What have you done to your BMW today?

[Deep Thought]

Door mirror arrived, and fitted!

However continuing with my two steps forward one step back, the connectors for the heated mirror glass are different, so i've no glass yet.

Still, the mirror works, the adjustment works, and i've now electric windows again. Will build up the reset of the door card and get the airbag light put out.

New mirror glass ordered off of ebay with the right connectors. Only a tenner, here in a couple of days.

EDIT: Clipped the other one in in the meantime. I think i can live without heated mirrors for a day or two.

Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 22 July 17:40

[Deep Thought]

g3org3y said:

Dropped off the X5 for MOT. Fingers crossed.

EDIT:

And it's a pass:

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
- underbody shields fitted
- Offside mirror deteriorated
- Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Offside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Nearside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))
- Offside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))

The mirror is auto-dim where the glass now has that yellow tinge. Best suppliers for a replacement? I suspect BMW OE would be £££.

It's on the 20 inch Star Marked Dunlop Sport Maxx RFTs. Looking to put it back on the 18s and maybe put all seasons (ideally non RFT).

Edited by g3org3y on Thursday 22 July 09:42

RE: Your auto dim i see you can get them on ebay. Probably worth pricing a genuine one but i cant image it will be cheap.

Your tyres..... I've a similar problem in that the 630i is going to need rear tyres soon and they are RFTs. They're 19s and arent cheap and i'd favour non RFTs but that would mean 4 new tyres which is serious £££s.

If you're on 20s RFTs from a decent brand must be £250+ a corner?

[4004]

Glad I stuck to the 18's. Anything larger than that + RFT and I'd probably have to budget for a suspension refresh to come much sooner, with the state of most roads nowadays

[nomis36]

JakeT said:

Hit a milestone last night:



Everything still works, and with the work I've done to it over the past 2 years, feels better than ever. Just need to have a spot of tidying up done for the paintwork and we'll keep on track to the big 200.

I’m not far behind you. I’ve done a lot of work on my steering and suspension over the last 18 months so it drives brilliantly.

[g3org3y]

Deep Thought said:

RE: Your auto dim i see you can get them on ebay. Probably worth pricing a genuine one but i cant image it will be cheap.

Your tyres..... I've a similar problem in that the 630i is going to need rear tyres soon and they are RFTs. They're 19s and arent cheap and i'd favour non RFTs but that would mean 4 new tyres which is serious £££s.

If you're on 20s RFTs from a decent brand must be £250+ a corner?

Yes, and the ride isn't fantastic (even with SE suspension). I reckon putting it back on 18s with non RFTs would be a game changer in terms of ride quality (not to mention a whole lot cheaper tyre wise).

Michelin Cross Climate SUV probably #1 on the short list.

Edited by g3org3y on Thursday 22 July 20:49

[JakeT]

g3org3y said:

Dropped off the X5 for MOT. Fingers crossed.

EDIT:

And it's a pass:

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
- underbody shields fitted
- Offside mirror deteriorated
- Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Offside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Nearside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))
- Offside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))

The mirror is auto-dim where the glass now has that yellow tinge. Best suppliers for a replacement? I suspect BMW OE would be £££.

It's on the 20 inch Star Marked Dunlop Sport Maxx RFTs. Looking to put it back on the 18s and maybe put all seasons (ideally non RFT).

Edited by g3org3y on Thursday 22 July 09:42

Good news. I got new mirror glass for my dads E53 on eBay. Year on and the dimming and heating works dead fine. I think I paid £100 over £800 from BMW.

I would also move to 18 inch wheels. Michelin Latitude SUV is good, and very long lasting.

[d_a_n1979]

Thought about selling it...

Decided against it...

Time to look into some new 18" alloys

[d_a_n1979]

JakeT said:

g3org3y said:

Dropped off the X5 for MOT. Fingers crossed.

EDIT:

And it's a pass:

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
- underbody shields fitted
- Offside mirror deteriorated
- Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Offside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))
- Nearside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))
- Offside Rear Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrule (1.1.12 (f) (i))

The mirror is auto-dim where the glass now has that yellow tinge. Best suppliers for a replacement? I suspect BMW OE would be £££.

It's on the 20 inch Star Marked Dunlop Sport Maxx RFTs. Looking to put it back on the 18s and maybe put all seasons (ideally non RFT).

Edited by g3org3y on Thursday 22 July 09:42

Good news. I got new mirror glass for my dads E53 on eBay. Year on and the dimming and heating works dead fine. I think I paid £100 over £800 from BMW.

I would also move to 18 inch wheels. Michelin Latitude SUV is good, and very long lasting.

My original wing mirrors were OEM heated/chromatic etc. £440 each!

I managed to find the same glass on ECP a month back, £65 each (last of that stock) and bought two RHD glass as its simply a case of fitting one upside down for the left hand side...

Worth having a look on ECP if I were you.

It's OEM glass with the BMW logo ground off

[Deep Thought]

JakeT said:

Good news. I got new mirror glass for my dads E53 on eBay. Year on and the dimming and heating works dead fine. I think I paid £100 over £800 from BMW.

I would also move to 18 inch wheels. Michelin Latitude SUV is good, and very long lasting.

I "assume" if your car is running 20s currently and is an E70, then its got the Dynamic Pack option?

Mine (E70 30d) had the 20s and it had Dynamic pack. From memory that gets you the "Sports" suspension also, so might explain the firmness, even being an SE.

[Deep Thought]

4004 said:

Glad I stuck to the 18's. Anything larger than that + RFT and I'd probably have to budget for a suspension refresh to come much sooner, with the state of most roads nowadays

Agreed.

My E63 is on 19s and RFTs. Very firm ride. I upgraded the suspension to coilovers but even on the softest setting its still "firm".

[g3org3y]

JakeT said:

Good news. I got new mirror glass for my dads E53 on eBay. Year on and the dimming and heating works dead fine. I think I paid £100 over £800 from BMW.

I would also move to 18 inch wheels. Michelin Latitude SUV is good, and very long lasting.

I need some winter/snow ability (because rural GP) hence the shortlisting of CrossClimates.

Yes, did expect OE BMW glass to be silly money.

d_a_n1979 said:

My original wing mirrors were OEM heated/chromatic etc. £440 each!

I managed to find the same glass on ECP a month back, £65 each (last of that stock) and bought two RHD glass as its simply a case of fitting one upside down for the left hand side...

Worth having a look on ECP if I were you.

It's OEM glass with the BMW logo ground off

I'll have a look at ECP re the glass. Thanks for the heads up.

Deep Thought said:

I "assume" if your car is running 20s currently and is an E70, then its got the Dynamic Pack option?

Mine (E70 30d) had the 20s and it had Dynamic pack. From memory that gets you the "Sports" suspension also, so might explain the firmness, even being an SE.

Yes, does have the Adaptive Drive (S02VA) and Sport Package (S0330) according to spec sheet so you're probably right.

The other issue I suppose is whether to keep RFTs (afaik there is no RF CrossClimates). Annoying for ride/handling, but maybe safer for wife/child so not going to get stranded and have to mess about with AA etc.

[Deep Thought]

g3org3y said:

Yes, does have the Adaptive Drive (S02VA) and Sport Package (S0330) according to spec sheet so you're probably right.

The other issue I suppose is whether to keep RFTs (afaik there is no RF CrossClimates). Annoying for ride/handling, but maybe safer for wife/child so not going to get stranded and have to mess about with AA etc.

Yes. I have a similar concern. My 630i when in "full use" would be used to take me to the airport, lie there for several days, drive me home again. It would be good not to have to worry about what to do with a slow puncture / flat tyre some wet wintery thursday night in the airport car park.

Keeping the RFTs is the cheapest option for me anyway - and given the amount i've spent on the car in the two months i've owned it - i'll probably just run with replacing the two end of life rear RFLs with new RFLs.

For all the driving it gets - even in full use (rather than WFH currently) - i'll likely live with the firm ride.

[Mr Tidy]

That makes sense for your use of the car but there are run-flats, and there are better run-flats!

My Z4s had Bridgestone Potenza RE50s and they were dreadful. My 123d had Pirelli P Zeros that were way better and I've had Continentals on a 3 Series that fell somewhere between the 2.

[Court_S]

Ditching the RFT’s was the best thing I did to her 125, but I appreciate that some value the security of them.

My little 130 made the six hour trip to Devon yesterday with no issues. Shouldn’t have taken that long but the traffic was horrendous. Even with a very full boot, it did ok on fuel although the overgrown lanes in Devon were less fun when your hear the undergrowth scraping the underside of your car!

[Deep Thought]

Mr Tidy said:

That makes sense for your use of the car but there are run-flats, and there are better run-flats!

My Z4s had Bridgestone Potenza RE50s and they were dreadful. My 123d had Pirelli P Zeros that were way better and I've had Continentals on a 3 Series that fell somewhere between the 2.

So if i was sticking with runflats then Pirelli P Zeros would be the way to go?

Coming in at around £250 a corner according to Black Circles, but i think my local indy would be cheaper.

Are you talking about ride quality, or grip, or both?

[g3org3y]

Deep Thought said:

Yes. I have a similar concern. My 630i when in "full use" would be used to take me to the airport, lie there for several days, drive me home again. It would be good not to have to worry about what to do with a slow puncture / flat tyre some wet wintery thursday night in the airport car park.

Keeping the RFTs is the cheapest option for me anyway - and given the amount i've spent on the car in the two months i've owned it - i'll probably just run with replacing the two end of life rear RFLs with new RFLs.

For all the driving it gets - even in full use (rather than WFH currently) - i'll likely live with the firm ride.

The other issue with the X5 is that apparently they are very sensitive to differences in tread depth between front and rear. Consequently it won't like new tyres on the rear and worn on the front.

Must admit though, when swapping them on, I don't remember thinking they were especially worn (I'm sure I would have noticed). Maybe it's just the edge.

Mr Tidy said:

That makes sense for your use of the car but there are run-flats, and there are better run-flats!

My Z4s had Bridgestone Potenza RE50s and they were dreadful. My 123d had Pirelli P Zeros that were way better and I've had Continentals on a 3 Series that fell somewhere between the 2.

Yep, had the Bridgestones on the E91, much better on Eagle F1 RFTs.

Still have them on my Z4 and unfortunately lots of tread. I don't drive the Z4 enough to justify chucking some PS4s on.

Court_S said:

Ditching the RFT’s was the best thing I did to her 125, but I appreciate that some value the security of them.

That's really the main thing with wife and baby in the car.

I'm not sure effective/successful the goo/pump kit is.

[g3org3y]

Deep Thought said:

So if i was sticking with runflats then Pirelli P Zeros would be the way to go?

Coming in at around £250 a corner according to Black Circles, but i think my local indy would be cheaper.

Are you talking about ride quality, or grip, or both?

Good experience with Eagle F1 RFTs on my E91.

I keep bothering Jon (Tyre Review guy on YouTube) to do a RFT group test, no success to date.

[E63eeeeee...]

g3org3y said:

That's really the main thing with wife and baby in the car.

I'm not sure effective/successful the goo/pump kit is.

Never tried it but I suspect it's really quite hard to apply in the outside lane of a busy motorway.

For context, that's where the runflat went on my 5 series, dark, raining and on the M6 on our way to Heathrow. Normal tyres, at best, I'd have been looking at a new rim if not a new car, plus getting recovered from the hard shoulder. With the runflats I drove just over a mile to the next services, at which point BMW Emergency turned out to be incredibly good and sorted the rest out.

Very much depends on what kind of journeys you're doing in the car of course, how essential it is to complete them, whether you're likely to change a wheel yourself in reality, and what kind of backup you have. The best all round solution is probably runflats and a full size spare, so you can get somewhere safe to do the change, but who the hell does that?

[d_a_n1979]

g3org3y said:

Deep Thought said:

So if i was sticking with runflats then Pirelli P Zeros would be the way to go?

Coming in at around £250 a corner according to Black Circles, but i think my local indy would be cheaper.

Are you talking about ride quality, or grip, or both?

Good experience with Eagle F1 RFTs on my E91.

I keep bothering Jon (Tyre Review guy on YouTube) to do a RFT group test, no success to date.

Try Camskill & Tyreleader for prices.

You just need to get them fitted locally for £beertokens

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 24th July 13:11

[Deep Thought]

g3org3y said:

Deep Thought said:

So if i was sticking with runflats then Pirelli P Zeros would be the way to go?

Coming in at around £250 a corner according to Black Circles, but i think my local indy would be cheaper.

Are you talking about ride quality, or grip, or both?

Good experience with Eagle F1 RFTs on my E91.

I keep bothering Jon (Tyre Review guy on YouTube) to do a RFT group test, no success to date.

Part of the problem i'm having is that - according to the search capability in Black Circles at least - not all manufacturers do both sizes that i need. I've just checked and Black Circles will supply P Zero rears (275/35 R19) but not fronts (245/40 R19). They're also not listing Eagle in that front tyre size. I dont need all four now but i'd like to be able to have a matching set at some point down the line when the fronts are due.

Not helped by the fact the Black Circles App doesnt allow you to select tyres of varying widths in the same session - you have to add two to basket then go back and plug in all your details again.

Will probably kick the can down the road to September / October time and then maybe make it my local tyre fitters problem to confirm he can get me a matching set.