Anyway it seems Ross only lives up the road from me, so we made some arrangements and he picked it up yesterday morning on his way to work (obviously observing all the social distancing etiquette including gloves, sanitiser and hand washing) and he left his car at my house.
Ross noticed a few extra items and kept me updated with photos as well. The RTAB bushes were starting to split, so I opted for Powerflex polybush replacements. The engine chain tensioner was leaking so that got replaced and I needed a new Vanos filter. He also fitted the Osram Cool Blue headlamp bulbs I had bought after we discovered a few weeks back that one of mine was failing (it died a week later) and I figured he could swap them much easier on a lift than me lying on the ground! it also had coolant and brake fluid changed as well as the CDV taken out. He also has a sample of a litre of the oil that came out for an analysis to see if it looks like the crank rod bearing shells are wearing - fingers crossed on that!
He checked the valve clearances this morning and found that 5 of them were outside acceptable tolerances so 5 new shims went in.
To be fair I was expecting a few extras now it is on 77k miles as according to the service book it last had valve clearances checked when it had an Inspection 1 in July 2013 at 48K miles, although it has stamps for 3 oil services after that.
So once completed Ross e-mailed me the invoice and I paid online then he brought it back and collected his car, so again we could keep suitably distant, etc.
But having driven it he agreed the H & R coil-overs are very firm. He said it felt like it would be great on a track, but a bit stiff for English back roads and probably pretty tiring on a long run. Now I just need to wait until I can do a long run before I make a decision, but I'm starting to think fitting the Eibach springs it came with and buying a set of Bilstein dampers may make it more usable for an oldie like myself! Then hopefully I could sell the coil-overs.
Anyway I am really pleased it has had the TLC I knew it needed when I bought it, so will be using it occasionally for essential shopping trips but parking it as defensively as possible.
Finally I've added some photos seeing as this is z4forum after all! Starting with the manky looking gearbox oil coming out, the new and old engine chain tensioner and a before and after RTAB.
