turbolizard

That will be a heap of fun. 1850 Bullet is a great boat - good combo of speed, protection and useable space.

This is me with my a$shole puckered! Boat is a Sonic 1900SS with Mercury Promax 300XS. We were doing 80mph coming into the corner - possibly with slightly too much trim.

That will be a heap of fun if it is set up right, once you learn to drive it. Give yourself some time to build up to it gradually if you have not driven one of these things before. That is a pretty serious piece of equipment, so don't just let any of your mates loose with it.

That is awesome - the look on the guy's face suggests he knows how nuts this is. Oil supply will be interesting.

A very nice car. Great to get a late model with such low km's. Congratulations

This is a good suggestion that I have used myself. I have had Enzed make up hoses. They have sometimes used the original hose end fittings and welded them to suitable fittings to crimp onto their hose. The replacements hoses have been cheap and effective.

The 14'6 Sea Nymph is a really good hull that has been around for a long time. They perform better in rough water than they should for a boat of that size, hence why they are pretty expensive for such an old boat. That said, you still need to remember it is a small boat. Alloy boats can be good and will take the knocks but they can also be a lot colder and noisier. You definately need to try before you buy. Outboard motors are very difficult to wear out. They almost all die from corrosion, bad fuel, or lack of cooling water so finding one that is looked after is much more important than age. Condition overrules age and manufacturer brand by a hundred times.

That paint theme with the numbers etc is really cool and very well thought out. Many excellent details...

Got it done so thanks for the help. Certainly more painfull to access than most starters I have dealt with. A few notes for anyone else doing this job... 1. The heat sheild has two 10mm nuts on the end and one 10mm bolt on the side. It is easier to unbolt the heat sheild if you pull the starter from the bellhousing first - this allows you to rotate the whole unit to access the heat sheild bolt located on the solenoid side. 2. The three wires are secured with 13mm, 10mm and 8mm nuts. Removing the starter from the bellhousing also allows you to rotate it to access the 8mm nut holding the third wire. 3. Loosely bolt the starter back in place while you manouvre the heat sheild out of the space at the bottom. 4. Unbolt the starter again and turn the soldenoid side of the starter toward the left of the car to drop the starter out. Finally, I think the link provided above to TIS refers to the M60/M62 in another body. There is a blank space on the right hand side of the block of my engine that appears to be there for other transmission or body applications. On e34 the stater is on the left of the block.

Thanks for that. Interestingly the long combination of adaptors extensions and universals described in the first link were exactly what I had also used, so I feel on the right track at least. I will have another go now I have rested up a bit from the frustration.

I am replacing a starter motor that is often reluctant to operate when hot. It gets power when the key is turned on (checked at starter while malfunctioning) but nothing happens until it cools for a while, then back to normal, so I am swapping it. How do you get the starter out of the car? It is an e34 with M60 (V8) engine - manual if that makes any difference. I have the mounting bolts out but cannot figure out how to extract it from the space it is in. All the gaps seem too small. Will it come out from below or does it need to go forward and up? Or do more parts need to come off?

I reckon the chances are low that it will look good in a years time. You might be lucky. I got a "genuine" one from TM, had the part numbers, logo on back etc. Looked ok for a few months then looked crap - clear failed on it very quickly. The genuine genuine one that came with the car was good for many years until hit by a stone.

I went down the same road a few years ago considering upgrade to e39 540 manual and decided to stay with my e34. There was just not enough difference and if I change now to e39 it will be for M5 only. I love swapping gears myself.I don't really want to modify the car I have, although I totally understand why people like to do this. I have a different exhaust but thats it - everything else is factory and I quite like it that way. It has enough performance for me, but that does not stop me thinking M5 power would be nice. Only got room for a certain number of toys. To the guys wanting photos - I don't have many but will see if I can find some. Car is really dirty now - been out driving in the crappy weather.

If I could have the perfect car I would have the e39 M5 running gear in the e60 Motorsport body. That would be fantastic - call it an M4.5, I don't care that it is slower than M5 V10. I do tend to keep my cars for a long time so I'm wondering what I will think of the e39 and e60 cars in 5 years time. The new 5 series looks bland to me - I think it is too mainstream. When I got my e34 the e39 M5 was about 80-100k to buy and I totally lusted after one of those, but the price was just too high. I liked the e60 shape from the start but the M5 was not around then. The style of the e34 seems very BMW to me, as I grew up thinking 635CSi Group A was the most mind blowing sound I ever heard and loved the e30 style (still like it). That probably explains why I still quite like e34 - I think it is still classic BMW. How do you think e39 style will age from here? Will it look more classic with time or will it just look more dated? Is e39 M5 vs e34 like e36 vs e30 M3? In my opinion in 10 years time e30 will look way better than e36.

Thinking about an upgrade, but not sure which way to go, or whether to upgrade at all. Current car is NZ new e34 540i, 6 spd manual, Style 5 staggered wheels, which I have had for about 8 years and am pretty fond of. I still love driving it and every time I drive a rental car I come home thinking I would not swap it for a new Falcon or Commodore, even though they are worth more $$. Possible most likely upgrade is e39 M5, but possibly e60, 545i, 550i (probably not M5). I would rather have a v8 than a v10 for initial cost, maintenance and complexity reasons, and because I just love the sound of v8. Pros and Cons I see are... e34 540i: Pros: I already own it so cheapest option by far, engine is v8 and just fast enough with proper manual trans, old school interior is pretty nice in my eyes, feels luxury and well made to me, doors close like bank vault, low maintenance cost, becoming classic and interesting Cons: less safety than newer car, electrics give minor problems from time to time due to age, mileage approaching 300k (not big deal to me - car feels great) e39 M5: seems most like my car but more modern and powerfull - less sure about looks Pros: engine is awesome v8 and plenty fast enough for me, proper manual trans, slightly old school interior design which surrounds driver, sound, lower maintenance cost than e60?? Cons: body style looks a bit dated to me now, electrics getting old and quite complex e60 545i, 550i: Pros: engine is v8, I really like the styling, modern car with good safety Cons: not available in manual, car is not limited production and of little interest to enthusiast in a few years (resale??), less distinctive and interesting (just a good car) e60 M5: Pros: its an M5, crazy performance, styling, modern car with good safety Cons: not truly manual (but maybe I just need to think more modern), way more expensive, maintenance, v10 does not strongly appeal What do you think?

Thanks for the help. It was certainly enough to convince me it was worth pulling the alternator out. What a PITA that was. Anyway, alt is now out and being looked at by auto electrician.

Following on... Today I did some more diagnosis and found one of the problems - I DID have a bad bulb in the instrument cluster (don't ask me how it tested OK yesterday and swapped with another - I don't know!). After replacing that bulb I can get the light to come on by grounding the exciter circuit at the alternator, so the exciter circuit looks OK - I get 330mA to ground. If disconnect the alternator from the exciter circuit by pulling out the unloader relay and then ground the exciter circuit at Pin 4 on the unloader relay, the dash indication lights up and I get 250mA flowing - seems about right. The thing that seems a bit strange is that the current to ground seems higher with the alternator in the circuit - does that mean there is an additional current contribution through the alternator circuit? I think there is something odd within the alternator that was keeping the voltage high on the exciter side so that the light did not illuminate at any time. Possibly some fried diodes I guess. In any case I am convinced enough that it is worth pulling the alternator from its hiddy hole and that the problem is not within the exciter circuit. PLEASE tell me quickly if I am wrong.

Bardahl is a brand I have not seen for many years. I remember it from when I was a kid - you used to see it on advertising hoardings and at motor racing. I think it was additives rather than oil. Sorry I don't know about the oil but the brand is a blast from the past that I have not seen for a long time.

Broke down today with flat battery that was too discharged to run the car. I put in a fresh battery and got home OK, but voltage is dropping over time and fresh battery is not being charged. Car is e34 540i. Symtoms: 1: Charge warning light in dash not showing at any time (before start or after) 2: Voltage dips as engine is started and then remains at 11.8V with engine running (too low to be charging) 3: Voltage will slowly drop with time as engine runs and draws power from it I wanted to check the alternator is faulty before pulling it out so I.. 1: Checked warning bulb in gauge cluster (tested OK) and swapped with known good bulb in cluster (seems OK) 2: Checked for voltage on pin 12 in diagnostic connector (exciter wire) - has voltage with key on 3: Checked continuity of exciter wire to alternator from pin 12 (OK) 4: Checked for voltage at alternator exciter on back of alternator (has voltage with key on) 5: Jumper to alternator exciter circuit from battery positive (alternator did not charge) 6: Grounded exciter circuit to check light in gauge cluster (light did not come on) I thought after step 5 that the alternator was faulty, but then step 6 indicates a problem in the exciter line doesn't it (but all checks on that line seem OK). I would be surprised to have both problems at the same time. What do I do, or check, next? Pulling the alternator looks like a major pain.

One of them is in my garage...

The guys above are right - cold water is produced by the air con and can be seen dripping out under the car BUT I would be surprised if VTNZ got confused by water from the air con. They may not always be totally onto it, but this would be a very elimentary mistake for them to make, so it is worth mentioning when you take it in for service. You also mentioned the leak is "just before the engine block". If you mean at the front of the engine then it is not the air con. The plastic resin thermostat housing on the V8 engines often crack and leak a tiny amount of coolant. As mentioned by others, this will have a sort of sweet smell to it. After all that - probably just water from the air con - but that is back at fire wall.

There is a product called DeSolveIt, or some really similar name, that can be bought at the supermarket. It smells like orange and is awesome at taking off adhesive gum. I have used it a lot on fibreglass. However, you might need a fair bit on a whole truck.

I have bought from sparkplugs.com before (a US site). They were a lot cheaper than NZ prices, but still not as low as this. For my application I bought Denso, which seem to be the most expensive. However, prices for plugs are all over the place and seem to vary a lot between different markets.Are you getting Denso, NGK, or something else?

Where are you getting these for $55 per set? That is good buying.

You might be paying a bit extra as a new customer, but don't expect it to get cheap like it is in NZ - you are spot on with the liability issue. NZ has it pretty good when it comes to insurance costs, thanks to our relative lack of ability to sue people. Most everwhere else in the world car insurance costs a lot more than in NZ. Just like the cost of fuel, it feels expensive when you pay the bill, but it is cheap. However, back to the original poster's question - you do seem to be paying over the odds for a NZ situation. The agreed value also makes little difference to the premium, as the first $5k of damage is the easiest to do and the bulk of the risk for the insurer. A total lost is much less common.