Your fleet running reports

[V8Granite]

I want a heated steering wheel for the x5, but finding one that’s not in awful condition doesn’t seem to be easy!

Are they cheap enough to warrant buying and retrimming?

Possibly, but not totally convinced, a £100 wheel suddenly becomes a £250 one, and I’m not sure how easy / hard they are to retrim.

I definitely don’t want one trimmed over the top like most as I wouldn’t want the rim any thicker, plus I’m very fussy and most of the aftermarket ones I’ve seen use a leather that’s more a very dark grey than a proper old bmw black.

My friend had his Mustang wheel retrimmed and it’s beautifully done. He asked for less padding, red stripe at the top and to match the old and it was a great job. That was with Royal steering wheels. He did mention one guy wasn’t pleased but he sent it back and it was redone with no arguments. I think it was a Mustang group buy deal or something.

Dave!

[Jimmy Choo]

The mat in the front of the 535d kept moving around and I finally investigated what fixings should be there and ordered so new ones.

When I came to put them in, the carpet was damp. A quick Google said that the rainwater going off the bottom of the windscreen can pool in the area below the cabin filters if the drains are blocked and the easiest way out is along the bonnet release cable and into the cabin.

20 minutes on Friday evening and the drivers side drain was clearwith the passenger side being put onto the preventative maintenance list.

This afternoon, I went to put my dehumidifier into the car to dry it out and discovered that the back footwell was sopping wet! I checked that the door drains were unblocked and dry and there weren't any drains near the boot that needed cleaning. All seems good so when it dries out, I'll keep an eye on it during any rain.

[Sundayjumper]

Not sure if your 5 is the same design as my 7 but that was full of water when I bought it. In the engine bay there was a trim / cover on the passenger side of the bulkhead that would fill with water and then seep through to the cabin. Simple solution was to remove the bit of trim.

[Sundayjumper]

I wrote a speaker update then like a tw*t closed the browser and lost it

Passenger door speaker not working, speakers have been previously upgraded, installer was an idiot, cable fallen off on passenger side so I fitted better connectors, checked driver's side as well, it was out of phase explains why it sounded rubbish even though the HU & speakers are fairly decent.

Another £0-but-significant-improvement job. Winning.

[Mito Man]

Bwoah

Cylinder 6 misfire according to the OBD reader - why not just write that in the idrive instead of some meaningless drivel.
Erased the fault code whilst the car was on and the car instantly idled smooth as butter and no more problems. I’ve had spark plugs and coil packs die before but they’ve never come back to life by erasing fault codes?
Also, cars look cool as fook photographed from above, why have I never thought of this before

[Swervin_Mervin]

Arches finished for now. I was looking for some.unfo on Dynax UC curing times.today, and found a Bilt Hamber FAQ that was essentially saying not to use Hydrate 80 and Ultrox together as both need bare metal contact and the Hydrate 80 converter dries as a primer.

Might be useful information to.put on the product! Anyway, I can't see that it will do any harm to have the primer over the converter. Anyway, arches thoroughly cleaned again and Dynax wax sprayed on and left to harden. I didn't bother priming the tailgate having used the Hydrate 80 and then read the above. So just waxed that and will monitor - there was bare metal from wire brushing so I'm sure some primer would have been a good idea. But hey ho.

New tailgate strut brackets fitted, and a host of new trim fixings replacing the thoroughly rusted ones under the rear bumper and arches. Also peeled a few seals back around the tailgate glass to thoroughly clean out the years of grime underneath.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Oh and whilst I was bored waiting for the primer to harden yesterday I gave the tailpipes a clean for the first time in at least 5years. There's still a lot of tarnish but I reckon if I can be arsed to get the Dremel out with a polishing head it will fully clean up

[Jimmy Choo]

Not sure if your 5 is the same design as my 7 but that was full of water when I bought it. In the engine bay there was a trim / cover on the passenger side of the bulkhead that would fill with water and then seep through to the cabin. Simple solution was to remove the bit of trim.

It was this one (picture nicked from the internet. I'd call it a library picture but....)


I've just ordered a wet and dry Vac. I've needed a vacuum for the workshop for a while but first job will be to suck the water out of the carpets.

[Sundayjumper]

It takes *ages* to dry out properly. AGES. There's a pretty thick layer of foam under the carpet and it'll be soaked right through. Make the most of the decent weather while it lasts and leave the car open when you can. Lift the carpet if you can and stick towels in to draw the moisture.

I got my 7 at the very tail end of December when simply airing it a lot wasn't an option. I was commuting an hour+ each way to a new job and even running the heater as hot as I could bear and leaving a dehumidifier in there overnight it must have taken a month to fully dry out.

Sorry

[Mito Man]

Started a PayPal dispute tonight with LLL parts to get my money back - seemed hit and miss reading reviews online much like Autodoc but it’s been 5 weeks and I haven’t received anything nor an email response

[Matty]

It takes *ages* to dry out properly. AGES.

This - I ended up stripping the interior entirely, pulling out carpets and foam and it was still damp after weeks. I just drove it around with no carpets for a few weeks (Make sure you tell everyone its for performance reasons, not leaky reasons) and left the interior in the house to dry.

[Jimmy Choo]

It takes *ages* to dry out properly. AGES. There's a pretty thick layer of foam under the carpet and it'll be soaked right through. Make the most of the decent weather while it lasts and leave the car open when you can. Lift the carpet if you can and stick towels in to draw the moisture.

I got my 7 at the very tail end of December when simply airing it a lot wasn't an option. I was commuting an hour+ each way to a new job and even running the heater as hot as I could bear and leaving a dehumidifier in there overnight it must have taken a month to fully dry out.

Sorry

Useful information. Alternatively I could just start growing cress and claim it's reducing my carbon footprint.

[Jimmy Choo]

In other news, my old Mk2 Escort has been transformed from a slightly rusty, shagged out old car into a wide arched rally car. I shall try to secure some pictures.

[Beany]

It takes *ages* to dry out properly. AGES.

This - I ended up stripping the interior entirely, pulling out carpets and foam and it was still damp after weeks. I just drove it around with no carpets for a few weeks (Make sure you tell everyone its for performance reasons, not leaky reasons) and left the interior in the house to dry.

By coincidence, my neighbour has been working on his 306 convertible at the weekend, and the carpets etc are currently slung over his driveway gate to dry.

I'm guessing he's had a similar adventure lately....

[Matty]

It takes *ages* to dry out properly. AGES.

This - I ended up stripping the interior entirely, pulling out carpets and foam and it was still damp after weeks. I just drove it around with no carpets for a few weeks (Make sure you tell everyone its for performance reasons, not leaky reasons) and left the interior in the house to dry.

By coincidence, my neighbour has been working on his 306 convertible at the weekend, and the carpets etc are currently slung over his driveway gate to dry.

I'm guessing he's had a similar adventure lately....

306 Cabbies were one of the best looking convertibles of the 90's. Fact.

[Beany]

Yeah, won't disagree with that - still look nice today.

[Delphi]

Drove the 928 down to the 928.org meet at The Merry Miller in Abingdon. 350 mile round trip and the car ran faultlessly. Now all the meets are done, I'm going to start working my way through the job list. The driver's door window has mysteriously stopped working. I took the door card off and the motor is definitely getting power, it's just not doing anything with it. Managed to score a new one for a reasonable £60 including VAT and delivery.

I've also been investigating why the interior lights don't come on when they should. I've discovered that the switched ground side of the circuit is permanently grounded, which should mean the lights are on all the time (but they're not). I suspect a previous owner has been messing about and hacked something somewhere to prevent a parasitic battery drain rather than fix the actual problem. I suspect that once I've got to the bottom of it, it will magically solve why the rear hatch release doesn't work (it uses the same switched ground).

[IanF]

Felt this may resonate..

[mik]

Yeah that's about it

[Mito Man]

Missed the bit where you drop a screw into the dash and spend 20 mins retrieving it with a magnet taped to a stick.