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Most BMWs are assembled in Germany. Even the ex-Japan BMWs are assembled in Germany. All the E39s I ever saw were. Some vehicles (Z4, X5) are made in the USA. JPN on the speedo simply means that the instrument cluster is the Japanese-version cluster (different instrument cluster to Euro and USA cars, has different functions) The VIN reveals what manufacturing facility the vehicle was built at, the following is part of the VIN standard: VIN Character 1 - Manufacturing Country Codes 1 or 4 USA 2 Canada 3 Mexico J Japan K Korea S England W Germany Z Italy So check your VIN. Starts with a J = made in Japan Starts with a W = made in Germany Most BMWs start with WBA = Germany, BMW, Plant A.

Hybrid: for a man of your talents it should be easy for you. Consult the WDS, then order the bits that are missing In the E39, the GM is the heart of the alarm system - and so the new bits (bonnet switch, tilt sensor, room monitor, LED) just cable to the GM. Then enable the Alarm option in the software using GT1 and Voila! Alarm! As for the E46, the WDS describes it like this: ---- Antitheft Alarm System The antitheft alarm system (DWA) is controlled by the general module V of the central body electronics (ZKE). The following inputs are monitored: •Ignition lock (terminal R) •Door contacts (front and rear) •Bonnet contact •Boot lid contact •Tilt alarm sensor •Interior protection An acoustic and visual alarm (country-specific coding) is triggered ---- Having just browsed the WDS for the E46 alarm system, here's the bits you need to add: Bonnet switch, component S19 Tilt sensor, component B28, RH side of boot Interior room monitor, component A121 Siren, component H1 New rear-view mirror with LED incorporated (A22) - OR - just fit a LED somewhere :-) Then code the car and you are done. Go on Josh - make it your next project !

All fully possible. BMW made a kit and detailled instructions on how to retro-fit nav to a car with no nav Note carefully that a key prerequisite is that the car have the high-IKE (and not the low IKE!) as well as the digital climate control. The high IKE has the text display at the bottom for eg FASTEN SEATBELTS etc. IKE = Instrument cluster. Generally only something you'd do yourself as a DIY BMW fan, due to the amount of labour involved. and cost of parts (even 2nd hand expect to spend well over $1,000) But plenty of people have done it. The BMW instructions state it takes 8 to 10 hours with knowledge and experience. As a newbie, expect it to be a full weekends work - or two weekends - once you have gathered all the necessary parts. Start trolling eBay... Anyway, start by browsing the retrofit instructions - I can mail you a copy if you wish (PM me your email address)

Hi-line is the top-of-the-line luxury spec from BMW It'll add lots of luxury extras, like full leather, sunroof, eleectric memory seats, high instrument cluster, nav & TV & telephone, more speakers for the stereo, CD changer as std, PDC, EDC, Shift-tronic, multi-function steering wheel, cruise control, etc etc etc If you like lots of extras then definitely go for the Hi-Line. Some of the lower-spec E39 models might look initially the same but under inspection you'll notice that they miss LOTS of features. NZ generally had very low spec E39s, the jap models were much higher specc'd than the NZ models.

Glad you got it back Huttey! For your info: all BMW E39s have a built-in factory immobiliser that CANNOT be bypassed. No car thief can start the car without a key. and if you have the CODE set, then he cannot start it even with the key. The immobiliser is very sophisticated - it cannot be hotwired or bypassed. The only way to start the car is with an original key that is registered to the vehicles immobiliser system Also, the E39 has 90% of the BMW alarm system fitted as standard - just add bonnet switch, tilt switch, siren, and interior sensor - the interior sensor is the hard part (head liner!) and change the mirror to the one with the LED in it :-) - however any LED will do. Adding an extra alarm only adds a flashing light and a siren. It offers no further drive-away protection I would guess that your car was moved on a transporter.

That's a GSM mobile phone antenna. D-NETZ in Germany was the GSM network. So a broken phone antenna won't affect radio performance at all. If you have poor radio performance in an E36 then check the following: 1. Make sure you have a Kiwi radio, not a Jap radio with band expander. Band expanders destroy radio performance. 2. Check the centre pin connector of the radio antenna cable plug at the back of the radio. The centre wire can break off the connector. You can open the connector and carefully solder the centre wire. This is a common problem.

Wow, that E46 has some special features: "Remote opening doors" I never knew that was an option Are they hydraulically operated, like the E38 remote opening trunk, or do they use electric motors?

Jap vs Euro Differences: Radio (FM band) Navigation (totally different) Telephone (totally different) Front bumper number plate holder Rear boot lid (number plate holder different) Boot liner different Nav computer mounted in different place TV tuner mounted in different place Radio mounted in different place Wiring loom for stereo different Light control module programming different (warning messages) Gearbox programming different (shift steps, warmup sequence) All warning labels different (in Japanese) User / service manuals diffferent (in Japanese) Flare holder fitted (for emergency flare) Gong goes ding in reverse - wiring is different No alarm fitted (NZ had alarm as standard) Early remote controls were infrared, NZ, ROW has radio remote Therefore antenna amplifier different And General Module programming is also different All I can think off from the top of my head, may be some more... Generally, the Jap cars are better spec'd than the NZ-new cars (no NZ-new had nav for example) but to make the car workin NZ requires spending a few $$. The savings you made by getting a Jap import should be put towards the conversions costs to make the car work properly in NZ. Luckily, the conversion from Jap to NZ is a DIY job (if you are DIY inclined). Radio very easy, nav a bit more effort, telephone more again. Don't spend money on "pretty makeup" (new headlights), spend it on getting the functionality working (replacement radio / nav / telephone). That's money much better spent. IMHO. As for eBay, you can run eBay in English, or put the whole website through a translator (Google language tools etc). There's no excuse for not being able to read eBay listings in any language these days.

Cheap compared to the price of the car. I've also seen invoices for fitting of band expanders to BMWs, whereby a replacement radio (that I organised and fitted) was CHEAPER than the fitting of the band expander. Look at eBay Germany for a radio, maybe you'll get lucky. Otherwise HotWire normally has 1 or 2 in stock. Same for nav: 2nd hand replacement is the easy cheap way to go. New is around $6,000. All systems can be made to work 100% in NZ (radio, nav, TV, telephone). You just have to change from Jap spec to Euro spec.

If the build date is after September 2001, then you can reprogram the radio from Japan mode to Euro mode using nothing more than your fingers. You can also make the entire nav and telephone system work in NZ if you want.

PM me your email address, I'll send you the wiring diagram

You didn't look very hard. Here's 7 to choose from.

One more thing: compare to USA-prices. USA is often much cheaper.

They are human. Humans make mistakes. Cut them some slack and move on in life.

BMW can supply it to you, as they are the manufacturer of the BMW vehicle and they carry the BMW spare parts and BMW retrofit kits for your BMW vehicle. The best place to find out how much the BMW parts cost is to ask BMW themselves. they will know the answer.

Totally depends on driving style. My E39 with the V8 M62 motor used 11.0 L/100km on a trip Auckland to Rotorua and back With lots of city driving I'd average around 15 to 18 L/100km, depending on the amount of stop-start traffic and how warm the motor was. The M62TU uses less fuel then the M62 And if your fuel usage is higher than normal, it's time to replace the O2 sensors.

What's wrong with: E90 320i RETROFIT KIT USB/IPOD CONNECTION FITS APPLE IPOD FROM GENERATION 4 ON, USB STICKS, USB MP3 PLAYERS AND USB MEMORY CARDS. DISPLAYS ARTISTS, ALBUMS AND TITLES IN RADIO DISPLAY. FOR VEHICLES WITH NAVIGATION SYSTEM, PROFESSIONAL = NO AND NAVIGATION SYSTEM BUSINESS = NO AND RADIO BMW PROFESSIONAL = NO AND ON-BOARD MONITOR WITH TV = NO 01 RETROFIT KIT USB/IPOD INTERFACE 65410427467 See EBA 0428691, EBA 0428696 Full pictures etc see here: RealOEM page for E90 iPod and USB Interface

Anyone who mounts a towbar to a spare wheel well should have their licence revoked. That is dangerous and criminal in my opinion. No strength whatsoever, not authorised by the factory, would never pass a vehicle check (at least in my current country of residence)

Nope, genuine BMW is much better quality I've seen both: Best Bars: strong, painted, can easily rust, permanent fixture, non-removable, limits ground clearance (had issues on my car) BMW genuine: better quality finish, MUCH more resistant to rust, removable so it gets protected when not being used, and better quality fitting to the vehicle You get what you pay for.....

Actually the E39 came in 3 different speaker setups: 6 speakers: front door full-range + tweeter, rear parcel tray full range 10 speakers: front door tweeter, mid and bass, rear door tweeter, rear parcel tray woofer 14 speakers: front door tweeter, mid and bass, rear door tweeter, rear parcel tray woofer, rear parcel tray subwoofer The Mid-range speakers in the front door are impossible to replace due to unusual size. Every other speaker can be replaced (carefully, due to the sealed resonance chambers for the bass/ woofers.

Be aware the stereo uses a fibre-optic digital databus to transfer all audio from the radio tuner (in the C pillar) to the controller (in the dash) and then to the amplifier. Nothing aftermarket will interface to the MOST databus of the existing system. If you want a USB interface, add a USB reader. Google for it. There are some around for cars that emulate the CD changer.

Read the ultimate E39 guide. Tells you everything Typical issues, all of which I experienced: 1. Water pump failure. Replace with new one ASAP 2. Door dust seals under door panel fail, water leaks into rear footwell. Easy DIY with new BMW butyl rubber seal. 3. Pixel failures on the Check Control display. Again a DIY if you want 4. Washer pump motor for intensive cleaner leaks. Easy DIY replacement. 6. Idle control valve on M62 (but not on M62TU) gets clogged and sticky. Easy clean with carb cleaner, easy DIY 7. Broken clips and side panel on drivers seat. Replace seat panel (plastic) 8. Broken rear cupholders. Replace with storage pocket. Cheap and easy DIY. 9. Minor coolant seapage around heater valves in engine bay. Replace O-rings with next service. And if your car is ex-Japan, I have all the info to convert radio, nav, TV and telephone to NZ.

Do you mean the 1. the GPS antenna (on rear parcel tray) 2. The GPS receiver (if Mk1 or Mk2) 3. The navigation computer The nav computer is the unit that houses the CD / DVD drive for the map disc. This comes out using standard radio removal tools, or 4 nails, welding rod, drill bits etc. Insert tools into the 4 holes to release the catches, nav computer can be pulled forward and then connectors disconnected. It is however not necessary to remove the nav computer to remove the boot trim panels. Just remove the nav surround first (clips off) then the trim panel comes away from around the nav.

You can remove the door panel and door speakers without disturbing or touching the airbag. So disconnecting the battery to repair the speaker is not necessary.

You are right hotwire. Remember the colours: RED = critical problem, stop vehicle / engine immediately ORANGE = Warning, be careful, but you can carry on driving GREEN and BLUE = indicator lights for your information. Nothing is wrong. Thus oil pressure is ALWAYS RED Os if it is a yellow / orange light with OEL on it (oil) then it has to be oil level, and cannot be oil pressure.