Thirsty Discovery and Z4 thread
Discussion
Mr Tidy said:
It was a pleasure to meet you on Saturday
Likewise. 
It never rains in old car ownership, but it often bloody pours.
Took the Z4 out for a quick drive yesterday evening to blow out its cobwebs, and stopped at a local garage to jetwash some of the several tonnes of leaves out of the scuttle panel. As I moved it over to fill the tank up, I could hear a slight squeaking noise from under the bonnet. Great.
It's coming from the vicinity of the alternator (although I'm not 100% it's not an idler or tensioner), and sounds vaguely rotational. The alternator is charging just fine (14.4v), and the noise disappears when the engine is revved. I'm thinking it's the alternator pulley, but can't be too sure.
At least the Discovery has been working fine, right? Right...?
The Discovery is booked in for Monday to replace the warped front discs that were fitted earlier this year, but a quick run out in it this morning brought about the delightful aroma of hot brakes. Assuming it worst, I leapt out of the car and grabbed my IR thermometer (because why wouldn't you?) and expected to see that a sticky front caliper had caused my braking wobble. But not so - of course it couldn't be that easy.
The rear-right caliper is seized, and the disc was at ~250*C after a short drive. This wouldn't normally annoy me, but both rear calipers were replaced with OEM parts when the car was recommissioned last summer. Called the garage and added this to their list for next week. Great.
To add insult to injury, I gave the Electronic Parking Brake (the source of many Discovery owners' frustrations) a quick test to make sure it wasn't sticking. It engaged just fine, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I pressed the button to disengage, only to be met with silence and a fault on the dashboard. Great.
I'm hopeful that the heat has caused the error, but upon reading the codes I got a generic switch communication error. A bit of research suggests that slow engagement/disengagement can cause this issue, so hope springs eternal. I very rarely use the handbrake in autos unless I'm parking on a hill, but I give the EPB a periodic paranoia test every few weeks, because just in case.
At least the Volvo works. But it would be nice to have more than one working car by Christmas.
Interesting read up on both accounts.
I remember when working in a bike shop, i was asked by the customer if i could put one of their newly purchased bikes on to their roof of their disco 3. As i was standing on the sill steps it completely collapsed under me due to rust. Which genuinely astonished me, being a late model one and this being about 4 years ago. They do seem to be problematic but discos do have their charm, have many memories of being in the back row of a disco 2 as a child.
And you're right, when it all goes wrong it goes catastrophically so. I'm coming up to a month of my car being in the garage for a MOT. Maybe ill get it back by Christmas.
Anyway, best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the new wheels fitted and suitable seats.
I remember when working in a bike shop, i was asked by the customer if i could put one of their newly purchased bikes on to their roof of their disco 3. As i was standing on the sill steps it completely collapsed under me due to rust. Which genuinely astonished me, being a late model one and this being about 4 years ago. They do seem to be problematic but discos do have their charm, have many memories of being in the back row of a disco 2 as a child.
And you're right, when it all goes wrong it goes catastrophically so. I'm coming up to a month of my car being in the garage for a MOT. Maybe ill get it back by Christmas.
Anyway, best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the new wheels fitted and suitable seats.
Scoobydrew95 said:
Interesting read up on both accounts.
I remember when working in a bike shop, i was asked by the customer if i could put one of their newly purchased bikes on to their roof of their disco 3. As i was standing on the sill steps it completely collapsed under me due to rust. Which genuinely astonished me, being a late model one and this being about 4 years ago. They do seem to be problematic but discos do have their charm, have many memories of being in the back row of a disco 2 as a child.
And you're right, when it all goes wrong it goes catastrophically so. I'm coming up to a month of my car being in the garage for a MOT. Maybe ill get it back by Christmas.
Anyway, best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the new wheels fitted and suitable seats.
The disintegrating side steps thing is one of those 'they all do that, sir' Discovery problems. They weren't made from the greatest metal in the first place, and they accumulate water/dirt/salt really badly. Owners tend not to wash them properly, and they just rot from underneath. I'm grateful mine has never had them fitted.I remember when working in a bike shop, i was asked by the customer if i could put one of their newly purchased bikes on to their roof of their disco 3. As i was standing on the sill steps it completely collapsed under me due to rust. Which genuinely astonished me, being a late model one and this being about 4 years ago. They do seem to be problematic but discos do have their charm, have many memories of being in the back row of a disco 2 as a child.
And you're right, when it all goes wrong it goes catastrophically so. I'm coming up to a month of my car being in the garage for a MOT. Maybe ill get it back by Christmas.
Anyway, best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the new wheels fitted and suitable seats.
I'm pretty sanguine about the cost of old car ownership, to be honest. I could easily make my life much less complicated, and have a couple of new/leased cars on the drive - but where would be the challenge in that?
C70R said:
I got this far. Arses.
My trusty, el cheapo trolley jack, which has served me well for over a decade, was obviously far too high to slip under the car now that it is a bit lower. By this point it was Sunday afternoon, and I really couldn't be bothered with going and buying a jack. I briefly considered driving the car onto a few planks on a gravel driveway, but I value my health too highly. I'm going to head over to my nearest Halfords this evening and grab one of these to finish the job: https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
Overall, a semi-successful weekend, and no major setbacks. I'll take it.
I saw these on the Z4 Forum (iirc) some time ago. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FMT7SRC/?coliid=I25...My trusty, el cheapo trolley jack, which has served me well for over a decade, was obviously far too high to slip under the car now that it is a bit lower. By this point it was Sunday afternoon, and I really couldn't be bothered with going and buying a jack. I briefly considered driving the car onto a few planks on a gravel driveway, but I value my health too highly. I'm going to head over to my nearest Halfords this evening and grab one of these to finish the job: https://www.halfords.com/tools/garage-workshop/axl...
Overall, a semi-successful weekend, and no major setbacks. I'll take it.
Whether you could use them in conjunction wti the jack without compromising safety wold be my only question. Probably cheaper elsewhere too.
Maybe things are looking up?
The Discovery is back, in time for various holidays duties like ferrying around friends and family. It appears that the fix was as simple as popping the caliper off and freeing up the stuck piston, which is a nice change.
The garage didn't seem to think that the discs were warped, which is a bit frustrating. They've ruled out play in the wheel bearings, which is a nice result, but have suggested that a dead bush or two might be the cause of my issue. Given that it's had new arms, air springs and track rods recently, we're on track for a full front suspension rebuild in the first 18 months of ownership. Still, if it drives well then I'll gladly spend the money.
They have diagnosed the parking brake fault (which they were unfortunately able to replicate) as an issue with the switch. My online sleuthing suggests that there may be other things at play here, but I'm happy for them to change the switch as a first step. They didn't have one in stock, so have had to order one to be fitted after the holidays.
That sort of sounds like progress, right?
i started and ran the Z4 yesterday evening, and once it was up to temperature the noise I'd heard previously wasn't present. I wonder whether I somehow managed to get water on the serpentine belt when I was jetwashing it? It didn't sound like a slipping belt noise, but I'm willing to believe anything if it avoids another trip to the garage...
In other news, Project Slippy Diff has started on the Z4. I've found a local transmission specialist who's happy to work on it, so I'm going to slowly-slowly refresh the rear end and give the car a bit more zip in the new year.
First step is finding a decent 3.46 diff, which was fitted to the 5spd automatic Z4s. My current diff is comically long (at 3.07), meaning that acceleration can feel a bit muted at times. The tradeoff is low-geared cruising in 6th, of course - but I'm up for a little bit of compromise here. The car already does a 14sec quarter mile (not fast, not slow) with the long diff, so I'd hope to chop a few tenths off that and perk up in-gear acceleration a bit.
Then I'm going to pick up one of RacingDiffs' LSD conversion kits. I wouldn't normally jump at something like this, but with aftermarket LSDs working out at ~£2k fitted, there's no way I can justify that for a car that's worth so little.
https://racingdiffs.com/products/bmw-e46-e90-e92-e...
Then I'll have the transmission specialist strip, inspect and rebuild the shorter diff with the LSD pack installed. This means I can send the diff to the motorsport guys who did my coilovers, so they can drop the entire rear subframe out and refresh all the bushes (probably poly) before reinstalling the diff. I'll probably get the rubber prop 'guibo' done at the same time, for a bit of peace of mind.
Finally, I might have a seat solution. One of the helpful folks on the Z4 Facebook group has shared details of how he installed the Sports seats from the E89 (the next model Z4) in his car of a similar age, including heating and electric adjustment. He's based quite locally to me, so I'm going to go take a look when the weather is better. They sit low, and are a compromise of support and comfort that lives somewhere between the two OEM options for the E85.
That sounds like the start of progress, at least.
Finally, it looks like the Volvo is going to get replaced by a Tesla M3 Long-range when it goes back in Feb. That's all.
The Discovery is back, in time for various holidays duties like ferrying around friends and family. It appears that the fix was as simple as popping the caliper off and freeing up the stuck piston, which is a nice change.
The garage didn't seem to think that the discs were warped, which is a bit frustrating. They've ruled out play in the wheel bearings, which is a nice result, but have suggested that a dead bush or two might be the cause of my issue. Given that it's had new arms, air springs and track rods recently, we're on track for a full front suspension rebuild in the first 18 months of ownership. Still, if it drives well then I'll gladly spend the money.
They have diagnosed the parking brake fault (which they were unfortunately able to replicate) as an issue with the switch. My online sleuthing suggests that there may be other things at play here, but I'm happy for them to change the switch as a first step. They didn't have one in stock, so have had to order one to be fitted after the holidays.
That sort of sounds like progress, right?
i started and ran the Z4 yesterday evening, and once it was up to temperature the noise I'd heard previously wasn't present. I wonder whether I somehow managed to get water on the serpentine belt when I was jetwashing it? It didn't sound like a slipping belt noise, but I'm willing to believe anything if it avoids another trip to the garage...
In other news, Project Slippy Diff has started on the Z4. I've found a local transmission specialist who's happy to work on it, so I'm going to slowly-slowly refresh the rear end and give the car a bit more zip in the new year.
First step is finding a decent 3.46 diff, which was fitted to the 5spd automatic Z4s. My current diff is comically long (at 3.07), meaning that acceleration can feel a bit muted at times. The tradeoff is low-geared cruising in 6th, of course - but I'm up for a little bit of compromise here. The car already does a 14sec quarter mile (not fast, not slow) with the long diff, so I'd hope to chop a few tenths off that and perk up in-gear acceleration a bit.
Then I'm going to pick up one of RacingDiffs' LSD conversion kits. I wouldn't normally jump at something like this, but with aftermarket LSDs working out at ~£2k fitted, there's no way I can justify that for a car that's worth so little.
https://racingdiffs.com/products/bmw-e46-e90-e92-e...
Then I'll have the transmission specialist strip, inspect and rebuild the shorter diff with the LSD pack installed. This means I can send the diff to the motorsport guys who did my coilovers, so they can drop the entire rear subframe out and refresh all the bushes (probably poly) before reinstalling the diff. I'll probably get the rubber prop 'guibo' done at the same time, for a bit of peace of mind.
Finally, I might have a seat solution. One of the helpful folks on the Z4 Facebook group has shared details of how he installed the Sports seats from the E89 (the next model Z4) in his car of a similar age, including heating and electric adjustment. He's based quite locally to me, so I'm going to go take a look when the weather is better. They sit low, and are a compromise of support and comfort that lives somewhere between the two OEM options for the E85.
That sounds like the start of progress, at least.
Finally, it looks like the Volvo is going to get replaced by a Tesla M3 Long-range when it goes back in Feb. That's all.
On the Disco parking brakes - I was advised by the guy who rebuilt mine to make sure I use it regularly! He said that he advises customers with X5s to never use theirs! 
When my parking brake was broken but sort of "trussed up" it used to randomly let out an almighty screech. the most embarrassing time was at Simply Land Rover in July when going around the offroad course.
When my parking brake was broken but sort of "trussed up" it used to randomly let out an almighty screech. the most embarrassing time was at Simply Land Rover in July when going around the offroad course.
Edited by Triumph Man on Wednesday 20th December 13:16
I love cars.
Unsurprisingly, it couldn't be as simple as 'just freeing up the caliper', so back to the garage the Discovery went this week for another look at the rear brakes. This time the caliper was seized solid, so I was liberated of a few hundred shekels for a new caliper and new discs and pads all round at the back. The 'good' news is that the electronic handbrake is working again, so it must have been an issue caused by excessive heat (the disc was blue!). So I've got that going for me, at least.
The cold snap has revealed that the vents aren't exactly blowing toasty hot, so I had the garage flush out the heater matrix in hope more than anticipation. Sadly it seems like the coolant was flowing nicely, so we probably have a blend flap/door issue. The nice mechanic said that he'd only have to take half the dash off to fix it "if you're lucky". I didn't feel lucky.
The Discovery is testing my patience. However, since the very first week of ownership (thanks to a dead alternator) it hasn't yet failed to proceed in the 21k miles I've put on it in 18mths. Sure, it might throw a high-three/low-four figure bill at me every few months. But next to the cost of leasing or financing something comparable, it's a no-brainer to keep the Discovery even with these periodic mechanic visits.
On the subject of leasing or financing stuff, I've settled on the Tesla M3 to replace the Volvo when it goes back in Feb. I'm hoping to snag a bargain as Tesla dispose of their demonstrator stock to bring in the facelifted model. Learning that the facelift model is completely doing away with column stalks, and selecting drive/reverse will be done by swiping on the central screen(!), was a bit too much for me.
Avanti, I guess.
Unsurprisingly, it couldn't be as simple as 'just freeing up the caliper', so back to the garage the Discovery went this week for another look at the rear brakes. This time the caliper was seized solid, so I was liberated of a few hundred shekels for a new caliper and new discs and pads all round at the back. The 'good' news is that the electronic handbrake is working again, so it must have been an issue caused by excessive heat (the disc was blue!). So I've got that going for me, at least.
The cold snap has revealed that the vents aren't exactly blowing toasty hot, so I had the garage flush out the heater matrix in hope more than anticipation. Sadly it seems like the coolant was flowing nicely, so we probably have a blend flap/door issue. The nice mechanic said that he'd only have to take half the dash off to fix it "if you're lucky". I didn't feel lucky.
The Discovery is testing my patience. However, since the very first week of ownership (thanks to a dead alternator) it hasn't yet failed to proceed in the 21k miles I've put on it in 18mths. Sure, it might throw a high-three/low-four figure bill at me every few months. But next to the cost of leasing or financing something comparable, it's a no-brainer to keep the Discovery even with these periodic mechanic visits.
On the subject of leasing or financing stuff, I've settled on the Tesla M3 to replace the Volvo when it goes back in Feb. I'm hoping to snag a bargain as Tesla dispose of their demonstrator stock to bring in the facelifted model. Learning that the facelift model is completely doing away with column stalks, and selecting drive/reverse will be done by swiping on the central screen(!), was a bit too much for me.
Avanti, I guess.
What's the oid maxim? Marry in haste, repent at leisure? Something like that.
It's only been a month since I said that the Discovery wouldn't be getting shuffled on for the sake of paying "monthlies" to borrow something similar. And then the Kia EV9 happened to me. A car that I'd initially assumed would be US market only, and had stopped paying attention to, somehow turned up on the leasing comparison sites at half the price of a Volvo EX90. You have my attention.
I absolutely love the way it looks. It's got 7 seats and 4WD (yes, it can do mild off-roading), and it's about the same size as the Discovery. Range seems acceptable too. What's the catch? Well, I actually don't know yet. All of the (many) reviews I've read seem to suggest it's a brilliant car with some scratchy plastics on the lower dash.
Plus, posting a photo of one and suggesting it was the spiritual successor to the Discovery was enough for the thin-skinned wallies on the Discovery Owners Facebook group to ban me. So that sounds like a win, right?
Need to find one and drive one ASAP, before we commit to buying a Tesla. It would mean I could offload the Disco in favour of something more utilitarian (and ideally cheaper to run/repair).
In the meantime, it's the Z4's turn to have a tantrum. The recent weather suggested that all might not be as ship-shape and watertight as I'd like (yes, not all of that ice is on the outside).
While having a good, old panicked poke around the carpets (which were mercifully dry), I got a drip on the back of my head. Looking up (rather than down) very quickly revealed a potential culprit. I blasted the rubber roof seals with Gummi Pfledge, and it appears to have gone some way to keeping the water out in the recent downpour. Time will tell...
My lighting woes aren't yet behind me either. Taking the Z4 out for a blast to blow the leaves/cobwebs out yesterday morning revealed that I had no control over lights or indicators. Cosmic. Plugging my trusty Creator OBD tool in highlighted the issue immediately. The tool couldn't connect to the LCM (Lighting Control Module), which suggests a not uncommon Z4 failure. Fingers crossed it's nothing moisture-related.
The LCM is hidden in a box connected to the headlight switch, which is stupid. In their infinite wisdom, BMW decided to make 6 different versions of the module depending on which options you ticked, which is stupid. BMW also randomly changed the part numbers of all 6 around the end of 2004, which is stupid.
Anyway, net is that I've got one winging its way to me from eBay, which may or may not be correct.
While I was digging around with my OBD scanner, the thermostat code (297C) reappeared. Nothing terminal in there, just a sensor malfunction. But it's spurred me on to do a cooling system refresh, as there's nothing in the (slim) history. I've started compiling a list of the required parts (radiator, water pump, thermostat and housing etc.), and may even tackle this one myself.
It's only been a month since I said that the Discovery wouldn't be getting shuffled on for the sake of paying "monthlies" to borrow something similar. And then the Kia EV9 happened to me. A car that I'd initially assumed would be US market only, and had stopped paying attention to, somehow turned up on the leasing comparison sites at half the price of a Volvo EX90. You have my attention.
I absolutely love the way it looks. It's got 7 seats and 4WD (yes, it can do mild off-roading), and it's about the same size as the Discovery. Range seems acceptable too. What's the catch? Well, I actually don't know yet. All of the (many) reviews I've read seem to suggest it's a brilliant car with some scratchy plastics on the lower dash.
Plus, posting a photo of one and suggesting it was the spiritual successor to the Discovery was enough for the thin-skinned wallies on the Discovery Owners Facebook group to ban me. So that sounds like a win, right?
Need to find one and drive one ASAP, before we commit to buying a Tesla. It would mean I could offload the Disco in favour of something more utilitarian (and ideally cheaper to run/repair).
In the meantime, it's the Z4's turn to have a tantrum. The recent weather suggested that all might not be as ship-shape and watertight as I'd like (yes, not all of that ice is on the outside).
While having a good, old panicked poke around the carpets (which were mercifully dry), I got a drip on the back of my head. Looking up (rather than down) very quickly revealed a potential culprit. I blasted the rubber roof seals with Gummi Pfledge, and it appears to have gone some way to keeping the water out in the recent downpour. Time will tell...
My lighting woes aren't yet behind me either. Taking the Z4 out for a blast to blow the leaves/cobwebs out yesterday morning revealed that I had no control over lights or indicators. Cosmic. Plugging my trusty Creator OBD tool in highlighted the issue immediately. The tool couldn't connect to the LCM (Lighting Control Module), which suggests a not uncommon Z4 failure. Fingers crossed it's nothing moisture-related.
The LCM is hidden in a box connected to the headlight switch, which is stupid. In their infinite wisdom, BMW decided to make 6 different versions of the module depending on which options you ticked, which is stupid. BMW also randomly changed the part numbers of all 6 around the end of 2004, which is stupid.
Anyway, net is that I've got one winging its way to me from eBay, which may or may not be correct.
While I was digging around with my OBD scanner, the thermostat code (297C) reappeared. Nothing terminal in there, just a sensor malfunction. But it's spurred me on to do a cooling system refresh, as there's nothing in the (slim) history. I've started compiling a list of the required parts (radiator, water pump, thermostat and housing etc.), and may even tackle this one myself.
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