Jazzbass

Man, that'd suck big time. Sympathy. Its hard to see positives, but it will allow your parents to start with all new stuff. But there's all that old stuff they would be attached to gone forever. Best part is - stuff is replaceable - its just stuff - people are not.

I'm very surprised at this. I didn't know E36's had drum brakes. I had two of them - '91 318 & '95 325 and both had all disks.

Mate, its your money, but based on my experiences with old Brit cars - I wouldn't blow my money on it or anything like it - unless of course, you enjoy pouring your money down a bottomless pit.

I have zero respect for anyone who resorts to violence to solve their problems... Ok, so I'm an old hippie - sue me

I checked my tyres last night (Bridgestone Turanza) and they were made in 2000. I have no idea when they were put on the car, but it seems that they last quite well. In general, I hope for 2 years out of a new set of tyres.

BMW models are indeed very easy to decipher. Explaining BMWs

CHROME IT!!!

Andrei, you're doing the right thing. Bitter experience has taught me that if you have your heart set on something - get it! All too often I've been guilty of changing my mind and NOT getting what I really wanted. Sucks!! All the best Rog

But, are there any Alfas left which haven't rusted away?

LOL - I like it!

I tend to do my oil changes at 10k intervals (whenever the car reaches a 10k mark - 50k, 60k, 70k etc as a self-reminder). However, many people have told me I'm wasting my money and should only change when the car tells me its time... my manual says 15k intervals, so I might go with that. Perhaps once a year would do - when I pay my redo - change my oil.

I LOVE the leather seats in my car. They're softer than the cloth ones I had in my last car. Mine are light grey, so they don't get too hot, even with the sunroof wide open. I guess black would be a different story though? One great thing about leather is the ease of cleaning. I dropped some chocolate on my last car with cloth seats and never did get the stain right out. Leather just wipes off. The 5 series is a great choice, although if you're a bit of a racer, I'd recommend a 3 series as your first BMW. They're a bit more sporty, where the 5 is more luxurious. However, used 3's tend to have been thrashed a bit more. IMHO, the 5 is BMW's best model - if you consider it as a sporty sedan, rather than a sports car. The 7 series are beautiful too, but are less easy to toss around, which is where the 3 series excels. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything less than a 2.5l BMW. The 4 cyl BMWs are a little disappointing in terms of low down power although, once up to speed they become like you'd expect. The M50 is a good engine. NB: ALL of the above is just my personal opinion.

I treat tickets like an extra road tax. I speed too often and when I get caught, I just pay the tax. I figure I get away with a shitload of breaking the laws, if they win occasionally, well that's the way of the game... its only money....

I think its hard for us Kiwis to accept opinions from other countries with more than a grain of salt. Our roads are far rougher than many other places and the tyre wear is affected accordingly. That's something which pisses me off. Every place in NZ I've lived, they lay down a nice smooth ashphalt road, then a year or less later they go and rough gravel it! Grrrrrr!!!

I love some of the 'aggressive' tread tyres - they can really lift a car's appearance. I went with asymmetric Yokohamas A539s on the E36 318 I had and they handled/lasted very well, but were a tad noisy. On my E36 325, I eneded up with a set of Silverstones FTZ Sports, which were even more noisy, but held on well at Manfield, although I found they tended to break a bit unexpectedly in the rain there. I never had a problem on the road though, despite some pretty aggressive driving at times. The asymmetric tyres never looked 'right' to me, so although the Yokos might have been a better tyre, I preferred the looks of the Silverstones. Since I spent only a few hours in track conditions and a couple of years in road conditions, I found normal road use & appearance to be more worth than track performance to me. I have a friend who owns a tyre (or rather tire) shop in Atlanta and he he swears by Toyo Proxes. He races BMW. I'm running the OEM tyres for my E39 528 - Bridgestone Turanza ER30. They're very quiet and I haven't been in much rain to try them out, but they seem a pretty decent tyre in the dry. However, they're not much to look at and I think I'll go for a better-looking tyre when I change. I always do a full set when I need a tyre, so that's not a problem. That's one more good thing about BMWs - all the tyres wear at the same rate, due to the car's balance.

LOL - I hadn't seen it b4. That'd be fun - but the E30 wouldn't last too long, I bet!

I use aquatint, but it'd be cool to find a BMW theme...

which theme is it you prefer?

I have no idea of the difference, other than 98 being very low sulphur content. As I have a nikasil engine, that's important to me.

Dammit I fell into that trap also. Filled right up at my normal pump on the way to work, then noticed it was 95! Grrrrrrr! I asked the dude behind the counter and he said they'd run out, but that BP Rangitikei is still offering it. Now I go there for my 98. Due to higher than expected demand for BP Ultimate and an unscheduled maintenance outage at the refinery in Western Australia that makes BP Ultimate for New Zealand, we currently have a product shortage. As a result of the product shortage, we have temporarily replaced BP Ultimate with Premium Unleaded at a number of sites around the country.

I hate it when people join forums like this, then only post when they have something they want to sell. :banghead: Forums are only kept interesting and alive by active participation - everyone has something to say, surely ...

LOL! Yeah, right! You've just hit my pet hate!! I loathe 3 spoke mags even more than chomes!! I actually like my baskets, but don't seem to have the time I'd like to keep them shiny as I'd like.

Normally, I'm not a fan of clear lights, but somehow, the work you've done on all the fronts, coupled with the black paint just looks so 'right'. Outstanding job. Those wheels should be the next change in your list, IMO. The chromes are just not right for the car, as the others have already said.

Post a pic?

Thanks, I think I'll pass and just keep on cleaning the wheels. I think I need to take each wheels off and give them a really great clean - but I'm a lazy bastard Did I mention I LOATHE dirty wheels?