Introduction and some questions

[Fen 0]

Hi folks, I just joined the forum and wanted to say hello.

I'm in the UK just now, but hopefully my wife and I will have visas to come and live in NZ sometime later this year. When we do make the move I am unsure if I should bring my 530d or not. I know it's quite an unusual model in NZ (especially as it's a touring) so it would be hard to replace, but I am also worried that that might make it difficult to get it maintained and get parts for - does anyone know much about running a 6 cylinder diesel model in NZ. Also can anyone explain how the tax works for diesel? A friend in Wellington tells me there is a charge per thousand km driven on top of the price of diesel, but he didn't know how much it is.

I have already read that I can get a map disk for my Mk4 nav computer, that RDS works (wasn't sure about that as the horrible Corolla hire car we had when we visited in January didn't have RDS) and I think the TV module will work also. I also have a DAB tuner, but I don't know that there is DAB in NZ?

Any advice appreciated as I love my car, but I don't want to regret bringing it with me if I do.

[hybrid 1043]

Hey mate, Welcome ...

I probably wouldn’t bother as you can pick a mint petrol e46 330i touring up for about 35-40k NZD your probably looking at about 8k+ in transportation costs to get yours over .. and unless your hell bent on diesel .. we don’t have the insurance / taxes you do in the UK so its relatively cheap owning a higher powered petrol car over here ..

just a thought .

[bravo 35]

I know nought about the availability of parts etc. Our quality of fuel may be an issue as the diesel is not as good as yours, but in the last year our sulphur content has been reduced dramatically and I am told the newer, cleaner modern diesels now work here but it would pay to check.

Jochen on these forums can answer all you NAV and radio queries - from what I understand all of that should be no problem.

Diesel is about $0.98c a litre in the main centres at the moment. Road tax for petrol vehicles is included in the price of fuel. Diesel vehicles pay Road User Charges at $32.15c per thousand km for a private motor vehicle up to 3 tonne. Usually purchased in 10,000km lots plus around $5-10 transaction fee.

[Fen 0]

Thanks for the suggestion - I sort of like the diesel engine and auto 'box combo (and I'll be bringing my other cars for non-diesel/manual fun), plus I have spent a bit of time getting the car as I want it: titanium trims, Schnitzer pedals, M3 SMG wheel with working paddle shift, Mk4 Nav with integrated iPod on the screen etc.

If I did change it would have to be to another E39 Touring (don't want to pay E61 money yet), and I didn't see many of them around when I was over. Also it would have to have widescreen nav, leather, auto, xenons etc. before I'd be happy, and my car is worth only about NZ$25k to sell in the UK. Could I replace it with something like a 540i at that spec without it costing me a lot more? As I understand it because I have owned it for over a year in the UK and provided I keep it for 2 years after we arrive I don't pay GST to import it, so it's just shipping costs.

I guess I could drive a 540i over here to see if I think it suits the auto as well as the diesel does.

[AntonyG 0]

Hey, there are a few 530d's over here. We have alot of X5 3.0d and also some

E46 330d so the engine is common place in the BMW workshop.

Servicing and parts will not be a concern.

Its not as unusual as you think.

We have a few UK imported E60 & E39 over here. The only manual ones I have driven.

All the options i.e. NAV, RDS etc on these UK cars work fine in NZ.

If the car is in good condition underneath (ie not attacked by the UK salt)

it will be easy to get complied and on the road in NZ. You do have to

pay road tax for diesel vehicles over here as the tax is not included in the pump

price like it is with petrol. It varies from vehicle to vehicle dependant on vehicle

usage, weight and engine capacity.

For a 3.0l diesel passenger car i.e. 530d it costs $331.06 for 10,000KM's

New Zealand diesel is not an issue with this engine.

Hope this helps...

Edited March 22, 2007 by AntonyG

[martyyn 2]

Just a quick reply cause Im a little busy at the mo, but I would defiantely consider bringing the car over.

Fen, I did the same as you three years ago (moved from the UK to NZ) and brought my e38 740.

If you want to chat about it send me a PM, we had a terrible time and found alot of pitfalls but I would definately do it again, especially knowing what I know now.

A 530d touring would be my dream car at the moment !

[edit - for spelling and grammar!]

Edited March 22, 2007 by Penrod 'Penry' Pooch

[Fen 0]

Excellent, I'm a lot more encouraged if there are a decent number of cars with the 2.9 diesel already in country. I hopefully winter is over now and I can give it a good jet wash at the weekend.

Thanks for the offer of advice on the pitfalls - look out for a PM!