My other half’s new daily; E88 BMW 125i cabriolet
Discussion
Court_S said:
B'stard Child said:
That's good if the drive was enthusiastic 
We had a run down to London the other weekend steady cruise at 70 ish there and back with a bit of slow traffic at the end of first leg and beginning of return leg - when I got home (round trip 150 miles) I looked at the trip computer 38.8 since fill up - I was really surprised
The drive home was much more enthusiastic with the roads bring clear until Oswestry. I at in a fair bit of traffic around Cannock too. We had a run down to London the other weekend steady cruise at 70 ish there and back with a bit of slow traffic at the end of first leg and beginning of return leg - when I got home (round trip 150 miles) I looked at the trip computer 38.8 since fill up - I was really surprised
It’s more economical than my 130i ever was despite being heavier.
Had to go to Holyhead again today, so as the forecast was OK I stole the 125i for the day. I managed the full trip with the roof down (circa 360 mile round trip). This morning’s drive was much better than this afternoons due to less lorries etc. I took the direct route again despite being a tad slower.
I took a slight detour on the way home; the circuit was closed to spectators unfortunately but I managed to grab a few pics.
I was sad enough to stop along the way for more.
I really like this little car; it’s quick enough on this sort of trip, comfy enough and fun. On roads like this, I do miss a manual in my 335i. It averaged 31.3mpg which wasn’t bad given it was spirited at times and I got caught in the Cannock traffic tonight.
Rear tyres will be getting done in the next few days and rear discs and pads will follow (just playing Autodoc roulette at the mo). The rear tyres aren’t properly shagged yet, but given the weather is going to start getting worse I’d rather change them now. It’s getting Good Year Asymmetric 5’s since there’s an offer on at the mo and they’re £20 more than some Kumho’s.
I took a slight detour on the way home; the circuit was closed to spectators unfortunately but I managed to grab a few pics.
I was sad enough to stop along the way for more.
I really like this little car; it’s quick enough on this sort of trip, comfy enough and fun. On roads like this, I do miss a manual in my 335i. It averaged 31.3mpg which wasn’t bad given it was spirited at times and I got caught in the Cannock traffic tonight.
Rear tyres will be getting done in the next few days and rear discs and pads will follow (just playing Autodoc roulette at the mo). The rear tyres aren’t properly shagged yet, but given the weather is going to start getting worse I’d rather change them now. It’s getting Good Year Asymmetric 5’s since there’s an offer on at the mo and they’re £20 more than some Kumho’s.
The weather was nice today, so I cracked on with giving this a pre-winter detail:
Snowfoam shot
The paint was in really good shape with very little contamination, even after the NC500 in April.
The polishing turned into a nightmare though…having worked just fine last week, DA refused to play ball. Changed the fuse and nadda. So nipped out to grab a new one. All I could get was an Auto Finesse jobbie from ECP which is a bit s
t (it’s weedy compared to the one that died).
After it was cleaned, I nipped out for the obligatory photos of a shiny car.
The in2detailing wax is really good. The car was still beading well having last been waxed before we did the NC500, but it’s beading even better now….quick test
Also realised that I’ve not posted any pics of the alcantara binnacle cover. Finished the interior off nicely.
I’m heading to C&M tomorrow, but when I get back I’ll start changing the rear discs and pads. I’m going to give the callipers a lick of paint too because they look a bit scabby as it approaches 100k.
On Thursday, it’s getting a pair of Good Year Asymmetric 5’s fitted on the rear. It should be then ready for its MOT at the end of the month.
- snowfoam
- wash and dry
- chemical decontamination with CarPro Trix (next to nothing seemed to on the paint)
- wash and dry
- clayed
- polished with Scholl S20
- wiped over with Angel Wax Stripped Ease to remove any left over residue
- cost of Auto Finesse glaze
- two coats of in2detailing ceramic wax
- glass cleaned
- interior wiped over and vac’d
- I cleaned the leather last week with Pears soap.
Snowfoam shot
The paint was in really good shape with very little contamination, even after the NC500 in April.
The polishing turned into a nightmare though…having worked just fine last week, DA refused to play ball. Changed the fuse and nadda. So nipped out to grab a new one. All I could get was an Auto Finesse jobbie from ECP which is a bit s
t (it’s weedy compared to the one that died).After it was cleaned, I nipped out for the obligatory photos of a shiny car.
The in2detailing wax is really good. The car was still beading well having last been waxed before we did the NC500, but it’s beading even better now….quick test
Also realised that I’ve not posted any pics of the alcantara binnacle cover. Finished the interior off nicely.
I’m heading to C&M tomorrow, but when I get back I’ll start changing the rear discs and pads. I’m going to give the callipers a lick of paint too because they look a bit scabby as it approaches 100k.
On Thursday, it’s getting a pair of Good Year Asymmetric 5’s fitted on the rear. It should be then ready for its MOT at the end of the month.
The weather was nice today, so I cracked on with giving this a pre-winter detail:
Snowfoam shot
The paint was in really good shape with very little contamination, even after the NC500 in April.
The polishing turned into a nightmare though…having worked just fine last week, DA refused to play ball. Changed the fuse and nadda. So nipped out to grab a new one. All I could get was an Auto Finesse jobbie from ECP which is a bit st (it’s weedy compared to the one that died).
After it was cleaned, I nipped out for the obligatory photos of a shiny car.
The in2detailing wax is really good. The car was still beading well having last been waxed before we did the NC500, but it’s beading even better now….quick test
Also realised that I’ve not posted any pics of the alcantara binnacle cover. Finished the interior off nicely.
I’m heading to C&M tomorrow, but when I get back I’ll start changing the rear discs and pads. I’m going to give the callipers a lick of paint too because they look a bit scabby as it approaches 100k.
On Thursday, it’s getting a pair of Good Year Asymmetric 5’s fitted on the rear. It should be then ready for its MOT at the end of the month.
- snowfoam
- wash and dry
- chemical decontamination with CarPro Trix (next to nothing seemed to on the paint)
- wash and dry
- clayed
- polished with Scholl S20
- wiped over with Angel Wax Stripped Ease to remove any left over residue
- cost of Auto Finesse glaze
- two coats of in2detailing ceramic wax
- glass cleaned
- interior wiped over and vac’d
- I cleaned the leather last week with Pears soap.
Snowfoam shot
The paint was in really good shape with very little contamination, even after the NC500 in April.
The polishing turned into a nightmare though…having worked just fine last week, DA refused to play ball. Changed the fuse and nadda. So nipped out to grab a new one. All I could get was an Auto Finesse jobbie from ECP which is a bit s
t (it’s weedy compared to the one that died).After it was cleaned, I nipped out for the obligatory photos of a shiny car.
The in2detailing wax is really good. The car was still beading well having last been waxed before we did the NC500, but it’s beading even better now….quick test
Also realised that I’ve not posted any pics of the alcantara binnacle cover. Finished the interior off nicely.
I’m heading to C&M tomorrow, but when I get back I’ll start changing the rear discs and pads. I’m going to give the callipers a lick of paint too because they look a bit scabby as it approaches 100k.
On Thursday, it’s getting a pair of Good Year Asymmetric 5’s fitted on the rear. It should be then ready for its MOT at the end of the month.
Looks well that Sam 
Once mines back from the suspension work; I've got the BH undersealing stuff to do and then my pals going to come and a spend a day on it with me and give it a full, professional in-depth clean & polish and then protection
What's C&M like too? Never been, it's a 2.5hr drive for me!
Once mines back from the suspension work; I've got the BH undersealing stuff to do and then my pals going to come and a spend a day on it with me and give it a full, professional in-depth clean & polish and then protection
What's C&M like too? Never been, it's a 2.5hr drive for me!
d_a_n1979 said:
Looks well that Sam
Once mines back from the suspension work; I've got the BH undersealing stuff to do and then my pals going to come and a spend a day on it with me and give it a full, professional in-depth clean & polish and then protection
What's C&M like too? Never been, it's a 2.5hr drive for me!
Cheers Dan. Looks better in the pics; needs a bit of paint and a few dings popping out, but it is 13 years old and will cross 100k this year.Once mines back from the suspension work; I've got the BH undersealing stuff to do and then my pals going to come and a spend a day on it with me and give it a full, professional in-depth clean & polish and then protection
What's C&M like too? Never been, it's a 2.5hr drive for me!
I like C&M, albeit it’s only 40 mins or so for me.
I got back from C&M on Sunday afternoon and as the weather was nice and I had a few hours of light left, I thought I’d crack on with the rear discs and pads. The fronts are dead easy, so in my mind the rears would be too. How wrong I was….
The sliding pins cane out real easily and even the 16mm bolts that hold the brake carrier on did 5 out up a fight. I was flying….until it came to removing the discs. They weren’t budging. And now the light was fading. Joy.
Bs king off the handbrake shoes was a ball ache. Trying to see the adjuster through a bolt hole with a torch, kneeling down isn’t the easiest. The discs were eventually off with some persuasion from a club hammer. By this point it was properly dark, so I left it there.
This was as far as I got Sunday night.
The rear discs and pads had both seen better days (rust courtesy of Sunday nights rain). I think the discs might have been the original ones.
The callipers were looking a bit sorry for themselves, so a bit of of scope creep later and they had a lick of paint in grey. This was the back up colour for my 335i if I’d decided the copper was too much. I went over the front hats with silver hammerite because they were starting to rust.
New Zimmermann discs and ATE pads fitted.
The tyre fitting has been pushed back until next week and the week after will be MOT day.
I think I’ll fit some from Zimmermann discs in the spring because the ones I fitted last year are crap as are the pads which will get replaced with ATE ceramics to reduce mess.
The sliding pins cane out real easily and even the 16mm bolts that hold the brake carrier on did 5 out up a fight. I was flying….until it came to removing the discs. They weren’t budging. And now the light was fading. Joy.
Bs king off the handbrake shoes was a ball ache. Trying to see the adjuster through a bolt hole with a torch, kneeling down isn’t the easiest. The discs were eventually off with some persuasion from a club hammer. By this point it was properly dark, so I left it there.
This was as far as I got Sunday night.
The rear discs and pads had both seen better days (rust courtesy of Sunday nights rain). I think the discs might have been the original ones.
The callipers were looking a bit sorry for themselves, so a bit of of scope creep later and they had a lick of paint in grey. This was the back up colour for my 335i if I’d decided the copper was too much. I went over the front hats with silver hammerite because they were starting to rust.
New Zimmermann discs and ATE pads fitted.
The tyre fitting has been pushed back until next week and the week after will be MOT day.
I think I’ll fit some from Zimmermann discs in the spring because the ones I fitted last year are crap as are the pads which will get replaced with ATE ceramics to reduce mess.
MOT day today for the 125i.
It passed with flying colours after a quick fix….
I was up bright and early this morning to get to my mates MOT place for 8am. On the way there the car wasn’t driving very nicely because as the speeds increased there was a very noticeable vibration at NSL speeds. Hmmmmm.
My first thoughts were that the rear wheels were not balanced properly after the tyres were replaced or perhaps some wheel weights had fallen off. Then I heard a grinding sound coming from the drivers side rear. Hmmmmmm.
Got to the MOT place and I noticed that try drivers side rear calliper wasn’t sitting properly. It wasn’t covering the braking surface as it should. Tits. One of the carrier bolts had made a bid for freedom.
I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).
Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
It passed with flying colours after a quick fix….
I was up bright and early this morning to get to my mates MOT place for 8am. On the way there the car wasn’t driving very nicely because as the speeds increased there was a very noticeable vibration at NSL speeds. Hmmmmm.
My first thoughts were that the rear wheels were not balanced properly after the tyres were replaced or perhaps some wheel weights had fallen off. Then I heard a grinding sound coming from the drivers side rear. Hmmmmmm.
Got to the MOT place and I noticed that try drivers side rear calliper wasn’t sitting properly. It wasn’t covering the braking surface as it should. Tits. One of the carrier bolts had made a bid for freedom.
I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
Court_S said:
MOT day today for the 125i.
It passed with flying colours after a quick fix….
I was up bright and early this morning to get to my mates MOT place for 8am. On the way there the car wasn’t driving very nicely because as the speeds increased there was a very noticeable vibration at NSL speeds. Hmmmmm.
My first thoughts were that the rear wheels were not balanced properly after the tyres were replaced or perhaps some wheel weights had fallen off. Then I heard a grinding sound coming from the drivers side rear. Hmmmmmm.
Got to the MOT place and I noticed that try drivers side rear calliper wasn’t sitting properly. It wasn’t covering the braking surface as it should. Tits. One of the carrier bolts had made a bid for freedom. I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).
Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
Bloody hell Sam It passed with flying colours after a quick fix….
I was up bright and early this morning to get to my mates MOT place for 8am. On the way there the car wasn’t driving very nicely because as the speeds increased there was a very noticeable vibration at NSL speeds. Hmmmmm.
My first thoughts were that the rear wheels were not balanced properly after the tyres were replaced or perhaps some wheel weights had fallen off. Then I heard a grinding sound coming from the drivers side rear. Hmmmmmm.
Got to the MOT place and I noticed that try drivers side rear calliper wasn’t sitting properly. It wasn’t covering the braking surface as it should. Tits. One of the carrier bolts had made a bid for freedom.
I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
I did something as daft years back and hand tightened wheel nuts to my DC5 before nipping to Halfrauds for some car shampoo via the 'long way round' and wondered why my car was wobbling at speed
d_a_n1979 said:
Bloody hell Sam
I did something as daft years back and hand tightened wheel nuts to my DC5 before nipping to Halfrauds for some car shampoo via the 'long way round' and wondered why my car was wobbling at speed
Yeah, not my finest moment. But hey ho, no damage down and 12 months clean ticket. I did something as daft years back and hand tightened wheel nuts to my DC5 before nipping to Halfrauds for some car shampoo via the 'long way round' and wondered why my car was wobbling at speed
Court_S said:
One of the carrier bolts had made a bid for freedom. I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).
Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
You were lucky it was the upper one - I had one shear flush with the lower mount - the caliper under breaking lifted off the disc and touched the inside of the wheel - made a bit of a noise I was up against it time wise when I did the rear discs and pads a few weeks ago and I’d obviously not done the top carrier bolt up properly (the bottom one was tight).Luckily my mate Paul had a bolt that fitted so we were able to get the carrier back in place. It passed the brake test etc. The bolt can’t have long made its bid for freedom because the calliper was in the right place when it was washed a few days ago.
Anyway, other than my user error it’s all good for another year.
cerb4.5lee said:
Bloody hell Sam! That could've ended badly for sure, scary stuff.
Good news that it was sorted easily and the car passed though.
Good news that it was sorted easily and the car passed though.
Mr Tidy said:
I expect most of us have made those sort of mistakes - at least it didn't cause a problem and was easily sorted.
It's always a relief to get a clean MOT pass!
Yeah, not my finest moment but no harm done in the end. I’ll get some new bolts ordered up from Sytner this week.It's always a relief to get a clean MOT pass!
It was looking rather sorry for itself after the wet weather we’ve had this week so I gave it a clean today. Still think it scrubs up Ok.
My other half is being very resistant to it potentially being sold in the spring.
Court_S said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Bloody hell Sam! That could've ended badly for sure, scary stuff.
Good news that it was sorted easily and the car passed though.
Good news that it was sorted easily and the car passed though.
Mr Tidy said:
I expect most of us have made those sort of mistakes - at least it didn't cause a problem and was easily sorted.
It's always a relief to get a clean MOT pass!
Yeah, not my finest moment but no harm done in the end. I’ll get some new bolts ordered up from Sytner this week.It's always a relief to get a clean MOT pass!
It was looking rather sorry for itself after the wet weather we’ve had this week so I gave it a clean today. Still think it scrubs up Ok.
My other half is being very resistant to it potentially being sold in the spring.
Do you not think that selling the 335i and going for a touring would be the better move; you do like the 125i as a driving car!
d_a_n1979 said:
Scrubs up well that pal...
Do you not think that selling the 335i and going for a touring would be the better move; you do like the 125i as a driving car!
I like driving it with the roof down, less keen with the roof up because there are a few rattles and clonks. In my head, potentially swapping this for a touring lets me look at something a bit daft. I don’t think she’ll let me sell it though. Do you not think that selling the 335i and going for a touring would be the better move; you do like the 125i as a driving car!
More good news….my other half called me yesterday to say that the steering felt weird and that she thought she might have a puncture….
Yup, a bloody screw through the tyre.
She was at her mum and dads (where the car still is). So I popped over with a jack etc and razed to a local tyre emporium and unfortunately she’s driven on it too long and the tyre can’t be saved. They showed me inside and it was full of black powder.
Looks like it’s trimester for a pair of GY Asymmetric’s for the front wheels then. At least it wasn’t one of the rears which are only a few weeks old.
Yup, a bloody screw through the tyre.
She was at her mum and dads (where the car still is). So I popped over with a jack etc and razed to a local tyre emporium and unfortunately she’s driven on it too long and the tyre can’t be saved. They showed me inside and it was full of black powder.
Looks like it’s trimester for a pair of GY Asymmetric’s for the front wheels then. At least it wasn’t one of the rears which are only a few weeks old.
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