Your fleet running reports

[Swervin_Mervin]

Probably part of their service to the insurers. Hold them while they’re assessed then straight to auction if they’re written off, saves multiple trips on a transporter.

From the conversation I had with the insurers, I believe that's the case, yes.

I expect Copart would assess, get price for repair BMW, then insurance determine if it's a write off based on that.

If not, then off to the repair shop (which would be BMW authorised in this case unless I specify elsewhere)

If so, then they keep it, basically.

That sounds like a very convenient setup for a salvage company. Definitely no interest in that price to fix being nice and high, oh no...

There'd be nothing to stop you asking for it to go somewhere you trust of course and then it's a matter of the insurers assessor reviewing the findings. Could have it taken to the nearest BMW bodyshop if that's what you wanted.

[Beany]

I mean, could have done that, but TBH by the time the car was loaded up Sunday lunchtime, I was just glad to see the back of it. And at this stage I'd be happy to never see it again. It's got thieving scrote blood in it. I don't want that. And I'm sure if it came back, they'd try again.

My first car crime experience and it's been a bit of a doozy in terms of how it's changed my attitude towards things, and I've very much gone off the idea of big engined F-series BMWs now.

I was quite glad not to have comfort access so that key reflection attacks weren't a risk, but I genuinely didn't expect a transporter to just try to lift the fucking car, that's a next level brazen kind of theft that's basically completely impossible to mitigate unless you have a garage (in which case it's a break-in and steal the keys job) and it'll likely remain a problem while they're flavour of the week with the sort of scum who don't care where parts come from as long as they're cheap.

Even if you have a tracker, all that does is tell you where the car was last before they found, and removed, the tracker. Your car is still gone. And would you want it back?

Certainly explains the four figure insurance for those, and £500 insurance for a Z4MC....

Ho hum, what can you do, etc.

[Sundayjumper]

Looking on the bright side - you’re spared the horror of trying to sell it at some point in the future when it’s just a cheap old BMW. The kind of person that buys cheap large engined old BMWs is awful.

<looks around the room>


…

[Beany]

I resemble that remark, yet I still agree entirely.

[Gavster]

That is true that a spicy 135 would bring a whole new world of timewaster when selling especially given the more affordable price point they're reaching.

I've always found it a bit weird how we pay for insurance yet it's common to not want a car back after it's been damaged or stolen/recovered, like we should get compensation for the inconvenience and ragging it might have had.

[Rich B]

I resemble that remark, yet I still agree entirely.

You've only had one, you’re not there yet Bean.

[Beany]

I resemble that remark, yet I still agree entirely.

You've only had one, you’re not there yet Bean.

E46 330ci, M135i, and looking at Z4C 3.0is, I'm getting there slowly

[Rich B]

I resemble that remark, yet I still agree entirely.

You've only had one, you’re not there yet Bean.

E46 330ci, M135i, and looking at Z4C 3.0is, I'm getting there slowly

Two!!! I forgot about the 330, your membership has been reactivated and an apology hamper has been sent.

[Beany]

Hopefully it contains what all six cylinder BMW owners want - a rocker cover gasket that doesn't leak.

[Mito Man]

If your BMW doesn’t have a rocker gasket leak I’d be concerned it’s not got a real BMW engine in it.

[Sundayjumper]

If your BMW doesn’t have a rocker gasket leak I’d be concerned it’s not got a real BMW engine in it.

Or it’s run out of oil.

[Beany]

To be fair it might have leaked out of the sump gasket.

Or the oil filter housing gasket.

Or it's mixed in with the coolant and leaked out of the cracked coolant expansion tank!

[Mito Man]

Does the straight 6 also suffer from the alternator oil leak?

[integrale_evo]

The oil filter housing gasket is the 6cyl equivalent of the v8 alternator bracket gasket.

[integrale_evo]

X5 passed and good for another year.

Alfasud.

I wasn’t going to modify it. But then I fitted different wheels.

It appealed to me because it was a non-sporty dad spec car. The 3 door Ti models are far more common.

But not long after buying it I bought a set of Ti twin headlights. I finally decided to bolt them on, because, well, round headlights are always cooler.

As a bonus, the plastic shrouds are made to tighter tolerances than the glass original lights, which means they actually look like they fit. The square lights suffer from the same thing as various old cars, that the inner reflectors make the lights look smaller than the size of the actual glass lens, so no matter how well they’re fitted, they always look a bit gappy and wonky.

While there I removed the stainless horizontal grille bars, they look a little odd just stopping at the plastic light shrouds. I also removed the plastic bumper cladding the late chrome bumper cars like mine had, which stuck out a couple of inches from the bumpers on the corners and also added an inch or so of vertical depth below the bumper.

I then used a 20mm rubber strip to fill the centre recess. I think it looks much nicer, very similar to the base model early cars. Clean and simple.

I didn’t want to drill the bumpers, so I have reversed the studs in the indicators and added an earth wire so I can just tape them on. I’d love to find some I can flush fit into the bumper as this is a spare which came with the car.

[mik]

I’m not entirely convinced by the indicators, but the headlights look a bazillion times better, so you get a pass

[integrale_evo]

They’re the genuine factory parts, but I don’t particularly like them either, which was another reason why I taped them on instead of drilling holes as I have a few other idea in my head.

I might even just make a simple bracket and hang them under the bumper instead of perched on top.

[Beany]

Those headlights are genuinely transformative to the front end. The indicators, even for factory parts, feel a bit tacked on, but they do fit the era of the car so I'm fine with them.

Nice done Harry.

[DeskJockey]

Headlights much better, and I don't mind the indicators as they're factory. It is Italian/70s and therefore must be equipped with a shonky original part that looks like a badly made aftermarket bit.

[V8Granite]

Indicators need to be orange, especially when they have entirely their own lens. That’s a pretty transformative change for standard parts

Dave!