Jazzbass

Only troubles of note I've had have been with my two Jap import E36s: '92 318 and '95 325. Both required new steering rack - costing about $1200 each (WOF) Both required rear suspension top bushes (WOF) Both required new front suspension bushes thingos (WOF) Both required new brakelight switch above pedal 318 - replaced dead cat with Coby 318 - left turn indicator would always stick on 318 - new drivers door ewindow motor 325 - new drivers door ewindow mechanism Both had that very annoying habit of reporting the brake lights or tail lights not working, due to that sliding contact system which didn't like crud - repeated cleaning of crud tracks required. Poor design. plus all the normal maintenance costs you get no matter what car you own. Current car - 1 NZ owner - FSH - no problems yet, apart from water pump replacement, which the agents did under warranty.

All I require is the ability to edit or delete my own posts. Sometimes I poste in haste and sometimes I realise posts can be misinterpreted - particularly when one is being funny but it doesn't seem that way to others. Its an adult board and imo peer rating opens the forum up to exploitation by people or groups who wish to direct it to their own belief systems. IMO the mods do just fine here. I find it sad that some people feel the need to go totally off for little/no provocation, but I'd like them to take self-responibility, instead of me voting and rating their posts. Personally, if someone offends my sense of what is appropriate posting, I tend to consider them wankers and don't respond. Sometimes I can't help but respond in kind. But even when threads go right off the wall - it can be fun just reading and not responding. My vote: leave as is.

Thanks for that - I'm a bit naiive about insurance coys, since I've never had a claim (other than glass).

Well there ya go, mate - I didn't know that either!!

Bumpers are a large part of the safety features of cars. removing them raises the potential damage quotient, renders the car unWOFd and therefore obviates the need for an insurance coy to pay out. I appreciate what they were trying to do (have fun), but they went about it in a very stupid manner, imo. I have tea (ginseng) but no sympathy this morning.

ROTFL - yep - U win that one!!

Mine is auto plus steptronic - I could only click one box...

That's terrific, mate. Thanks very much. I certainly had it all wrong in my mind. I looked at a few e39M5 pix and still couldn't see what it was - but of course I had my own silly definition in mind. Now - I'm h'edumicatederised!! Many thanks both of you. :thumb:

Just thinking about Damien's original question: Why am I a retard magnet? In my opinion, it has nothing to do with you, Damien, but more to do with your car. I have never met you nor seen you drive, but it is a fact that black CRX Hondas have a well-deserved bad rep in this country. All too often these cars are driven by (I don't like to use the term boy racer all the time, but it does sum up the public's attitude well) people who seem to have less regard for others on the road than would reasonably be expected. Why this image should trigger people to drive irresponsibly, I don't know - I'm not a psychologist, but it seems to do just that.

I was taught to drive by my father. One of his warnings was "Treat every other driver on the road like they're a complete idiot and give them half a mile's grace". With that in mind, when some fool drives like the bloke Damien is describing - I just let him pass and look for the cops or the weckage further on down the line. In my opinion, he's not worth my while worrying about him. To me, its not personal - the other driver doesn't know me - he's just driving like an idiot. Chasing him does nothing for me - all it would prove is that I was as much of an idiot as he was. I have no need to prove anything at all to any other person out there on the road - I am who I am and I drive as I like. I'm happy with that. That said - I don't judge Damien or anyone else by my own standards. We each walk our own road through life. None of us are empirically correct.

Thanks, Andrew. BBS suppliers - thanks, I didn't know about that. I've never seen an e39 M5 so it doesn't help me in this regard.... All I'm saying is that I prefer MY cars to be stock. I've only ever owned E36s and E39. I prefer them as stock, but can't really comment on E30, as I've never owned one - maybe I'd be more inclined to tart one up - who knows? They certainly lend themselves to changes rather well, imo.

Firstly, I've made no secret of the fact that I prefer totally stock to modified cars. That doesn't prevent me from appreciating modifications that others make. It seems that one of the first mods people make is to wheels. My first question is: since the BMW wheel catalogue reportedly contains over 1000 different wheels, why would you choose BBS or CSA or whatever over genuine parts? Is it purely a cost consideration, or are there none of the BMW wheels which appeal to you? Secondly, there's a number of references in this forum to 'shadowing' wheels. I've tried to search to see exactly what you mean by this, but I can't see anything to inform me. Does this mean painting the horizontal planes of the wheels in a black or grey and leaving the vertical planes shiny? Help an old fart understand ...

Speaking of Top Gear, I read the NZ version of the TG mag on the weekend & was VERY disappointed with it. Just not enough substance for me.

LOL - yeah, but sometimes I just can't help myself...

Care to post a pic, mate? Would help in keeping a lookout.

Looks really nice, mate. You're doing a great job.

So you're doing a complete change of colour? That's great - I'd love to able to do that - but I'd always through the costs were prohibitive. For instance, painting in the engine bay etc. Maybe when my car gets older and paid off or some bugger prangs into it My brother in law had a white '83 Alpina which looked cool with the red and blue striping.

LOL - good one!!

This thread is worthless without pictures!!

Tiff did a great review on the 528iSE, so he's cool - LOL. I still prefer to watch Vicki

or maybe "fourth"? there = their Sorry, can't help it - ex teacher... I'll crawl back under my desk now

Looking good - you will enjoy the 5 experience, I'm sure.

My perspective - having lost too many family and friends to cancer & heart deaths attributed to tobacco, is that the main problem with the leaf is that is doesn't kill people fast enough. If it only took 5 years to die - no-one would have any illusions about it. Because it may take 40+ years to kill you, people still suffer under the illusion that its an acceptable health risk... The health system can't successfully fight ignorance or stupidity! :banghead: I'd say don't even bother trying to argue the facts with a smoker - addiction clouds judgement everytime. :thumbsdown:

Are the Bentley books that much better than the Haynes? I bought mine from capital Books in Wellington for about $50. Capital Books