E61 V8 Bearding

[ATM]

dom9 said:

ATM said:

Pumas without serious tin worm do not exist.

Define serious...? Arches and fuel fillers are more cosmetic so as long as you keep sills in check, they're low liability.

No idea. Read a thread on here about one some guy bought for £257. Seemed they're well respected but all rot. That's what I took from the thread.

[ATM]

My Bus is at the BMW dealer. Slight mishap this weekend. I lost my car key. It was the only key I had so I had to call the AA. They smashed the window so I could get my house keys out of the glove box and agreed to take the car to BMW to get it fixed.

[ATM]

ATM said:

My Bus is at the BMW dealer. Slight mishap this weekend. I lost my car key. It was the only key I had so I had to call the AA. They smashed the window so I could get my house keys out of the glove box and agreed to take the car to BMW to get it fixed.

BMW say it needs a new window and a regulator - cost £500. The replacement key was £167.

FYI if anyone else loses their key and needs a replacement BMW can do this without the car. But you need to take your V5 and photo ID into the dealer.

[ATM]

BMW just called again to inform me of the defects they have found with the car - they're are quite a few. And also to tell me there are 2 recalls which needed completing. One for the Battery cables and one for the Brake Booster. The Brake Booster one is 3 - 4 hours work apparently. Quick Google search brings up a lot of results re the Brake Booster recall.

[ATM]

Recalls are free at BMW so why not go to the Dealer?

Just the above I think they said. I'll know more tomorrow when I collect it. I was really impressed at the service ordering a key in by next day which would work immediately without even having the car there.

But then they let themselves down with this FOC warranty work. If you consider I told them the car my was coming in on Tuesday, they actually received it on Wednesday but they only figured out it needed some warranty work doing on Thursday. If they were on the ball they should have figured this out on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. So overall that is not really great service. BMW - you need to try Harder.

[ATM]

BMW 335i M Sport Touring **High spec / Individual** (2006)
£11,995

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

[ATM]

dom9 said:

Jobbo said:

If it was at all warm, you'll always get a bit of a rush of air; it's a pressurised system. Don't be too paranoid!

LOL - I was starting to worry a little bit. It does hiss (very slightly), which is where (I guess) the water is going. Time for a new cap then and see if that cures it.

The cap is always going to release pressure if it gets above a threshold. If you cap is allowing this pressure to escape before the threshold is met then it could explain where your water is going. I wander how much a new cap is - let us know.

When my car into BMW the list of problems which they believed needed fixing included the horn for £230. All of which I declined to accept and collected my car anyway. Weirdly when I press the horn I hear a horn sounding. Did this fix itself or is this something more sinister?

[ATM]

philmots said:

Sometimes nice to open it up now and again, I had a run against a 535d, it did ok but I showed it a clean pair... In fairness it was him hounding me, these derv drivers must feel like they've something to prove!

I've owned a couple of semi-interesting cars, but this 550i attracts more comments than anything else I've ever had. Just this lunch time I was picking my daughter up from nursery and a bloke out the offices next door who was having a smoke outside asked me about it, he had a E91 330i (nice choice too).. Said he'd heard of them but never seen one. He liked how it sounded!

Not that long before that the trolley guy in Sainsbury's car park got excited about it "5.0 injection - woooo" I disappointed him when I said it was "only a 4.8" ..I briefly thought about debadging, but I do like the attention and comments off car people who obviously know it's a bit rare, or the daft one.

Anyone else get comments?

Yes

I was in Parts department at BMW buying a litre of oil. Parts guy said what model do you have. 5 50 I said.

Guy next to me - excuse me did you just say 5 50?
Me - Yes
Guy - is that a 5 litre
Me - Yes
Guy - I didn't know they made them
Me - Err yes

[ATM]

dom9 said:

ATM said:

Yes

I was in Parts department at BMW buying a litre of oil. Parts guy said what model do you have. 5 50 I said.

Guy next to me - excuse me did you just say 5 50?
Me - Yes
Guy - is that a 5 litre
Me - Yes
Guy - I didn't know they made them
Me - Err yes

Did you tell him what your other BMW had under the hood?

No

The poor man seemed clearly a bit out of the loop.

[ATM]

My Bus regularly surprises me still. I generally put my phone where the iDrive screen is. Just the other day I exited a junction a bit briskly. I was stationary and then accelerated and turned left. I got some really good traction and the phone almost hit me in the face. I think it hit me in the chest. It really surprised me.

[ATM]

AlasdairB10 said:

hornetrider said:

How novel...

Quite! However, M25 tailbacks can kill the self change enthusiasm in anyone. Was sorely tempted by that 550i manual on ebay a while back though.

Do you have to put your phone down to work that lever?

[ATM]

hornetrider said:

ATM said:

AlasdairB10 said:

hornetrider said:

How novel...

Quite! However, M25 tailbacks can kill the self change enthusiasm in anyone. Was sorely tempted by that 550i manual on ebay a while back though.

Do you have to put your phone down to work that lever?

633 PREP.MOB. PH. BUSINESS BLUET.INTERF. FTW

Is this some sms based short hand for agreeing with me?

[ATM]

smashie said:

It is possible to do it without heads off and would have been about 1/2 price, however I decided that with all the issues that I have already had with he car, at least with heads off, all the gaskets would be replaced and if there are any other issues with the engine, they would more than likely be seen and thus rectified with this work. I didn't want to have to be doing something like changing a head gasket 1 year down the line.
The symptoms that led my mechanic to believe that it was valve stem oil seals were that it was burning a lot of oil, and smoking. Th smoke smelt of oil. It was also lumpy on cold. He tested all the other likely candidates such as CCV valves, Crankcase vent pipe and vacuum pump. BMW are however also doing their own diagnostics on it prior to taking the heads off.

How many miles are on your car?
What's the likely cause of this?
I'm scared by the prospect of something similar with my Bus.

[ATM]

smashie said:

ATM said:

How many miles are on your car?
What's the likely cause of this?
I'm scared by the prospect of something similar with my Bus.

Not sure what the cause of it is I am afraid. The car has 101k on it. There is still a small possibility that when BMW have completed their diagnostics, it may not even be that bad, but I feel it is.
Will update on the outcome when it get the car back. Not sure if that will be end of the week/weekend or next week.

How long have you had the car?

[ATM]

smashie said:

ATM said:

How long have you had the car?

A few weeks! I kid you not.

However GOOD NEWS. It turns out that one of the breather pipes had split. BMW are replacing both of them and it has cured the issues. This means it will be a lot cheaper for me and using my amazing man maths, I can go ahead and get the NBT upgrade done now.

Well done that man. I'm always suspicious when I give my car to a garage that they might just lie about what was wrong. They could of changed the seals and charged you even though it was unnecessary. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

[ATM]

AlasdairB10 said:

smashie said:

I don't think I would be able to get rid of mine, especially as it is having to go back to BMW to get the valve stem oil seals done. It turns out that the split pipes they replaced last time did not fix the issue. By the end of my ownership this car could end up like Trigger's broom!

Mine's in at BMW too. Smoke after idle or hot runs. They think its just the crank case breathers - given there is no smoke on start up I'm inclined to agree. Would the broken breathers increase oil consumption?

Let us know how you get on.

[ATM]

I almost bid on this:

335i
Manual
Big Brake Kit
Exhaust
H+R suspension

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262077890898

[ATM]

dom9 said:

Handsome... But are you not happy with your V8s then?

Sometimes I think the 550i is a bit too bargey.

[ATM]

dom9 said:

Absolutely!

I'd be urging everyone to fill their boots at that money! I'll be checking that site more regularly now, in case a deal like that ever comes up for me!

I'd do it annually for that money, I reckon!

So do I just go on the BMW website and click some buttons?

[ATM]

dom9 said:

ATM said:

So do I just go on the BMW website and click some buttons?

I just googled BMW Service UK and it comes up with the BMW service site and that just asks for your reg and mileage

I tried this and it broke where it comes up with the dealer / location choice. So I've sent my local dealer a contact request through the website form.