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

Alanstrainor wrote: »

vintagevrs wrote: »

Cheers fellas, yeah aware of the self levelling and wash requirements, but feck that, I'll live life on the wild side and do without.

Maybe HID will work fine, but my worry is that after 2 months one side would fail and I'd end up going the OEM route anyway. But I don't know what coding is needed for the OEM ones, and maybe the HIDs would be perfect.

Would you not stick with the setup you have and try new bulbs?

+1 on that, never had an issue with the lights on mine and I just have standard lights. I do remember that my Mum's Avensis had dipped headlights which became shocking over time and basically didn't work at all, but changing the bulbs resolved the issue, so definitely worth doing that for sure.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

NCT in a little over a month, I had an intermittent ABS warning light coming on which disappeared for a few months only to reappear a couple of days ago. I must read the codes to see what it is, fingers crossed it's only a sensor and not something more serious!

Was it one of the rear wheel sensors you replaced before? Reckon it might be the module!

captainspeed wrote: »

Wheel bearings are also a potential culprit, just because the computer says it's an ABS sensor doesn't necessarily mean it really is.

I think wheel sensors would only put on the yellow brake light and DSC light on permanently (i.e. the ABS light wouldn't come on).

Side note: looking forward to seeing how good the battery in the E46 is tomorrow. I haven't started the car in nearly three weeks but I'm going down to Cork tomorrow night !

The ABS light would come on alright, I had it on mine when it was faulty on my 525i!

So my e30 had a gremlin the last few weeks causing it to suddenly loose power and sometimes cut out. It was pissing me off and I had tried a few things to resolve it myself with no luck. Left it into a BM specialist there about 3 weeks ago for him to sort it. In the meantime I picked up another car as I figured I couldn't rely on a 27year old car as a daily any more. I've been flying that flag for two years almost now.

Anyway, got a call earlier this week to say he found the problem. It was a poorly crimped cable causing intermittent low voltage to the fuel pump. A previous owner had fitted some after market security that had since been removed hence the crimped wires. Same cause of a no start issue I had 18 months ago where a poorly crimped wire in the same place stopped power getting to the coil.

So picked up the e30 this morning, and was half expecting to find it uncomfortable and generally to be underwhelmed by it having put about 2k km on newer cars in the last few weeks. But when I hopped in I remembered why I bought the thing in the first place. First thing I noticed is your backside is lower. Not that the e46 is like an SUV but there's a big difference. Next thing then is everything just feels more direct. It's a bit cliche but the new car just feels like everything is wrapped in cotton wool, which is perfect for the commute in fairness.

The e30 feels much quicker than it's big brother too, but that might just be how it feels. Whether it is or not I've no idea.

The e30 still has 4 months tax on it. I thought I could claim this back as I was considering declaring it off the road. Turns out you can't do that....

So it's sitting there with tax but no insurance. Insurance for the year on a classic policy is €185 which is great. Next issue though is tax renewal time. Both cars are due at the same time, with is gonna cost about €1700 which I don't think I would like to pay.

Think I might park the e30 up until it's 30 year birthday.

You should work on completing the set....

UnknownSpecies wrote: »

It would be great they brought in car tax and insurance that is only valid on weekends. Not sure if it would work, but would be a sensible option for people wanting to run 2 cars.

There is a proposal bring prepared for owners of second cars to be able to tax at a reduced rate for the Dept. Of Environment. I doubt it will gain much traction but you'd never know.

Didn't know that. It's a start anyway. Goes against the goal of getting cars off the road, but suppose in reality it won't bring a significant amount extra.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

vintage - is it me or is there SERIOUS camber on the rear wheels of the E30

Hmm don't think so. There's a bit of camber as it's on lower suspension and the rear is non adjustable.

UnknownSpecies wrote: »

Didn't know that. It's a start anyway. Goes against the goal of getting cars off the road, but suppose in reality it won't bring a significant amount extra.

The reality is the average Irishman can't be trusted with anything nice for fear he will try pull a stroke and mess it all up.

Disclaimer: I have been that Irishman and I bet I am not the only one in here.

James Bond Junior wrote: »

There is a proposal bring prepared for owners of second cars to be able to tax at a reduced rate for the Dept. Of Environment. I doubt it will gain much traction but you'd never know.

That would be great, but it is the insurance that is a major issue at the moment.

My insurer won't allow me to temporarily transfer the policy to the car I own... Well they did last time, but only for a week and made me feel like it was a huge favour. Couldn't get any more than a week anyway.

tossy wrote: »

I think John cena is lauging at the chances of that happening

Reckon the reaction to the proposal will be similar alright!

Yes, definitely worth going. BMW Welt is completely worth a visit, did it myself 10 years ago.

Munich is a lovely city anyway - the Marienplatz is gorgeous, and the Olympische Stadion is also well worth a visit and there's also the Hofbrauehaus if you like a decent pint. The beer house also has traditional German sausages and people dressed in Lederhosen as well.

Only things against Munich are that the city centre is pretty much dead after about 9 pm, and there isn't much choice eating out, plus the food isn't great. Then again, the Germans weren't exactly noted for cuisine. While the Germans normally have excellent English, it is an advantage if you have any German and want to eat out - a surprising number of places in Munich did not have menus in English when I was there 10 years ago.