E91 Straight Six Bearding
Discussion
Most of them sound like CMA (Cover My Arse) advisories.
Most likely reason for the no airbag light was that the key was left in, he then did the dash check by pressing the button when the light was already out, and noticed no airbag light. BMWs are weird in that they do the airbag self test when the key is in 'position 1', or when accessories go on.
A pass first time at 217k is good though, and always a relief!
Most likely reason for the no airbag light was that the key was left in, he then did the dash check by pressing the button when the light was already out, and noticed no airbag light. BMWs are weird in that they do the airbag self test when the key is in 'position 1', or when accessories go on.
A pass first time at 217k is good though, and always a relief!
Could argue that a car at 217k that's well looked after has a better chance of flying an MOT than a PCP hack that's treated like white goods. Mate of mine only buys high milers on the basis that a lot of parts have been replaced already and if the engine got to that mileage it must be a good un. Some logic there!
Yeah, I suppose at the end of the day I'm not worried about anything on the car and it's in good shape. I think from now in I'll mention it to the tester when I hand the car over.
Here's a little story about the car from the september.
I had a complete electrical meltdown in the Lake District whilst on holiday, at the campsite. Some fellow campers had a flat battery, and I was about and they asked if they could have a jump start - no problem I said...and er then failed to start my car. Fortunately my girlfriends car was also there, so jumped them with that, and went back to work out why my car was not functioning. I put some jump leads on, and got nothing... then the relays started going mental..so I crawled through the car and disconnected the battery as it was just not responding.
244 (01-09-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
It seemed like all the symptoms of the B+ cable recall that the E9x's have, but from 2007 onwards. I wasn't convinced, and had some basic tools with me, so between rain showers removed the glove box etc and got the fuse box. I couldn't see anything obvious, and no amount of fiddling got the car working, it was just have an electrical meltdown. I also worked out the reason my car isn't subject to the B+ cable recall to the fuse box is because it's a proper bolt down ring terminal for the power to the fuse board, and not a plug in connector that works loose - so that's good I guess!
I called it a day, and eventually managed to get it recovered, but it took all day despite phoning the day before, It took about 15 hours to get back home eventually, and the recovery truck got stuck. They were adamant they wanted to fix it there and then, but nobdoy in the area wanted to touch it, and they came out with a diagnostics machine and nothing else - so I have no idea how they'd get that to work given there's no power to any of the computers. The recovery truck had to get recovered too!
245 (02-09-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
I found it later that the recovery truck was probably overweight, and the strap rubbed through my paintwork which I wasn't happy about (had a 7.5T flatbed for the other half of the journey and they could strap a car up properly....) - fortunately it's small enough a touch up pen will sort it.
Anyway, when I got home, had a think, and started off with the simple stuff with a multimeter. I had 6V at the fuse box...so I went back to the battery, and got 6V there...which I thought strange given the battery hasn't had any issues before, no battery light and everything else seemed fine. So I took the battery out, put the multimeter on the terminals directly and got 12.6V!!! So I hooked the battery up to my CTEK anyway, cleaned up the connectors, and everything works!
Easiest fix ever, and if I had a multimeter with me, I'd have done that in the campsite! I hypothesis that I had the battery out ages back, and it was hot and humid, the sudden change of climate in the lakes and the car sitting for a few days meant some condensation crept in, just enough to cause issues at the battery...
So yeah, the car's in rude health, it's been given a clean and a protective layer of wax before winter (and sprayed all the arches etc. to protect them from the salt).
320 (16-11-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
Only thing now is to get some new tyres in the next couple of months to replace the Vredstein ultrac Sessanta's on the rear - they don't appear to make them or the Ultrac Vorti's in 255/40/R17 anymore, so I'm currently tossing up between some Eagle F1's or PS4's...
Here's a little story about the car from the september.
I had a complete electrical meltdown in the Lake District whilst on holiday, at the campsite. Some fellow campers had a flat battery, and I was about and they asked if they could have a jump start - no problem I said...and er then failed to start my car. Fortunately my girlfriends car was also there, so jumped them with that, and went back to work out why my car was not functioning. I put some jump leads on, and got nothing... then the relays started going mental..so I crawled through the car and disconnected the battery as it was just not responding.
244 (01-09-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
It seemed like all the symptoms of the B+ cable recall that the E9x's have, but from 2007 onwards. I wasn't convinced, and had some basic tools with me, so between rain showers removed the glove box etc and got the fuse box. I couldn't see anything obvious, and no amount of fiddling got the car working, it was just have an electrical meltdown. I also worked out the reason my car isn't subject to the B+ cable recall to the fuse box is because it's a proper bolt down ring terminal for the power to the fuse board, and not a plug in connector that works loose - so that's good I guess!
I called it a day, and eventually managed to get it recovered, but it took all day despite phoning the day before, It took about 15 hours to get back home eventually, and the recovery truck got stuck. They were adamant they wanted to fix it there and then, but nobdoy in the area wanted to touch it, and they came out with a diagnostics machine and nothing else - so I have no idea how they'd get that to work given there's no power to any of the computers. The recovery truck had to get recovered too!
245 (02-09-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
I found it later that the recovery truck was probably overweight, and the strap rubbed through my paintwork which I wasn't happy about (had a 7.5T flatbed for the other half of the journey and they could strap a car up properly....) - fortunately it's small enough a touch up pen will sort it.
Anyway, when I got home, had a think, and started off with the simple stuff with a multimeter. I had 6V at the fuse box...so I went back to the battery, and got 6V there...which I thought strange given the battery hasn't had any issues before, no battery light and everything else seemed fine. So I took the battery out, put the multimeter on the terminals directly and got 12.6V!!! So I hooked the battery up to my CTEK anyway, cleaned up the connectors, and everything works!
Easiest fix ever, and if I had a multimeter with me, I'd have done that in the campsite! I hypothesis that I had the battery out ages back, and it was hot and humid, the sudden change of climate in the lakes and the car sitting for a few days meant some condensation crept in, just enough to cause issues at the battery...
So yeah, the car's in rude health, it's been given a clean and a protective layer of wax before winter (and sprayed all the arches etc. to protect them from the salt).
320 (16-11-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
Only thing now is to get some new tyres in the next couple of months to replace the Vredstein ultrac Sessanta's on the rear - they don't appear to make them or the Ultrac Vorti's in 255/40/R17 anymore, so I'm currently tossing up between some Eagle F1's or PS4's...
Mike, I suppose you're right. Depends how many owners and previous usage though. Whoever buys my dad's old X5 will get themselves a bargain. One owner from new, and 250,000+ miles.
Free fixes are the best, Zippy. I also got concerned that mine was part of the B+ recall, but is too old fortunately.
Free fixes are the best, Zippy. I also got concerned that mine was part of the B+ recall, but is too old fortunately.
Just bought 2 brand new Michelin PS4's in 255/40/17 for £240 delivered (still need to get them fitted, but chatting to my local garage in my village I've just moved to, they charge by time, so if I bring a couple of loose wheels with the weights removed and the valve core undone, it shouldn't cost much - also using my girlfriends hyundai as a guinea pg to see how what they're like!)
What wheels do you have, Zippy?
I'm undecided if I want to keep my MV3s that I use during summer, or switch to a 17 inch setup for winter and summer. The Style 158s on mine now don't look horrendous, but I like a little more 'open' wheel design so I can see the brakes that fill these wheels so well.
I'm undecided if I want to keep my MV3s that I use during summer, or switch to a 17 inch setup for winter and summer. The Style 158s on mine now don't look horrendous, but I like a little more 'open' wheel design so I can see the brakes that fill these wheels so well.
JakeT said:
What wheels do you have, Zippy?
Those are style 188s which are 17" staggered. It came with some MV3's, but I'm gradually getting rid of them as I'm not really a fan..I have 3 left!The plan had been to then use the 17's for winter wheels, and get some nicer 18s for summer (BBS CH-R, or the motorsport wheels that came on the 320si)..but I never got round to it and been rocking those 17s ever since I got them (which was mostly coz they were a good deal and came with decent rubber!).
bodhi said:
Only issue with PS4's is if you have 18's I don;t think the correct sizes (255/35) are still available, so you end up with an entertaining mix of PS4 on the front and Super Sports on the rear. Absolutely fine 90% of the time, but if it's cold and greasy the car gets a bit....pointy
Per above, I'm going to be looking for rears soon as mine are down towards the limit now (after 26k+). A lack of PS4s would make the decision process easier!helix402 said:
Glad it’s working, re tyres both are excellent. I think the Michelins last longer and cost more. I’m going for Eagle F1s next on my old E46. A good friend with who had two E91s swears by the Michelins and despises Bridgestones on them.
Eagle f1s on my e46 were brilliant. 225 45 17 iirc, transformed rhe car.bodhi said:
Only issue with PS4's is if you have 18's I don;t think the correct sizes (255/35) are still available, so you end up with an entertaining mix of PS4 on the front and Super Sports on the rear. Absolutely fine 90% of the time, but if it's cold and greasy the car gets a bit....pointy
Yup, unfortunately i found this out after my front two were fitted, i was informed on arriving that the rears "would arrive within a couple of days" ...6 months later
stevemcs said:
I don't see an issue with any of those advisories, they all seem perfectly reasonable. Tyres usually become an advisory at 3mm, brakes crop up all the time, its always the inside face of the disc that you don't normally see.
I don't have an issue with any of the advisories apart from the airbag one. The airbag one I took exception to because it's all working as it should and is an MOT operator error, not an error with the srs system! The others I was expecting - they're all standard day to day wear components that are being changed over the next few months anyway. I always tend to give the car a quick once over before I present the car for MOT, so it's rare I get a surprise.
321 (17-11-2019) by Chris Reeves, on Flickr
My rear tyres had worn on my 330i, so they were replaced for brand new Goodyear Eagle F1 Assym 5 yesterday. I now have really bad vibration from the rear wheels which I feel in my pants (i.e. through the seat) when going at around 70mph+.
The wheels were balanced, although both wheels required a lot of balance weights and were probably not optimally balanced. One wheel could be seen oscillating up and down in the balancing rig when looking at the horizon of the tyre.
The vibration was not present with the old worn tyres. I am wondering if one of my alloy wheels is buckled/bent which might be causing the problem when new tyres are fitted? Does anybody have any advice on what I should do?
Out of interest, where is the best place to buy a new style 158 BMW alloys?
The wheels were balanced, although both wheels required a lot of balance weights and were probably not optimally balanced. One wheel could be seen oscillating up and down in the balancing rig when looking at the horizon of the tyre.
The vibration was not present with the old worn tyres. I am wondering if one of my alloy wheels is buckled/bent which might be causing the problem when new tyres are fitted? Does anybody have any advice on what I should do?
Out of interest, where is the best place to buy a new style 158 BMW alloys?
Funny you should say that but I had vibration with my F1s on the rear as well. Not too bad but enough to annoy me. I know the wheels are straight and to be fair the blackcircles pit stop rebalanced them a couple of times for me. Lots of weights in the end but it's still just about there in the background
Someone told me that if they're sat stacked in a herringbone format for any length of time it can deform the tyre structure. Not sure if there's any truth in that or not though
Someone told me that if they're sat stacked in a herringbone format for any length of time it can deform the tyre structure. Not sure if there's any truth in that or not though
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