Well, I bought an E66 760Li, it's EPIC
Discussion
I am a serial lurker on PH, having not been on here for a long time though, as work, family and life in general has hoovered up all my time. I have a Celica project that was last updated on here in 2014!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... I will get around to updating that soon.
To the main topic, I have purchased a barge and have decided to keep a little blog of preventative maintenance on here.
I have had a few autobahn stormers before including two E39 V8's (a 535 and a 540i, both sports). I needed something a little more practical for commuting from the midlands to the south coast, so an ST220 was purchased and run for a while. The biggest issue with that was the build quality, it was POOR, rattles, road noise and component life were all rubbish compared to the previously owned BMW's. This was despite the mondeo having 40k less miles on the clock (purchased around 50k miles).
Having driven 18k miles in the Mondeo, enough was enough, we had moved down closer to family and work, so I could get something a little more silly again.
After going in circles looking at various different cars it became clear that another BMW was in order. I have always wanted a 7 to waft around in and after looking at a few E38's it became clear that good ones were few and far between.
Now I love cars with 'divisive' styling, I have owned three Citroen XM's, I think my ST205 looks great, and I even rate Hillman Imps over Minis!
So when looking at 7's, the early E65's are a really distinctive car for me, that bustle back and the shaped front lights look great!
They are also a BARGAIN because people are scared of big petrol engines. I was looking at the V8's and doing man maths on them, it was all looking well when I put up a FB post about my search for a good one.
This is when my Uncle steps in, telling me his 760Li was for sale........
Well we all know how that turned out, I am now the owner of a 83k mile well looked after E66!
The options list is silly and it all still works, the active antiroll is astonishing as is the ride quality even on 19" wheels.
The 6L V12 is returning 21mpg on my 30 mile a day A and B road commute, which again is pretty astonishing considering the 2300kg mass!
It moves me around in quiet comfort, the seats are great, the kids love the rear I-drive, and when you want it, the 440hp and 600Nm(!) of torque can really get her moving
So, I have already purchased 10L of 5w30 Shell Helix Ultra and a filter, cabin and engine air filters. Most importantly a transmission filter and 7L of Mannol ZF6HP26 fluid to give the gearbox a bit of a spruce up.
Given the sheer size of the car I have booked it in a Walkers Autotech in West Sussex for the gearbox and engine oil changes. The airfilters will be done on the drive way.
I am also planning to change the power steering fluid progressively over the coming weeks, as it does a lot of work with the ARB's and dynamic steering system.
As work progresses I will post up photos, as I know you guys love to see what it is actually like owning behemoths like this
Kind regards,
J
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... I will get around to updating that soon.
To the main topic, I have purchased a barge and have decided to keep a little blog of preventative maintenance on here.
I have had a few autobahn stormers before including two E39 V8's (a 535 and a 540i, both sports). I needed something a little more practical for commuting from the midlands to the south coast, so an ST220 was purchased and run for a while. The biggest issue with that was the build quality, it was POOR, rattles, road noise and component life were all rubbish compared to the previously owned BMW's. This was despite the mondeo having 40k less miles on the clock (purchased around 50k miles).
Having driven 18k miles in the Mondeo, enough was enough, we had moved down closer to family and work, so I could get something a little more silly again.
After going in circles looking at various different cars it became clear that another BMW was in order. I have always wanted a 7 to waft around in and after looking at a few E38's it became clear that good ones were few and far between.
Now I love cars with 'divisive' styling, I have owned three Citroen XM's, I think my ST205 looks great, and I even rate Hillman Imps over Minis!
So when looking at 7's, the early E65's are a really distinctive car for me, that bustle back and the shaped front lights look great!
They are also a BARGAIN because people are scared of big petrol engines. I was looking at the V8's and doing man maths on them, it was all looking well when I put up a FB post about my search for a good one.
This is when my Uncle steps in, telling me his 760Li was for sale........
Well we all know how that turned out, I am now the owner of a 83k mile well looked after E66!
The options list is silly and it all still works, the active antiroll is astonishing as is the ride quality even on 19" wheels.
The 6L V12 is returning 21mpg on my 30 mile a day A and B road commute, which again is pretty astonishing considering the 2300kg mass!
It moves me around in quiet comfort, the seats are great, the kids love the rear I-drive, and when you want it, the 440hp and 600Nm(!) of torque can really get her moving
So, I have already purchased 10L of 5w30 Shell Helix Ultra and a filter, cabin and engine air filters. Most importantly a transmission filter and 7L of Mannol ZF6HP26 fluid to give the gearbox a bit of a spruce up.
Given the sheer size of the car I have booked it in a Walkers Autotech in West Sussex for the gearbox and engine oil changes. The airfilters will be done on the drive way.
I am also planning to change the power steering fluid progressively over the coming weeks, as it does a lot of work with the ARB's and dynamic steering system.
As work progresses I will post up photos, as I know you guys love to see what it is actually like owning behemoths like this
Kind regards,
J
E66 is the long wheel base version, E65 for standard 
Well done on looking up the options list, I relied on the print out my uncle got from BMW! Yes, it has some epic options in there. Steerable headlights (not as good as our Mazda MPS ones!), active seats, comfort pack, dimming heated wing mirrors. Even the quality of the Logic7 stereo is incredible, and the wood veneers!
However there are issues with them, but as long as you know what you are in for then it is not so bad. HPFP's are a worry, but then again it is just a reinforced diaphragm, and an audi unit has been found to fit, that or I might just get some material and make some!
Valve stem seals? They are a worry, but most failures are due to the looooooong service intervals on oil if the CBS is used. This one has had regular services and oil changes, no smoke so I am confident that regular oil changes should keep them sweet.
Active anti roll can go wrong, but again, regular fluid changes should help seals stay supple and prevent wear.
Then it is electronics, some of that is due to water ingress from blocked drains. I plan to clean and keep them clean.
Well done on looking up the options list, I relied on the print out my uncle got from BMW! Yes, it has some epic options in there. Steerable headlights (not as good as our Mazda MPS ones!), active seats, comfort pack, dimming heated wing mirrors. Even the quality of the Logic7 stereo is incredible, and the wood veneers!
However there are issues with them, but as long as you know what you are in for then it is not so bad. HPFP's are a worry, but then again it is just a reinforced diaphragm, and an audi unit has been found to fit, that or I might just get some material and make some!
Valve stem seals? They are a worry, but most failures are due to the looooooong service intervals on oil if the CBS is used. This one has had regular services and oil changes, no smoke so I am confident that regular oil changes should keep them sweet.
Active anti roll can go wrong, but again, regular fluid changes should help seals stay supple and prevent wear.
Then it is electronics, some of that is due to water ingress from blocked drains. I plan to clean and keep them clean.
I guess there is a bit of balls involved, but mainly maths.
I could go out and get a new car like a golf gti, this would be £300 a month plus depreciation, and you still need consumables so they are discounted.
Something like this 760 is CONSIDERABLY cheaper than that a month, any left over is for unforseen issues, and that will cover a LOT of issues!
Then you come to compare what you get for your money, does a golf have 440hp and 600Nm? Does it have heated 20+way adjustable massage seats? Active ARB's? This is just a nobrainer for me, pick the bonkers luxury over the 'new' car :-)
I could go out and get a new car like a golf gti, this would be £300 a month plus depreciation, and you still need consumables so they are discounted.
Something like this 760 is CONSIDERABLY cheaper than that a month, any left over is for unforseen issues, and that will cover a LOT of issues!
Then you come to compare what you get for your money, does a golf have 440hp and 600Nm? Does it have heated 20+way adjustable massage seats? Active ARB's? This is just a nobrainer for me, pick the bonkers luxury over the 'new' car :-)
Update!
I have put about 400 miles on the car, used around one tank of fuel and loved almost every minute (we will come to that!).
I have purchased a gearbox oil and filter kit, air filters, cabin filters, oil filter and engine oil. 5w30 Shell Helix Ultra for the engine and Mannol 6HP26 compatible oil for the gearbag.
Last weekend I managed to get the microfilters changed, went to change the air filters and found that they had sent incorrect items
I had been sent 1261 and I need 1216!
Whilst the airbox top was off, I thought I would give the MAF's a bit of a spritz with contact cleaner, always good to keep them clean.
Put it all back together and carried on with the weekend, took about an hour all in. Now I moved the car to do the work, then started it to check the oil level, then moved the car again, and again later in the day (we a re-gravelling the drive). Right from the start the car has been complaining about a low battery so I know it was weak, and when I came to move it once more on sunday afternoon, no dice.
This of course caused huge panic as E65's go a bit mental when the power runs low, this was no exception. I popped the charger on the battery but there was a handbrake warning on the dash, the charger promptly blew it's 10a fuse. Solution was to disconnect the battery, stick it on charge. Job done, shut boot to leave charging.
Just as my hand left the bootlid to close brain says 'it's electronic locking and hydraulic open' FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK.
Instant thoughts were 'well it was a fun few miles, i guess we can scrap it now'. After I calmed down I realised I had a proper key, but no sign of a lock, after a short search I found the manual lock hidden above the rear numberplate. PHEW.
So charged it up and got it running, but it was not happy, random faults and very rough running.
I distracted myself from this by refurbishing the lights, the UV coating was a right mess, yellowed and cracking.
I got an autoglym kit from halfrauds with a drill adaptor. Fact is you could do it with various grades of W&D and some G3, the kit just has it all in once place and i'm lazy.
Initially I did it by the instructions, dry. This did not work well, once things were wet we made some real progress (isn't this always the way!). It's a scary process as you have to really f*ck up the lights before you make any real improvement. No in process pics as I was rapidly running out of light!
Huge improvement!
The car was luckily hardly used during the week due to me getting a savage cold, when it was used it was complaining at me rather a lot with warnings of impending doom, red lights and 'DRIVE MODERATELY, ENGINE FAULT'.
A battery was ordered, as was a cheap ebay tool with all the BMW software to do diagnostics and fault finding.
That was fitted this weekend, along with the airfilters that turned up. It took an age to get all the software downloaded and working but once done, it was fine. There were something like 500 faults recorded, it looks like the battery low really does make them go crackers!
Faults cleared and new batt in, she starts smoothly and should run well
I also managed to drain the power steering / active anti roll bar tank and refilled it with new CHF11s fluid, this will be done again in the near future, once it has mixed again.
Finally it was given a clean, some collinite and abit of bumper gel on the black bits
Cost so far -
Gearbag kit - £140
Filters - £50
Engine oil - £35
Battery - £80
Diagnostics stuff - £30
Headlight kit - £20
More soon, shes booked in to Walkers Auto's in a couple of weeks for the gearbox oil change
J
I have put about 400 miles on the car, used around one tank of fuel and loved almost every minute (we will come to that!).
I have purchased a gearbox oil and filter kit, air filters, cabin filters, oil filter and engine oil. 5w30 Shell Helix Ultra for the engine and Mannol 6HP26 compatible oil for the gearbag.
Last weekend I managed to get the microfilters changed, went to change the air filters and found that they had sent incorrect items
I had been sent 1261 and I need 1216! Whilst the airbox top was off, I thought I would give the MAF's a bit of a spritz with contact cleaner, always good to keep them clean.
Put it all back together and carried on with the weekend, took about an hour all in. Now I moved the car to do the work, then started it to check the oil level, then moved the car again, and again later in the day (we a re-gravelling the drive). Right from the start the car has been complaining about a low battery so I know it was weak, and when I came to move it once more on sunday afternoon, no dice.
This of course caused huge panic as E65's go a bit mental when the power runs low, this was no exception. I popped the charger on the battery but there was a handbrake warning on the dash, the charger promptly blew it's 10a fuse. Solution was to disconnect the battery, stick it on charge. Job done, shut boot to leave charging.
Just as my hand left the bootlid to close brain says 'it's electronic locking and hydraulic open' FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK.
Instant thoughts were 'well it was a fun few miles, i guess we can scrap it now'. After I calmed down I realised I had a proper key, but no sign of a lock, after a short search I found the manual lock hidden above the rear numberplate. PHEW.
So charged it up and got it running, but it was not happy, random faults and very rough running.
I distracted myself from this by refurbishing the lights, the UV coating was a right mess, yellowed and cracking.
I got an autoglym kit from halfrauds with a drill adaptor. Fact is you could do it with various grades of W&D and some G3, the kit just has it all in once place and i'm lazy.
Initially I did it by the instructions, dry. This did not work well, once things were wet we made some real progress (isn't this always the way!). It's a scary process as you have to really f*ck up the lights before you make any real improvement. No in process pics as I was rapidly running out of light!
Huge improvement!
The car was luckily hardly used during the week due to me getting a savage cold, when it was used it was complaining at me rather a lot with warnings of impending doom, red lights and 'DRIVE MODERATELY, ENGINE FAULT'.
A battery was ordered, as was a cheap ebay tool with all the BMW software to do diagnostics and fault finding.
That was fitted this weekend, along with the airfilters that turned up. It took an age to get all the software downloaded and working but once done, it was fine. There were something like 500 faults recorded, it looks like the battery low really does make them go crackers!
Faults cleared and new batt in, she starts smoothly and should run well
I also managed to drain the power steering / active anti roll bar tank and refilled it with new CHF11s fluid, this will be done again in the near future, once it has mixed again.
Finally it was given a clean, some collinite and abit of bumper gel on the black bits
Cost so far -
Gearbag kit - £140
Filters - £50
Engine oil - £35
Battery - £80
Diagnostics stuff - £30
Headlight kit - £20
More soon, shes booked in to Walkers Auto's in a couple of weeks for the gearbox oil change
J
So a couple of days driving and we still have some codes, but it runs well and is a joy to drive. Started on the button at -7 deg C this morning!
Faults are -
FFFF CAN - CAN Coms fault
A158 PM - Closed circuit (short time) (not present)
9C56 IHKA - Fogging sensor value below threshold (present)
D17C ACC - CAN message with fault value (not present)
2744 DME - Misfire cyl 5 (not present)
27A0 DME - Fan Electronics box open circuit (present)
A0AD CAS - Processor implausible value (present)
So I would like to think that the not present ones are phantom codes caused by the low battery voltage, I know that the cyl 5 misfire is something that occurs on cold mornings (happened today), but not a concern as it clears almost immediately. I guess it has a weak spark that is overwhelmed by the cold start fueling, after 30 seconds or so, once the cats are lit, it runs just fine.
The DME box fan is a common one that I will sort over the coming weeks.
The Comfort Access System fault is a bit more of a puzzler, I am thinking it may well be one of the door handles dicking about, again a common fault with the E65.
The handles can also cause a constant power drain, causing the power module to switch off to preserve the battery, bringing up an A158 fault...........
I think I am going to have to dig into that one further
Overall it is a fantastic drive, rock solid on the road and more power than I can use 95% of the time
Thirst for unleaded is around 21mpg, the gauge is currently sitting at 19mpg but that is because I have had her idling on the driveway for quite some time whilst using DIS
J
Faults are -
FFFF CAN - CAN Coms fault
A158 PM - Closed circuit (short time) (not present)
9C56 IHKA - Fogging sensor value below threshold (present)
D17C ACC - CAN message with fault value (not present)
2744 DME - Misfire cyl 5 (not present)
27A0 DME - Fan Electronics box open circuit (present)
A0AD CAS - Processor implausible value (present)
So I would like to think that the not present ones are phantom codes caused by the low battery voltage, I know that the cyl 5 misfire is something that occurs on cold mornings (happened today), but not a concern as it clears almost immediately. I guess it has a weak spark that is overwhelmed by the cold start fueling, after 30 seconds or so, once the cats are lit, it runs just fine.
The DME box fan is a common one that I will sort over the coming weeks.
The Comfort Access System fault is a bit more of a puzzler, I am thinking it may well be one of the door handles dicking about, again a common fault with the E65.
The handles can also cause a constant power drain, causing the power module to switch off to preserve the battery, bringing up an A158 fault...........
I think I am going to have to dig into that one further
Overall it is a fantastic drive, rock solid on the road and more power than I can use 95% of the time
Thirst for unleaded is around 21mpg, the gauge is currently sitting at 19mpg but that is because I have had her idling on the driveway for quite some time whilst using DIS
J
I can see why people are scared of them, if they are unwilling to do DIY fault finding and rectification, then it would be RUINOUSLY expensive. Mainly in labor charges doing diagnostics!
In all reality they are very good electrically, I have had more problems with the mondeo and Audi A2 in the past, mainly in real faults that would just not go away, regardless of what parts you threw at them.
At least with the 7, a lot of the faults are phantom or caused by a single real issue, pushing a load of other items to chime in.
As for the fuel consumption, that 21mpg is on a very windy route to and from work, only 30 miles a day too.
On a run I am confident that I will see north of 25mpg, this will be proven on friday when Wally goes on his first long run, to Norfolk! Photos will be incoming
J
In all reality they are very good electrically, I have had more problems with the mondeo and Audi A2 in the past, mainly in real faults that would just not go away, regardless of what parts you threw at them.
At least with the 7, a lot of the faults are phantom or caused by a single real issue, pushing a load of other items to chime in.
As for the fuel consumption, that 21mpg is on a very windy route to and from work, only 30 miles a day too.
On a run I am confident that I will see north of 25mpg, this will be proven on friday when Wally goes on his first long run, to Norfolk! Photos will be incoming
J
Yeah, misfire reared it's ugly head this morning on a -8 cold start. Actually switched off the injector too. Drove a mile or two, then stopped, key off, key on. Ran like a dream.
So a new coil is on the cards. The comfort access fault needs looking at, as it will continuously drain the battery and screw it after a while. The ECU fan will get resolved too, mainly because it is an easy one, but also because it will improve the reliability
More soon
So a new coil is on the cards. The comfort access fault needs looking at, as it will continuously drain the battery and screw it after a while. The ECU fan will get resolved too, mainly because it is an easy one, but also because it will improve the reliability
More soon
Yes, epic barging indeed!
Well it was nearly 10 deg warmer this morning, and no misfire. So it is just a wear spark that cannot ignite the rather over zealous cat heat / cold start strategy. No biggie.
So Huff, I agree, pull the plug, have a gander. I may buy a coil as well, as they are <£20 on fleabay. Looks like a set of iridium plugs is around £70, no that bad!
VerySideways, I purchased this tool -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152224300562?_trksid=p20...
It arrived very quickly, but the instructions are poor and you need a bit of computer knowledge to get it working. I installed a downloaded driver to get the cable recognised, and there was a bit of manual hunting for .exe files.
Once you are just using the 'one touch' install page it is ok, albeit very very slow with no progress reports. You just have to be patient, it is doing stuff (I was watching task manager!).
The software is BMW OEM, so it works well, but it is not easy to use! I have used DIS and INPA so far, the diagnostics part uses a virtual machine but that is all included in the install.
If you get it, and are struggling I will try to help
Kind regards,
J
Well it was nearly 10 deg warmer this morning, and no misfire. So it is just a wear spark that cannot ignite the rather over zealous cat heat / cold start strategy. No biggie.
So Huff, I agree, pull the plug, have a gander. I may buy a coil as well, as they are <£20 on fleabay. Looks like a set of iridium plugs is around £70, no that bad!
VerySideways, I purchased this tool -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152224300562?_trksid=p20...
It arrived very quickly, but the instructions are poor and you need a bit of computer knowledge to get it working. I installed a downloaded driver to get the cable recognised, and there was a bit of manual hunting for .exe files.
Once you are just using the 'one touch' install page it is ok, albeit very very slow with no progress reports. You just have to be patient, it is doing stuff (I was watching task manager!).
The software is BMW OEM, so it works well, but it is not easy to use! I have used DIS and INPA so far, the diagnostics part uses a virtual machine but that is all included in the install.
If you get it, and are struggling I will try to help
Kind regards,
J
Thanks chaps! We're famous! Front page news
Despite it's faults, it is a great ownership experience, you really do feel like chairman of the board. It's that and the confused faces on people when you pull up at lights with some dubstep or jungle playing, brilliant
The rear idrive can control everything or nothing, depending on the settings at the front idrive. At the moment ours controls the rear climate, seat position, rear dvd screen and i think blinds.
That green one is pretty much the same spec as mine, if you go for it, go with your eyes wide open and do the research! If you get it, you will LOVE it
Despite it's faults, it is a great ownership experience, you really do feel like chairman of the board. It's that and the confused faces on people when you pull up at lights with some dubstep or jungle playing, brilliant
The rear idrive can control everything or nothing, depending on the settings at the front idrive. At the moment ours controls the rear climate, seat position, rear dvd screen and i think blinds.
That green one is pretty much the same spec as mine, if you go for it, go with your eyes wide open and do the research! If you get it, you will LOVE it
Morning Chaps,
Update time!
So the car drove us to Norfolk and back before Christmas, averaging just over 25mpg on the way there and a total trip average including daily trips out of 23.5mpg. Stunning if you ask me! I have got a couple of pictures of the car on it's holiday but they will have to wait.
Big news is......it broke.
Not badly, but enough to have spent the past 6 days off the road. So it has been squeaking a bit, this got worse until last thursday I decided to open the bonnet and have a look.
Turns out there is a LOT of sound deadening under that bonnet, once open it sounded more like a knocking rattle with a lot of squeaking over the top.
760Li Knocking Squeaking Noises
This is what I found
760Li Oh Balls
This is the GIANT viscous fan that is directly bolted to the water pump... joy.
The water pump was BORKED.
Initially I had it booked into Walkers but they had a long waiting list, so I decided to tackle it myself over a few days. If my coolant had arrived on time I would have had it done by end of Tuesday, as it stands I waited until yesterday, got impatient and then drove to the local factors and bought some there!
The job was actually not that hard, just a bit fiddly with the seven inlets / outlets on the pump. Other than that, it was a cinch. Even the viscous fan came off easy, just two whacks with a lump hammer and a chisel. Job done.
Pump is in here somewhere!
It now sounds like a sewing machine, smooth and quiet. Just need to find my electricity leak and we will be laughing
J
Update time!
So the car drove us to Norfolk and back before Christmas, averaging just over 25mpg on the way there and a total trip average including daily trips out of 23.5mpg. Stunning if you ask me! I have got a couple of pictures of the car on it's holiday but they will have to wait.
Big news is......it broke.
Not badly, but enough to have spent the past 6 days off the road. So it has been squeaking a bit, this got worse until last thursday I decided to open the bonnet and have a look.
Turns out there is a LOT of sound deadening under that bonnet, once open it sounded more like a knocking rattle with a lot of squeaking over the top.
760Li Knocking Squeaking Noises
This is what I found
760Li Oh Balls
This is the GIANT viscous fan that is directly bolted to the water pump... joy.
The water pump was BORKED.
Initially I had it booked into Walkers but they had a long waiting list, so I decided to tackle it myself over a few days. If my coolant had arrived on time I would have had it done by end of Tuesday, as it stands I waited until yesterday, got impatient and then drove to the local factors and bought some there!
The job was actually not that hard, just a bit fiddly with the seven inlets / outlets on the pump. Other than that, it was a cinch. Even the viscous fan came off easy, just two whacks with a lump hammer and a chisel. Job done.
Pump is in here somewhere!
It now sounds like a sewing machine, smooth and quiet. Just need to find my electricity leak and we will be laughing
J
Afternoon chaps,
Well done Prinny, glad there are more people who take heart over head on barges
Eliot! Thank you for the detailed account of the electricity chasing. I am already pretty certain that it is the door handles giving me grief, I found two of the fuses for the door but not the other two. And the trick for checking if it is in deep snooze on the glove box light is great. Looks like I will have a hunt for it this weekend
Going to order up sparkplugs next, see what the deal is with changing 12 of them
J
Well done Prinny, glad there are more people who take heart over head on barges
Eliot! Thank you for the detailed account of the electricity chasing. I am already pretty certain that it is the door handles giving me grief, I found two of the fuses for the door but not the other two. And the trick for checking if it is in deep snooze on the glove box light is great. Looks like I will have a hunt for it this weekend
Going to order up sparkplugs next, see what the deal is with changing 12 of them
J
YO!
Time for an update
So I have done almost exactly 30k miles in this now.
Things I have done:
Four tyres. Went for nexen Nfera SU1. They are quiet and ride well, decent grip, and seem to be wearing well. The previous tyres had 40k miles on them :O
Water pump. Viscous fan was falling off by the time I found this, there is so much sound deadening that I could not hear it! Slight rattle, pop the bonnet to check it, find the fan w
king around all over the place. Pump took a day to replace on the driveway, did a cooling flush at the same time.
60L of oil! I change the oil very regularly on cars, it is cheap insurance.
Power steering / ARC fluid change. Always missed out on servicing, made a noticable difference to steering feel and pump noise.
2x gearbox oil changes, 1x filter change. ZF 6HP26, needs to be done to keep it working.
Heater valve swap. Basically said engine out for this, I did it in about an hour but got lots of scratches in the process
Air con. Leak fixed and regassed, working well a year down the line.
Front suspension rebuild. All new arms, steering links inner and outer, ARB drop links.
Rear suspension rebuild. Top arms, ball joints and links.
New discs and pads all round. The discs are bloody huge!
Numerous diagnostic runs, for all sorts of electrical ailments, all bar one were phantom. The one exception was the driver side DME deciding to forget the immobiliser code on a battery change. This was terrifying, as the first sign was a crank without compression, just weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Plugged in, found the error code, re-synced the keys to the ECUs, job done.
However, it has never let me down otherwise. All of the jobs have been preventative.
Things on the list of currently broken but not critical:
PDC is tempramental, looks like the rear loom needs replacing. About £50 and a day to fit.
Logic7 amp has gone pop, really common. I am attempting a fix as it is just the power chips, if that doesn't work then I will get a replacement unit.
CD changer is non functional.
Knock from the front over low speed bumps? Might be a premature failure of one of the front arms, we are two years in with those, so possible?
I love this car, it is so capable, quiet, comfortable, and rapid. But the time is nigh, I think it will be up for sale soon!
J
Time for an update
So I have done almost exactly 30k miles in this now.
Things I have done:
Four tyres. Went for nexen Nfera SU1. They are quiet and ride well, decent grip, and seem to be wearing well. The previous tyres had 40k miles on them :O
Water pump. Viscous fan was falling off by the time I found this, there is so much sound deadening that I could not hear it! Slight rattle, pop the bonnet to check it, find the fan w
king around all over the place. Pump took a day to replace on the driveway, did a cooling flush at the same time.60L of oil! I change the oil very regularly on cars, it is cheap insurance.
Power steering / ARC fluid change. Always missed out on servicing, made a noticable difference to steering feel and pump noise.
2x gearbox oil changes, 1x filter change. ZF 6HP26, needs to be done to keep it working.
Heater valve swap. Basically said engine out for this, I did it in about an hour but got lots of scratches in the process
Air con. Leak fixed and regassed, working well a year down the line.
Front suspension rebuild. All new arms, steering links inner and outer, ARB drop links.
Rear suspension rebuild. Top arms, ball joints and links.
New discs and pads all round. The discs are bloody huge!
Numerous diagnostic runs, for all sorts of electrical ailments, all bar one were phantom. The one exception was the driver side DME deciding to forget the immobiliser code on a battery change. This was terrifying, as the first sign was a crank without compression, just weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Plugged in, found the error code, re-synced the keys to the ECUs, job done.
However, it has never let me down otherwise. All of the jobs have been preventative.
Things on the list of currently broken but not critical:
PDC is tempramental, looks like the rear loom needs replacing. About £50 and a day to fit.
Logic7 amp has gone pop, really common. I am attempting a fix as it is just the power chips, if that doesn't work then I will get a replacement unit.
CD changer is non functional.
Knock from the front over low speed bumps? Might be a premature failure of one of the front arms, we are two years in with those, so possible?
I love this car, it is so capable, quiet, comfortable, and rapid. But the time is nigh, I think it will be up for sale soon!
J
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff