Unlike some other brands (looking at you, Porsche), most older BMWs are still relatively affordable and haven’t seen crazy price increases in the last years. Notable exceptions are the rare and wanted models: 507, M1, and Z8. Nevertheless, there are a few models were prices have bottomed out or have […]
With the coming of the E39 530i, it’s the first time in more than 10 years that I have owned separate winter and summer sets of tyres and wheels for a car. Not wanting to deal with the hassle of driving to a workshop to have them change the wheels, […]
History The introduction of the 996-model Porsche 911 in 1997 was not universally seen as a good thing. Not only did 911 lovers have to live without an air-cooled engine, but also have to accept the “fried egg” headlights that Porsche carried over from the Boxster as a cost-cutting measure. […]
My E39 530 came with an Xtrons PX5 Android radio installed. While I’m all about originality (and thus got the original head unit, too), I actually enjoy the features that this radio provides: Bluetooth audio streaming, hands-free kit, and a reversing camera. The downsides are that, by default, there’s no […]
The first parts deliveries are in. My local BMW dealer supplied the missing baggage straps and the cracked footrest. Filters and a new fog light were ordered online. Someone devised this fancy contraption for replacing the original screw for the tool kit, even though the parts (screw and thread insert) […]
My compact‘s driver’s seat shows typical signs of wear, as one would expect of a 17 year old car. Luckily, it has leather seats. Textile fabrics will simply rip at some point, requiring complete recovering. Leather is much more robust, and the wear is often a superficial discolouring. I ordered […]
My 530i is equipped with roll-up sunscreens, consisting of an electric sunscreen for the rear window and manual sunscreens for the rear door windows. These consist of two parts, a vertically moving part for the main window and a horizontally moving part for the small triangular window. The latter wouldn’t […]
Buying a car in the Netherlands is so easy. Whereas in Germany you need to go to a Landratsamt (district office) and might need new license plates, here buyer and seller go to the postal office, the seller shows a nine-digit code and the car’s license card (which is then […]
The E39 is a bit special in regard to wheels, as it has a hub diameter of 74.1mm where most BMWs have a hub diameter of 72.6mm. This means that there is less choice than with other BMW types. Nevertheless, BMW has sold quite a number of different wheel styles. […]
When I bought my E46 compact two and a half years ago, the reasoning behind the choice was that I wanted a low mileage car, two doors were sufficient, and it had to be manual transmission for eventual track use. Since then, the requirements have changed. Not only does my […]
I stumbled upon this book by Julian Edgar through a book tip in a German classic car magazine. Since having a home workshop one day is a dream of mine, I ordered it. As the name implies, it covers the important aspects of setting up your own smallish car workshop: […]
History At the 1955 Paris Motor Show, Citroen presented a revolutionary successor to the Traction Avant that had been in production for more than 20 years: the DS. Both the styling and the technology (hydropneumatic suspension, power steering, semi-automatic transmission) were a major step ahead – so much, indeed, that […]
