E36 Why i choose manual roof

As you tube is such a great place to learn about things, i was glad when i came across several home videos of electric roof's giving their owners hassle.
Now i cheated and got a manual roof, so i guess this is why i find it funnier.

Enjoy.

E36 Tyres and Bearings

I've bitten the bullet as the rear tyres were in a shocking state, and in trying to keep with the age of the car and to keep costs down, I've put some part worns on there to enable me to drive it legally and still get round to looking at the wheel bearings and thermostat. Am just waiting on Christmas and New Year to get out the way then I will get my order in.  

Am thinking either EuroCarParts or C3BMW and will get a quote from each. 

2 rear wheel bearings and a thermostat for starters, with a battery to follow after I cure the initial noises. 

Loving the drive and lovely to sample another straight six in my life, although early fuel signs are bad, which is possibility down to engine compensating for it running cold, and after thermostat this should hopefully sort this out. 

Still no roof down but come on, it's December and every drive has been in near torrential rain, hence the needed tyres. One I'm ashamed to say was a F1 slick and the other was on the block with nearly all the tyre. Now previous owner is getting the blame, as he's clearly not here and was using the car knowingly in this state. 

So New Year is nearly with us, and the only thing that might slow things is a possible house sale, which hopefully will happen in early 2014. Shame I've not decided on the new location yet!! No pressure. 

E36 Cabriolet

I think it's safe to say the previous owner was of the "not maintained because of cost" school of auto repair. Now usually I would get emotional and put it back up for sale, but there's a voice in my head that's reminding me it was cheap and it's not eating or drinking so it can stay a while, plus I've not lowered the roof yet so best not sell yet. 

So the current issues after a week of ownership, I've only totalled 50miles including the drive home, put about £40 in fuel and it's sitting with half a tank so happy enough with that, and as it's a third car I can't see it ever being filled up. The real problems are, temperature gauge showing a little low, so possible thermostat, there's a problem with the battery and after trying a charge up with my intelligent charger is saying that there's a cell fault and if left for more than a couple of days it would need a jump start, so on Saturday the boost pack came out (lucky it was charged) and I gave it a little run round the block with a run up to get some logs on Saturday night (12mile round trip) on Saturday night and it started ok Sunday morning. So battery can wait for a while at least, as the major gripe apart from the lack of cleaning and general lack of being able to repair the simplest of things and not clean it properly or remove things properly, as the tools left in the boot and screws etc tell a story. 

Back to the worst fault and it's a noise that sounds like a wheel bearing in bits or a noisy diff which I'm not looking forward to finding out what or where the fault is, so I'm tempted to put an order in with Euro Car Parts for the above which is around £87 for the x2 wheel bearings and thermostat with housing and also gasket. So first round of bills isn't that bad really, although I've never really taken on a mission such as this, I'm sure it will be fine, what's the worst that could happen.......

I've decided to go for the tried and tested method of getting a friend to sit in the passenger seat and listen to the car on a run round and see what his experience says, and as with doctors it's always better to get a second opinion, and all this before I order any bits. Although want to tackle all the messy jobs in the winter, so I've got my own little winter project. Love it, take 41 years to get to this stage, never had a winter project ever. Growing up.. 

BMW E36 Cab 2.5

Well its taken me far too long but i've become a BMW owner again, and its got a soft roof. 

Its a first for me with a BMW badge and so far i've been very impressed. Now all i've done is drive it home and put £20 of unleaded in it, but even with a wheel bearing drowning out the lovely straight 6 motor, its still a great drive and now its home i am slowly getting my list together of parts i need to replace. 

Have already promised that i am going to add any missing bits, so the interior door handle surround is on order already, and i am very surprised at the cheap price of the wheel bearing kits. Also a front fog light is broke and they are only £29 each so its another price surprise on the cabriolet. 

Not impressed with the look of the current alloys and already the search is on for some others, really like the 18' MV style and have missed out on a set already but am hunting some more down as i type. 

So all i really need now is some sun and a few little bits and she's going to be a great little toy for a couple of years. 

E46 Alloys are boring and 16's are too small, FACT. 

Difference between a Fast Rider and a Racer

A lovely masterclass and a lesson for everyone that thinks there fast. 

Ex racers never lose it. 

Diesel Sounding Awful

Now maybe it's an obvious statement but it's not all of Diesel cars that I'm having a go at, but some and the Mondeo I drive at the moment is one of these, they sound awful. Now some such as an old Passat have a fairly nice sound with a sometime turbo whistle, while this Ford has nothing nice about the noise at all.

Why is this? And is there a reason for it? 

I've had in recent years a 530d and this sounded ok, i've driven lorries usually of 500hp or more and these sound nice, i've had a Discovery with the V6 Diesel and that was nice sounding but why is it that the more run of the mill cars in the car industry seems to be missing out on using some of there budget to make a diesel sound nice. Maybe a V8 rumble or at the very least a turbo whistle to drown out the awful diesel noise. 

Can't be the only person to have thought this ? Am i ?  

Car Service Done

At last I've booked in the car and had the first service under my ownership at 68800k miles.

Not sure if it's bad timing or just the build quality letting it down but this time I had the usual service, a bonnet open sign which looked like a faulty switch and could be cured for a few days with a squirt of WD40 but I was still keen to resolve this as the beeping in the driving seat is annoying.

Also I had a engine malfunction light come on several times and the night before a headlight bulb go, so good to give them a fair days work. Unfortunately the Insignia hire car for the day was a low point, as was the service desk girl telling me that the engine malfunction wasn't a fault they could look into or resolve as it wasn't still there. Typical poor service from a garage that impressed at all other levels, the rest was as expected, although the valet of the car was poor and not clean to a standard that I would have expected.

It's very easy to say its a company car and the driver maybe wouldn't care but I'm not a normal driver and it's been noted for future visits. The after math is still having engine management light come on with the limp you home revs, usually on the long commute either Friday or Monday.

The good Ford news is the fact that it's not the best engine and at low gear it's a bit slow but have found the car on a run very comfortable and have already put the mileage upto just under 69500.
The lease has only to run till March, so am looking for the post every week to see the car pack arrive for the new one next year, realistic I guess it will be January before I see it but am hoping that the replacement will be the Zetec Business edition that includes park sensors, sat nav, smoked glass, and generally a vehicle that we normally wouldn't get in a thousand years, but timing could be an issue as the new mondeo is out next year so it could be the first of the new type which may have less toys but will be the one that looks like an Aston, we'll front end anyway.
Still missing the Passat as it's better made and better on fuel but the Bluetooth is better for an iPhone user as the last hands free was disappointing, although it was a Bury and nothing to do with VW.

Still anything could happen and maybe next year I will get a better choice....