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Those are the adjusters for the pre-facelift headlights. BMW does not make replacement adjusters for the angel eye headlights so all available options are aftermarket. To the OP - careful with forcing them open, as the later year angel eyes can't be baked open. The glue in the earlier ones can be softened in the oven.

Funny comments about the emblem - didn't notice them in the pics but I too rotate them to line up with the M whenever I take the wheels off for a clean! Paul, I've been following your threads for some time and always enjoy them - you set THE standard. Whenever I'm under the car and see how dirty it is, I think of your pics and am inspired to do the same. Finishing the job is another thing though!

Have a heat gun you can borrow. If you decide to go that route, just shoot me a PM.

Funny that - I don't usually buy Total BMW but this is one of the few I did as it was the 'Huge M Issue'. Awesome that it's your actual car! Scanned the pages but can't upload attachments. I can email if you like, just PM me your email address.

That sounds very cool Josh, will be following this.

There's wayy too much going on.

Saw your car a couple of weeks ago on an on-ramp, wheels and paint looked very sharp, and exhaust sounded great on take off. Was wondering what it was! Surprised to hear it used to be the 'M3 GTR' car - still remember admiring it many years ago, with the ACS lip, cruising around Queen St or parked around the Metropolis. From memory it already had an exhaust back then, perhaps the same one? Btw the words on the pic are in chinese. Front says 'I really miss you' and the back says '...I love you... remember to think of me... husband (hubby)...' The tri-colour stitching on the steering wheel will probably clean up pretty easily with the leather cleaner. I'm currently in the middle of restoring my leather seats so can let you know if I get good results.

You are right - the striker plate needs adjusting outwards. When loosening the Torx screws, be careful not to remove them entirely - there is a metal plate on the other side of the body which holds the striker in place. If you remove the screws entirely this plate will fall into the body and although the wire will probably keep it in sight, it is a pain to screw it back on again. In my case only a tiny adjustment was needed to make it reasonably easy to open again. Any more and the door would open really easily but it looked like it wasn't fully shut when closed. If this doesn't work then I have read replacing the latch helps.

Sorry, only Auckland as mentioned.

Have a tint voucher for Carfolie (one of our forum sponsors). Price is $128. The voucher is worth $320 so that's a 60% discount. It expires 25 November 2011 and is valid for any sedans/coupes to be tinted with 3M FX ST film which carries a 10 year warranty. You can also pay Carfolie extra if you want to use it for a station wagon or 4x4, or upgrade to the higher grade 3M films. Have confirmed with Seth @ Carfolie that it's transferable. Their premises are in Takapuna and their work is superb (have had 2 cars tinted there previously). Cool down for summer

Thanks mate. I ended up going with Page European and so far am pleased with the service - easy to organise and they appeared to be very thorough. After the inspection, Vijay called me to explain the results of the inspection and faxed the report over. Will see if they picked everything up once I see the car in person.

I'm looking at purchasing a car in Wellington. As I'm in Auckland, I need it to be as thorough as possible and am happy to pay a little more if needed. I will be getting the report faxed or emailed to me. In the past, names that have come up are Page European and Jeff Gray (this must be the one on Hutt Road, Kaiwharawhara). If anyone has used them, can you post your thoughts e.g. were you happy with the job done?

Very sharp, surely something to tick off the bucket list. Was your previous car an E60 530i? Surprised at the high fuel consumption.

Nice car! Any plans for the future?

Happy Birthday Brian!

Are you a student? Most of the banks offer tertiary accounts with nil transaction fees. Just go for the one with the most benefits, unless you have a preference around which online banking interface is more user friendly, etc. Service-wise they shouldn't differ much.

Happy Birthday Glenn, have a good one.

Welcome mate - they're good cars, once the usual problems are sorted they tend to be fairly reliable.

Happy birthday Jochen - take a break from the electronics for the day

Very cool guys. Whereabouts was this?

Cheers Mark - no worries.

Good work Ray, love how you have another M coupe sitting up top.

The clay bar won't damage the clear coat as it pulls stuff from the surface (by making them stick). Main thing in maintaining the shine is to make sure you wash with two pails (dirty and clean obviously), a good quality sponge that doesn't scratch, and rinse frequently so you drag as little dirt as possible over the paint. Get it as clean as possible, then use a good quality microfibre cloth to pat it dry (wiping increases the risk of putting scratches into the clearcoat). Should be noted that seams on the side of microfibre cloths can scratch, as can any tags, so rip the tags off and apply pressure in the middle of the cloth where there are no seams. Buying the best clay, polishes and waxes won't do anything if the washing process puts scratches into your clearcoat. Detailing should be done of course, but only a couple of times a year at the most (otherwise your clearcoat will start thinning down quite quickly). Mothers and Meguiars make decent products - but if you want to detail properly, avoid cleaner waxes.

Hey Grant, I recall reading the same thing as what you suggested - that some products that were applied to the dash gradually release some sort of gas... a Google showed this - http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f157/whats...ndshield-44902/ See the post at the bottom - I've also been using 303 Aerospace Protectant for years and I haven't noticed any fogging from the product. It leaves a nice matt look too compared to a shiny greasy finish from silicone products.

$14.50 at AA, Post Shops etc.