rowans17

I must remember to not be too grumpy with my staff not working as hard....

Already walked in on one of my guys sussing live streams for tomorrow.....

Had a similar issue with my 328.... online research suggested the flex joint. And was just an occasional slight shudder under acceleration that varied with load, turned out it was a worn coil pack sometimes causing a slight missfire. Possibly worth investigating other options before you rip your driveline apart?

Have had two friends with Suby WRX turbo machines stolen from the streets of Christchurch. In one case parts were found the next day as part of a random inspection already cut up and on a boat off to some south east asian country. So not surprised they are up there.....

... Mazda people movers though?

It's not fastway couriers is it? If so PM me.

Nah its not. Got some legal advice, when i said it was a courier driver the response was a sarcastic "surprise, surprise".

Currently drafting a friendly letter to the Wellington regional manager.

Sweet cheers guys!!! Knew someone on here would have useful advice!. Shame how 10 seconds of poor decisions can cause so much drama.

Hey guys,

At the beginning of this year i bought a Toyota Mr2 as a cheap run about . I have a Company VW so my second car gets minimal use, i just enjoy having a car i can use that isn't sign written..... or a 1.2TSI. One day i took the Mr2 out for a run because it hadn't been used for a while, got less than 1km from my driveway and got hit by a courier van.

At the scene he accused me of cutting him off, took my business card and then left as he was "late for work."

I then pursued a police report and they found that while i was least in the wrong and he was most in the wrong, the real fault lies with unclear roadworks related traffic signals.

I am now in an awkward situation because i have body shop estimate for $2500 worth of damage.

- My insurance company cant do sh*t because my car is only 3rd party insured.

- The courier driver doesn't want to make a claim because he doesn't think its his fault, plus has minimal damage thanks to his nudge bar.

- Downer who were managing road works at the intersection don't wan't a bar of it.

- The Police can't take it further. But i'm told that he is legally liable for my damage as he hit the rear of my car....

Its now been 2.5 months since the crash and i want to sell the mr2 because i've got my eye on an e36. So i am kind of filled with questions, 2.5k is worth fighting for IMO

- If i sell the car do i loose any chance of getting cash settlement for the damage?

- The damage estimate is 2.5 times what i paid for the mr2 in the first place - mind you its had a bit of work. Would they insist on writing off the car and giving me peanuts?

- Is there another option other than going to the disputes tribunal?

- Can the disputes tribunal really just "force" him to pay, is that an expensive process?

He is a contractor to the courier company but playing dirty and talking to his regional manager is an option... Thanks for reading hope someone can offer some advise/tips

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/accessories/auction-728942251.htm

Cheap as option. Looks e36 by my eye, Brent or someone should be able to confirm

From memory there were different models available. Removable and nonremovable etc. Wasn't rated that highly in terms of weight but towed a boat with it once or twice

I had a 94 325 which i had a tow bar fitted to. Was about $300 for a Christchurch firm to do, not including an elec connection. Quite a simple process took them about 2 hours to fit it.

^went under the bumper. No cutting required.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-724568222.htm

Pretty keen on this ^ has high kms but i'm thinking its probably spent most of its life driven long distances by a lady owner rather than being thrashed by teenagers.

Previously owned a e46 328 and a e36 325 sedan both with under 200thou kms, both felt like they still had plenty of life mechanically.

Wanting a cheap weekender.... Thinking i'll go over the hill and have a look at this next week.... does it seem like a good deal?

I have the version with the tape deck? any use to you?

I offered and he accepted but then told me he no longer wanted to sell.. So close, but so far

No longer for sale..? or sold...? This whole situation seems very weird to me.....

Ahhhhhh. Did wonder how they managed to squeeze another box in there without sacrificing the spare wheel. Did it make any appreciable difference to the sound compared to a single remus muffler?

Realistically, probably not. Felt it was more of an aesthetic thing, but the exhaust had a good sound, nice idle rumble, minimal drone at motorway speeds and sounded great when you put your foot down. Did lots of long open road trips in it so never felt compelled to look at anything louder.

Whats the story with the dual exhaust setup? Twin back boxes or is the second exit a parallel pipe off the muffler?

Yup its a parallel pipe.

Rowan - was interior in Good Nick when you had it? Can't tell a lot from crap pictures

Yeah his pictures are awful but i think he is trying to show the bits of damage to the interior. Being tan - it marks quite easily so there was a few marks on the headliner the seats were faded. the carpet had a few stains. One of his pictures he shows how the dash pocket is missing its tan paint and is peeling. Arm Rests had wear marks. Really nothing that out of the ordinary for a 15 y/o car...

Heres a few more interior pics. note they are 6 mnths old.

Thanks for those.. The question remains is why so cheap.. Then potential costs ontop of purchase price..

Any other E46 I would have turned a blind eye.. But It's the sister to my own and in my favourite colour (close enough anyway).. I will forgive the interior colour. My engine has done a fair few more Ks than this one, and purrs perfectly..

Being from Auckland makes it a hard case or I would have taken for a blast just to see.

Wonder what reserve is!

Yeah apparently not as unique as i had thought....

The engine in these are bulletproof if well maintained. I had had a bit of work done to the gbox so that was in good nick. Only had small niggly issues like the sunroof not working 100% and the seals around the windows perishing.

New owner has done about 12000kms in 6 months so it cant have caused him too many issues. the fact he's put "WYSIWIG (What you see is what you get) " on the auction rings alarm bells however.

Anybody in that area want to take it for a test drive and report back

If you are serious and do want me to test drive i guess i could take one for the team.......

Anybody in that area want to take it for a test drive and report back

What rims are on it Rowan? And interesting rear end going on there haha.

They are a schnitzer rim, been too long to remember the style #. But you do see them around occasionally. The front lip, spoiler and skirts are schnitzer but the rear is some other, seems to have been swapped at some point to suit the dual exhaust.

Here is my trademe ad from 6 months ago provides a bit more info. http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=644711610

What are you doing looking at a 28ci anyway is one e46 coupe not enough?

Have a tonne more photos, cleans up so nicely.

Ahh gutted its not in Auckland. Would want to run a scan..

Full service History?? Looks clean.. I feel the need to add to my Schnitzel collection

Don't get me wrong its a great car, full service history from import. All the Schnitzer bits and pieces, full bilstein suspension. Starting to show its age now and kms are getting high... had 180 on it 6 months ago!

Very tempted to go for a test drive.....

He's obviously going for a quick sale.... priced well below what he bought it for.... either that or somethings gone horribly wrong.

Stumbled across my old car on TM... only sold it 6 months ago.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-720185365.htm

Hasn't tempted anyone's interest?

Aww doing all the things i wish i had done to my e46. Looks awesome!

Cheers for all the advice guys. Ended up taking some awesome backroads though to Rotarua and the cut right across and down through the National Park. Long day of driving. But the Honda performed well. Plenty of power, good economy fun to drive though the corners. But still not an m3.

theres a short 40ks between rotovegas and tirau which is quite a nice open sweeping road,not a twisty point and shoot like the rimatukas but still one of the nicer runs around and in good nick so not bottoming out in a lowered car at speed ,passing is easy and maybe from rotor thru to tauranga from that same side of the lake not the tepuke way few one way bridges,

and if your from out of the area the napier/ taupo can be fun especially after 5pm when the cops and speed cams go home,

Ah sweet is this SH5?? Thinking of going via Rotaz so this sounds great.

We usually go from Palmerston North to Auck partly on SH1 - Desert Road and through the new by-pass at Taupo (or not, if we want a stop there for lunch and/or a walk by the lake) and turn off SH1 (turn right, when driving north) at Tirau (go through Matamata) - SH27. If you stick to the speed limit and have no stops, that is about 6 hours driving (P.Nth-Auck that is; Auck-Wgtn is more like 8 hours without stops). Some of the sections of road on this route are quite good really.

But yep, when heading south, if you go via National Park, and then the Paraparas to Wanganui (all SH4), that is an okay route, with plenty of bendy bits. It'll slow your trip a lot though (despite the lighter traffic). Another option is National Partk (SH4) then turn left into SH49 (go through Ohakune and on to Waiouru - back to SH1). Or go further out on the Forgotten Highway (SH3 I think) and via New Plymouth. Or another route is SH43 to Stratford (supposed to be good but I have never done it). If you want to go way out of the way, try the trip via SH2 - south Coromandel and around the east coast (Tauranga - Gisbourne - Napier). But really, to make the most of that you'd want to do it over 2 days.

Sure, traffic can be a bit of a pain sometimes if you take one of the main routes, but I've never had any issues using the route I most often take (via Matamata, then on to SH1 at Tirau) - I just pass the slow dweebs - but take note, I don't mess about, I pass plenty of boy racer Jappo cars too, not just the Nanas, and you will need a break and Taupo is a really good half way place between Auck and Wgtn for that - in fact, Taupo is the best place for a half-way stop in my opinion.

Wow thanks so much for all the info guys! Now just to see what parts we have time for.....