Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

Knock sensor has gone on the Merc, and according to the dealer's healthcheck video it's half way down the exhaust?

Seems unlikely. Every knock sensor I've seen was attached directly to the block. That's normally how they work. Halfway down the exhaust is likely to be a post-cat lambda sensor.

My thoughts too. I think the mechanic meant 'Nox' sensor and the service rep misheard him.

That would make a lot more sense !

[Delphi]

Fitted a pair of Zunsport grilles to the front of the Boxster. They look pretty smart and should do a nice job of protecting the aircon condensers and rads.Booked it in at Strasse next week for a quick once over prior to me taking it to Germany the week after.

[MikeHunt]

Some TLC for the 5 last week, single stage polish, 5 year ceramic, glass, wheels and leather all treated. The blue (carbon black) really pops in sunglight and water beading as good as you can expect. The main benefit is that keeping it clean will be a hell of a lot easier now.

[DeskJockey]

Mechanic has the Galaxy in again. He had a good rummage around while I was there and when under pressure there was a leak from one of the hoses, turns out it wasn't fully seated. Fixed that and then pulled the plugs to see if there were any signs of one being suspiciously clean.

Luckily they were all equally dirty, so looks like it isn't leaking coolant into the cylinders. Asked him to replace them when he had them out anyway (last changed 35k miles so).

Fingers crossed that will solve the issue.

[Mito Man]

Yesterday I chauffeured my parents to collect their new car.

It was expected to be ready before Christmas but there was a parts shortage, something drivetrain related, so it took many months longer.
Something got lost in translation when ordering so it also has the wrong headlights fitted which will be changed at its 500 mile service. And there’s also a side exhaust shortage.

After an extensive lesson on how to remove and refit the doors, roof, windscreen, aeroscreen, bonnet, nose cone, lithium battery and all the quirks of the gearbox I loaded the spare bits into my car and followed them home.

Initial thoughts while following it were 1 - it sounds fruity and 2 - how the heck did it pass emissions It smokes like an old diesel and I guess this is why it really needs a side exit exhaust, that can’t be doing the cat much good.

Had a petrol stop after 20 miles - it only has a 32 litre tank which will last 30 minutes driving in a spirited fashion - but once brimmed it used half a tank for the remaining 50 mile motorway journey home. My mum got in my car as she had enough without earplugs and was shouting for the rest of the journey home



Back home and I got a short passenger trip as I had to rush back to London

I thought it was very comfortable as I sat in it, the engine idled erratically whilst I fumbled with the harness. Once moving even the suspension feels like a normal sports car over small bumps up to a certain point, but on deeper ruts it quickly runs out of suspension travel and hits the bump stops.

The tyres throw a large amount of rocks into the arches so you’re constantly hearing pings and then there’s this very loud clunking and rattling coming out of the boot from the diff - it’s sounds just like when you use a flail with a tractor.
The sequential gearbox is ferocious, it’ll do flat shifts but for now the advice was to use the clutch. Still went like a stabbed rat without using all the revs. It’s a laugh even at slow speeds.

And a pic when we got back at home with the fattest car

[Rich B]

Sounds great in that clip, my mate has the 620S which I understand is basically the same except for the gearbox?

[Mito Man]

Sounds great in that clip, my mate has the 620S which I understand is basically the same except for the gearbox?

I think you’re correct, maybe suspension and wheels too. Aside from that I think you can basically spec them the same.

[McSwede]

A fantastic car! Colour is great too.

[Jobbo]

That's a great car. I think an R400 or whatever the current equivalent is would be plenty for me.

Is it actually hitting the bumpstops? I thought they were better tied-down than that.

[John]

Really like that, I really must scratch my Caterham itch one day.

The colour looks great in the sun too.

[speedingfine]

Awesome colour... And twice the power of my Seven

[Simon]

For someone who's a bit uneducated on these things, what engine is that?

[240PP]

2.0 Ford Duratec with a supercharger.

500bhp/tonne. That must feel pretty manic in a ‘kit car’

[GG.]

Awesome thing - great colour too.

[Mito Man]

I thought someone would guess the colour, seems to be quite common at the moment.

[DeskJockey]

Galaxy is still rather incontinent, having left three puddles on the drive.

Spoken to my mechanic who is equally annoyed (with the car) and apologetic. Agreed that replacing the hoses is a sensible next step as they're 11 years/114k miles old.

[Swervin_Mervin]

The 330 is now sporting PS5s both front and rear. Was on the M60 on Sunday, returning home, when I heard a thunk under the car. Assumed it was a rock or something, although I hadn't seen anything in the carriageway. But then the TPMS bonged a couple of miles later, so I pulled over for a look. Much hissing from the NSF! So, figuring air could only escape so quickly, that the car was still driving ok, and that I was about 2.5mi from home, I decided to chance getting back (no spare). Just about managed it but had to crawl the last 200yds or so on the local resi roads, with much squeaking of rubber.

The culprit (and check out that cracking on the old F1s )



Thankfully I remembered I had a spare I'd bought when the wife managed to buckle an alloy on her old 125i, so at least it had something to sit on until I could get to Kwik Fit yesterday



All of those trials meant that I didn't get chance to actually do any jobs on the 330 last weekend, and likely won't this weekend.

I have a box of goodies from Bilt Hamber, including Hydrate 80 rust converter, Electrox zinc-rich primer, Dynax UC anti-corrosion wax, Korrosol Fall-out remover, Auto-wheel and an AC Bomb. Also got a rattle can of 381 Le Mans Blue off ebay.

Added to that I have a box of new front fogs, new rear roundel, new tailgate-stop/strut brackets, and a couple of bags of external trim screws and metal clips to replace the various broken/rusty ones. Just need to find some time now

[Jobbo]

I thought someone would guess the colour, seems to be quite common at the moment.

I guess that it's green AICMFP.

[Mito Man]

[Swervin_Mervin]

Whilst we're ont eh subject of BMW paint - on the paint code it says 381 Le Mans Blau/schwarz

What's the black referencing then? Is that any "unpainted" aras i.e. those not in LMB, are painted black?