Bones 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) Guys, I’m a first time Bimmer owner and I must say I LOVE IT! Always been a bit of a Honda enthusiast, but no longer, I’m now 100% BMW. Metallic Black, 2002 525si (Jap import) VIN: WBADT420020GX97224 99,000K on the clock I got the opportunity to purchase the beastie at a really good price a couple of weeks ago and I took the plunge. At first I was expecting it to bite me some how – you know “if it seems too good to be true then it probably is†but so far it’s been superb. A mate of mine brought a 7 series V8, 1998 I think, a couple of years ago and swears by it, but all I could do was poke the borax at him, you know the standard – fuel hogger, expensive parts and service, heavy, tank like etc etc etc. Now the shoe is on the other foot and I’m getting rings from him – and rightly so, cause the negatives don’t seem very important now! Got a few issues to sort out though. I naturally thought there would be a CD stacker in the boot, nope, just a hole. Got lucky though, managed to get one from a wrecker with the brackets etc – fitted it and “hay presto†the sound system picks it up the stacker and I can play CDs. Well one song anyway – tried to change the CDs and the unit jammed – it’s in a repair shop at the moment. Oh well you gotta have a few teething problems I guess, next to tackle is the NAV and the TV. There is also the cell phone (cable no phone) along with finding out what all the features are, but one thing at a time. Owners manual looks impressive, but I never did get round to learning Japanese. I’ve been looking through the forum posts and I noticed after mid 2001 the cars come out with a world radio – but I have a band expander fitted, perhaps this is not needed and I should just change it to Oceania? Anyway guys thanks for the opportunity to rave a little and to share my enthusiasm. It’s nice to know there is a New Zealand BMW forum with a lot of useful info available and help if required. Oh and by the way if there is anything I should be aware of I’d appreciate the heads-up. Cheers, Tony PS will load a pic or 2 when it lets me PPS Location Wellington - Kapiti Coast Edited December 21, 2010 by Bones Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
huff3r 347 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Pics have to be less than 800 pixels wide, and then you should be able to upload easy enough . Sounds like a nice start for your BMW ownership, not long now and you will start craving an E30 as well I'm sure Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark 178 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 G'day Tony! Welcome to the addiction! There will certainly be some members on here that can help with your audio and nav issues... namely Jochen and Hotwire, but I'm sure they'll chime in here soon. Looking forward to pictures. A 525si though? Never heard of that model... is that a hangover from your Honda days? Ha! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Hmmm how interesting, they sold 525i's in Japan? I thought by that time (2002) they would have be badged 523is... Welcome by the way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bones 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Thanks Guys I guess the "si" is not quite right, OK double checked and I think I should have just used the "i". 20 years of Honda takes some changes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
39KiwiTouring 2 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Driving E39's doesn't mean you to rush out and own an E30 - M3 exceptioned of coarse or convertable, well may be it does lol. Nice intro and nice car, good year facelifted after 01, check the cooling system out preven/main the key with those. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
39KiwiTouring 2 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Also put your location as well Tony if you ask for anything guys local love to help out around here if it is their expertise. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bones 0 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 No worries - Location added. And thanks for the heads-up on the cooling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) Welcome Tony & nice car Not that I'm biased Yes, from the VIN code, your car is 05/2002 build so DOES have a world radio. PM me & I will send you the progamming sequence. Don't know how many of these cars I have come across now with band expanders when they are not needed. As above - I can sort out the nav, you can programme the TV, (can do "in motion" if you wish) & also fit a neat reverse camera - the car is already equipped for this adition:- Sooooo much better than a Honda aye EDIT CD stackers are a weak link. They are an Alpine unit, can be repaired ok. Reminds me - must get mine fixed. Phone system is Jap but I have converted the system in one car to ULF Bluetooth. Had already done the nav in this car & with Bluetooth - got voice control nav too - really cool:) But expensive Edited December 21, 2010 by hotwire Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 Hmmm how interesting, they sold 525i's in Japan? I thought by that time (2002) they would have be badged 523is... Welcome by the way. Yep, Japan market E39 2.5l M52's & M54's were badged as 525i, Euro variants as 523i. Jap badging actually makes sense in this case really. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matt45 1 Report post Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) defiantly rip the band expander out and change settings on the radio (you can do this doesn't require tools) .... will probably give you a considerable boost in radio quality. Amazing how stupid some dealers are that think they have to put a band expander in everything when there is a free and much better option. Edited December 21, 2010 by Matt45 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
