Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Doesn't seem too excessive for a good brand oil and filter. A h7 and h3c(?) Were probably around €15 for the pair i'd say?

Not y car but some may find it interesting.
Done service on a sl600 v8 biturbo ( badged as a sl63 v 12 )
Some job on them spark plugs lads. No room what so ever to get a ratchet so took longer than expected. 16 spark plugs at 400 and something euro.

Plugs done

Done nice and clean and test drive time
Happy days

That's a lot of plugs.

Oil change coming up, gotta get a tin of cookies. :pac:

dodderangler wrote: »

Not y car but some may find it interesting.
Done service on a sl600 v8 biturbo ( badged as a sl63 v 12 )
Some job on them spark plugs lads. No room what so ever to get a ratchet so took longer than expected. [highlight]16[/highlight] spark plugs at 400 and something euro.
[...]

Weird. I see 17.

Spent a bit of time on the car last night, nothing major, oil and filter change and two new lower control arms to replace.



Got a good deal on 20 litres of Castrol 5W30 on Amazon, shipping was only £14 from Germany. Worked out at about €9.90 a litre. Each oil change is 8 litres so 2.5 services from the tank.









Oil filter is a pain in the ass to get to compared to 4 or 6 cylinder models, it sits right at the back of the block under the car:



BMW TIS for tightening torques. Also used it for the control arms:



About 9,000 miles on this, left it a little later than normal:



First control arm on the driver side took about an hour. Spent an age trying to figure out how to safely detach the xenon auto-leveling sensor:



The bushing end also has to be tightened under load so its takes a while with no ramp.
New arm in:



Opposite side took 20 minutes flat, no sensor on that side.

State of the ball joints, pretty diabolical:

What were the symptoms of failed ball joint voodoo? I've been getting a kind of crack/pop noise from my two front wheels whenever they go over a bump and I haven't a clue what's wrong but it sounds awful. I'm thinking strut mounts but can't be sure.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

What were the symptoms of failed ball joint voodoo? I've been getting a kind of crack/pop noise from my two front wheels whenever they go over a bump and I haven't a clue what's wrong but it sounds awful. I'm thinking strut mounts but can't be sure.

Funny enough, it wouldn't surprise me if you had the same problem. Mine was banging and crunching over speed bumps, even at 5mph. Then it failed the NCT a few weeks back, knew it was coming.

You can diagnose it yourself; stick the front end up on axle stands and have someone wiggle the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock positions, whilst you peer in at the joints with a torch. They essentially shouldn't move at all, mine were moving a good few millimeters in both directions.

Would you really use a thermostat from a breakers yard? You're braver man than me!

Replaced mine recently.



Was £43.88exVAT.

Part 11537586885 is found on the following vehicles:

3' F80 M3   (04/2012 — 03/2015)
4' F82 M4   (02/2013 — 03/2015)
4' F83 M4   (06/2013 — 03/2015)
5' E60   (02/2002 — 02/2007)
5' E60 LCI   (11/2005 — 12/2009)
5' E61   (11/2002 — 02/2007)
5' E61 LCI   (11/2005 — 03/2010)
5' F07 GT   (09/2008 — 06/2013)
5' F07 GT LCI   (08/2012 — 03/2015)
5' F10   (01/2009 — 03/2015)
5' F10 LCI   (08/2012 — 03/2015)
5' F11   (09/2010 — 06/2013)
5' F11 LCI   (08/2012 — 03/2015)
6' E63   (05/2002 — 07/2007)
6' E63 LCI   (04/2006 — 07/2010)
6' E64   (09/2002 — 07/2007)
6' E64 LCI   (04/2006 — 07/2010)
6' F06 GC   (06/2011 — 03/2015)
6' F06 GC LCI   (06/2014 — 03/2015)
6' F12   (11/2009 — 02/2015)
6' F12 LCI   (05/2014 — 03/2015)
6' F13   (03/2010 — 02/2015)
6' F13 LCI   (06/2014 — 03/2015)
7' E65   (02/2000 — 07/2008)
7' E66   (06/2000 — 07/2008)
7' E67   (10/2002 — 06/2008)
7' F01   (06/2007 — 06/2012)
7' F01 LCI   (05/2011 — 03/2015)
7' F02   (07/2007 — 06/2012)
7' F02 LCI   (05/2011 — 03/2015)
7' F03   (04/2008 — 05/2012)
7' F03 LCI   (01/2012 — 02/2015)
7' F04 Hyb   (10/2008 — 06/2012)
X5 E53   (01/2003 — 09/2006)
X5 E70   (02/2006 — 06/2013)
X5 E70 LCI   (04/2009 — 06/2013)
X5 F15   (08/2012 — 03/2015)
X5 M F85   (04/2013 — 03/2015)
X6 E71   (01/2007 — 06/2014)
X6 E72 Hyb   (10/2008 — 10/2011)
X6 F16   (09/2013 — 03/2015)
X6 M F86   (10/2013 — 03/2015)
Phantom   (07/2002 — 04/2012)
Phantom Series II   (08/2011 — 03/2015)
Phantom Drophead   (03/2006 — 04/2012)
Phantom Drophead Series II   (09/2011 — 02/2015)
Phantom Coupé   (05/2007 — 03/2012)
Phantom Coupé Series II   (09/2011 — 02/2015)
Ghost   (08/2008 — 03/2015)
Wraith   (11/2012 — 03/2015)

They were pretty poor alright. First NCT since I got the car so hadn't it properly tested in that time.

I got some car parts... everything you see here for €25



And 2 cans of paint for the bonnet and the grille.



Finally sorted this out. It's been bugging me since day 1.



Boom!



I also have black dials on the cluster.



Before pic:

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

2 cans for the full bonnet and grille? Took me 2 (at a stretch) to do the grille alone on the 206. That was using the same halfords cans.

Hmm, hopefully it'll be enough. I need only a little bit for the grille as most of it will be black.

The white dials are nicer IMO

The white ones are nice but look like mivec clocks. Black ones suit the gento better i think.

Oil and filter change on the Astra.

Torx 50 bit needed for the sump plug, if anyone is planning to change oil on an Astra. :P

Got stuck into another bit of work.
Pulled apart the ignition system. Cleaned it all down with contact cleaner and put it back together with silicon gel. It was soaked in oil from the rocker cover leak. Parts of the coil pack were suffering a bit of copper corrosion. A light dry dust but there was actually water in one of it!



Sucked out as much oil as i could. Removed the plugs and cleaned down the tunnel and seat for the seal with contact cleaner. Then just hit the starter a few turn to spit it all back out.

Bought myself a rotary polisher during the week. First thing I tested it on where the headlights.

Worked very well with carplan rubbing compound.

Nope, I'd gotten it a little better in stages. I've no pic of them originally. I still plan on lacquering them. But want to take out the lights to do that.

Why do people want TV's in their car? Is it for kids in the back or something?

No, Pimp My Ride would have put 3 TV's and 3 PlayStations in the boot because fcuk logic.

At least you could get under the car easily to watch something with 24 inch wheels on.

bmstuff wrote: »

That's a factory set up
Many cars have lost TV reception since 2012 (?), because they have analog tuners from factory.
I just fix these, I don't do tacky stuff.

Doesnt look a bit tacky. Genuinely curious as to when they are being watched. A camper van kinda makes sense but a car. People surely arent driving and watching it or do they?

If you were waiting to pick somebody up they would be a handy alternative to the radio.
I often use my mobile to go online if I'm hanging about in the car, so I wouldn't find it that unusual that someone might want to watch the news or whatever.

With that in mind, I would probably just get an iPad mini or similar instead of ticking the in car TV option or doing a retrofit.