Your fleet running reports

[McSwede]

I need to change the battery on my E90 this afternoon. What the quickest/easiest/cheapest way to code the battery? I forgot I had to do this

[Swervin_Mervin]

What year is it? You may not need to code it - I didn't.

ETA - I think it depends on whether it has stop/start

[Rich B]

What year is it? You may not need to code it - I didn't.

ETA - I think it depends on whether it has stop/start

[McSwede]

What year is it? You may not need to code it - I didn't.

ETA - I think it depends on whether it has stop/start

2008 and no stop start

[Swervin_Mervin]

What year is it? You may not need to code it - I didn't.

ETA - I think it depends on whether it has stop/start

2008 and no stop start

Oh you had to be contrary didn't you? So post-LCI but no stop start.

In that case I'm not sure to be honest. I'd be tempted to swap it in and see if it all works.

[Delphi]

Having to code a fucking battery to a car. What a time to be alive.

[mr_jon]

I knows. Got to replace the original in the x-trail, some say coding reqd, some just bung it in. Will go the latter.

[Mito Man]

You don't have to code the battery to the car, all it does is optimise the charging profile which is why most modern cars can get 12+ years out of a battery.
What is stupid is having to plug a laptop into BMWs to do it. Fords are better as you just smash the brake pedal and flick the high beams a few times to reset it.

[McSwede]

What year is it? You may not need to code it - I didn't.

ETA - I think it depends on whether it has stop/start

2008 and no stop start

Oh you had to be contrary didn't you? So post-LCI but no stop start.

In that case I'm not sure to be honest. I'd be tempted to swap it in and see if it all works.

This was the approach I opted for and all was well

[integrale_evo]

Stuck my centrelocks on the compact.

They probably won’t stay for long but seems a waste not using them at all, kind of fits the whole 90s style of it all.

They make its little tiny brakes look even smaller




Mito ticked over 77,777 miles this week, and averaged 42.4mpg and 38mph over the last 450 miles. Exciting.

[Sundayjumper]

Brakes. That reminds me; I think I've got some 3.0 M3 hubs / discs / calipers somewhere. I should dig those out.

[integrale_evo]

I was thinking while swapping the wheels that I’ve got a whole evo front end just sat there doing nothing at the moment…

As it happens, the 16in compact sport BBS fit over m3 brakes they do have 20mm spacers on, but I bet they’d be fine with 15mm.

[Sundayjumper]

Not part of my fleet, but related to it - I joined a Bentley Continental group on Facey-B to see if there was useful info to be gleaned, but it’s almost entirely inhabited by people who do this:

343780381_224403333534354_5499857011135696101_n.jpeg (195.19 KiB) Viewed 721 times

and this:

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Two different people. And all the replies from other members are positive

[integrale_evo]

Pretty similar to most of the x5 groups I’ve found

[Gavster]

Brakes. That reminds me; I think I've got some 3.0 M3 hubs / discs / calipers somewhere. I should dig those out.

Do they qualify as barn find parts if it’s your own garage?

[jamcg]

Not part of my fleet, but related to it - I joined a Bentley Continental group on Facey-B to see if there was useful info to be gleaned, but it’s almost entirely inhabited by people who do this:



343780381_224403333534354_5499857011135696101_n.jpeg


and this:



341186774_184865720617608_1544361322355334_n.jpeg



Two different people. And all the replies from other members are positive

Please post this and say how much you love your new car

[Matty]

Not part of my fleet, but related to it - I joined a Bentley Continental group on Facey-B to see if there was useful info to be gleaned, but it’s almost entirely inhabited by people who do this:



343780381_224403333534354_5499857011135696101_n.jpeg

That neon binnacle is...well...it's certainly something. Takes me back to the 90's.

[Beany]

Not part of my fleet, but related to it - I joined a Bentley Continental group on Facey-B to see if there was useful info to be gleaned, but it’s almost entirely inhabited by people who do this:



343780381_224403333534354_5499857011135696101_n.jpeg


and this:



341186774_184865720617608_1544361322355334_n.jpeg



Two different people. And all the replies from other members are positive

Bentleys used to be owned by people with a bit of class.

*looks at @Sundayjumper*

[Jobbo]

Audi now run in (well, I consider 600 miles to be run in, though I gave it full beans at 598). I took the slightly longer way home from seeing my mother and visited HarryM’s road (which was our forum meet road first):



The S6 definitely encourages you to enjoy it more than the Allroad did, but if you just want to cruise it’s pretty similar for economy and not far off for ride comfort, so it’s a very happy balance. I felt old though, remembering how hard we used to push our cars down that road.

[Sundayjumper]

Today's Bentley fun - front wishbones. When I did the CV boot a fortnight ago I had to disconnect the lower ball joints & the steering tie rod and noticed that they were, for want of a better word, floppy. No noticeable play in them, but they were loose enough that just the rubber boot was enough to make them ping back to centre if you moved them. Suspension ball joints should be tight, tight enough that they're actually quite hard to move by hand. Not floppy. The car has done 110k miles so I can't say this is really a surprise. May as well do the whole lot. Knowing that the Continental is "like a Golf" (or, Phaeton, maybe) I decided to wing it and bought a VERY cheap kit from a supplier in Germany.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233874247114



I got stung for import duty, Parcelforce's handling fee, and VAT on top of the whole lot (thanks a lot Brexit ) so the total cost ended up at £321.04. Still not bad.

I removed everything from the car.

IMG_0622.jpeg (113.65 KiB) Viewed 598 times

And then put it back.

IMG_0633.jpeg (111.94 KiB) Viewed 597 times

I've not driven it yet as I still need to do the other side tomorrow. But I've ascertained that it's not *quite* identical to a Phaeton.

Top arms & steering track rod ends are the same.

Phaeton drop links are slightly shorter for some reason, and take an M10 fixing instead of M12.

The lower arms are slightly different. The rear arm is dimensionally the same but the original bush is larger and has some inserts added to make it stiffer. This is probably important, as those bushes take a lot of load under braking. The front arm is the same length but the tab for the drop link, in addition to being drilled M10, is very slightly further along than the original. I'm not sure if that will make any difference. I can add a small spacer if necessary. I drilled out one end of the new drop link to 12mm so that it'll bolt up to the ARB. Everything goes back together fine.

I'm expecting some flak for using pattern parts on a Bentley but my reasoning for all this is along these lines - the factory spec is designed to be able to safely stop a loaded car from nearly 200mph, so there's a *big* safety margin at any normal speed. And I don't drive like a loon. I'm also not an idiot (although my wife will argue that !), if there's anything amiss when I'm driving I will notice it. If they prove to be rubbish I'll happily report back and upgrade to a proper brand and it's only cost me couple of hundred quid. If they prove to be OK, then happy days !