Soldato
wasn't that just a standard eunos on daisies ?
What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter mattyprice4004
- Start date
Caporegime
wasn't that just a standard eunos on daisies ?
Visually, yes. I'm not doing it for Internet points I just want to do it haha.
Caporegime
Car insurance renewal came in less than my search on MoneySuperMarket 2 years in a row!
Caporegime
Do you get a lot of tram-lining running 8J wheels on a car as small as that? 8J should be running 225-235 width rubber for a correct contact patch.
The VVT swap does seem like a great idea though. You are getting an easy 35 BHP over the 1.6 with a lot better mid-range for not a lot of money. 1.8 VVT with 6 speed and 4.1 torsen would make for a fabulous little b road stormer.
The VVT swap does seem like a great idea though. You are getting an easy 35 BHP over the 1.6 with a lot better mid-range for not a lot of money. 1.8 VVT with 6 speed and 4.1 torsen would make for a fabulous little b road stormer.
Don
Not what I've done to my car today, but wife involved in an incident and from the damage looks like the Zafira will likely be written off. 
3 Zafiras owned in last 3 years (2 written off, 1 rejected due to fault)... at least wife has said we don't need another 7 seater next
3 Zafiras owned in last 3 years (2 written off, 1 rejected due to fault)... at least wife has said we don't need another 7 seater next
Soldato
Got a Combox retrofitted to my E92 M3 yesterday which means I now can play music over bluetooth - yaaaaay! Had a few problems initially with getting the track name/artist to come up correctly but after some research, I discovered that the iDrive media/bluetooth modules just needed an update to help with compatibility. Downloaded the 8Mb update from BMW's website, put it on a FAT32 formatted USB stick, and installed in about 3 minutes and now works perfectly.
Today, I decided to finally have a go at cleaning the leather also as my driver's seat in particular was quite shiny after nearly 100k and 9 years. I always thought that the shininess of the leather was it being worn and there was nothing I could really do about it so up until now I've been using some Dr Leather wipes every few months, which although are nice and give a matt finish for a week or two. However I was browsing Youtube and discovered that the shininess is caused by dirt and is completely reversible and a lot of people recommend using a soft leather brush, which I've always been sceptical about using as I didn't want to damage the leather.
However I gave it a go today, with an unused small brush in a boot polishing kit I have, and it worked *amazingly*. The method I used was to spray on some Autoglym Leather cleaning spray, then gently "scrub" with the soft brush, then use a damp/wet cloth to wipe it down, followed by a dry cloth to dry it. Instantly you could see the results...
Before:
During 50/50:
Bolster clean, before:
Bolster clean, after:
After one pass:
Washing the cloth after doing half of the drivers seat:
Difficult to photograph, but the seats are now so much more matt finish and it came out way better than I expected.
Finished up with some Autoglym Balm on the passengers seat, and a Dr Leather wipe on the drivers seat for protection and to see which looks better once cured etc.
Today, I decided to finally have a go at cleaning the leather also as my driver's seat in particular was quite shiny after nearly 100k and 9 years. I always thought that the shininess of the leather was it being worn and there was nothing I could really do about it so up until now I've been using some Dr Leather wipes every few months, which although are nice and give a matt finish for a week or two. However I was browsing Youtube and discovered that the shininess is caused by dirt and is completely reversible and a lot of people recommend using a soft leather brush, which I've always been sceptical about using as I didn't want to damage the leather.
However I gave it a go today, with an unused small brush in a boot polishing kit I have, and it worked *amazingly*. The method I used was to spray on some Autoglym Leather cleaning spray, then gently "scrub" with the soft brush, then use a damp/wet cloth to wipe it down, followed by a dry cloth to dry it. Instantly you could see the results...
Before:
During 50/50:
Bolster clean, before:
Bolster clean, after:
After one pass:
Washing the cloth after doing half of the drivers seat:
Difficult to photograph, but the seats are now so much more matt finish and it came out way better than I expected.
Finished up with some Autoglym Balm on the passengers seat, and a Dr Leather wipe on the drivers seat for protection and to see which looks better once cured etc.
Caporegime
@Gaygle looks good. Only thing I'd say is be careful with the balm as I've found it can bring the shinyness back (proper word), or in the cases like mine give one where there wasn't.
Caporegime
Do my leather seats once every 6 months with a steam cleaner and even then the transformation is great. It is also great to use a heat gun as it helps remove a lot of the wrinkles and keeps everything nice and taught. Leather is such a horrible material to be honest. Would much rather have cloth but we are a nation that likes the material.
Soldato
Yeah I noticed this too. After I applied the balm, the passenger seat looked quite a bit more shiny than it was before, so I decided to use the Dr Leather wipes on the drivers side. I'm going to keep an eye on it to see if the shininess goes away as it cures and if not, will probably give another quick clean to get the balm off and get it back to matte.
Caporegime
Paid insurance for another 12 months, £4 more than last year, cheaper than any online quotes i can find. Happy with that.
Soldato
I wonder how well that leather cleaning would work on a 92k mile old steering wheel? I've resolved myself to replacing mine, as it's incredibly shiny:
IMG_20181016_171445 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The seats are fine but the steering wheel lets the whole interior down.
IMG_20180923_144411 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
IMG_20181016_171445 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The seats are fine but the steering wheel lets the whole interior down.
IMG_20180923_144411 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Caporegime
What cleaning product did you use? I thought the balm is for after cleaning, like a moisturiser?
Soldato
If you're resigned to getting your steering wheel retrimmed, you may as well give it a go. I must admit, I had limited success with getting the steering wheel back to being matt. The other thing you could try is a Magic Eraser. I've seen people mention them a lot but stayed away from them as they are abrasive, but if you're probably going to get your steering wheel retrimmed anyway, I'd say they're definitely worth a go. People have restored shiny steering wheels to being completely matte with one of these. You've just got to go lightly and not put too much pressure and it should be fine.
EDIT: actually, from looking back at the photos I took of the steering wheel, it did make quite a bit of difference!
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
I used some old Autoglym leather cleaner spray that I had in the shed to do the cleaning phase. Once that was done, I used some AG leather balm on the passenger side, and a Dr Leather wipe on the drivers seat. FWIW, the AG leather balm which was initially shiny has settled down a lot now and the seat has gone back to being matte. It does say on the bottle that you should allow 48 hours for full curing.
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Soldato
Cheers - yeah it's definitely taken the edge off the shinyness on yours. I was going to keep an eye out for a replacement wheel on ebay, the later red stitched STi wheel is a straight swap so it would be a slight upgrade too.
Will pick up some leather cleaner and give it a go
Will pick up some leather cleaner and give it a go
Caporegime
I wonder how well that leather cleaning would work on a 92k mile old steering wheel? I've resolved myself to replacing mine, as it's incredibly shiny:
IMG_20181016_171445 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The seats are fine but the steering wheel lets the whole interior down.
IMG_20180923_144411 by Paul Sims - Flickr2BBcode LITE
If you have a steam cleaner you can do it in five minutes. Will do mine at the weekend and post photos. I bought a b grade vax for about £50 a few years ago. Just got to keep on top of the limescale but it is the same as keeping a boiler clean really.
Caporegime
Nearly 10 years old... So 2009?
Yep, im astounded.
My 28 year old car passed with one advisory for a slightly worn bush. All the bulbs worked fine cos I checked them first.
Yep, im astounded.
My 28 year old car passed with one advisory for a slightly worn bush. All the bulbs worked fine cos I checked them first.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Aug 2004
- Posts
- 7,607
Cheers - yeah it's definitely taken the edge off the shinyness on yours. I was going to keep an eye out for a replacement wheel on ebay, the later red stitched STi wheel is a straight swap so it would be a slight upgrade too.
Will pick up some leather cleaner and give it a go
Also try those foam magic erasers too!
Nearly 10 years old... So 2009?
Yep, im astounded.
My 28 year old car passed with one advisory for a slightly worn bush. All the bulbs worked fine cos I checked them first.
Haha m8 its a bog standard Renault Clio (bloody French) that i've only had for the last 2 years. Christ I had to get the sump pan changed within 6 months as it rusted in 3 places!. Ah well hopefully will be the last year with this crummy car as I will be looking to buy a new one end of next year.
Soldato
Nearly 10 years old... So 2009?
Yep, im astounded...
My 28 year old car passed with one advisory for a slightly worn bush. All the bulbs worked fine cos I checked them first.
Yeah, but it didn't did it. It failed on an ABS light which you bs your way through. Also remind us how much work and money did you have to (are you) plowing into it to get it to such a roadworthy state? I recall bucket loads of welding, suspension, brake calipers...
Even the MOT history of the car before your ownership scares me.