E61 V8 Bearding

E61 V8 Bearding

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ATM

Original Poster:

18,295 posts

219 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
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.

dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
ATM said:
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.
And you're absolutely right but it doesn't seem to be floors and chassis legs etc (though I am sure it can happen). Seems to suffer from 'cosmetic' rust most of all.

Anyway, I am rapidly going off the idea with all the people who won't answer questions about the cars they have for sale... Presumably because they'd need to be honest about the mess they are in!

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
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dom9 said:
Been chatting tot he guys from e-maps about my 'box issue etc and I am definitely going to have a re-map done by them. It's not much money and I do believe there are benefits, so I am happy to be the thread guinea pig based on the time they've spent giving me 'free advice' over email.


Edited by dom9 on Tuesday 25th August 09:16
Don't these guys come to your house to do the job?

Is there a rolling road local to you that you can go to before and after to see what figures it's actually making?

hornetrider

63,161 posts

205 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
philmots said:
Is there a rolling road local to you that you can go to before and after to see what figures it's actually making?
This is absolutely key. Need befores and afters.

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
hornetrider said:
philmots said:
Is there a rolling road local to you that you can go to before and after to see what figures it's actually making?
This is absolutely key. Need befores and afters.
See if E-Maps will put their money where their stats are, and pay for the rolling road..?

If they make the gains suggested they could quite easily have a few more customers on this thread alone.

dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
Not sure if they come to your house... I was intending on driving to Brum (think that's where they are).

I am not a million miles from Surrey Rolling Road so could certainly do my own before and after with Charlie (Vixpy).

Will talk to them about this a bit more while I get some other stuff sorted.

It's still another 4 days until Mrs9 gets back from Costa Rica frown

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Tuesday 25th August 2015
quotequote all
If you could get to SRR I'd be really interested to see the results.

dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
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Quiet in here, of late!

philmots said:
If you could get to SRR I'd be really interested to see the results.
I'd be more than happy to post up back to back results!

I've been holding off, seeing how my transmission is behaving. Weirdly - I don't seem to have the torque converter stutter at the moment.

Perhaps I am just not getting the fluid hot enough but with cruise set to 35-40mph, it isn't there at the moment.

Of course, this is good news!

It needs a damn good clean though... The inside hasn't had a hoover and wipe down in the 3-ish months I've owned it and that's with a hyperactive and generally pretty filthy Labrador NOT staying in the boot!

ATM

Original Poster:

18,295 posts

219 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
quotequote all
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

Original Poster:

18,295 posts

219 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
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.

jboy72

375 posts

181 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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ATM said:
BMW say it needs a new window
Did they charge for those diagnostics? Tee hee.

EDIT: Sorry, that was not very sympathetic of me was it. Tis pain enough to pay for £600 of repairs when they are needed never mind when they could have been avoided!


dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
ATM said:
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.
Ouch! Expensive day for you frown

I had to go and top up my header tank this morning after I started the car up to a warning. This is the second time I have had to do that. It took around a pint, again.

A pint a month doesn't sound like a huge amount (so, 2 pints in over 1,000 miles) but I wouldn't have thought it should be losing any at all.

Hopefully this is a very slight leak at a pipe join as opposed to a tiny leak in the rad or, worse still, the in-the-vee engine coolant pipe... Or even head gasket (no signs of this and I believe one or both were done not so long ago).

Still, the gearbox is behaving itself and the car is running fantastically.

It is telling me that it needs an oil change service so I will get that done, have them check for coolant leaks and stick a new MOT on it in the next few weeks. Will also see if there are any gearbox faults registered but all seems well at the moment.

One thing I have noticed is the rear window de-mist interferes with the radio! When I switch that on, it goes fuzzy!

Otherwise, my new blackberry synced up with the Bluetooth nicely and I don't feel like such a knob for having winter tyres on the car, now it's blinking freezing!

Edited by dom9 on Thursday 3rd September 10:17

Jobbo

12,972 posts

264 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
When I bought my second 545i I was nearly home, just stopped to fill up with petrol and spotted a bit of steam coming from under the bonnet. Quickly turned off and found a pipe which runs along the top of the radiator, under the slam panel, had come unclipped and been sliced by the fan (I guess the fan didn't come on until I stopped moving, which is why I was so fortunate). It was easily repaired properly, though the AA had to come out with some funky waterproof tape for a temp fix at the time.

So, it could be that pipe which is weeping; or the expansion tank might be the issue, or a pipe join. Since I took that car to 148k miles before selling it with no other coolant problems (and despite my independent specialist telling me somebody had put the wrong coolant in it previously and him changing it to the right stuff), I think the risk of the coolant pipe in the V failing is possibly overstated.

dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Jobbo said:
When I bought my second 545i I was nearly home, just stopped to fill up with petrol and spotted a bit of steam coming from under the bonnet. Quickly turned off and found a pipe which runs along the top of the radiator, under the slam panel, had come unclipped and been sliced by the fan (I guess the fan didn't come on until I stopped moving, which is why I was so fortunate). It was easily repaired properly, though the AA had to come out with some funky waterproof tape for a temp fix at the time.

So, it could be that pipe which is weeping; or the expansion tank might be the issue, or a pipe join. Since I took that car to 148k miles before selling it with no other coolant problems (and despite my independent specialist telling me somebody had put the wrong coolant in it previously and him changing it to the right stuff), I think the risk of the coolant pipe in the V failing is possibly overstated.
Good info - Thanks Jobbo.

Will take a look under the slam panel this weekend.

At the slow rate it seems to be disappearing, I'd say any leak was very small so it's likely to just be a hose/ jubilee clip somewhere.

Maybe I should just drop an egg in and forget about it wink

At least the gearbox seems to have sorted itself out and my mpg has gone up with my longer runs to work! The Bluetooth also works far better than I was expecting.

I do need a new bonnet badge (can anyone recommend a brand from say eBay?) to tidy the front end up a bit though.

Jobbo

12,972 posts

264 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Probably worth getting a proper BMW badge; Cotswold BMW seem to be the dealer to go to for parts.

Both my 545is had the built-in phone, which has a cordless handset in the centre armrest. That cordless handset works via Bluetooth but the Bluetooth doesn't work with any other handset; that really is an option to be avoided since the normal Bluetooth is much more functional.

dom9

8,079 posts

209 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Jobbo said:
Probably worth getting a proper BMW badge; Cotswold BMW seem to be the dealer to go to for parts.

Both my 545is had the built-in phone, which has a cordless handset in the centre armrest. That cordless handset works via Bluetooth but the Bluetooth doesn't work with any other handset; that really is an option to be avoided since the normal Bluetooth is much more functional.
Mine has a cradle for a Nokia phone in the armrest but the BT seems to work fine with my Blackberry biggrin

I don't use it for music or anything, purely calls. I don't have a single song on my phone, unlike these whippersnappers!

AliB10

141 posts

191 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
Jobbo said:
Probably worth getting a proper BMW badge; Cotswold BMW seem to be the dealer to go to for parts.

Both my 545is had the built-in phone, which has a cordless handset in the centre armrest. That cordless handset works via Bluetooth but the Bluetooth doesn't work with any other handset; that really is an option to be avoided since the normal Bluetooth is much more functional.
Agree on the phone - it is old tech but it surely it cant have been hard for them to be able to link with other bluetooth phones as well? I manually forward my phones to the car - bit of a faff but at least you can pick up calls.

I had the same problem with the same pipe along the top of the rad. Refilling the header, couldn't work out what the issue was as no leaks apparent until a friendly WRX driver pointed out I was steaming at the lights one day. By the time I got to work I had coolant everywhere. BMW Assist sorted it out. Looks quite easy to replace the pipe yourself.

+1 for Cotswold BMW. Usually a little cheaper and they include shipping. Nice people to deal with.

Jobbo

12,972 posts

264 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
AliB10 said:
Agree on the phone - it is old tech but it surely it cant have been hard for them to be able to link with other bluetooth phones as well? I manually forward my phones to the car - bit of a faff but at least you can pick up calls.
Considering the cheaper Bluetooth option which was available at the same time does work with all phones, it seems very cock-eyed. I had a PAYG SIM in mine but rarely used it; probably got through £10 of credit in a year.

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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My Bluetooth works perfect with iPhone 6. Properly useful feature.

ATM

Original Poster:

18,295 posts

219 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
quotequote all
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.