Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

tcawley29

I think I'd be changing what filling station I'm going to.

Out of curiosity, is it the same one most of the time?

The Real B-man

tcawley29 wrote: »

I think I'd be changing what filling station I'm going to.

Out of curiosity, is it the same one most of the time?

My OH only filling up when their is only 10km left more like!
Usually use Wix or Blueprint filters or what ever the motor factors has not to snobby as i change both filters every 15km as they are so cheap and just inspect the air filter.

I took off the filter housing and gave it a good clean this time as there was loads of crud id say the tank isn't great in comparrision to my 2011 tiguan it's always clean when changing the filter.

Usually filled at Applegreen or Topaz

tcawley29

The Real B-man wrote: »

My OH only filling up when their is only 10km left more like!
Usually use Wix or Blueprint filters or what ever the motor factors has not to snobby as i change both filters every 15km as they are so cheap and just inspect the air filter.

I took off the filter housing and gave it a good clean this time as there was loads of crud id say the tank isn't great in comparrision to my 2011 tiguan it's always clean when changing the filter.

Usually filled at Applegreen or Topaz

Doesn't Apple Green have a reputation of being rubbish fuel?
It used to a few years ago anyways but I'm away not so anything I'm filling is only a rental and I'm not too fussy anymore :pac:

The Real B-man

tcawley29 wrote: »

Doesn't Apple Green have a reputation of being rubbish fuel?
It used to a few years ago anyways but I'm away not so anything I'm filling is only a rental and I'm not too fussy anymore :pac:

I tend to agree whether true or not i usually fill at Circle K or Maxol
Alot of the bigger Circkle K stations have had there pumps and tanks replaced to accomedate the Miles+ fuel so i personally use them.

newmember2

Service on the A8 at 132K - oil+filter, fuel+air filter.

traco

Steering was allover the place so new inner and outer tie rods will tighten it up significantly I hope. No idea how long they were on the car as they had seen better days. Hopefully this sorts it and I'm not looking at a rack issue. It was wandering very bad on the motorway and getting worse, might be all the local speed ramps that finally killed them. Took a about 4 hours and a bit of a pain. Alignment later on today after I clean the rack and polish it. Will add some lubrication before I put clamp the boots in place as the seals look very dry.

Interslice

Access looks good at least, as tie rods go. Is that a fork lift?

traco

Interslice wrote: »

Access looks good at least, as tie rods go. Is that a fork lift?

Shush!!! It might be?????

Makes putting it up on jack stands a very very simple procedure. Central jacking point is a long way in. As it was there is was handy to drop the under tray on the blades.

You can't be too careful working under a car especially when on your own and no chance of anyone finding you. Even with all that it was very rare I slid in underneath. I'm paranoid about them slipping so I also stuck the trolley jack under it for a bit of extra peace of mind. There was so much holding it up that if the building fell down the safest place was under the car.

Interslice

Looks handy enough! I like to have the axle stands under the wishbone bushes rather than the sills when underneath pulling on a nut or bolt. Feel a bit more comfortable and stops the sills or jacking points getting damaged and ending up rusty.

wotzgoingon

Interslice wrote: »

Looks handy enough! I like to have the axle stands under the wishbone bushes rather than the sills when underneath pulling on a nut or bolt. Feel a bit more comfortable and stops the sills or jacking points getting damaged and ending up rusty.

It can slip easier under the wishbones though as they are quite large slippy surface area. If you had a tight nut/bolt and were pulling on ratchet it could slip.

That's my thinking anyway.

Rows Grower

I got the underneath of my 30 odd year old Merc sprayed and greased along with another few small jobs that needed doing. I should have took a few pictures for this thread.

I'm thinking of changing the door handles and I need a working window motor on the passenger side, when/if I do get around to getting the parts at a handy price, I'll take some pictures. Thinking of changing the front grill for a shinier one and the steering wheel for a smaller one as well.

colm_mcm

Rows Grower wrote: »

I got the underneath of my 30 odd year old Merc sprayed and greased along with another few small jobs that needed doing. I should have took a few pictures for this thread.

I'm thinking of changing the door handles and I need a working window motor on the passenger side, when/if I do get around to getting the parts at a handy price, I'll take some pictures. Thinking of changing the front grill for a shinier one and the steering wheel for a smaller one as well.

What are you driving?

Rows Grower

colm_mcm wrote: »

What are you driving?

A 1987 W201 2.6 automatic.

colm_mcm

Rows Grower wrote: »

A 1987 W201 2.6 automatic.

Nice one! I briefly toyed with buying a 1.8 years ago but I was talked out of it

nogoodnamesleft

The 5 series needed a set of new disks and pads on the rear. After having a look at the astronomical quote from the main dealer as well as the time they would require as well as the questionable work they have carried out I decided to do it myself.

Main dealer quote was somewhere in the region of 470GBP for supply and fit. Via the enthuasist community in the UK I obtained genuine BMW parts (2x disk, 2x set of pads, new wear sensor, new guides for the carriers, 2 x sachets of BMW brake grease). Total for the lot delivered was approx 250GBP (with a discount).

I have a copy of ISTA so before I took the wheels off, I put the electronic brake in service mode (installation mode). It winds the motors on the rear back so I can easily push the piston back via a suitable wind back tool.






Once the disks had parted way with the hub via a persuader to shock the corrosion free. I took my time preparing the hub faces with a wire brush, brake cleaner and a sheet of sandpaper to ensure all elements of corrosion was removed and the disk would run true. I also used a bit of brake lube around the hub flange and on the thread of the disk retaining screws for the next time the disks are replaced.

pablo128

I'd have chanced another set of pads on the original discs there.:o

nogoodnamesleft

Comparsion of the disks front and rear faces...it can be seen that the inside face of the disk is not been worn evenly. The inner pad was actually siezed on the guides which would explain it!







New pads and disk mounted. The BMW pads look the same however the inner pad is capable of accepting the wear sensor even the side which doesnt have one (the sensor is on the offside only).



I supported the caliper assembly via a bungee cord to not stress the brake lines throughout as well as when using the windback tool.

nogoodnamesleft

The offside wear sensor termination point in the wheel arch.



I was surprised as to how much debris was in there as it was sealed!



I left the pad hang loose as I threaded in the new sensor assembly along the various points on the hub carrier to ensure the new sensor went back the way the old one came out.




This is where my pet peeve is. My local BMW main dealer carried out a health check when my car was in for an ERG cooler replacement at the beginning of November. According to the report the car had 7mm of pad thickness all round (this differed considerably from June when the cars MOT was carried out as at that time it was 4mm). The pads were 4mm on the outside pad and at the lowest 2.24mm on one of the inner pads! :rolleyes:

nogoodnamesleft

pablo128 wrote: »

I'd have chanced another set of pads on the original discs there.:o

There was a bit of a lip not too excessive but I was aware that the disk would probably be under the min thickness with another set of pads and I want to maximise the pad life.

Once all that lot was done....I changed the wipers as they were beginning to streak.:o. Bosch off amazon for 22GBP, maindealer were 50GBP for wipers also made in Belgium (most likely Bosch!!)

Titzon Toast

Finally managed to track down a Motegi kit for my Prelude. I've started sanding down the wheels and the skirts need to be resprayed too.
I can't wait to get stuck in over Christmas.

Titzon Toast

First time ever using a flairing tool. Had to drop the tank and exhaust to get at the corroded brake lines. It was actually a lot of fun.
07 Hyundai Tucson.

SniperSight

Love how the door trim lighting looks in RS3, Golf R/GTI/GTD so I decided to get the Carbon Fibre RS3 style ambient lighting trim to replace standard piano black trim in my S3, was supposed to be plug and play, but connections in door card wouldnt allow that, so had to tap into window control switch. Can be dimmed with the in-car controls.
Arent as bright as it looks in the photos but add a nice bit of ambient lighting that can be adjusted to any colour...

Interslice

Spent the day changing an altenator. Battery light came on yesterday. I was only getting 11.5v at the battery with the engine running. Tried a spare battery but had but no such luck.



50 euro repair kit




I eventually found the right combo of stilson and spanner to reach in and open the bolt that locks the tensioner. After all that 14.3v thank fook. 220 euro spurious or 690 OE altenators didnt make bangernomics sense.





Took the slack out of the throttle cable and cleaned the gum around the flap. Ticks over nicely now.

traco

Didn't do much posting over Christmas but got the android head unit in, it looks well and appears to do what it should.

This with wrapping the wood trim has completely changed the interior of the car. All in it cost me less than €150 for the vinyl, head unit and an adopter for the antenna. Very pleased with it but I suspect the roof antenna has an issue as the FM signal isn't great but I have Spotify and Tunein radio so not a big deal for the moment.

Link to a vid of it powering up and an installed pic - sound is better than original and good enough for me. Wonder how long before youtube strips the audio on though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xzyAVdXzZ8

dar_cool

Carbon looks so good in there. I had an android unit in an old Passat we had and the FM signal was bad but apparently you need to make sure the antenna in the head unit has 12v

vintagevrs

Another 6 months and 10k miles of hassle free motoring. New oil, filter, air filter and cabin filter today:

colm_mcm

Fitted black grille surround today

wotzgoingon

colm_mcm wrote: »

Fitted black grille surround today

Is that a genuine part? Just guessing by the box. If so they aren't as popular as BMW's where you can pick up cheap aftermarket grills.

colm_mcm

Yeah, genuine part. TBH I had the paint bought to DIY it but this was way handier.
I’d say by the time you pay postage on one from abroad it’ll end up costing the same.
I made pure ****e of the old grille taking it out.

BabyEater

VCG on the 325i, easier job than I expected.