***** Motors chat - round 12 *****

vintagevrs

Na I bought them from BMW. Sat in the new M5 and a manual M2 Competition. Funny how they are so far out of my reach I wasn't even that interested. Well that's a lie, the little M2 looks like the perfect car. The M5 just looks like a complete beast, so much so I was just thinking it would be completely wasted on Irish roads. Doubt I'm getting old...

Hal1

bazz26

vintagevrs wrote: »

Little retrofit project underway this evening.




LCI rear lights so the wiring is slightly different. Must dig out a how to from a forum. Old lights were letting in water, there's about a litre of water in the left one FFS. BM didn't want to know about good will etc even though full history with them. I drove into Derry to get them today, some nice machines about. Spotted the police in a Golf R as well as an ST focus, both of which you wouldn't raise an eyebrow to. Only giveaway they are cop cars are the uniformed people inside.

Very nice upgrade. How much did they set you back? They look like the Shadow Edition lights with the dark tint. Did you find out what's involved in retrofitting them? I presume it involves maybe some new wiring looms, they might also need to be coded to the car?

vintagevrs

Yeah a bit of wiring is needed. The outer lamps use the same connection but the order is different within it so you need to swap around some pins. Inner lamps need new connections plus new pair of wires ran back to the connection above the battery as they now include an indicator and didn't before. You're meant to code them so that the bulb check the car does is disabled as it will cause them to flicker on start up. I'll do the coding later but job done now. Also, I bought the f30/31 retrofit harness from BMW and knew this beforehand but it is only suitable for f30s. The routing you need to take on the f31 means that the cable is too short. Easily extended but the principle of buying a cable from BMW for 50 quid should mean you don't have to feck around with it then.

I bought them from BMW in the north, for just less than £380 for the 4 units. These are the "m performance" ones so have that darker look. Strangely they are cheaper than the normal ones.

ofcork

I see a court in germany has ordered vw to pay a customer back the full price of his 2012 golf because of the emissions debacle.

colm_mcm

ofcork wrote: »

I see a court in germany has ordered vw to pay a customer back the full price of his 2012 golf because of the emissions debacle.

Probably their equivalent of Jusge Zaidan or Jusge Durcan. An interesting precedent though.

GustavoFring

vintagevrs wrote: »

Yeah a bit of wiring is needed. The outer lamps use the same connection but the order is different within it so you need to swap around some pins. Inner lamps need new connections plus new pair of wires ran back to the connection above the battery as they now include an indicator and didn't before. You're meant to code them so that the bulb check the car does is disabled as it will cause them to flicker on start up. I'll do the coding later but job done now. Also, I bought the f30/31 retrofit harness from BMW and knew this beforehand but it is only suitable for f30s. The routing you need to take on the f31 means that the cable is too short. Easily extended but the principle of buying a cable from BMW for 50 quid should mean you don't have to feck around with it then.

I bought them from BMW in the north, for just less than £380 for the 4 units. These are the "m performance" ones so have that darker look. Strangely they are cheaper than the normal ones.

They look great against the white.

wotzgoingon

GustavoFring wrote: »

They look great against the white.

Looks better when they are turned on.

Tommyboy40

Sorry folks, not really motors related but can anyone point me in the direction of an energy supply page? Need to switch my gas and electricity but would prefer to clean the car rather than spend the day trying to make sense of companies web pages!

James Bond Junior

Tommyboy40 wrote: »

Sorry folks, not really motors related but can anyone point me in the direction of an energy supply page? Need to switch my gas and electricity but would prefer to clean the car rather than spend the day trying to make sense of companies web pages!

Bonkers.ie

colm_mcm

Tommyboy40 wrote: »

Sorry folks, not really motors related but can anyone point me in the direction of an energy supply page? Need to switch my gas and electricity but would prefer to clean the car rather than spend the day trying to make sense of companies web pages!

Switcher.ie

Interslice

https://www.thejournal.ie/driver-using-spoon-instead-of-key-4359440-Nov2018/

The key that opens all locks.

wotzgoingon

Anyone else come across those headlights that changed colour? I thought I was going mad as a few were changing behind me a few times over the past couple of months and then recently one person was changing them while coming towards me.

Obviously illegal.

bazz26

I see Joe Duffy Audi in Limerick have moved into their new showrooms on the Tipperary Road, right next door to Conlan BMW. Their old Singland Motors showroom is now empty.

markc1184

I need to replace the front tyres on my Octavia VRS. Should the new tyres be put to the front or the rear?

MetzgerMeister

markc1184 wrote: »

I need to replace the front tyres on my Octavia VRS. Should the new tyres be put to the front or the rear?

I think you answered your own question there :P

markc1184

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I think you answered your own question there :P

Yes, but then there will be brand new tyres to the front and part worn to the rear. Will this be ok, or should the part worn be swapped to the front with the new tyres at the rear. I've seen people online saying that it can affect handling and cause under/over steer.

markc1184

markc1184 wrote: »

Yes, but then there will be brand new tyres to the front and part worn to the rear. ................ I've seen people online saying that it can affect handling and cause under/over steer.

Only likely when aquaplaning IMO and if the rears are 3+ mm than highly unlikely.

Can't see the opportunity for under steer at all in a FWD with the good tyres on the front.

In day to day driving and in an emergency stop situation the fronts do the most work in a FWD so the best tyres should go there IMO.

FWD oversteer due to worn tyres on the back is as rare as rocking horse poo I reckon.

MetzgerMeister

markc1184 wrote: »

Yes, but then there will be brand new tyres to the front and part worn to the rear. Will this be ok, or should the part worn be swapped to the front with the new tyres at the rear. I've seen people online saying that it can affect handling and cause under/over steer.

The front wheels are the driven wheels so they need the new tyres.

Esel

This is an old chestnut at this stage. Major tyre manufacturers advise fitting new pair on the rear in most cases.

vintagevrs

I would probably put them on the front. However, I know it is recommended that they go on the rear. I think the thinking is you don't want to do an emergency stop with much higher grip at the front in comparison to the rear as the rear could over take the front.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSz7cm6MwH0

Leonard Hofstadter

I always thought you were supposed to put the oldest tyres on the front, the logic being that if they are to lose grip, you'll feel it through the steering wheel so there is more time to take action.

joujoujou

My rule of thumb - if your car tends to understeer, put new ones on the front. If tends to oversteer, put them on the rear. Not a rocket science. :cool:

Wibbs

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Your fronts do the lions share of the braking. And if your car has stability control it should also help. If your back is swapping with the fronts you have bigger problems!

I've had it happen to me. A few years ago I swapped the fronts with the rears. As you might. The fronts weren't particularly worn and were well above the tyre wear indicators, but the rears were like new. A few days after the swap on a showery summer's day I went into a roundabout and the rear got decidedly light. Wasn't exactly going hard either. Though the long period of dry weather with rubber and oil laid down on a busy roundabout suddenly getting a burst of rain was a large factor. Now to be fair my yoke is uncharacteristically oversteery for a FWD as it is, but I really noticed the difference and soon after swapped the tyres back.

Big Nasty

Front tyres need changing? Change front tyres.
Rear tyres need changing? Change rear tyres.

No need to make it any more complicated than that.

ELM327

markc1184 wrote: »

I need to replace the front tyres on my Octavia VRS. Should the new tyres be put to the front or the rear?

The new tyres should be put on where the old tyres were taken off. Otherwise you may have 4 on the back and none at the front or vice versa.


Alternatively, since it's an Octavia, you could fit all 4 in the boot anyway.

frozenfrozen

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Anyone else come across those headlights that changed colour? I thought I was going mad as a few were changing behind me a few times over the past couple of months and then recently one person was changing them while coming towards me.

Obviously illegal.

Not just the colour changing with the angle of the projectors bouncing?

Tazzimus

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Not just the colour changing with the angle of the projectors bouncing?

I would have thought this as well.
Wasn't it done to stop glare/blinding lights on bumpy roads or something?
I actually think it tends to be worse as it's nearly like they're flashing the lights.

MetzgerMeister

Insurance renewal down from €814 to €777 thanks to a 30 second phone call.

wotzgoingon

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Not just the colour changing with the angle of the projectors bouncing?

No these change to red, yellow, green etc.. I honestly thought I was going mad seeing them in the rear view mirror. Then recently someone was changing them coming towards me.

The ones you are thinking of just change to a blue sort of colour and back to a sort or whitish tinge.


Edit: Had to google it. https://www.google.ie/search?source=hp&ei=1ib8W664I8ecgAbftbrYBQ&q=headlights+that+change+colours&btnK=Google+Search&oq=headlights+that+chabnge+colour&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.33i10i160.1118.6914..9109...0.0..1.189.2637.27j4......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0j35i39j0i131j0i10j0i22i30j0i13j0i13i5i30.ele4UUIrMlI

OldMrBrennan83

Not sure where to put a thread or if it's been asked before, but does anyone know the best way one would go about finding out what cars currently have Android Auto available. Specifically commercial vehicles.

OSI

OSI wrote: »

Wooo! 1,000km from a single tank of diesel..........

:eek:

What mpg is that?

I got 857kms from a tank in the Sorento once, just shy of 40mpg. that included a 130 mile motorway jaunt, 120kph isn't the sweetspot for the Sorento.

fancy pigeon

OSI wrote: »

Wooo! 1,000km from a single tank of diesel.

Shoot me

Once, just once, I got 1037km before I had to refill the tank on the Avensis. Took 58litres (Avensis has a 60L tank), which worked out somewhere 50mpg. That was keeping it off the motorway for the week, no trips into the city centre etc. It normally averages between 800/900km per tank

I tend to fill up at the same time each week as a tank generally lasts 1 week, allowing for spontaneous trips if needs be

Sad eh

Tazzimus

I haven't been brave enough to push the new car into the reserve yet, I'll usually give in when its just about to go into it.
At that point it's just shy of 600 miles (UK import) with whatever is in the reserve still to go.
Decent for a 2.2 daesal, but it does have a 64 litre tank as well..

ELM327

My old 406 used to get 1000km to a tank taking her handy. From memory it took ~70 litres to fill from bone dry empty.
Nowadays I generally get 200km to a "tank" (EV) or ~475miles to a tank (herself's prius)

cadaliac

I regularly get 1000km or occasionally 1100 km per tank.
508 diesel. Not much urban driving, only shops etc at weekends.

bazz26

Dropped the car in at the dealer for a service today and got a 7 year old 520d as a loaner. They were flat out and didn't get near my car today so I have the 520d overnight. Driving home this evening and realised how piss poor the halogen headlights are. Might as well have a set of night lights in the lenses for all the good the halogens are. Car drives fine but there is a warning light on the dash telling there is a rear light bulb out. Low and behold, the rear LED rear is partially out on one side. Windscreen washer is blocked also. Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state, not to mind used as a courtesy car.

moby2101

So Insurance,.....

I got my renewal notice from AXA last week.
1035, up over 300 from last year.

I’ve been with AXA for over 10 years, in all that time I’ve haggled with them and had the premium reduced.

So yesterday rang one broker and went online and got a couple of quotes.
Broker 750
Cornmarket (0nline) 690
Allianz 735

Armed with my quotes I headed into Axa office on O Connell St in Limerick.

I’ve always liked dealing with Axa I’ve found them very competent and the fact they have an office where you can chat face to face with a representative is a plus.
Explained my case and showed her the quotes, she took the quotes off me to talk to their underwriter.

They reduced to 760, I was more than happy with that .(I know I had a cheaper offer but the Axa policy is a better policy with more cover etc)
Pays to get a couple of quotes and haggle.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

Dropped the car in at the dealer for a service today and got a 7 year old 520d as a loaner. They were flat out and didn't get near my car today so I have the 520d overnight. Driving home this evening and realised how piss poor the halogen headlights are. Might as well have a set of night lights in the lenses for all the good the halogens are. Car drives fine but there is a warning light on the dash telling there is a rear light bulb out. Low and behold, the rear LED rear is partially out on one side. Windscreen washer is blocked also. Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state, not to mind used as a courtesy car.

.....a rear led partially out and blocked windscreen washer. Hardly a death trap.

Tazzimus

Always haggle and never have loyalty to an insurance company, they have none to you.

Tazzimus

bazz26 wrote: »

Dropped the car in at the dealer for a service today and got a 7 year old 520d as a loaner. They were flat out and didn't get near my car today so I have the 520d overnight. Driving home this evening and realised how piss poor the halogen headlights are. Might as well have a set of night lights in the lenses for all the good the halogens are. Car drives fine but there is a warning light on the dash telling there is a rear light bulb out. Low and behold, the rear LED rear is partially out on one side. Windscreen washer is blocked also. Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state, not to mind used as a courtesy car.

Girlfriend works in a garage and I've seen some of the courtesy cars when they come back from customers, she's currently driving one.
That's mild what you've described, majority of people seem to give zero ****s if it's not their car.

OldMrBrennan83

OSI wrote: »

I'd be surprised if there's a definitive list, most manufacturers in the last year or two would have offered it, but it wouldn't be available on all head units, and many would require activation which often wouldn't be paid for.

Cheers. Yeah true. I doubt there's any real van that has it anyway. Might need to go for an SUV commercial, maybe even a converted one.

bazz26

Augeo wrote: »

.....a rear led partially out and blocked windscreen washer. Hardly a death trap.

I never said it was a death trap or the sort but in my view these are basic enough things that can/should be checked prior to designating a car as a loaner to your customers. It certainly wasn't a typical courtesy car because of its age, more like something that was traded in that still had tax and NCT. Also I'm far from being a lord of the manor who kicks up a fuss because the red carpet isn't rolled out for me.

ShadowHearth

ELM327 wrote: »

My old 406 used to get 1000km to a tank taking her handy. From memory it took ~70 litres to fill from bone dry empty.
Nowadays I generally get 200km to a "tank" (EV) or ~475miles to a tank (herself's prius)

I had 406 1.8 petrol and it was very good in mpg area. Actually it was good in all areas. First car I owned where sound isolation was actually amazing.

No idea how much I wouldget out of my full tank. I got ocd thing where my tank cant go below half. If its half, I am going right to the petrol station!

CIP4

bazz26 wrote: »

I never said it was a death trap or the sort but in my view these are basic enough things that can/should be checked prior to designating a car as a loaner to your customers. It certainly wasn't a typical courtesy car because of its age, more like something that was traded in that still had tax and NCT. Also I'm far from being a lord of the manor who kicks up a fuss because the red carpet isn't rolled out for me.

The last courtesy car I got was an A3 only about 2 months old with like 1k km on it so was obviously quite fresh. But the time before that was a 6 year old A4 which had just been traded in and the dealer apologized and said it was all they had. Tbh I thought it was grand but did have a few flaws but like it’s only short term car and did the job at least you appreciate your own car when you get it back that way :pac: Also in my own case it’s not that long ago that the car I owned wouldn’t even of been as nice as that 6 year old loaner.

With the way I am I would hate to be getting a demo S3 or something like that as that would just make for a very expensive experience for me :pac:

Esel

CIP4 wrote: »

With the way I am I would hate to be getting a demo S3 or something like that as that would just make for a very expensive experience for me :pac:

Your dealer has one on standby just waiting for you to appear.

Noccy_Mondy

Any reasoning behind the hazards flashing when idling. Not all the time but usually after driving a bit, waiting at lights or whatever the hazards will flash, maybe once every 10 seconds or so, without touching anything. Mk6 Golf, typical VW electrical gremlins I suppose!

James Bond Junior

bazz26 wrote: »

Dropped the car in at the dealer for a service today and got a 7 year old 520d as a loaner. They were flat out and didn't get near my car today so I have the 520d overnight. Driving home this evening and realised how piss poor the halogen headlights are. Might as well have a set of night lights in the lenses for all the good the halogens are. Car drives fine but there is a warning light on the dash telling there is a rear light bulb out. Low and behold, the rear LED rear is partially out on one side. Windscreen washer is blocked also. Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state, not to mind used as a courtesy car.

The last time I brought a car to Aherns for a service I was given an X1 demo as the courtesy car. Just saying....

Wailin

bazz26 wrote: »

Dropped the car in at the dealer for a service today and got a 7 year old 520d as a loaner. They were flat out and didn't get near my car today so I have the 520d overnight. Driving home this evening and realised how piss poor the halogen headlights are. Might as well have a set of night lights in the lenses for all the good the halogens are. Car drives fine but there is a warning light on the dash telling there is a rear light bulb out. Low and behold, the rear LED rear is partially out on one side. Windscreen washer is blocked also. Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state, not to mind used as a courtesy car.

That's a rolls royce compared to what they gave me the first time...08 316D What a piece of ****!

Second time round I saw 2017 2 series written on the key fob and was delighted thinking it was the coupe. But no, I walked out to the 218d gran tourer Probably the ugliest car BMW ever made.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

I never said it was a death trap or the sort but in my view these are basic enough things that can/should be checked prior to designating a car as a loaner to your customers. It certainly wasn't a typical courtesy car because of its age, more like something that was traded in that still had tax and NCT. Also I'm far from being a lord of the manor who kicks up a fuss because the red carpet isn't rolled out for me.

....." Will be having a few words with them tomorrow as that car is not fit for the road in that state"


Right. I wouldn't agree really

The car is most definitely fit for the road....as you well know.

Enjoy your few words with them.