MOT time for the wife's MINI tomorrow. I did oil & filters at the weekend and had a general check over, all OK apart from the rear pads getting low.
There's still that clonking from the front suspension but I HAVE ordered new wishbones now along with rear discs & pads. If the weather holds out at the weekend I might get around to doing all that.
The 360 is getting a new accumulator for the F1 gear system. It's never shifted as fast as I'd like and definitely nowhere near the claimed possible 150ms. It also semi-regularly flashes the low pressure warning (which
bizarrely is the same light as for the engine cover being open -
not my pic) and that's commonly down to one of two things - the accumulator or one of the solenoids in the valve block. I'm doing the accumulator first as it's the easiest. The accumulator is a pretty simple device that acts as a store of hydraulic pressure. Not a huge volume but pretty high pressure - over 50 bar (~750psi). The membrane degrades and slowly loses its springiness. So although the system will still charge to full pressure it won't maintain it while shifting, and the pump will end up running too frequently too, possibly burning out if it's really bad. Internet says they only last about 10 years and I've no idea if it's still on the original so.... even if it's not I'll tell myself it's preventative maintenance.
I'm coming to the conclusion it's a good car, but has not had all the semi-consumables it should have had. A previous owner that either didn't notice, or didn't care if it wasn't stopping them driving it, or didn't want to pay main agent prices. Most of the history is main agent. Things I've done that fall into that category:
Thermostat
Engine & gearbox mounts
Voltage regulator
Dash illumination
Lambda sensors
Accumulator
The dash is probably the biggest shocker price-wise. Ferrari don't sell the EL panel on its own, they would like you to buy a complete cluster @
£3,772.65 +VAT, plus fitting & coding. Official lambdas are over £400 each vs. £90 each for genuine Bosch just not in a pretty box with a horsy on it. They don't sell voltage regulators, only complete alternators. Even the accumulator, a very specific part, is £250 for a quality pattern part from a specialist vs. £500+ from the dealer. All up, including labour for these things, I've probably saved myself £10k so far compared to an owner that just gets the dealer to fix it.