Your fleet running reports

[Jobbo]

Not completely related, but anyone else having issues with wooden structures and this horrendously damp winter?

Both the wooden door on our brick (former) outhouse and my wooden garage doors no longer fit properly. Never normally get an issue in winter, and don’t really want to make any adjustments!

Our house is mostly wood framed and the back door occasionally catches or is difficult to lock - it’s all moving a bit so I don’t adjust it now, it’s fine most of the year.

[DeskJockey]

Our side gate is very weather sensitive, this time of year it is always tight in the frame and requires jiggling and the odd swift kick.

[integrale_evo]

Remembered I had spacers behind the hinges on one side of the garage door. I made the doors in an autumn and added shims the following supper as a gap opened up. They’ve been there untouched for about 8 years. On Sunday evening I couldn’t close the doors even with a heavy shove.

Anyway, merc. I test drove it for about 6 miles, the mrs has been to the shops, her mums and a journey to work, no reports of an issue.

So, do I declare it fixed and leave it alone? Or knowing the pedal was the issue buy a nice brand new one?

I have no idea how many miles the donor car had done, however I also don’t think pedal failures are particularly common. If it was my car I’d leave it as is and see what happens….

Worked out how to do graphs on my diagnostics, not worked out how to save them to view later, as soon as you disconnect the interface it kicks you out of the software.

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[Mito Man]

Wasted a few hours looking at control arms for the 6 series. Whilst underneath it the other day I thought it’s time to change all the old control arms later this year. The fronts are clearly past their best. The control arms annoyingly have a non serviceable ball joint and at 110k miles I think it’s a waste of time leaving those alone and just doing the bushes.
From my research it seems like aside from BMW all the aftermarket manufacturers are not worth bothering with. Lemforder have moved their aftermarket factories abroad and it seems like unless you can find old made in Germany stock then it’s not good. I went back to some old M539 videos to see what he used on his builds and it seems to be all straight from BMW and the odd bit of old made in Germany stock. Damn.
Nothing to do but to pay up.

[Delphi]

You forced me to look on google/youtube : I didn't appreciate that the 928 had adjustable spring platforms from the factory. (maybe not all varients ) Assume you have a spring dying?

You'd think that but the springs are only about 3 years old. Shocks are about the same. I'll investigate once the weather warms up a bit.

So bizarrely, it appears the rear "droop" is because the fronts are too high (I thought it was sitting a bit high at the front). Of course the adjustment collars on the fronts are completely seized, which will mean removing the front suspension, and if that's going to happen I might as well replace the front shocks anyway, so that's what I'm going to do.

Currently trying to figure out why there's no heat. I've replaced the blend flap motor and the heater control valve is being actuated correctly when I move the climate control to heat, but it still blows cold. Going to pull the control valve just to make sure it's not stuck closed, then if that's OK, back flush the heater matrix to make sure it's not blocked.

[integrale_evo]

Mito - squealing wheel. Suspect bearing. I have done for some time but hadn’t been able to feel any play and only did it after some hard driving, but in the way home the other day it was doing it constantly.

X5 - still has a driveline vibration I can’t track down. Only does it at ~ 18 and 36mph which is odd. Still need to get the screen replaced too.

Compact - headlight stopped working on the way home yesterday.

Merc - Replacement pedal seems to have fixed it.

Alfasud - Paint knackered after being under a cover and months of damp weather.


It’s one of those weeks where I want to sell the lot and get something sensible and modern

[Simon]

Took the Merc back into the dealer this week as the radio that was supposed to have been fixed under warranty last month bugged out again last weekend. And the Distronic steering assist camera gubbins spazed out Saturday too. Loads of faults logged. They did a software update to both and it's been ok so far.... I'm not holding my breathe.

To be honest I've lost faith in it now. Too many trips into the garage for my liking. I've no real need for a car at the moment so undecided as what to do with it.

[integrale_evo]

Mito - had a good poke around the osf corner, couldn’t see anything obvious, put it back together, took it for a drive, no weird noises. Still can’t feel any play on any wheel.

Compact - hid ballast had given up. I’ve been using random eBay ones for literally decades and never had a failure. Had a spare in stock.

X5 - stuck my 19in winter wheels on. They look rubbish and are in awful condition BUT horrendous vibration between 35 and 40mph completely gone.

Can’t see anything wrong with the other wheels / tyres, surely not a balance thing as you’d expect it to get worse with speed.

I’m glad it’s not a mechanical ( diff / driveshaft / propshaft / transfer box ) issue, but still a mystery exactly what is causing it? Only appeared after getting new rear tyres, they’ve been on a while so should have bedded in by now. Maybe a weird resonance thing somewhere between tread pattern, absurd weight of the wheels/ tyres and worn bushes somewhere?

It could do with new rear subframe bushes, there’s movement, but they’re not knocking or hanging off or anything.

Reluctant to buy another set of tyres, they’re not cheap!

[jamcg]

Are your winter wheels the same outer circumference? Could you try swapping them out one a time and narrow it to a single wheel?

[IanF]

Are your winter wheels the same outer circumference? Could you try swapping them out one a time and narrow it to a single wheel?

Woah there cowboy!.. how worn are the treads? And will they be matching across the axle? Etc

[integrale_evo]

Sadly not. Winter wheels are 255 50 19 all round, normal ones are 275 40 20 front and 315 35 20 rear.

I only noticed it after the rear tyres were changed, Kumho SUV, so not scraping the bottom of the barrel brands you’ve never heard of.

I wondered if it was because the fronts are older and more worn, but pulling the fuse to disable the 4x4 made no difference, and all the wobble seems to be coming from the back.

I’m convinced it’s the tyres, but I’d like to know why. It’s the same wheels as before, on the same sides, same size similar pressures, even similar looking tread. I can’t see anything wrong, and only appears at a specific speed.

I guess I’ll never know unless I can get it on a 4wd rolling road and stick a camera under it to see what’s going on.

I want to do rear subframe bushes at some point, but was hoping to wait until late summer as I wanted to drop it out and clean everything up at the same time.

[mik]

Are there balance weights on both inside and outside of the rim Harry? Possible the fitters did a quick and nasty static balance instead of dynamic?

[Mito Man]

Wheel hub and inside face of the wheel all clean? Wondering if it’s a bit of corrosion or paint making the wheel not sit flush?

[16vCento]

I wonder why you can't buy a numberplate that starts with UV? I.E. 'UV ** ***'

Am i missing something obvious?

[mik]

Am.i missing something obvious?

It's just that you are banned. Personally.

https://dvlaregistrations.dvla.gov.uk/s ... r_priceto=

[16vCento]

That's odd, I wonder why it didn't work before

[Sundayjumper]

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[mik]

7months after he solarelectrocuted himself, he's back with an image-only post of an M5......

[DeskJockey]

So many questions!

@Sundayjumper Hiya, welcome home.

[Mito Man]

It’s a very dark silver.