Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

Reinstated the original speakers & springs on the 5 ready to put it up for sale properly. Both jobs went more easily than expected. Nice.

Next job - thorough cleaning.

And after that - muppets offering me half the asking price

[Rich B]

And after that - muppets offering me half the asking price

*shudder* god I hate selling cars...

[Sundayjumper]

Yeah. Same. That’s why it’s taken me over four months to get around to it !

“I can’t sell it until <xxxxxxx>” was a nice excuse. Now gone

[jamcg]

Sorry I’m on furlough so I can’t afford to give you that much off

[Alex_]

Yeah. Same. That’s why it’s taken me over four months to get around to it !

“I can’t sell it until <xxxxxxx>” was a nice excuse. Now gone

that was fast.

[Foz]

911 respray update:

Starting next week, everything but the roof and sorting out a few bits of rust that are on the arches, that and a good underseal.

Reassuringly expensive already and that’s assuming we will find some more stuff then it all comes apart!
The car drives sooo well- as it should the money that’s been spent on it over the years and last years suspension rebuild etc.

Was always the cosmetics that let it down, but once that’s sorted then it should really be one of the best about!

[V8Granite]

Cleaned up the distributor cap on the 300E, hoping it'll cure the bad running problems I've been having for a while. Was pretty awful in there so should make some difference.

Best of all however was that a difficult to access hex bolt was actually pretty easy in the end with a long extension and u/j

I don’t really know much about the 300e but does it have variable valve timing ?

There is a common Merc problem with the rotor drive backplate on this era of Merc which causes misfires and farting and popping.

It’s an insulator begins the rotor, these allow moisture in which then causes lots of misfires, especially after a restart and when hot.

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Cars got their 1st was since winter. Bren meaning to do it for a while but gardening has been taking priority. I machine polished mine last year and then gave it a coat of the fairly hard Collinite 915. But at His recommendation I got some Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic liquid wax - just never got round to applying it to either car.

Both have had their 1st application now though so I'll be interested to see how it washes next time.

Still love the E91's shape - for me (personal bias maybe) it's one of the best proportioned BMW Tourings.



Superb looks good but this wash revealed one kerbed alloy, A LOT of tar all down the flanks ( ) and a lot of stonechips on the front - probably as many as on the 330. Bit disappointing. Is VAG paint particularly shit or is it more likely a Skoda thing I wonder?

[Shlergen]

Fair few chips mine (65 plate, 30k) but no more than focus before it.

Looks same colour as mine (“business grey”), loads of tar. Alm remover wouldn’t touch it so I’ve ordered some g5 citrus stuff. Apparently will clean it up.

[integrale_evo]

Nicked my mums car while passing on my way home on Friday to borrow it for the weekend and give it its first proper clean since she bought it 14 months ago and give it a decent run while she's not using it.

Spent probably 8hrs on it over the last couple of days and managed to get it to a 'decent' standard. Could really do with some fallout remover and a proper clay and polish, but did the best I could given the conditions.

Black cars are a sod, it's reminded me never to buy one. I can cope with a metallic black, but there's no way I'd buy a solid black. Get even the slightest bit of trim treatment on it and the oily smear sticks out like a sore thumb, nevermind chasing the dust around.

Once done it looks amazing though. Probably look a mess by tomorrow morning


As for the car itself, it's ok, but I wouldn't swap my mito for it. Same 1.4 turbo engine but 150bhp vs my cars standard 135, not sure whether the turbo itself is different but it feels it. It's very odd, there's no turbo noise at all, I guess because the airbox is hidden down under the headlight with a much longer intake path. The mito airbox is sat just under the bonnet on the drivers side with a far more direct inlet.

It also feels less turbocharged, and switching to dynamic doesn't make anywhere near as much difference to the throttle mapping as the mito. I think it must be a slightly bigger turbo but with really progressive boost control. I know mine has a tuning box and is probably a couple of hundred kg lighter, but it feels like a terrier in comparison.

Couple of things I prefer, the 6 speed gearbox, a more grownup looking dash, and it stays in whichever mode you leave it in. Unfortunately dynamic mode still gives you an annoying gearchange nanny in the display which you only get in the default normal mode in the mito.

[mik]

[mention]Swervin_Mervin[/mention] See p377.

This stuff is great for removing tar spots quickly. About £4 a bottle.

As is paraffin.

[Swervin_Mervin]

@Swervin_Mervin See p377.

This stuff is great for removing tar spots quickly. About £4 a bottle.

As is paraffin.

Cheers Mik. Will grab some. Was tempted to clay it but not sure I can be arsed.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Fair few chips mine (65 plate, 30k) but no more than focus before it.

Looks same colour as mine (“business grey”), loads of tar. Alm remover wouldn’t touch it so I’ve ordered some g5 citrus stuff. Apparently will clean it up.

Yeah business grey. I must have counted about 10-15 chips at least. 1yr old and 12k miles, very few on the motorway. Vs similar number on the 330 that's over 125k and 14yrs old. They're odd as well in that most are tiny pin prick like chips.

[mik]

I’ve used clay to remove tar spots before - takes feckin ages. This (or paraffin) gets rid eleventy times faster. I clayed afterwards, but the entire car took about 15mins.

[integrale_evo]

TBH, most thin oil based products will soften tar pretty quickly. I was using wd40 to do the under arches and arch liners recently. Petrol also works very well.

Obviously you'd need to give a good soapy wash after to remove any residue though.

[Coaster1]

Still love the E91's shape - for me (personal bias maybe) it's one of the best proportioned BMW Tourings.

+1 Perfect.

56 plate so how much is the tax?

[Coaster1]

911 respray update:

Starting next week, everything but the roof and sorting out a few bits of rust that are on the arches, that and a good underseal.

Reassuringly expensive already and that’s assuming we will find some more stuff then it all comes apart!
The car drives sooo well- as it should the money that’s been spent on it over the years and last years suspension rebuild etc.

Was always the cosmetics that let it down, but once that’s sorted then it should really be one of the best about!

A keeper then?

[Foz]

911 respray update:

Starting next week, everything but the roof and sorting out a few bits of rust that are on the arches, that and a good underseal.

Reassuringly expensive already and that’s assuming we will find some more stuff then it all comes apart!
The car drives sooo well- as it should the money that’s been spent on it over the years and last years suspension rebuild etc.

Was always the cosmetics that let it down, but once that’s sorted then it should really be one of the best about!

A keeper then?

Nothings ever a keeper for me, but the cars worth spending money on.

Its modern enough to be usable and quick enough to be fun, clearly i want a 991.2 Manual GT3 but i have a bunch of other priorities that supersede that!

[mik]

Quick “before” reminder pic?

You doing wheels too or are they ok?

[Mito Man]

Gave the F150 some attention, it was time for its annual service so we changed the oil, filters washed, washed, felt like sandpaper so clayed it and will give a quick wax tomorrow evening. Then I quickly polished out some deeper scratches with the ibrid whilst my dad started changing wheels. Just keep on top of it and it should never need a full polish basically.
Said it before but the paint on this is amazing, the finish is like it’s been wet sanded whereas every other car is an orange peel mess. It’s the most mass produced vehicle in the world so I don’t know how other manufacturers are struggling with it so much