What have you done to your car today?

BMW still have it. Was meant to pick it up today, but they were running behind (yes, it has taken them 2.5 weeks to order two new front wings, and spray them). Someone was meant to call me today to let me know when the target date was - they didn't and i've had enough of BMW at the moment so they can do the chasing. Last I heard they were only just receiving the wings on Wednesday, then they needed to primer, paint, laquer, blend etc so it'll be middle of next week by the time I can pick it up I think.

I've got a 64 plate Merc A200 CDI as a courtesy car, and I swear the only thing keeping me sane is the bluetooth streaming and the good MPG. The engine has no power, is so noisy and so unresponsive.

The auto box is terrible also, which is weird because in the 320d I had it was wonderful. For instance, when you go to pull away, the revs climb, but nothing happens for about 1.5 seconds, then suddenly it'll just bang in and lurch - it's horrible. Other times the gearbox will insist on changing up to 6th gear, and on an engine with 136bhp whilst going up hill, you need to really stamp on the accelerator, wait for it to change down, listen to the horrible engine rev, then get the bang from the gearbox, then it'll start accelerating a bit. Then you ease off a small amount and it changes up again - rinse and repeat. I've worked out, to make this engine work with this gearbox, it needs to always be in 1 gear lower than what it is in.

There just is no smooth way of driving this car. I think the engine is too underpowered for the gearbox to work effectively. Then there is the auto start/stop which turns the car off even when its stone cold (engine takes ages to warm up too!), when you're at a standstill for more than 2 seconds and in slow moving traffic. The engine takes too long to restart, then the gearbox has to find a gear and then it lurches off. This is somewhat in contrast to the BMW auto/start stop which although had the problem where it didn't start the engine quick enough, it was much more selective and intelligent about when to switch off the engine. I've had it a couple of times where the Merc has switched off the engine literally just as i've stepped on the accelerator to get out of a junction into the gap. That 1 second delay really can make a difference!

The steering is weighted, but just has absolutely no feel whatsoever. It's very strange and very artificial, but it does respond very crisply, to the smallest of inputs.

Also it's got the stupid collision warning system which has already emergency stopped me once for completely no reason (I was pulling up beside a car at a junction). It scared the crap out of me.

I genuinely can't wait to have my 11 year old 3 series back.
 
Gaygle said:
BMW still have it. Was meant to pick it up today, but they were running behind (yes, it has taken them 2.5 weeks to order two new front wings, and spray them). Someone was meant to call me today to let me know when the target date was - they didn't and i've had enough of BMW at the moment so they can do the chasing. Last I heard they were only just receiving the wings on Wednesday, then they needed to primer, paint, laquer, blend etc so it'll be middle of next week by the time I can pick it up I think.

I've got a 64 plate Merc A200 CDI as a courtesy car, and I swear the only thing keeping me sane is the bluetooth streaming and the good MPG. The engine has no power, is so noisy and so unresponsive.

The auto box is terrible also, which is weird because in the 320d I had it was wonderful. For instance, when you go to pull away, the revs climb, but nothing happens for about 1.5 seconds, then suddenly it'll just bang in and lurch - it's horrible. Other times the gearbox will insist on changing up to 6th gear, and on an engine with 136bhp whilst going up hill, you need to really stamp on the accelerator, wait for it to change down, listen to the horrible engine rev, then get the bang from the gearbox, then it'll start accelerating a bit. Then you ease off a small amount and it changes up again - rinse and repeat. I've worked out, to make this engine work with this gearbox, it needs to always be in 1 gear lower than what it is in.

There just is no smooth way of driving this car. I think the engine is too underpowered for the gearbox to work effectively. Then there is the auto start/stop which turns the car off even when its stone cold (engine takes ages to warm up too!), when you're at a standstill for more than 2 seconds and in slow moving traffic. The engine takes too long to restart, then the gearbox has to find a gear and then it lurches off. This is somewhat in contrast to the BMW auto/start stop which although had the problem where it didn't start the engine quick enough, it was much more selective and intelligent about when to switch off the engine. I've had it a couple of times where the Merc has switched off the engine literally just as i've stepped on the accelerator to get out of a junction into the gap. That 1 second delay really can make a difference!

The steering is weighted, but just has absolutely no feel whatsoever. It's very strange and very artificial, but it does respond very crisply, to the smallest of inputs.

Also it's got the stupid collision warning system which has already emergency stopped me once for completely no reason (I was pulling up beside a car at a junction). It scared the crap out of me.

I genuinely can't wait to have my 11 year old 3 series back.
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So quite the enjoyable motor then :D

But yeah know that feeling all too well, I drive newer cars often too whether it's German or Japanese, always the same feeling of can't wait to be back inside my E46.
 
This stuff :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Autoglym-500ml-Fabric-Maintenance-Pieces/dp/B005WIF4NI

It's not cheap but you should only need to apply it a few times a year. I found the best results came from applying it when the hood is slightly damp still, regardless of what the instructions state. Be sure to wipe off any excess that falls on glass and paint though as once dry, it will leave tree sap like residue that is stubborn to clean off later.

Got a "C alignment" done today at ProTyre. I had the yellow DSC and handbrake light turn on not long ago and I diagnosed and cleared the fault code with SSS, I re-calibrated the steering angle sensor too as it was reading -2 even when dead centre so set -2 as the new 0 point but recently the lights came back on (which then clear themselves a day later...).

I've now done further checking and it turns out the wheel alignment was quite off and this will trigger these exact lights. I've also noticed there's a void on the rear driver side brake disk which means there's dirt between disk and pad or the pad isn't sitting correctly on the calliper, so this will need to be removed, cleaned and re0fiotted very shortly.
 
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Does anyone have any idea how to adjust the alignment of windscreen wipers?

On passenger side the wiper is sitting to high and on the driver side, if anything it's a bit lower then it should be.

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The TT may have the same setup as my MK5 Golf where the motor has two resting positions when on auto wipers are on they move up slightly. I am pretty sure these can be reset with VCDS as your drivers one looks a little high aswell as it should be level when off.
 
Gaygle said:
BMW still have it. Was meant to pick it up today, but they were running behind (yes, it has taken them 2.5 weeks to order two new front wings, and spray them). Someone was meant to call me today to let me know when the target date was - they didn't and i've had enough of BMW at the moment so they can do the chasing. Last I heard they were only just receiving the wings on Wednesday, then they needed to primer, paint, laquer, blend etc so it'll be middle of next week by the time I can pick it up I think.

I've got a 64 plate Merc A200 CDI as a courtesy car, and I swear the only thing keeping me sane is the bluetooth streaming and the good MPG. The engine has no power, is so noisy and so unresponsive.

The auto box is terrible also, which is weird because in the 320d I had it was wonderful. For instance, when you go to pull away, the revs climb, but nothing happens for about 1.5 seconds, then suddenly it'll just bang in and lurch - it's horrible. Other times the gearbox will insist on changing up to 6th gear, and on an engine with 136bhp whilst going up hill, you need to really stamp on the accelerator, wait for it to change down, listen to the horrible engine rev, then get the bang from the gearbox, then it'll start accelerating a bit. Then you ease off a small amount and it changes up again - rinse and repeat. I've worked out, to make this engine work with this gearbox, it needs to always be in 1 gear lower than what it is in.

There just is no smooth way of driving this car. I think the engine is too underpowered for the gearbox to work effectively. Then there is the auto start/stop which turns the car off even when its stone cold (engine takes ages to warm up too!), when you're at a standstill for more than 2 seconds and in slow moving traffic. The engine takes too long to restart, then the gearbox has to find a gear and then it lurches off. This is somewhat in contrast to the BMW auto/start stop which although had the problem where it didn't start the engine quick enough, it was much more selective and intelligent about when to switch off the engine. I've had it a couple of times where the Merc has switched off the engine literally just as i've stepped on the accelerator to get out of a junction into the gap. That 1 second delay really can make a difference!

The steering is weighted, but just has absolutely no feel whatsoever. It's very strange and very artificial, but it does respond very crisply, to the smallest of inputs.

Also it's got the stupid collision warning system which has already emergency stopped me once for completely no reason (I was pulling up beside a car at a junction). It scared the crap out of me.

I genuinely can't wait to have my 11 year old 3 series back.
Click to expand...

That Merc sounds awful! What is the point of stop start on new cars:confused:if people have enough money to be driving new German whips then why do they need to save 0.1p worth of fuel at the lights:confused:
I was stuck in traffic the other week with my window down next to a car that had stop start and the sound of the rattly deeeezel starting up every 2 seconds was annoying me in the 5 mins I was next to it so don't know how anyone can put up with it.
Surely it's not good for the engine etc in the long run.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Does anyone have any idea how to adjust the alignment of windscreen wipers?

On passenger side the wiper is sitting to high and on the driver side, if anything it's a bit lower then it should be.
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Remove the but cap,remove the nut (13mm socket) then you'll need to put some up/down force on the spring loaded part of the arm to relesse it from the splines. Adjust the wipers position the tighten the nut up
 
Blackhawk47 said:
I can remove the nut but how much force is usually required to get the arm off? It seemed pretty solid/stuck but I didn't want to use to much force.

I'll give it another go.
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Theres a good chance its seized on the splines then, its pretty common on a lot of VAG stuff, if they don't come off in a couple of reasonable pushes then I'll use a wiper puller

Probably a bit expensive for a one off diy job though

http://www.jthandtools.co.uk/wiper-arm-removal-tools/wiper-arm-puller-short.html
 
Got it serviced this morning, bit overdue but it's done and they at least gave it a quick clean in and out too which saved me doing it. Getting quoted for a new nearside rear coil spring and an exhaust hanger on Monday.
 
A full set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my Megane RS 265. Now £600 lighter in the wallet department but what a difference compared to the crappy Bridgestones that were on it when I bought it. Corners are now my bitch.
 
Put the diff back in last night, broke one of my halfords spanners in the process, not even being abusive with it, rubbish.
Bled the brakes, pedal is pretty crappy with the 15/16 cylinder, my new 17/16 one didn't arrive today :/
Finished wiring the boost controller, and drilled/tapped the compressor outlet elbow to get a nice short/neat hose route from outlet>solenoid>actuator.
Exhaust back on with new flexi downpipe and cat.
Started it up first time since I tried my hand at gearbox repair. Was a bit worried it would immediately explode but actually seems ok. The LSD is a bit 'because racecar', a clunker but that might die down a bit as it breaks in.

To do..
Install helper springs on rear coilovers and lower it.
Install horn push and slip ring contact.
Put resistor in and extinguish the airbag light.
Tuck the wiring loom in wheel arch.
Do a skid.
 
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