Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

MetzgerMeister

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I'd disagree with you there, i'm very glad to have paid a garage to do mine whilst the coolant pipe in the V was being done! Fair play, no way was I arsed doing that job without a lift.

+1. It's the type of job I'd pay for and let someone else fvck it up and have their insurance cover anything that went wrong if needs be.

vintagevrs

So I did a very little something today that barely qualifies for this thread. I bought an E46 coupe last week and the gear knob was broken on it, allowing it to rotate. I bought a new genuine sport shift knob which is shorter and weighted. I heard that it makes the shift much better and thought no way, sure the gear box and linkage are all the same.



The car is like a new car now, I can't believe how good it is now. The difference is serious. Happy days.

James Bond Junior

Where did you buy in the end?

vintagevrs

Just went with Amazon, as I ordered on Monday. Bh weekend here so don't bother waiting to call a dealer.

vintagevrs

New oil and filters this evening...was definitely due.

shietpilot

How is it for oil consumption? Those engines seem to go through oil unless you run an extra vacuum line from the blocked port on the crankcase breather valve to the intake manifold in my experience. Previous generation M5x engines (M52TU and older) utilised this blocked port which helps seal the rings better. M54s didn't for some reason

vintagevrs

Early days yet on the oil consumption but I'm gonna keep a tight eye on it. Cheers for the info on the extra vacuum line.

rizzee

Put the car through an early NCT on Tuesday in order to get a 2 year test (08 318d)

I knew it wouldn't pass, wanted to get the fail sheet and bring it to my mechanic for its service that was booked in yesterday to get whats needs to be done for the test too.

Bear in mind my front two tyres were badly worn (i replaced the 2 back ones last month so this was on my list too) , my passenger door wouldn't open from the outside, german font plates on the car, all the bulbs in the drivers side bootlid was gone (I have a thread about it - possibly FRM module) so a good bit of work to be done.... on top of that the car was filthy!

Tester strolled out Tuesday morning... ''it's not as bad as you think... just change the 2 front tyres and your windscreen washer isn't working, could be frozen (bad weather overnight -he was correct)''

Bloody delighted! Are German plates legal now? Unsure how he passed half the stuff. Anyway; went back in today with two new tyres at the front and the windscreen washer back to normal. NCT to 03/2020


A lot of work over the last few months.... clutch , flywheel, glow plugs, service, x4 tyres, brake pads and disks to name a few.

joujoujou

Never had a problem with so-called German plates as long as they have all required elements (EU badge, county name, etc) and no silly stickers. Type of font used on number plates is not regulated by law - use whatever you want.

=======================

My NCT fail story - car failed on rear brake imbalance and badly corroded RH wishbone. Brakes themselves are not a big problem - pads seized due to some corrosion in the place they sit - got it sorted in less than an hour.

Wishbone replacement was significantly worse - it took more than 6 hours to my experienced mech to do it - that required a lot of swearing plus cutting a hole in front cross-member, lot of cutting, grinding and welding as well. The reason was one of the bushings stuck to a bolt, so almost impossible to remove.

Now all sorted, gonna book a retest tonight.

Muckie

New Mini Adventure!!!!!!

Wifes car temp warning light went red and got P0599.

Could see a small leak, so had to replace the thermostat.
(took about 4 hours, least Saturday was dry and sunny )

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Really hope thats all the spanner i need to do on her car for a while :P

vintagevrs

Fitted an auxiliary in cable to the e46 today. Got it on Amazon for a fiver. Now have a 3.5mm female connection under armrest and works perfectly. Happy days.

colm_mcm

Today I turned this

into this



Took off the outer Perspex and sprayed the red bits.


Waiting for the sealant on the Perspex to dry now.



Bit more work to do, putting the rear fog into the drivers side reversing light unit.

Toyotafanboi

It'll probably look well because yours is a black car. Red Madge looks a bit Type R ish now!

You're mad to get rid of the full width lights front and back on yours. It's probably the one thing I'd never change, it's what makes the car stand out from similar era Focus and Golfs.

colm_mcm

Here it is on the car anyway

James Bond Junior

Looks well, you're a great man for the DIY stuff. Loved your camper thread.

Sam Quentin

Deleted(fixed)airbag warning light. 2011 Skoda Octavia.

Sam Quentin

Continued:

JohnBoy26

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

It'll probably look well because yours is a black car. Red Madge looks a bit Type R ish now!

You're mad to get rid of the full width lights front and back on yours. It's probably the one thing I'd never change, it's what makes the car stand out from similar era Focus and Golfs.

The standard perspex grill looks dreadful tbf.

honda boi

colm_mcm wrote: »

Here it is on the car anyway

Fix that reg light

colm_mcm

It had a good innings, I got 5 years out of it. Was even in Halfords last night getting the paint and I forgot!

rizzee

Any daytime pictures Colm?

honda boi

colm_mcm wrote: »

It had a good innings, I got 5 years out of it. Was even in Halfords last night getting the paint and I forgot!

If ya want one let me know,I can send one to ya.
Do not spend mad money on an led bulb from halfords.
Absolutely mad money they sell them for!!

colm_mcm

Have trade card so not too bad. Thanks for the offer!

No daytime pics, it was lashing rain this morning.

Toyotafanboi

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The standard perspex grill looks dreadful tbf.

I honestly don't think so. You have to embrace it. It's distinctive.

Any car can have 2x headlights, one either side. Only the Civic has one great big long headlight yoke.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though.

colm_mcm

joujoujou

One small festoon bulb's not enough to light up a boot...



...so some LED strips to be used.

Here as well:



A bit of soldering, crimping and some double sided tape applying:





Too lazy to cover wires at the moment, maybe later.

Now, let there be light!

vintagevrs

Voodoomelon

Picked up some new mats for the 740, they make a world of difference.
Still have to give the carpets underneath a bit of a clean.









There must have been a revision over the last few years, the undersides are now covered in velcro circles.

Harry Palmr

I banged the sidelight pods on my Nissan Note as they weren't showing, lo and behold both lit up!

punisher5112

Harry Palmr wrote: »

I banged the sidelight pods on my Nissan Note as they weren't showing, lo and behold both lit up!

Do you mean the front 5 watt sidelights??

That tends to mean the bulbs are worn out and banging just fused element again.