What have you done to your car today?

[Akagi]

Oil change, noticed the CV boot is trashed when I was under though It's chucked the grease everywhere. Don't fancy taking the hub apart to fit a proper new boot, so going to try one of these split boots you glue together.

They do work, but usually not for long.

Would recommend putting some thought into the kind of glue you use, something specifically for rubber, and probably smear some sealant or more glue on the outside of the join, and wang a couple of cable ties around the middle for good measure.

That way you might get a few months out of it, rather than days.

 

[Delta3D]

Harness bar and upper Schroth ASM's installed

Unfortunately can't attach the lapbelts yet as waiting for a bolt to be manufactured to spec to allow me to run both seatbelts and harnesses.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Stuck the V60 into the Volvo specialist yesterday for a minor service and check over.

All good apart from cords slightly showing on the very inside of the front tyres! The tread has 4mm and planned to replace in the next month or so but the very insides are ******. So It's booked in for 4x Michelin PS4 and wheel alignment tomorrow.

 

[marinersfan]

Having heard of all the hoo-hah about Android Auto, and having never tried it. I thought I'd give it a go.
So I unlocked the car and fired it all up.
I'm still none the wiser, seems a bit of an unnecessary faff to me.

 

[Gaygle]

Had someone reverse into the side of my car earlier. It's the rear panel and a bit of the door... Not sure if the wheel is okay or not as I've not tried driving it.

Any ideas if this is even fixable, or would it be too much work and a write off? It's a CLK.

For the love of god don't put that anywhere near an insurance company. That's a £150 and a couple of hours with a paintless dent removal specialist and you won't be able to see it.

An body shop will give an insurance company a £5000 bill for that and will say they have to replace the door, replace the rear quarter, spray the whole side of the car etc etc

 

[Akagi]

For the love of god don't put that anywhere near an insurance company. That's a £150 and a couple of hours with a paintless dent removal specialist and you won't be able to see it.

An body shop will give an insurance company a £5000 bill for that and will say they have to replace the door, replace the rear quarter, spray the whole side of the car etc etc

And then they'll get a £1500 payout, buy it back for £100, and fix it for £150.

Just depends how much the CAT N marker matters to them.

 

[Greebo]

Hit a pigeon on the way to work and heard the clink so feared the worst. Another £3k (£3,156+ VAT to be precise) headlight just a few weeks after getting my car back from repairs No idea why they have to be sealed units. Smash the plexi on the front and kiss goodbye to almost £4k.

 

[RevBillyG]

Had the valve stem seals done on the E46 today so hopefully that'll stop me blowing all of the oil out of the exhaust
Chain was also checked. I was certain it'd need changing after almost 20 years and I'd budgeted the get it done, but, nope still fine.
Happy days

 

[kona786]

Hit a pigeon on the way to work and heard the clink so feared the worst. Another £3k (£3,156+ VAT to be precise) headlight just a few weeks after getting my car back from repairs No idea why they have to be sealed units. Smash the plexi on the front and kiss goodbye to almost £4k.

Wtf.

£4k for a headlight fitted? What is this madness.

 

[Housey]

Harness bar and upper Schroth ASM's installed

Unfortunately can't attach the lapbelts yet as waiting for a bolt to be manufactured to spec to allow me to run both seatbelts and harnesses.

I had those as standard in my Merc but removed them. Look fantastic and are great in a race car but not really much fun most of the time for a bloke of my age who has perfected the skill of getting annoyed at stuff that was once easy and is now hard.

 

[Greebo]

Wtf.

£4k for a headlight fitted? What is this madness.

That's the issue nowadays with all these fancy LED matrix lights. They are sealed headlight units and come with an eye watering price tag. I have been told the new 64,000 LED HD headlights from Porsche cost £7k each if you break one. Which is why fancy cars with all these gadgets will end up getting written off after "minor" accidents from little damage once they have dropped in value. My previous repair for the other headlight and front bumper and respray was £11,500.

 

[Delta3D]

I had those as standard in my Merc but removed them. Look fantastic and are great in a race car but not really much fun most of the time for a bloke of my age who has perfected the skill of getting annoyed at stuff that was once easy and is now hard.

Hah, exactly the reason I want to run both Seatbelts and Harnesses.

Will be nice to be interchangeable on the fly, can just tuck the harnesses behind the seats when not in use so they don't poke you in the back.

 

[jpaul]

Had the valve stem seals done on the E46 today so hopefully that'll stop me blowing all of the oil out of the exhaust

Comforting to have had the head gasket too.

That's the issue nowadays with all these fancy LED matrix lights.

won't you do that on insurance ? - had a stone break headlight outer, heard the hit&stopped but failed to identify the crack at that time, was looking for something much bigger

e:

noticed the CV boot is trashed when I was under though

try some self-amalgamating tape, have used that in the past on a ball joint seal, and on air box tubing, after a clinical clean-up w/alcohol

 

[tom_e]

Comforting to have had the head gasket too.



won't you do that on insurance ? - had a stone break headlight outer, heard the hit&stopped but failed to identify the crack at that time, was looking for something much bigger

Insurance is going to quickly become very expensive (even more than standard these days) with another £4k bill after just paying out nearly £12k surely

 

[Akagi]

Hit a pigeon on the way to work and heard the clink so feared the worst. Another £3k (£3,156+ VAT to be precise) headlight just a few weeks after getting my car back from repairs No idea why they have to be sealed units. Smash the plexi on the front and kiss goodbye to almost £4k.

Insurance..?

Also RIP pidge

 

[RevBillyG]

Comforting to have had the head gasket too.

You mean the valve cover gasket? Yes indeed. One of the many weak spots

 

[jpaul]

You mean the valve cover gasket? Yes indeed. One of the many weak spot

I'll naively reply - I thought the valves would have to be removed from inside, so the head would be off - I had a head gasket go still remember the bill.

e: ok google corrected me
Unfortunately replacing valve stem seals involves removal and dismantling of the cylinder head, which takes many hours and so labour costs are usually quite high, however recent developments by tool and equipment manufacturers have made it possible to replace these seals without the need to remove the cylinder head, ...Jan 31, 2022

 

[RevBillyG]

I'll naively reply - I thought the valves would have to be removed from inside, so the head would be off - I had a head gasket go still remember the bill.

e: ok google corrected me
Unfortunately replacing valve stem seals involves removal and dismantling of the cylinder head, which takes many hours and so labour costs are usually quite high, however recent developments by tool and equipment manufacturers have made it possible to replace these seals without the need to remove the cylinder head, ...Jan 31, 2022

Indeed, Google n42 valve stem seals if you're so inclined. It's a big job still (8 hours) but fairly standard for BMW engines. Cost me €650. Ouchy but I like the the car and couldn't replace it for that.

 

[Gaygle]

Hit a pigeon on the way to work and heard the clink so feared the worst. Another £3k (£3,156+ VAT to be precise) headlight just a few weeks after getting my car back from repairs No idea why they have to be sealed units. Smash the plexi on the front and kiss goodbye to almost £4k.

You'd be clinically insane if you pay that for a headlight. You surely havr options that don't involve spending that much money on a headlight?

BMW Headlight Lens Replacement

If your BMW headlight is damaged, we can save you from buying a new headlight and replace the front broken plastic outer lens with a new one. We can additionally repair your BMW headlight if it has any minor damage too - such as broken tabs or mounting points, and any casing damage.

www.keepyourcarsafe.co.uk

Also, RIP Pigeon

 

[Greebo]

You'd be clinically insane if you pay that for a headlight. You surely havr options that don't involve spending that much money on a headlight?

BMW Headlight Lens Replacement

If your BMW headlight is damaged, we can save you from buying a new headlight and replace the front broken plastic outer lens with a new one. We can additionally repair your BMW headlight if it has any minor damage too - such as broken tabs or mounting points, and any casing damage.

www.keepyourcarsafe.co.uk

Also, RIP Pigeon

Nice idea but I have internal damage sadly as well and I noticed the one you linked doesnt do my model of BMW........yet.