elfinke

@ southside: Thanks for the heads up, I'll ask my local mechanic to have a look next time I see him (he's a regular in at my place of work). I'm pretty certain it is just the XR complaining about having to do anything when it is early and still cold (kinda like me!!), but better safe than sorry!

Thanks! Hrmmm, such simple mods. Did you install the air filter and 2nd cold air intake yourself?

Ticketed at $25k; I'll just say I got her for a considerable amount less than that when all was said and done. Yeah, I only get the 'thud' going 1st->2nd first thing in the morning when it is still cold up here in the New England (as in, -2 to 6 kinda temperatures). And yeah, I love the 18's!! Eu-genixx, I like the sound of your mods in your tag. How much have they set you back, and have they made a noticable difference to the cars behaviour? Faster throttle response? How about plain old exhaust note? Fuel Consumption and the like? I am forcing myself to wait until thte new car warranty expires before I begin modding mine, so have been harvesting information in the meantime!

Jeez, I am in the same age bracket as you guys, but my '07 BF is insured in my partners name. She is a bit older than me, and BAM! SHe is several hundreds of dollars cheaper to insure. The moral? Get a GF (or your best mates mum), and get your wheels insured in her name!

Ask, and ye shall receive!!

So, after pestering you all for some much needed (and gratefully accepted) input regarding the ZF, I found my beauty. So the details! 2007 BF MKII (Jul. Upd., so 18"ers and DSC all as standard) Seduce (even though my crappy iPhone photos make it look more, 'flareish') <40000km, 1 prior owner Over a years' worth of new car warranty left 6 speed ZF, of course Premium ICC (thoroughly enjoy the Dual-Zone climate control and big LCD screen) Premium Sound (in-dash 6 stacker CD players - why has it taken so long for these to become 'mainstream'?) Tow Bar (ball not installed, and I'm fighting that fight every day, haha) Colour-coded bonnet protector. I had never seen one until I saw this one. It's hawt! First a warning - the iPhone takes bloody awful photos, and it was late afternoon, so the colour is underwhelming. As anyone who has seen Seduce in the flesh will attest, it is a simply stunning colour. I would have loved a larish Orange or Green, but this one came up, and was far too good to pass up for a simple colour choice. And now, some pics! While you're over there ogling those ordinary pics, you might as well have a look at some of my far better pics I take on my spare days, haha! [potentially NSFW?!?!] So, as you can imagine, stock as a rock, but goes like a cut snake regardless. The only things I have noticed about it so far is the 6 speed is a bit clunky getting into first in the morning when it is still cold (even after a 1 or 2 minute idle to warm up a bit), and I noticed the other day that if I turn the ignition on and press the volume button on the steering wheel at the same time accidentally, the XR will sh*t itself. Looking to do a 'basic' exhaust upgrade as the new car warranty gets closer to expiring. I don't have local access to a Herrod Motorsport mob, but I do have a very well recommended and highly regarded Lukey exhaust mob just up the road from here whom I will get in touch with eventually. But that's it. I promise to get some better photos of her with a proper camera, maybe even tomorrow, if the weather permits!

Just an update - we got our car, at last. July update BFMKII-NA (couldn't stretch the budget to the Turbo, and hey, it gives me something to aim for and upgrade to when the FG's are a bit cheaper!), with the ZF 6 speed auto (which really is in a whole other galaxy compared to the 4sp and the 5sp manual). 18" alloys, premium sound + premium ICC, tow bar, DSC etc etc. Will have pics up soon!

Wow, I'm envious, that was quite a steal you got there Scrotus! Nice work. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to hit the auctions up :( I live 6 hours away from Sydney, and the inability to drive an auction car prior to purchase is enough to turn me off, given the trouble of getting to an auction in the first instance. I have been closely looking at a BFII-Turbo down south that the dealer would let go for not much more than the auction prices - it's an ex-cop car too. Beautiful XR6T, but it's a 12 hour drive to go look at. Also, it has bog standard everything ("but it's a TURBO!!" I keep saying, and I hear you lot echo, mockingly, lol). Again, the distance and lack of any remaining new car warranty has put both my partner and me off from buying it, kind of a case of "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". I'm sure it will be a stunning vehicle for someone geographically luckier than I to buy though :( Having said all that, I have stumbled across a BFII-NA that is only 3 hours away that has every option box ticked, is a 1 owner with balance of new car warranty. Basically it's brand new and more importantly, has the beautiful ZedEff auto which you lot convinced to go for :D. So, in short, hopefully by next week, I should be able to add some photos of my new baby and become an official member of this place (look out for my supremely n00b questions about exhausts in the future)!

Well, you guys have conviced me it is worth holding on until the right BF6sp or BFXR6T comes along. As such, if our poor old (and now very jealous!) XF ute can hold together, I will continue to wait. However, with both rego and maintenance on the ute coming up again, my hand may be forced. I'm watching (and spoke to the dealer about it) an '07 XR6T, BFMKII. It is listed for $26k drive away, but since I'm in NSW rather than VIC, I'd get it for less (until I have to register it in NSW :( ) It's only got 60000km on it, and seems in beautiful condition. The dealer tells me it is an ex-cop car, but NOT an an ex-highway patrol, for what that is worth. Seems very very good, so if it's still available in a few weeks when I'm next on annual leave, I'll be checking it out for sure. Now I've got to convice the boss, tell her we need the turbo, haha!

Hahahahahaha, aaaaah. /sighs. Shortly after posting my last post I received a phone call from a dealer in a nearby town, telling me that he may be getting an NA BF with the ZF this weekend. Fingers crossed he does. Hrmmm, that is interesting to know. Pardon my ignorance, but do ex-chasers only show up in auctions? It looks like I will be holding out for the ZF based on yours (and others, including one of the dealers) opinions. Gargh, I'm running out of patience! I want one of these yesterday! Thanks guys, appreciate your patience.

Yeah I'm discovering that. Again, just browsing the online dealerships, SA and WA drive me crazy with both availability and price of BA/BF turbos - they're cheap as chips - as well as ZF transmissions! A trip to QLD or (certainly, given I have relo's down there) VIC is not out of realms of possibility if it comes to that. I drove the 5sp in the NA, so I can guess at what it must be like in the turbo! Thanks for the heads up! Budget is $20k, give or take 10%. Given that an '07 BFMKII NA is readily available right here in my local dealership with low Km, (it is an ex Hertz renter though), with balance of new car warranty for under $20k - after haggling - it is a case of convincing myself that it is worth going the older ('03/'04) turbo route, for what will be essentially the same kind of $$, and no warranty to speak of. Dammit, buying a house was easier than this, haha!

Some great responses, thanks guys! Today, I took a 5sp Manual for a drive. Compared to my 3sp XF ute, it was a dream to drive, but after being pampered by even the 4sp auto, it was too much like hard work. And then when I think how rare the 5sp manual is, it made it just not worth it. The coup de grâce however was this afternoon, I drove a 2003 BA XR6 Turbo. Bugger me that is the fastest thing on 4 wheels I have ever driven. I went out on the highway, stopped at the 100km sign, and then gave it a bootful. Sure, 0-~20km (and 2000rpm) wasn't very eventful, but then something went bloody nuts under the bonnet, and just as I thought I was going to achieve lift off, my partner leaned over and said 'you're speeding'. I now see why everyone harps on (and on and on) about the turbo! So, back to the drawing board it is. I don't have enough moolah to go the BF+ZF option, but I can stretch it to do the BA+Turbo option (the one I drove today is a one lady owner, 70000km serviced locally at every stage - very compelling car), and there are a few of them to choose from.

Sorry for the 20-odd day bump, but 150000km before a rebuild? Surely you are missing a 0 or mean only for those cars that are driven above and beyond normal expectations? 150000km is fark all for a car in Australia, and I'm sure not one of the owners of the 2nd hand ZFs on carpoint/carsales have ever contemplated the need to rebuild their ZFs?! Or am I miles off the mark?

Thanks for the quick and bang on reply. That's more or less what I had 90% convinced myself to believe, but, y'know, the whole not having driven one myself thing was proving a bar in convincing myself that final 10%... Even though I keep telling myself that if the ZF is good enough for Bentley, BMW, Jaguar and other various V8/V10s etc, than it is surely good enough for the stunning inline6 XR6 hehe. But still that nagging doubt. What about 'the ZF life span is 150000km' sort of chatter I hear modders talk about? As you can plainly see, I have fark all idea :D

Hey all, Long time lurker, first time poster (but you can't hang me on a wall - well, not easily)! I'm currently looking to jump on the XR6 bandwagon - I have loved the B series Falcons ever since I laid eyes on one in '02. Only now am I in a position to grab one, and so here I am, nightly perusing forums, hitting up carsales/point/drive/ebay/countrycars etc, seeing what's what. And in the last few weeks, I have been pestering my local car dealers for both test drives and information. After much research, I decided I wanted to pick up an XR (N/A or Turbo, whatever happened first, though obviously I expect to find a N/A for the money I want to spend more easily) with the ZF 6 speed auto, but not spend over $25k. And as I'm sure you are all aware, finding a second hand one of those in NSW through a dealer is damn near impossible at that price point :( Worse still, it means I can't hop down the street and test drive one. So far I have only been able to drive the 4sp autos, which were rather noisy and uncouth in 1st gear but otherwise rather quaint (however, I must mention that my current ride is a 1990 XF Falcon Ute, with a 3sp column shift, so when I say uncouth, you need to take it with a grain of salt, haha). Tomorrow, I hope to take a BAII with the 5sp manual for a spin and see how it compares (though from all your posts, I expect 'clunky'?) Still, it will be interesting to compare. TL:DR, I guess I'm just looking for some affirmation of my decision - should I hang on, and wait for that ZF to show up, or is the difference between it and the 4sp just not worth the extra $$ and time spent waiting?