What have you done to your BMW today?
Discussion
Smiled at her because she's coming up to being 18 years old (E36 328i Sport), she's got 158,000 miles under her belt, she uses more oil than Oliver Reed used alcohol, she's got more rattles than a p
ed off Rattlesnake, she's a daily hack that gets a bit neglected and yet somehow she got through yet another MOT (at BMW) with no work required! - And all for £29.95!
(She did have a couple of advisories: slight oil mist on a rear shocker, slight engine oil leak, loose heat shields, slightly wear in the upper steering column bearing and only 2mm left on the front brake pads - But nothing that was a fail!)
I was bracing Myself for a failure on emissions and having to find a replacement for her, trampsing all across the country looking at E46 330 coupes over the weekend, but no! - She lives to fight another year!
She's like a Top Gear challenge car - Despite everything, she just keeps going! (And everything still works on her! - Well, TBH, you can only run the air-con for short periods because the Aux fan has seized [should really find time to replace it!], but everything else works perfectly!)
Love that car!
ed off Rattlesnake, she's a daily hack that gets a bit neglected and yet somehow she got through yet another MOT (at BMW) with no work required! - And all for £29.95! (She did have a couple of advisories: slight oil mist on a rear shocker, slight engine oil leak, loose heat shields, slightly wear in the upper steering column bearing and only 2mm left on the front brake pads - But nothing that was a fail!)
I was bracing Myself for a failure on emissions and having to find a replacement for her, trampsing all across the country looking at E46 330 coupes over the weekend, but no! - She lives to fight another year!
She's like a Top Gear challenge car - Despite everything, she just keeps going! (And everything still works on her! - Well, TBH, you can only run the air-con for short periods because the Aux fan has seized [should really find time to replace it!], but everything else works perfectly!)
Love that car!
Right, jobs done, car runs and there are no codes thrown up, lumpy cold tick over cured, I'm really chuffed with it.
Two things if you want to do this job.
One, buy the breather that comes with all the pipes, every pipe broke on mine, they are plastic and old.
Two, remove the dipstick tube and clean out using a cable tie and Gunk. If you don't you have wasted your time and money doing this.
Now I have a split intake boot and rocker cover gasket to do next.
Two things if you want to do this job.
One, buy the breather that comes with all the pipes, every pipe broke on mine, they are plastic and old.
Two, remove the dipstick tube and clean out using a cable tie and Gunk. If you don't you have wasted your time and money doing this.
Now I have a split intake boot and rocker cover gasket to do next.
Spanked my Z4 Coupe around a bit this morning getting lost going to a PH Thames Valley/Surrey meet-up and arrived as the last to leave were doing just that - bl**dy Garmin! Z4 is not ideal for single-track roads with passing places and floods!
Still after I got home I fixed the windscreen washers on my daily, a 325Ti Compact.
They stopped working a few weeks ago when it got really cold, which I put down to a lack of additive as the washer bottle had plain water in it and an iceberg fit to sink the Titanic!(It passed an MOT in Nov 14)!
But the mesh filter on the pump was full of cr*p - an old toothbrush cleaned it up a treat and I put in some additive so all good now.
Just need to fix the rear wiper and get the right struts for the self-opening hatch to work!
Still after I got home I fixed the windscreen washers on my daily, a 325Ti Compact.
They stopped working a few weeks ago when it got really cold, which I put down to a lack of additive as the washer bottle had plain water in it and an iceberg fit to sink the Titanic!(It passed an MOT in Nov 14)!
But the mesh filter on the pump was full of cr*p - an old toothbrush cleaned it up a treat and I put in some additive so all good now.
Just need to fix the rear wiper and get the right struts for the self-opening hatch to work!
just left this on the alpina forum but thought id share in case anyones interested
Having had my wheels refurbed by lepsons some months ago they had accumulated some stubborn brake dust despite being regularly cleaned with bilberry.
with the benefit of some time i thought id try to get them a bit cleaner whilst they were off the car for the winter. heres a summary of what i did for anyone that might be interested
- liberally rinse with apc and warm water using detailing brush and noodle mit, 2 bucket method
- allow to dry
- apply tardis to inside and outside and leave to dwell
- warm up bilt hamber claybar and work each wheel with liberal doses of quick detailer
- rinse again with apc solution
- spray on dragons breath and allow to dwell
- rinse off dragons breath
- allow to dry and check work
- some stubborn tar spots needed more attention so went nuclear on them
- final rinse and allow to dry and finish with microfibre
- dress walls with autoglym rubber dressing and store
in the final step, ill run the claybar over them again before applying a good coat of fk1000p before sticking them back on the car
it really is a pita job to do and the brake dust only started to shift once i got at the wheels with the clay bar
they do look good and will look better once ive put the sealant on
Having had my wheels refurbed by lepsons some months ago they had accumulated some stubborn brake dust despite being regularly cleaned with bilberry.
with the benefit of some time i thought id try to get them a bit cleaner whilst they were off the car for the winter. heres a summary of what i did for anyone that might be interested
- liberally rinse with apc and warm water using detailing brush and noodle mit, 2 bucket method
- allow to dry
- apply tardis to inside and outside and leave to dwell
- warm up bilt hamber claybar and work each wheel with liberal doses of quick detailer
- rinse again with apc solution
- spray on dragons breath and allow to dwell
- rinse off dragons breath
- allow to dry and check work
- some stubborn tar spots needed more attention so went nuclear on them
- final rinse and allow to dry and finish with microfibre
- dress walls with autoglym rubber dressing and store
in the final step, ill run the claybar over them again before applying a good coat of fk1000p before sticking them back on the car
it really is a pita job to do and the brake dust only started to shift once i got at the wheels with the clay bar
they do look good and will look better once ive put the sealant on
4rephill said:
Smiled at her because she's coming up to being 18 years old (E36 328i Sport), she's got 158,000 miles under her belt, she uses more oil than Oliver Reed used alcohol, she's got more rattles than a ped off Rattlesnake, she's a daily hack that gets a bit neglected and yet somehow she got through yet another MOT (at BMW) with no work required! - And all for £29.95!
(She did have a couple of advisories: slight oil mist on a rear shocker, slight engine oil leak, loose heat shields, slightly wear in the upper steering column bearing and only 2mm left on the front brake pads - But nothing that was a fail!)
I was bracing Myself for a failure on emissions and having to find a replacement for her, trampsing all across the country looking at E46 330 coupes over the weekend, but no! - She lives to fight another year!
She's like a Top Gear challenge car - Despite everything, she just keeps going! (And everything still works on her! - Well, TBH, you can only run the air-con for short periods because the Aux fan has seized [should really find time to replace it!], but everything else works perfectly!)
Love that car!
Great story ed off Rattlesnake, she's a daily hack that gets a bit neglected and yet somehow she got through yet another MOT (at BMW) with no work required! - And all for £29.95! (She did have a couple of advisories: slight oil mist on a rear shocker, slight engine oil leak, loose heat shields, slightly wear in the upper steering column bearing and only 2mm left on the front brake pads - But nothing that was a fail!)
I was bracing Myself for a failure on emissions and having to find a replacement for her, trampsing all across the country looking at E46 330 coupes over the weekend, but no! - She lives to fight another year!
She's like a Top Gear challenge car - Despite everything, she just keeps going! (And everything still works on her! - Well, TBH, you can only run the air-con for short periods because the Aux fan has seized [should really find time to replace it!], but everything else works perfectly!)
Love that car!
I recently changed the final stage resistor on my e46. That was a right PITA but thankfully it cured the problem as my diagnosis was a complete guess.
This week the brakes got a bit of fettling as the front started binding on and causing serious heat and wheel shake.
Today I screwed on some number plates.
This week the brakes got a bit of fettling as the front started binding on and causing serious heat and wheel shake.
Today I screwed on some number plates.
Had to accept that the insurance company have written off my e36 328 sport after it was rear ended on the A40. The damage does not look too bad but it has creased the boot floor a bit and is 'not financially viable to repair'.
The biggest problem has been getting paid out properly, according to the insurance industry, the amount that people are asking for their cars , has absolutely no relevance to their actual value! As such they have refused to pay me more than about half what a replacement will cost (if I could find one in a condition and spec that i wanted).
Rant over, the search is now on for a decent e46 330 coupe at a sensible price.
The biggest problem has been getting paid out properly, according to the insurance industry, the amount that people are asking for their cars , has absolutely no relevance to their actual value! As such they have refused to pay me more than about half what a replacement will cost (if I could find one in a condition and spec that i wanted).
Rant over, the search is now on for a decent e46 330 coupe at a sensible price.
RC1 said:
just left this on the alpina forum but thought id share in case anyones interested
Having had my wheels refurbed by lepsons some months ago they had accumulated some stubborn brake dust despite being regularly cleaned with bilberry.
with the benefit of some time i thought id try to get them a bit cleaner whilst they were off the car for the winter. heres a summary of what i did for anyone that might be interested
- liberally rinse with apc and warm water using detailing brush and noodle mit, 2 bucket method
- allow to dry
- apply tardis to inside and outside and leave to dwell
- warm up bilt hamber claybar and work each wheel with liberal doses of quick detailer
- rinse again with apc solution
- spray on dragons breath and allow to dwell
- rinse off dragons breath
- allow to dry and check work
- some stubborn tar spots needed more attention so went nuclear on them
- final rinse and allow to dry and finish with microfibre
- dress walls with autoglym rubber dressing and store
in the final step, ill run the claybar over them again before applying a good coat of fk1000p before sticking them back on the car
it really is a pita job to do and the brake dust only started to shift once i got at the wheels with the clay bar
they do look good and will look better once ive put the sealant on
You are kidding .... aren't you? Having had my wheels refurbed by lepsons some months ago they had accumulated some stubborn brake dust despite being regularly cleaned with bilberry.
with the benefit of some time i thought id try to get them a bit cleaner whilst they were off the car for the winter. heres a summary of what i did for anyone that might be interested
- liberally rinse with apc and warm water using detailing brush and noodle mit, 2 bucket method
- allow to dry
- apply tardis to inside and outside and leave to dwell
- warm up bilt hamber claybar and work each wheel with liberal doses of quick detailer
- rinse again with apc solution
- spray on dragons breath and allow to dwell
- rinse off dragons breath
- allow to dry and check work
- some stubborn tar spots needed more attention so went nuclear on them
- final rinse and allow to dry and finish with microfibre
- dress walls with autoglym rubber dressing and store
in the final step, ill run the claybar over them again before applying a good coat of fk1000p before sticking them back on the car
it really is a pita job to do and the brake dust only started to shift once i got at the wheels with the clay bar
they do look good and will look better once ive put the sealant on
And what the hell is a noodle mit, or dragon's breath?
One of us needs to get out more
Edited to add: just put my winters away after this complex protocol.
Jet wash
Wash with bucket of soapy water and an old sponge.
Look like new!
Simples
Edited by drmark on Thursday 19th February 20:21
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff