Neal

I find in Wellington the service to be very good to excellent. It could be worth moving yourself and family down here. It’s not.too large to get bounced around the various group but seems to have critical mass in terms of specialists. My daughter has been a frequent flyer of the system and we’ve done well with the right level of attention.

Had similar experience with elderly mother over the last couple of months which went from very serious , bed ridden to back home and living normally.

with my wife, she is here today due to the quick action of hospital staff.

Even with myself after having chest pains. From doctors through to hospital specialists.

so if you get continued run around in Auckland. See if you can find a specialist in Wellington and consider the move. ( big decisions, but your already making these)

Ethierway, hope you find the right people to help with your son in what are obviously stressful times.

Info on ibus / gen 2 tv module digital tv upgrade. Applicable to circa 2000 plus E39, E46, E53 and later ZMcoupes

scroll to last couple of pages for tv tuner

Paul, this is the conversion for ibus based tv modules. I’ve done this to my e46. From memory I only had the choice of one tuner module that did both the nz standard with Dolby ac3 for sound.. The key to the conversion was a custom micro controller that mapped the bmw button commands to a tuner standard.

The realty is the  coverage isn’t great . I get tv coverage in parts of Wellington only. But it’s very good when you can get it.

For the windscreen end I’d wrap it in tex or cloth tape so it doesn’t rattle  and pull it back into the area above the map lights

For the trunk module if you have an ibus  (e39 and e46) based car it can be unplugged and the car will forget the module. I took the harness out of my e46 loom, but spent hours studying circuit diagrams before doing so. 

For a fibre based car such as e60 / e90 I’d be inclined to leave the vics module alone. 

N is the ultimate in performance....

Neal

No, serves no function in nz.

I experimented with using as a Bluetooth antenna (2.4 gigs) for my hands free ulf. But range was poor. Went in the bin shortly after as did the vics module installed in the boot.

Unfortunately not, similar to bavsound in that you’d need to import your own. Freight via Europe quite often cheaper that the USA though.  

The gladen woofers seem to be the choice  for the underseat oem replacement for higher end audio.  If I take my e46 audio to the next stage I’d use these in the floors and cut down the reliance on my sub for 100hz down.

just watch the options with the gladen sets as some are more suited to aftermarket amps. The system upgrades get quite complex from this point on.

Some video info

Consider Gladen drop in speakers if you want the next level up from Bavsound. 

https://www.gladen.com/compo_coax.html

Certainly gone 110% on intake and exhaust. Will be watching with envy. Interested in power gains.... and induction sound to die for

Those tv modules allow a backup camera to be connected which is handy.

A guy in Aus makes a Freeview tuner replacement kit as well. Have one in my car

http://pibus.info/tv/

Caught a AIr NZ flight last week as was flickering through the NZ music section and came across a new to me band.

Was L.A.B self titled album. So play the first track thinking Pink Floyd / Dave Gilmore type guitar type intro and then the drums hit ....  listened through the Album twice and promptly brought it when back in NZ( hopefully the do another vinyl pressing !)

On ‎4‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 6:23 PM, Karter16 said:

Today I looked at it and thought to myself that it desperately needs a wash.

Our 6 month old has been in and out of hospital a lot since birth so understandably attention for the BMW has been minimal.

When I find time it'll be getting a good clean and an oil and filter change as coming up about 1800km since the rod-bearings replacement (the car not the baby).

Hope things improve on the hospital front , can relate to this and an M3 can be a good distraction. A spent a few years adding stereo bits to mine. Took me away from the worry to a certain extent. Hopefully you be like us soon where the visits have stopped and things are going good.

On 3/12/2018 at 9:41 AM, BM WORLD said:

darn , has your car had the recall done on the bearings.

 my m3 about the same ks  but had new bearings done at about 60ks .

 kayne barrie , reckons I should do them again.

 

have spare s54 engines if needed

 

Get a sample of your oil tested. An indication of Bearing condition can be derived from sample. 

E.G. forum with a bit more info

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=431107

1 hour ago, paulo said:

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all of the pointers. The best price the dealer could do for front and rears was about $1600, which is not too bad compared to $1400 for ones shipped from USA, by the time freight and duty is added up.

The standard OEM USA ones tend to be solid (but ventilated) discs, only a few suppliers carry what they call "euro spec" discs which are slotted and ventilated with a 2-piece setup / alloy hub. 

I might end up going for some locally available Stoptech numbers for around $1000. Freight is only $30 ex Auckland, vs $200 - $300 ex USA.

Cheers

Paul

1800 for front and tears from dealer a good price. My fronts with pads where around 1800 fitted , rears  were 1000 with pads

1 hour ago, gjm said:

Do a little research on the StopTech kit. I've seen very mixed reviews which (to me) says "look a little more closely than you might at something from the main dealer."

I am not suggesting anything untoward !

I think that might be around the stop tech caliper pistons binding when super hot. A few people with track based m3s have posted about it.

On 3/5/2018 at 1:51 PM, Willy Sea said:

I'm unsure why BMW Car Club NZ  would have copyright issues, with what you are proposing. Surely this could be a sub-branch of the Australian parent, if it became a problem for BMWCC NZ .

Good on you Alex for trying to make something happen, and don't take it to heart too much if the vociferous armchair critics start slinging their lunch boxes all around the garage.

Interesting view, 

But when you see the workings of Mini Cooper clubs that start agonising over correct washer bottle or correctly stamped period parts and dismiss any mini with a+ engines and then start seeing M only clubs then the bs starts. 

Been on various car club committees and typically organise runs for enthusiasts rather than sub brand niche clubs.

To be called an arm chair critic after pointing out that M car members can’t be committee members of car clubs because we do stuff for a wider range of car enthusiasts is amusing.

But I respect your view and look forward to eating my lunch out of a Tupperware container whilst sitting on my garage armchair viewing life via rose tinted glasses ?

Seriously though leebkse  good luck with the intent of the Facebook group. 

Had quite a bit of fun at the bimmersport e46 M3 dyno day held a couple of years back.

Membership of ///M CLUB is FREE however participation & attendance is limited to ///M cars ONLY. VIN numbers will be requested when registering for the FB page. We do not allow committee members of other clubs to be members of ///M CLUB. A nominal entry fee may apply to attend some events.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sounding very exclusive and elitist. Policy perculudes a number of M cars be it BMW  clubs or car / Motorsport groups from my knowledge, but good luck with getting it off the ground for NZ

Been listening to Kovacs of late, signing style has elements of Shirley Basset , Amy Whitehouse and a bit of Grace Jones....... Grace Jones used to spend plenty of time on the turntable but I digress.

Anyway , Kovacs, sounding like a soundtrack for a bond movie

Used Yello to demo the car stereo sometimes. Have about 10 DSP maps which can be recalled via a controller. Some maps are trying to emulate home hifi but I have a couple which allows the amps to exercise their full dynamic capabilities and let the sub go more towards SPL

This track has some great left to right panning and nice bass. Give it volume and smile.

Sold it. Been a fun 11 years and 160,000 kms.

Hopefully the nephew enjoys his new e36 328i

Replaced coolant in e36 328i.

Was under car last night with it sitting on two axle getting to back engine engine drain. Hear tell tale low frequency rumble and move quickly. Sure enough small earthquake hits with a joilt(3.8) as iI’m moving out from under it. Car moved a bit on stands but all good. 

Let coolant to drain and contemplated getting back under the car again for quite a while ! Added a spare wheel and trolley jack into the mix.

On 11/29/2017 at 1:33 PM, ALD said:

Hi Nathan, yeah, there was something that chatted to me in Japanese every time I turned the car on.  There was a card reader in that compartment below and to the right of the steering wheel.  For some reason removing the card stopped the voice.  With the immediate problem solved I didn't bother investigating further to discover what it was all for.  I'm thinking of putting a new stereo in so perhaps that will provide the opportunity to remove the toll booth sensor and card reader.  I wonder if either are connected to the stereo?

Most likely has a vics module if your hearing announcements. 

Thought it was a fantastic build and was shown over the car last year. The rear arches being a highlight. Was also talk of e90 M3 v8 transplant at the time

Price reflects opportunity and hard to compare with e46 M3 pricing which has bottomed out. Give it a few years and these will start heading north again.

Had both 325i and 328i

nz versions of 325i had no cat and the engine loved revs  ( smoother at high rpm than 328i and none of the early bore issues of 328i)

Try a de-cat and tuner motor sport chip or dinan Chip.

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

basically anywhere where dirt (read oils, sweat, scum) from the humanoid body will mould up in the right conditions. When conditions aren't right, it's still filth stuck to those surfaces... unless you clean it.   You should check out mighty car mods and their vehicle forensics.  It can be pretty gross...

Took the primary child seat out of the wife’s e36.

Rasie you crumbs, bit of an old biscuit, water remains ( I hope it’s water) a few lollies and a stick collection.