Your fleet running reports

[Alex88]

Currently waiting for the Mini to be recovered. Cooling issue and overheated while driving.

FFS!

It feels like BMW have a tendancy to build multiple generations of car that share common weak points - cooling systems, oil leaks, valve stem seals..

[integrale_evo]

I’ve been doing the rear brakes on the mito.

Happy that disks, pads and a pair of calipers totalled less than £100, I thought it was going to be a fairly straightforward job.

Unfortunately getting the handbrake cables back on turned out to be an utter bitch. One side I decided removing the spring would make things easier. It did. However getting the spring back on turned out to be harder than getting the cable on.

I’m probably one of the most placid people on earth, however I came very close to throwing things around in a temper

I’ve literally just finished and deciding whether to go for a short test drive or wait until the morning.

Wasn’t ‘just’ a brake job, I cleaned up and painted the carriers, painted the disks because the dirt cheap ones I bought didn’t have any coating to stop the non wear bits rusting, and drilled a couple of holes in the rear spacers so I can fit disk retaining bolts. Trying to line up a freely rotating hub, disk, spacer and wheel really annoyed me last week

[V8Granite]

Picked up the Clio and drove back via the B660.

Cycling twats being some of the worst all over the place, randomly darting out into the road group of oblivious misfits I've ever encountered.

Absolutely love it but the pull to tinker and modify is strong. Listened to some Armand Van Helden on the CD player on the way back and had a great drive, even though I did the B660 the wrong way round.

Dave!

[Mito Man]

Holy shit the Mito brake brought back some memories. I ended up removing the armrest and there’s a handbrake tensioning nut. Slackened it off and it gave enough play to reconnect it.

Had my own moment of rage today. So this particular mini tractor we have needed new PTO belts which required removing the PTO. It had a weird PTO which was basically a CV joint with a collar that you pull to release. The stupid thing is to fit it you have to put the CV joint in place whilst pulling the collar back whilst pushing the CV joint forwards. It took an hour to refit. Reading about it online it’s a new government recommended health and safety type because of course everything shit is due to some bollocks legislation

[integrale_evo]

Yes, I did that in the end. Even then there’s a massive metal bracket perfectly placed to make adjusting the adjuster a nightmare

Anyway, went for a spin, no nasty noises, smells or excess heat, so all good. Just need to put the centre console back together tomorrow. Then change the exhaust front pipe / flexi and put a new gearbox mount in to replace my bodged up one. Was hoping to get the whole lot done today…

[Jobbo]

I did drive the MX5 during the week but only to work and back. Otherwise it had been sitting on the CTEK since November. I drove it again yesterday and realised that at higher speed there was a vibration, so I should have left the tyres pumped up more over winter. I was wondering if I’d have to post a question about how to cure the flat spots but when I came home up the M5 it was fine so I guess putting a bit of heat into the tyres does it.

[Sundayjumper]

Currently waiting for the Mini to be recovered. Cooling issue and overheated while driving.

Which engine ? Sounds like head gasket. If it only overheated a little bit you should be OK. That’s exactly what I had with my Clubman (N14, but N18 is similar). New timing chain while it’s off, of course, and replace the valve stem seals, and walnut-blast the valves.

M5 - fitted the new hoses on Friday and refilled with coolant but didn’t have time to test drive. The car has two completely separate cooling circuits: one for engine & turbos, and one for charge coolers and ECUs. Yes, water-cooled ECUs. Not because they create a lot of heat, but rather they’re very close to the turbos and would otherwise get cooked. This circuit alone has two electric pumps & three radiators. All the vents in the front bumper are functional here.

IMG_7116.png (268.32 KiB) Viewed 42 times

Yesterday I fitted new tie rods, the steering wheel was previously about 10° off to the right and that’s REALLY annoying and the old tie rods were totally seized up and I had to cut them off. Which was a shame as the ball joints were still in quite reasonable condition even after 120k miles. I then had my first drive in almost two weeks. Very tentative while we build trust in each other. It went OK. The roll-on acceleration from say 50-100 joining the motorway is impressive. It’s got to be similar performance to the 360, but it does it smoothly with that “elastic band” feeling, whereas the 360 is screaming about it. Screaming in Ferrari, I mean, not screaming in pain.

Overnight the coolant has dropped only very slightly which I’m hoping was the last little bit settling. Both are just a touch below max right now.

Another comparison to the Ferrari - the flappy paddles. On the 360 they’re large and attached to the steering column so you always know where they are. On the M5 they’re attached to the wheel and quite small so if you’ve moved your hands anywhere but quarter to three you can’t reach them. Annoying. They’re also too close to the indicator/wiper stalks.

[integrale_evo]

I’m not sure why modern cars put the ecu so close to the engine. Shorter looms? less chance of interference? Easier assembly/ packaging?

For a while I wondered what the finned metal thing poking through the airbox on the merc was, it’s the ecu sat on top of the inlet manifold

[Sundayjumper]

Ahhh.... so the M5 is A LOT faster

Using data from here to estimate 60-100 mph by subtracting the 0-100kph from 0-160kph times.

https://accelerationtimes.com/models/ferrari-360-modena

https://accelerationtimes.com/models/bmw-m5-f10

360: 0-100 in 4.7 and 0-160 in 12.1 makes 7.4 100-160.

M5: 0-100 in 4.2 and 0-160 in 6.8 makes 2.6 100-160

I'd only looked at 0-100kph times before and thought "yeah, about four and a half, not much in it" but that midrange is quite something.

[Sundayjumper]

I’m not sure why modern cars put the ecu so close to the engine. Shorter looms? less chance of interference? Easier assembly/ packaging?

Probably that. You mentioned things being modular the other day - if the whole engine + ECU package is one "module" it can be built & run independently before being slotted into the car on the production line.

[Jobbo]

Ahhh.... so the M5 is A LOT faster

Using data from here to estimate 60-100 mph by subtracting the 0-100kph from 0-160kph times.

https://accelerationtimes.com/models/ferrari-360-modena

https://accelerationtimes.com/models/bmw-m5-f10

360: 0-100 in 4.7 and 0-160 in 12.1 makes 7.4 100-160.

M5: 0-100 in 4.2 and 0-160 in 6.8 makes 2.6 100-160

I'd only looked at 0-100kph times before and thought "yeah, about four and a half, not much in it" but that midrange is quite something.

Surely the M5 doesn’t do 0-100mph in under 7s?!