Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 10]
Discussion
sleepera6 said:
Cargiant were fantastic to deal with and a great price (£16k, 2 yrs old with 27000 miles, FLSH and one owner!)
Very good for the money better than the 3 er i owned (by far)
Thanks for replying, good to hear, I've had mixed experiences with car supermarkets, Motorpoint excellent (bought from them twice), Car Shop were dreadful.Very good for the money better than the 3 er i owned (by far)
sly fox said:
I could go on. Other than Air Suspension issues i'd argue it's more reliable too especially from an electrics point of view.
I'd agree it is a better car, but not that it is more reliable. It is, generally, still a very reliable car but does have some fairly common faults:The air suspension as you mention can play up.
The central touchscreen of 2004-05 models goes wrong (this was a manufacturing fault by Fujsitsu)
The Mark Levinson amp is known to lose channels.
The rear subwoofer often breaks up and starts distorting.
The up/down of the steering column seems to break on all of them.
It is not unknown for the coolant and ATF to mix in the radiator wrecking the gearbox.
The windows delaminate.
They are also quite prone to ABS reluctors corroding.
None of these faults are endemic but need checking for. There are fixes for most of them out there.
PANIC! 
We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
So, recently return from SW France in the E39 525i Touring.
Given the easy driving on French Autoroutes and that we were arriving back in Portsmouth late on a Saturday night this should have been an easy, if long (just under 800 miles.
The trouble is we sent off in the morning darkness in France and had to do about the first 3 hours under those conditions and then about 4 hours in the night upon arrival in the U.K.
Thus, about 7 hours on the journey were SERIOUSLY marred by the terrible headlamps on the car! You can have all the bells and whistles, all the refinement etc. etc. in the world and they matter not a jot if you can't see where you're bloody going! And I'm really not exaggerating here.
The car is fitted with the later (factory) Angel Eyes type of headlamps which were supposed to be a big improved over the earlier cars fitted with the type with 'ginger' indicators (which frankly should be illegal!) and on my wife's E39 525i Saloon they are.
Having crawled back in one piece (somehow), I decided to investigated. The headlamp lenses weren't dirty as such (I'd stopped and tried cleaning them during the drive) but pitted and "crusty" (see pics).
Next day I removed the headlamps and spent 3 hours per side wet n' dry sanding and then polishing them. The difference is remarkable...you can actually see where you're going now!
I'm going to add some Osram NightBreaker bulbs today. I'm hoping that the combination will see a vast improvement.
And finally, gratuitous sunshine shot!
Given the easy driving on French Autoroutes and that we were arriving back in Portsmouth late on a Saturday night this should have been an easy, if long (just under 800 miles.
The trouble is we sent off in the morning darkness in France and had to do about the first 3 hours under those conditions and then about 4 hours in the night upon arrival in the U.K.
Thus, about 7 hours on the journey were SERIOUSLY marred by the terrible headlamps on the car! You can have all the bells and whistles, all the refinement etc. etc. in the world and they matter not a jot if you can't see where you're bloody going! And I'm really not exaggerating here.
The car is fitted with the later (factory) Angel Eyes type of headlamps which were supposed to be a big improved over the earlier cars fitted with the type with 'ginger' indicators (which frankly should be illegal!) and on my wife's E39 525i Saloon they are.
Having crawled back in one piece (somehow), I decided to investigated. The headlamp lenses weren't dirty as such (I'd stopped and tried cleaning them during the drive) but pitted and "crusty" (see pics).
Next day I removed the headlamps and spent 3 hours per side wet n' dry sanding and then polishing them. The difference is remarkable...you can actually see where you're going now!
I'm going to add some Osram NightBreaker bulbs today. I'm hoping that the combination will see a vast improvement.
And finally, gratuitous sunshine shot!
Edited by derin100 on Thursday 27th October 09:23
Edited by derin100 on Thursday 27th October 09:24
I had the same with the plastic lenses on my Clio.
I realise you have all the gear, but for anyone without I used this 3M kit with an electric drill in about 2h, and the surface went from ruined to glassy.
I realise you have all the gear, but for anyone without I used this 3M kit with an electric drill in about 2h, and the surface went from ruined to glassy.
Congrats on the house sale.
I have to say I have sometimes wondered why people complain about the angel eye headlamps on the facelift E39, mine have always seemed fine. But having seen the state your lenses were in, I can see why you had a problem, and perhaps others are in the same boat. Not exactly BMW's fault. Great job on polishing them out! Even just dusing and carefully cleaning the reflectors can improve things.
Night Breakers are a significant improvement, but ensure you have spare bulbs as what you gain in brightness you lose in bulb life (not that it's likely to matter much if you are running a large fleet as no individual car is likely to run up that many night miles over a year or two).
When I bought my R129 I thought the headlamps were rather so-so (fairly typically so for an oblong-headlamp car of that era) and then had the slightly spirit-crushing experience of buying a pair of new Night Breaker Plus, figuring out how you change the bulbs on an R129, and taking out the old bulbs with a minor sense of triumph only to discover that thy were... already Nightbreaker Plus.
I have to say I have sometimes wondered why people complain about the angel eye headlamps on the facelift E39, mine have always seemed fine. But having seen the state your lenses were in, I can see why you had a problem, and perhaps others are in the same boat. Not exactly BMW's fault. Great job on polishing them out! Even just dusing and carefully cleaning the reflectors can improve things.
Night Breakers are a significant improvement, but ensure you have spare bulbs as what you gain in brightness you lose in bulb life (not that it's likely to matter much if you are running a large fleet as no individual car is likely to run up that many night miles over a year or two).
When I bought my R129 I thought the headlamps were rather so-so (fairly typically so for an oblong-headlamp car of that era) and then had the slightly spirit-crushing experience of buying a pair of new Night Breaker Plus, figuring out how you change the bulbs on an R129, and taking out the old bulbs with a minor sense of triumph only to discover that thy were... already Nightbreaker Plus.
Edited by Lowtimer on Thursday 27th October 09:55
Thanks chaps!
Good tip to keep the other bulbs that I'm taking out. I'll keep them as spares in the car as also, in France, it's a legal requirement to keep a full set of spare bulbs in the car.
The insides of the headlamps don't look too bad but I'm going to be opening them up anyway (that looks like a real fun job!) as I think one may also have a broken adjuster so I've just ordered a set for both sides.
Good tip to keep the other bulbs that I'm taking out. I'll keep them as spares in the car as also, in France, it's a legal requirement to keep a full set of spare bulbs in the car.
The insides of the headlamps don't look too bad but I'm going to be opening them up anyway (that looks like a real fun job!) as I think one may also have a broken adjuster so I've just ordered a set for both sides.
Krikkit said:
I had the same with the plastic lenses on my Clio.
I realise you have all the gear, but for anyone without I used this 3M kit with an electric drill in about 2h, and the surface went from ruined to glassy.
I used T cut on the headlight lenses of our Mitsubishi Grandis at the weekend, came up a treat. I suspect this was more of a film of stuff on the lights rather than heavy pitting.I realise you have all the gear, but for anyone without I used this 3M kit with an electric drill in about 2h, and the surface went from ruined to glassy.
Yeah, a polish will often help a discoloured UV protection layer on plastic lights, but once they're pitted you need to remove the layer entirely.
The kit above includes sanding pads, effectively you wet sand the light until all the pitting/crap has gone, then work another couple of fine pads and some cutting compound on it until clear. Very satisfying.
The kit above includes sanding pads, effectively you wet sand the light until all the pitting/crap has gone, then work another couple of fine pads and some cutting compound on it until clear. Very satisfying.
W00DY said:
If you had an early ginger car you'd have polished your headlights and still found them to be s
t.
I have just ordered some Nightbreakers though and I shall endeavour to increase my carrot intake!
Wishing I ate more carrots (I do eat them but not too fond of them so maybe not enough?) did actually cross my mind during the drive when things were at the worst! t. I have just ordered some Nightbreakers though and I shall endeavour to increase my carrot intake!
However, it's not even as simple as that! Being slightly short-sighted an ophthalmic surgeon at work did try to explain to me once why it was worse I night time. Something to do with "Myopic Shift". I didn't understand what he was on about and I really can't be bothered to read all of this
...but I think this explains it:http://pabloartal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/causes-of...
derin100 said:
PANIC!
We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
Perhaps I can look after the 8-series for you? Leave it with me as long as you like.We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
Krikkit said:
Yeah, a polish will often help a discoloured UV protection layer on plastic lights, but once they're pitted you need to remove the layer entirely.
The kit above includes sanding pads, effectively you wet sand the light until all the pitting/crap has gone, then work another couple of fine pads and some cutting compound on it until clear. Very satisfying.
I did the same job on my dad's early CLS a fortnight ago, with a mixture of wet and dry papers of different grades and various cutting pastes and polishes. Like you say, very satisfying.The kit above includes sanding pads, effectively you wet sand the light until all the pitting/crap has gone, then work another couple of fine pads and some cutting compound on it until clear. Very satisfying.
r129sl said:
derin100 said:
PANIC!
We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
Perhaps I can look after the 8-series for you? Leave it with me as long as you like.We've cut our holiday in France and Northern Spain short and returned to the UK a week early as whilst away it seems that we may have sold our house STC and the buyers want to be in by Xmas!
Now, to any ordinary/normal person that would be a good thing...right?
Hmmm...not so straight forward here. Having come back in the E39 Touring that we normally keep in France (needlessly really and more on that 800 mile ,in one day, return drive in a separate post) that brought us up to what I thought was 6 cars. That's a big problem as I'm going to be losing my beloved garage and moving to rented accommodation with at best a small single garage.
It's an even bigger problem when you then realise that actually you don't have 6 cars...you've actually forgotten about the one that's at your mechanic's place finally having completed all the mechanical renovation...and that the reality is that you own 7 cars!
So, I have to go into panic driven 'selling-mode'!
First up is going to be the little Merc A140 which I've got ready to go now.
Just about to go into the garage to install two brand new batteries into it (again). Just put a new one in the 728i this morning as well.I'm spending a lot of money on cars lately.
I've looked into storage options. Fairly locally there's a place that's £16/week (so £832/annum). Is that quite a lot or the going rate?
Ah!I should have mentioned it's a managed typed car storage place rather than me just renting a garage myself. The way decent 8-Series prices seem to be going I wouldn't want to leave it locked in a garage somewhere unattended. It's this place:
http://www.salopiancarstorage.co.uk/
http://www.salopiancarstorage.co.uk/
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