nira74

Been checking on this.... seems like some folks are abusing carnet here. Rule is that a carnet is valid for one year and can be extended once. That means technically you could run a car on foreign plates here for 2 years and return back to country of origin thereafter. Seems pretty cheap considering you only have to pay freight to bring the car down..... (during the 2 years i guess they would be trying to figure out a way to make the car 'Dissapear')

I would stick with 30 psi. The bigger tyre would need more air - volume wise but the pressure should be the same. If you're regularly driving with heavier loads (4 passengers or luggage) you could consider going upto about 32. since you're already running on 32, Examine your tyres... check whether the tread wear is even.... if both edges are worn more than the middle your tyres are too soft.... if the middle is worn more they are too hard.

believe me, there are a few cars advertised with fake docs

Make sure you use Manufacturer Spec. oils - especially for the CVT Gearbox. Lots of people screw up their newly bought cars by using the wrong oils. Don't believe everything the Service Station guys tell you.

Personally, I would think twice about taking advantage of someone else's misfortune..

Thats Strange.... I'm 6 Ft tall and have no problems with my E46. Of course you have to adjust the Height of the seat correctly - as they could be raised up pretty high to suit much shorter folks as well. Seats are pretty wide too... you actually sit 'In' them rather than 'On' them as you would do in most Jap cars.

301- would be the first Gen FN15 (Pre-1998, non-crystal lights). We bought a '98 - Crystal light model unregistered some time back. It was a pretty solidly built car. Had a GA-15 Engine which is more or less bullet proof (same as FB14)... no crank angle/cam angle sensors to fail like on QG-15 engines which came on the later FB15... It was an Automatic and economy used to be 8.5 to 9 km/l in town. Pretty reliable daily runner.

1. No - 2004 318i (2000cc petrol) returns 9+ km/l, better than a number of smaller engined Jap cars and way better than big ones.... - 15,000 km Service Interval and Agents Servicing Cost Comparable with most Jap brands - plenty of sources for spares... a tad more expensive than Jap ones. 2. No 3. Definitely Yes. - If Driving Pleasure and Safety mean anything to you.

The correct bulb for the FB15 and Y11 is 'IH01'. Had a Y11 - so I've been through the whole thing before. 'H4B' is a cheap Korean alternative sold by most of the Panchikawatte and Darley Road joints and is basically a H4 with the smaller outer ring fixed on it. The smaller mounting ring is not fixed on precisely resulting in bad focus of the beams. On top of that these cheap bulbs tend to get hotter than the lense and holder can cope, resulting in discolouration and melting of lense and/or holder. Unfortunately the IH01 bulb is rather difficult to find so I once had to fit a H4B as a temporary measure until I could find the right bulb.... bought it from Darley Road and even the seller had to sort through 3 or 4 different ones until he found one where the alignment of the filaments was even close to the original. Only A*W has the right ones but they also go out of stock at times. Finally got down a set of 55W PIAA Superwhite IH01 bulbs through a friend coming from Japan, and these have been on the car for over 5 years and are still good.

You speak from a Sellers perspective.... but would you pay top dollar for a vehicle with 130k on the clock ? Most people would not

What I realised is that they only threaten but never actually prosecute. They retained my Driver's license even though the car had absolutely nothing stuck on the side windows, and told him to ask me to come over to City Traffic and show the car. When I did so, the Inspector there also realized that the glass had nothing on it and you could see right through it even though it had a slight shading. He tried to make excuses for his constable saying that since the rear windows had dark glass (no tint film) the constable would have thought the car was too dark). I asked him whether I should get the side window glasses replaced and he said no need to do that - but could face this kind of situation in future also since it was left to the judgment of each constable to decide. There was no actual measurement mentioned in the gazette which he showed me. Particular gazette was one which was passed under emergency regulation... which should be lifted if all goes well...... I guess they also are waiting the the rule is better clarified, but occasionally use it to make life difficult for us motorists when they feel like it.

Had a run in with the cops regarding tinted glasses recently. A senior Inspector showed me a copy of the gazette based on which they are enforcing the Tinted window rule. It states that any colouring / sticker or other object on the windscreen obstructing the identification of the Driver and Passenger from the outside is Illegal. That means technically you can be copped even for driving with a Stick-On sunshade on any of the front glasses.

Went to Alexandra Road shed last week (after some time) and was quite surprised when the attendant told me that they only sold Extra Premium 95 and did not sell the regular 95 Octane any more. I had used IOC Extra Premium 90 before and it was not so hot..... so I decided not to try any more experiments and went to Flower Road and filled up instead. Usually I plan my fill ups and pump petrol at Laughs sheds only....

There must be something wrong with that vehicle... had a 1999 H Reg Non-Vtec Manual some years back and the consumption was between 9 and 11 in Colombo alone.... outstation was over 14

The one and only time I went there was just after they had opened - to see whether I could get my car serviced there as they were close by. However was told that I could not bring anything from outside - had to buy oil and filters from them. Seemed ridiculous to me that they were trying to enforce this when they had only Havoline Oil and VIC Filters.... never sighted the place since then and have heard a lot of horror stories. What worries me is how many people entrust their vehicles to places like this and wait for them to screw up their car sooner or later....

This car has been in various car sales around colombo for almost two years now.... At the beginning the the asking price was over 6 million when it was at a place in pamankada. I guess it has come down now. Saw it this May in Wellawatte and they wanted 4.8. Needs a bit of work on some of the switches and interior...... Found a prestine 2004 E46 facelift (petrol) for a bit more and went for it. No regrets whatsoever, 8.5 to 9.5 km/l in town and smooth power whenever you need to put your foot down...

Let me share an experience where I found a noticeable difference between Mineral and Synthetic Oils.... Some time back, I put a second hand engine into one of my cars... and as per the mechanics used the regular Lanka Super SAE40 for the first time since I was not sure what had been used in the new engine previously and wanted to flush it after running for a while. Everything was fine with the new engine except for the fact that it never would start up first shot in the morning when cold. I always had to crank it 3 or 4 times. The mechanics checked everything.... Injectors, Fuel Pumps, Cold Start Injector, Vaccuum hoses and found nothing wrong..... and finally gave up. I too had pretty much accepted the fact that there must be some type of mismatch between engine and ECU. Everything else was fine so after a couple more weeks I changed the oil to Mobil 1 and quite unexpectedly all the starting problems just vanished. Mechanic also was shocked because he also used to go on and on about me wasting money on Synthetic Oil....

Check the wheel alignment and balance as suggested and also the Tyres..... what you described also happens if the steel wires inside the radial tyres have broken due to age or due to hard driving with insufficient air pressure.

If it's for the stock BMW setup, make sure that the Speaker impedance matches the previous ones.

Toyota Yaris is none other than the Toyota Vitz which is the Jap Domestic model name for the same car. Ford Escape is the Mazda Tribute SUV Mazda 3 H/B Chevrolet Aveo Kia Rio all these cars are common on our roads

Way to go.... We got two 318i's in the family, 2003 and 2004 models... Excellent Drives, 8.5 - 9 km/l in colombo. If you're looking at a 318 Make sure to check under the hood and ensure it's got a N42 or N46 Engine cause some of the ones with newer Reg. nos have been brought down recon and are actually the older M42 variant which has fewer horses is not so good on fuel either.

Google Maps already has most roads in Sri Lanka along with all major Landmarks ... at least in colombo. Been using it on my Nokia phones for over a Year now.

Got my Nissan's Injectors cleaned at the same place two weeks back, along with the throttle body. They are one of only two places in the country that does Ultra Sonic injector cleaning. Pretty pleased with the results. Low end pulling power and smoothness has improved considerably.

We got one in the Family. Super Fun to drive and the engine is bullet proof. Very good on Fuel - if you control your right foot. Try to go for Thai manufactured one rather than Indian. Bit hard on suspension, brakes (4 disks) and CV Joints. Parts available at TEC and Stafford. Some parts (like Radiator Fans) are interchangeable with the EK3. Body parts and Trim bits - door handles etc are rather difficult to find.

There are quite a few conversions being done. Been following the progress of one such job at a garage which I take my car to. The funny thing about this advert is that he claims that the Agents Warranty is still valid.....