RYANS Super VR4 stolen!!!!! keep your eyes open!! (auckland)

[Ryan]

Thanks Tommie... yes, it's amazing how quickly the time (and Legnums) have flown by. I'll be sure to stick around. I have met a lot of good folks off of this club, some of which I am happy to call friends. The amount of automotive knowledge in general on this site is quite substantial and accordingly, I think that I'll be sticking around.

[Wodjno]

Thieving Bar Stewards
Hoe it comes back soon.. And in 1 piece also..


Wodj

[Ryan]

Just been comparing the E39 BMW to VR-4. Interestingly they are similar sizes - the measurements I assume are for the Galant (wiki-wiki):

It's also almost exactly the same dimensions as Legnum.

LENGTH:

BMW - 4775mm
MMC - 4680mm

WIDTH:

BMW - 1800mm
MMC - 1760mm

HEIGHT:

BMW - 1415mm
MMC - 1420mm

FUEL:

BMW - 70L
MMC - 60L

Both also had 16" wheels as standard from factory, however the Motorsport versions are fitted with 17" wheels.

[Adie]

Dude that blows! I can't believe it happened again!

I do like the BMW though, and hope this one works out better of you.

[Ryan]

Well, unfortunately as nice as it appeared on the surface, the BMW did not pass the pre-purchase inspection conducted by a BMW specialist. The faults included:

* Only one key (can cut other keys but car will not start without the electronic fob which needs to be coded in Germany ~$500)
* Driver's electro chromatic mirror glass - wasn't too worried about this but just the lens itself is ~$900
* NAV Radio and TV Jap spec (NTSC) and won't work on NZ frequency (also not too worried about this)
* Front and rear window mouldings perished (minor cosmetic defect, again not too worried)
* Windscreen washers don't work and fluid cap broken (annoying)
* No tools in toolkit
* Spare tyre (which was also a fullsize Motorsport wheel) hold down missing (how it passed a WOF with this?)
* Original battery - should be replaced (could cause alternator damage)
* Headlight adjusters in both headlights broken (about $900)

I was fine with this until...

* Rocker covers, timing covers, VANOS actuator seals AND power steering leaking oil - EEEEEEEK! (I could see underneath on the hoist that the engine guard was covered in oil.
* All ABS speed sensor cables (the shrouds) perished on all four hubs
* Knocking noise L/H steering tie-rod / centre track rod area - requires investigation
* Thermostat (mapped cooling) housing leaking from plug

PLUS

Numerous stored fault codes - further investigation required.

The real thing that annoyed with me this was the way the car yard (who shall remain nameless) tried to brush off these faults as "cosmetic" and their attitude was completely condescending, continued to try and pressure me into a sale and generally treated me as if I knew absolutely nothing about cars. Granted, I'm not an expert - which is why I undertook this PPI and I'd much rather trust the opinion of an expert who isn't trying to sell me anything, than some sneaky salesman with "$ $" signs in his eyes.

In fairness to them they were prepared to remedy some of these faults but I did not trust that they would be remedied correctly (I would have had it re-inspected anyway) but after chatting with The Expert again later and learning the costs of some of the more expensive items (e.g. timing chain replacement on V8 = $5000), I felt quite vindicated in my decision to walk away.

That said, they are fantastic cars - comfortable, smooth, a little hesitant when pulling away slowly but once the power comes on it is delivered in a nice long smooth kick. Of course the sound itself is also appealing. I might have bought it had the car had less faults - I had expected there to be some issues but mainly it was their attitude which pissed me off. There is no way that I'm returning to that branch.

Think the 540i idea is now discarded, not quite sure what to look at now really... Evo still appeals.

[Badger_01]

Oh thats a bummer Ryan, hopefully you find something that you want and doesnt need repairing

[Subaru ETA]

Was the car complied? With some of those faults mentioned there is no way in hell it should have been and the compliance centre would end up footing the bill.

[crazydriver81]

Not good Ryan. Hope you will find a good example.

Engine seals, cooling (esp. radiator cracks) and front suspension are the critical points here. Further you should consider regular brake changes, due to the weight of that car... And don't be annoyed by failure codes. Even the electric steering column adjustment will set such codes, even if it's still working fine.

[Kenneth]

Good to see that your effort in getting expert advice paid off for you, good job

[Ryan]

Not good Ryan. Hope you will find a good example.

Engine seals, cooling (esp. radiator cracks) and front suspension are the critical points here. Further you should consider regular brake changes, due to the weight of that car... And don't be annoyed by failure codes. Even the electric steering column adjustment will set such codes, even if it's still working fine.

Yes he did mention that the error codes (which appeared to be phantom ones) could either not have been cleared properly in Japan or that someone without the proper equipment tried to read the ECU.

Dave: Yes the car was "complied" and even had a current WOF!

[Subaru ETA]

That's just shocking! Power steering leak is an instant fail!

The unsecured spare is a bit of grey area tho. Because it is a sedan it can't be launched into the back of someones head in an accident. I would of thought it would have been picked up on tho

[adamvortex]

Really sorry to hear your bad news ryan! I feel so mad about it, what would you do to get hold of them?
I hope it all turns out good for you in the end bud, but honestly a beemer?

[Ryan]

...but honestly a beemer?

Long term fantasy of mine having grown up surrounded by them as a kid and parental ownership. Like I said earlier, it felt really *really* good to drive and can see why they are so desirable. Very (needlessly) complicated cars though.

All is not lost though - I have a cunning plan in the pipeline and we'll see if it comes to fruition on Saturday

[kiteman]

Well done on going down the PPI route.
Many folk wouldn't be bothered and end up with a nightmare of a car.
I've noticed the term WOF used before from guys down your way, what does it mean precisely.

[Subaru ETA]

Warrant of Fitness. Much like you MOT. New cars up to 5 years old get it annually. Cars older then this it is 6 monthly.

[Ryan]

So much for Skycity's much vaunted "surveillance" system... a blind man could possibly conduct better surveillance of an open space. Received a letter from the police today basically saying:

"We have followed all the lines of enquiry that we could find but without success" [gee, what else is new?]

"There is a possibility that further which may help the enquiry will be in the future from forensic tests, location of missing property, information gained from other enquiries or similar matters" [doubt it]

"Until then we will not be making more enquiries in this case" [Ja, probably got more important things to do like... keep the road toll down Easier to sit on one's arse with a radar gun than doing some actual proper investigative work.?]

[OnBoost!]

Yeah,that sounds about right,translated that really says" Sorry but we cannot be bothered to investigate this further".

[Subaru ETA]

Sound much like when my brother had dealings with the police.

Someone didn't give way to him at a round a bout. My brother gave him a toot, as you do.

Later on my brother parked his car at West City mall and was walking from the carpark to the shops when a car pulled up behind him, a guy came running out of the car and punch him in the back of the head. Dazed he then got choked out and beat around the head. Then the fuk wit said "if I see you on the road again I'm going to knife you". Some others broke it up and the guy jumped in his car and took off. All this happened in front of at least 3 security cameras.

Now I would of thought that this kind of assault was quite serious - apparently not. The police said that they didn't have time to look at the footage and that my brother should have got the rego number (he was missing one of the numbers)

When he said "I'm sorry I was trying to not get my teeth knocked out and couldn't see the rego" the cop answered "stop getting smart, we have better things to do".

Makes you wonder what the point is of cameras!

[Ryan]

Or police for that matter. I remember you telling this story once (I think when my last car was stolen?)... *sigh*

[Ryan]

Resistance... is futile