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

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

I have a form from the NDLS site that needs to be stamped by a guard and then sent off - but I can't find any reference to how long it'll take etc. I was thinking of bringing the stamped form to the post office and explaining the situation but they didn't really want to hear what I had to say this morning..

As above, what you need from the license is the ID for them to associate payment. If you can get this from somewhere (even ask the AGS member for it from pulse, the one who denied not giving it back) then the post office may be able to accept payment if you show them the replacement form and other photo id. Long shot but anything is worth a shot IMO rather than chancing it going to court

cadaliac wrote: »

I have never been asked for a license (or copy of) when renewing an insurance policy - even moving companies.
Proof of ncb has always been asked for when changing companies. I always assumed the ins companies had access to my license details.

I was asked for a copy of mine when moving from Axa to Liberty. I remember this one as it was one of the last times I scanned my flappy licence to send!

I guess it depends on the company; some ask, some don't

fancy pigeon wrote: »

I was asked for a copy of mine when moving from Axa to Liberty. I remember this one as it was one of the last times I scanned my flappy licence to send!

I guess it depends on the company; some ask, some don't

In my experience insurance companies want to see at least copies of your NCB and license, presumably so they can get your verified driver number which would be the key to your NDLS driver record. As you will however appreciate, a lot of dead chicken-waving seems to feature in their day-to-day operations so the individual's mileage may vary. :pac:

That was on a call
I suggested they ask the person beside them for it. Ended up having to tell them three times they still had it before they "found" it.

OSI wrote: »

Following up on this. Apparently the delay on her car is somewhat more incompetent than originally envisaged, supposedly a batch of the Hyundai EVs were delivered with the wrong cable :rolleyes:

On the EV forums on facebook they were saying that Kona EVs were delivered with no cable. Seems to be a bit of a cockup on their side, probably not expecting the interest!

The other €1 bulb let go this morning, the drivers side this time... 3 minutes to change during lunch, all back to normal, but a 130+ bulb this time at a fiver

Which also reminds me of what else needs to be changed... The front tyres. They've covered 36k kms and have been fairly faithful, I can't complain about the performance. Cleared standing water, never washed out, no excessive road noise, always stopped on a dime contrary to what some mouthy barstool muppets have tried to say. Even muled across fields with it a few times, above and beyond! They're a lovely soft compound making fitting it to the wheels a doddle and easy balanced as a bonus. They were also nicely priced!

So, a flower from a pot of dirt I'll probably get the same for it again, damn good performer. However on the 607 I had a set of Michelin Primacy tyres lying about that I shoved onto it (were given to me due to their somewhat awkward size) and I might just splash out and get the same for the back of it

Nice one.........every cloud and all that

I have been thinking about lowering my car a lot recently. It's an M sport 3 series so should sit low enough but as it is also an Xdrive BMW do not fit sport suspension, so although it is a sport, it comes with SE suspension.


I don't think there is a definitive answer as to why BM do this to Xdrive models. I presume they think a little extra ground clearance for customers who want all wheel drive makes sense. But there is chat about input angles on the transfer box of drive shafts, but not sure I buy any of that.

So looking at lowering the car, I guess my main goal is aesthetics. The car is a little bit boaty now, but it doesn't really bother me as I rarely drive it hard through bends, esp with child seats etc in the back.

Looks like there are loads of options out there:
1. Change the springs - cheap and easy but stock dampers are not designed for lower springs so not sure about this.
2. Change spring and damper like a b14 kit from Bilstein. But more money but damper matches spring rate.
3. Coilovers. More cash again but allows adjustability of ride height.
4. Air. Too expensive for me.

Part of me says I'll be paying money, to make the car ride worse, potentially lose my front lip some day as well as other possible unknown drive train issues so don't bother, but then the other part of me says this is a must

Too low not good but I would say 20-25 mm would be nice.

Cheers lads. I was actually chatting to someone about it recently and I was saying if the car came lowered the thing to do would be to raise it. It's all about making little changes to it. I do think a small drop would look better but the cons probably out weigh that for me.

Lowered is the hip cool thing to do ain't it????

Or am I too old now ;-)

Suppose my car came lowered from factory so didn't need to.

Lowering cars is just messing with the actual design of suspension that bmw spent million in R&D. In most cases making it worse.
We are not in Germany too, so making ride quality worse sounds a bit stupid. Specifically when it costing you money and lowers the value of the car.

Keep it as is. It already looks very smart and majority of people ( you included, when you sit inside ) wont notice any visual difference.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

All the more reason to not lower it IMO

I know I was putting that as a bit of a joke.

Interesting that most are against it. Not that I disagree but thought more would be on for it. I'll leave it alone so, for the mean time