BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
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[TW]Fox;28620845 said:How can it be 'more'? I'd imagine it'll be 'less'. Given it's going to be cheaper and less well appointed etc, given it sits lower in the range
In terms of driver enjoyment I think it will be more. Obviously the interior will be the same or of lesser quality but (I thought...) that goes without saying.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Looking for some advice gents. I don't know if it's just me but I always seem to get the advisory for corroded brake lines. I've seriously had this with 3 cars in a row across about 5 years lol, so I kind of assumed it was BS and just garages trying their luck with something that sounds dangerous.
Anyway I had my Z4 in for oil service yesterday and they actually advised they're so corroded now it would be a failure at the next MOT. Is this real life? It just blows my mind that something so important can be dangerously eroded on a car that is 8 years old? Are they made of cheese?
Am I right in thinking it's a bloody expensive job to sort out? I assume they're talking about the solid metal lines which run the length of the car before they join the flexi hose.
Anyway I had my Z4 in for oil service yesterday and they actually advised they're so corroded now it would be a failure at the next MOT. Is this real life? It just blows my mind that something so important can be dangerously eroded on a car that is 8 years old? Are they made of cheese?
Am I right in thinking it's a bloody expensive job to sort out? I assume they're talking about the solid metal lines which run the length of the car before they join the flexi hose.
Soldato
This is something that comes up time and time again and something which can be sorted 95% of the time with 5 minutes and a piece of steel wool/sand paper as it is just surface corrosion and underneath is shiny metal still. It must be one of the biggest cons garages pull.
Serious corrosion - Dangerous, but very unlikely on an 8 year old car with not ridiculous miles.
Surface corrosion - very likely, can be cleaned up easily and is of no risk whatsoever to the brake pipe.
Soldato
I've been prompted by my local dealer...they've had two people put down deposits so far apparently, but it's all going to come down to cost for me unfortunately. I got a great deal on the M135i and would dearly love an M2 as it'll be more "track ready", but I'm not sure if I can afford one until I know how much it will cost!
I've not put down a deposit yet, think I'll wait for it to get officially announced and then decide. I'm not fussed about being at the front of the queue.
That's NOTHING. I got about 17 on the way to Tesco earlier. Take that and party.
Bet you any money they'll look at the shocks and say "Nah, there's no oil coming from them so they'll be fine" and then they'll push down on each corner of the car (a method that works mostly on cars from the 1980s) and say "They seem to be fine". I know this because when I took mine to a mechanic for it, they said exactly the same thing, although mine was weeping a very small amount of fluid, so small that the MOT guy said that he wouldn't even give it an advisory on an MOT, let alone fail it. I changed it because I was convinced it was the shocks, and you can see from the video, I was right in that the shock had completely failed and was literally doing nothing.
I reckon they'll say bushes and then say that "Yeah...*insert bush* has got a bit of movement in it - want me to price that up for you?". Let us know how you get on!
BTW buycarspares.co.uk has the best prices for BMW shocks! £60ish each including delivery!You're welcome!!
Just dropped the car off at the garage. We drove the car round the block and he said he doesn't think it is mechanical and its just an alignment/geometry issue. He quoted max £240+VAT for the alignment!
I've left the car with them to check everything else up front, including the shocks. I'll keep you posted. Safe to say I will not be paying £288 for a four wheel alignment.
Currently my car is sitting somewhere in Immingham awaiting a transporter to my dealership...been at 'awaiting despatch' for two days now Was hoping to collect this week but looking unlikely so dealer has put me in to collect on Wednesday next week. Still hoping it will miraculously turn up at the dealers this week.
Was hoping to collect this week but looking unlikely so dealer has put me in to collect on Wednesday next week. Still hoping it will miraculously turn up at the dealers this week.
Permabanned
£290 for alignment? WTF? Full a full geo setup with testing, sure... that's coming into corner weighted alignment territory (ie the kind of thing they do for race cars).
I like to use wheels in motion... they are favoured by the mx5 guys and I've used them since.
I thought they were a bit pricey at £120-140ish.
Your average laser alignment can be had for £60-80 easily.
I like to use wheels in motion... they are favoured by the mx5 guys and I've used them since.
I thought they were a bit pricey at £120-140ish.
Your average laser alignment can be had for £60-80 easily.
Soldato
Just dropped the car off at the garage. We drove the car round the block and he said he doesn't think it is mechanical and its just an alignment/geometry issue. He quoted max £240+VAT for the alignment!
I've left the car with them to check everything else up front, including the shocks. I'll keep you posted. Safe to say I will not be paying £288 for a four wheel alignment.
Honestly, unless they take the shock off they aren't going to know. And I'm not sure I'd trust this garage, if they think £300 is an appropriate amount to pay for a 4 wheel alignment. The other issue is that you will pay £80 to someone to do it, and if the issue is still there, which i very strongly suspect it will be, and you decide to get the shocks changed, you'll have to pay another £80 to get it realigned. At £60 for a shock absorber I'd seriously recommend just getting them changed, then at least you know that for £300 or so you stand a very good chance of sorting the issue including the alignment and fitting.
Decided the M3 was costing me too much, so traded it in for this absolute beast.
In Sport+ mode it's positively rapid, pushing you and the occupants (providing there isn't more than one and they don't weigh more than a small child) towards the end of the road in a cloud of diesel smoke and furious dags.
I forgot to spec a colour but it's fine, the white looks well sik so everyone can see me driving a BM innit. Speaking of spec it surprisingly has bluetooth audio so I can pump the badman choonz over the distinctly mediocre stereo. Other than that the car literally has nothing on it, would have made the monthly payments far too much, there's only so much I can earn through tips whilst bartending at the local Wetherspoons, and I need to keep money left over for my monthly spray tan top-up. Plus those Armani watches don't come cheap...
54mpg over a 70 mile journey (door to door, 70% motorway, 20% B roads, 10% city center) was mightily impressive from "Eco Pro" mode, however driving on the M20 (unlit motorway) at night highlighted one large issue with the car; indicating. Check my mirror, check blindspot, check mirror again whilst indicating and OH MY GOD I'M BLIND. The indicator slightly wraps around to the back of the wing-mirror so that the driver can see it, which during the day I found oddly satisfying (I like watching LEDs pulse, I'm weird), however at night it was an annoyance to say the least. I solved this by not indicating.
"Eco Pro" and "Sport+" feel completely different (as you'd expect). Eco Pro dulls down the throttle response so much that you feel like you're driving an X5 with the engine from a 116D, either that or the Stop/Start has already killed the engine despite you having become stationary in traffic 0.000001 millisecond ago, leaving you without the means to pull forward when it starts moving moments later. Sport+ comes with a friendly warning that traction control has been turned off (why? Is a 120D capable of going sideways at a roundabout? Might have to find that out...), makes the steering feel like White Dee has just sat on your bonnet, and downshifts you a gear. Strangely, it leaves the gearbox in "D" however, so after pressing the button 12 times to go into Sport+, you then need to shift the gearstick to the left to put that into Sport. Annoying. As always, the ZF8HP is incredible.
There wasn't a button on the steering wheel to skip tracks from my phone, although I'll say that the wheel for selecting a radio station combined with the display in the instrument cluster worked quite well. NBT iDrive was lovely, although it's basically CIC with a fancy skin on it. I put a bottle in the cupholder but they had to find another cupholder to put the weird rubber thing in. Speaking of the rubber thing, the car is keyless go but not keyless entry, so you get the key out of your pocket to unlock the car, get in, then you're left sitting there without somewhere to put the key. BMW realized this so put a little rubber thing in the cupholder in the shape of a key so you can put it there, instead of like my E92 where it goes in the dash. That's technical progress right there.
Can I have my M3 back now please?
In Sport+ mode it's positively rapid, pushing you and the occupants (providing there isn't more than one and they don't weigh more than a small child) towards the end of the road in a cloud of diesel smoke and furious dags.
I forgot to spec a colour but it's fine, the white looks well sik so everyone can see me driving a BM innit. Speaking of spec it surprisingly has bluetooth audio so I can pump the badman choonz over the distinctly mediocre stereo. Other than that the car literally has nothing on it, would have made the monthly payments far too much, there's only so much I can earn through tips whilst bartending at the local Wetherspoons, and I need to keep money left over for my monthly spray tan top-up. Plus those Armani watches don't come cheap...
54mpg over a 70 mile journey (door to door, 70% motorway, 20% B roads, 10% city center) was mightily impressive from "Eco Pro" mode, however driving on the M20 (unlit motorway) at night highlighted one large issue with the car; indicating. Check my mirror, check blindspot, check mirror again whilst indicating and OH MY GOD I'M BLIND. The indicator slightly wraps around to the back of the wing-mirror so that the driver can see it, which during the day I found oddly satisfying (I like watching LEDs pulse, I'm weird), however at night it was an annoyance to say the least. I solved this by not indicating.
"Eco Pro" and "Sport+" feel completely different (as you'd expect). Eco Pro dulls down the throttle response so much that you feel like you're driving an X5 with the engine from a 116D, either that or the Stop/Start has already killed the engine despite you having become stationary in traffic 0.000001 millisecond ago, leaving you without the means to pull forward when it starts moving moments later. Sport+ comes with a friendly warning that traction control has been turned off (why? Is a 120D capable of going sideways at a roundabout? Might have to find that out...), makes the steering feel like White Dee has just sat on your bonnet, and downshifts you a gear. Strangely, it leaves the gearbox in "D" however, so after pressing the button 12 times to go into Sport+, you then need to shift the gearstick to the left to put that into Sport. Annoying. As always, the ZF8HP is incredible.
There wasn't a button on the steering wheel to skip tracks from my phone, although I'll say that the wheel for selecting a radio station combined with the display in the instrument cluster worked quite well. NBT iDrive was lovely, although it's basically CIC with a fancy skin on it. I put a bottle in the cupholder but they had to find another cupholder to put the weird rubber thing in. Speaking of the rubber thing, the car is keyless go but not keyless entry, so you get the key out of your pocket to unlock the car, get in, then you're left sitting there without somewhere to put the key. BMW realized this so put a little rubber thing in the cupholder in the shape of a key so you can put it there, instead of like my E92 where it goes in the dash. That's technical progress right there.
Can I have my M3 back now please?
Soldato
The wheel for selecting the radio station is the same as the wheel for changing tracks from your phone, or at least it is in my F10.
54mpg over that route isn't all that great, btw. Confident I could beat that in mine over the same route and I don't have an Eco Pro mode!
54mpg over that route isn't all that great, btw. Confident I could beat that in mine over the same route and I don't have an Eco Pro mode!
Thanks, that's what I plan on doing
I have ordered the shocks and top mounts and will be getting them fitted in the next few days. Fingers crossed it solves the issue. Might as well fit new discs and pads while its up in the air as well. If it does sort it, I owe you a drink 
Permabanned
lol @ the 120d review
Going from awesome petrol engine to x20d is painful... i know from experience... but then when you get to go the other way again
Going from awesome petrol engine to x20d is painful... i know from experience... but then when you get to go the other way again
I take it this is some sort of troll and that's a loan car whilst your M3 is in for some work/service?
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I had assumed that the wheel was intended to skip the tracks, however that kept giving me a "Not possible" or something error in the instrument cluster. 54mpg is impressive when you're used to sub 20 usually Tbf all the Eco Pro mode seemed to do was dull down the throttle response and give me a little blue slider in the instrument cluster so you could play the game of "completely ignore what's in front of you on the road and focus on getting this slider in the "good" zone".
And yes, is a loan car whilst the M3 is in for a service. Dealer laughed when I said "Well, at least it's not a 2 Series Active Tourer!"
Tbf all the Eco Pro mode seemed to do was dull down the throttle response and give me a little blue slider in the instrument cluster so you could play the game of "completely ignore what's in front of you on the road and focus on getting this slider in the "good" zone".And yes, is a loan car whilst the M3 is in for a service. Dealer laughed when I said "Well, at least it's not a 2 Series Active Tourer!"