW, but I will say that Ali's car in black & with those wheels is one of the best looking compacts around & it just looks 'right' ( something that I wouldnt say of 99% of them )

This goes to show that in alot of cases , BMW genuine parts are not that dear, From memory the genuine kit is around $450 plus gst , which leads me to wonder if they replaced your complete clutch & not just a drive plate or pressure plate, as to do the whole job for this seems very light & the margins on BMW parts or not that great !! (trust me

it was a heap of junk sorry

Hey!!, Your spot on there Emma, Yes its Paul & Yes , of course we have met Aliluya!!(infact, Ali, there was something you asked about , that I'm never sure if I told you about & that was the alloy pedal covers that are showen in the accessories catologe, that were not listed on the EPC , I contacted BMW head office for you who came back to me to say that in genuine form, these are only avaliable for left hand drive. thinking about this, you could still use the pedal covers , just not the foot rest part of the kit. it was available ex Germany at a price which escapes me at the moment If your wondering where I have gone, I'm now parts manager at the local Mercedes-benz dealership here in Dunedin, but thats another story

John Marsh owns the whole of Cooke Howlison ltd you find him in the end office nearest the road the E39 looks like a nice one, they are better cars than a Jap import E36