What have you done to your car today?

New wheels day 😁

Popped down to Performance wheels and tyres nr Wimborne as I was fed up with scouring ebay and fbm for some wheels.

Found these Breyton magics in 18x8.5 et38 square set up, they're going to order me in some centre caps. Kept my staggered tyres for now.

In case anyone was wondering you can fit 3 wheels without tyres in the boot and 1 in the footwell.
 

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Last couple of days, but solved three different banging/clattering noises that have appeared recently.

Heatshield over the exhaust has corroded around three of the fixings, repaired one so far but it was enough to stop any noise from it.

Metal undertray (heat shield?!) under the rear diff bracket has corroded around two of its fixings, both repaired. My stock of VAG heatshield repair washers is now running dangerously low.

Then discovered two of the three fixings on the passenger brake duct/shield have corroded through as well, and that appears to be the final (but very worrying) noise fixed. Eventually got the brake disc off/out the way after heating up the grub screw to free to, and repaired with some heat shield alloy cut oversize and a bigger washer on both bolts.
 
Changed the transmission oil after roughly 240.000km, and happy to report it came out clean as a whistle. Shifts better too after the change.
Downside is I discovered my center support driveshaft bearing is close to being shot, and urgently needs replacing. Will do the guibo disc while I'm at it somewhere next week.
Another issue I found is a cracked/torn front strut top mount. Need to find out how to replace both the front ones as well.
 
Completed Vanos seal & rattle swap using the kit from X8R - getting the vanos unit out is a bastard!

Then realised the rattling noise I could hear wasnt actually the Vanos but water pump. Vanos seals were pretty buggered so worth doing anyway at least!
Again though, getting the water pump out, what a bastard! The placement of the front bulkhead is so frustrating on these cars, especially when so many youtube vids of doing the Vanos & water pump on an M54 are shown on an E46 where it looks simple because there is no honking great lump of metal in the way! Having to remove an engine mount & jack the engine to wiggle out the water pump is annoying.

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New rear tyres fitted, ended up with Uniroyal Rainsport 5's. Done about 10 miles on them so far, they haven't immediately annoyed me. Be interesting to see how well they work (and how quickly they wear) on a couple of trips over the next month.

Potentially engaged in some slightly anti-social behaviour on a back road on my way to the tyre place as the old set was being replaced, even in the dry with traction off she struggles for grip when pushed from a standstill. I don't usually drive in that manner!
 
caius said:
New rear tyres fitted, ended up with Uniroyal Rainsport 5's. Done about 10 miles on them so far, they haven't immediately annoyed me. Be interesting to see how well they work (and how quickly they wear) on a couple of trips over the next month.

Potentially engaged in some slightly anti-social behaviour on a back road on my way to the tyre place as the old set was being replaced, even in the dry with traction off she struggles for grip when pushed from a standstill. I don't usually drive in that manner!
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I've been running on Uniroyal Rainsport 5's for a few years by now and find them to be very good, especially in a very often wet, west Wales.
The last pair of rears lasted 23K miles a and the fronts 31K miles.
It has to be said though, that to describe my driving style as sedate is probably not too much of an overstatement 😊 .
 
Finished off installation of factory subs and a Pioneer amp in the rear of my coupe. Another improvement in sound over the original 6 speaker set up. Also completed sound insulation in the rear area.
 

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Didn't really do anything to it other than drive it.

We got up a little earlier than normal to head for the Full Throttle Cafe near Buxton. This involved a drive out from west Sheffield to Bakewell, taking the B5055 Monyash Road, through Monyash to the A515 Ashbourne/Buxton road, a right and then the cafe is on the right at the site of the now closed Bull I' Th' Thorn pub. The cafe itself was quiet but is getting a name for itself as a car and bike pitstop. Anyway, very enjoyable.

Got talking to the owner and he told me a story about the stillborn Derbyshire "Le Mans". Look it up he said. So I did. Fascinating. The map half way down that page shows the B5055/Tagg Lane that we took from Monyash to the A515. The cafe is 200 yards up from that junction. The thought of 1950s racers potentially doing 100mph+ on that B road just blows my mind. Narrow with dry stone walls on either side, tight turns and sweeping dipped corners. And after seeing four (no doubt) replica Lancia Stratos blast down the A515 while we drank our coffees, that straight would have been something else.
 
Drat! Had installed my E46 lumbar support on my drivers seat. Had the impression the support decreased over time.

So when I took my seat out as I wanted to repair and reinforce the worn backrest cushion, I tested the lumbar system.

Cue the soapy water to see where air escapes… and a crack in where the hose and nipple connects to the valve block.

And of course it is the lower back pillow on the drivers side, of all the pillows in both seats the one I want the most.

Tried a bit of soldering to melt the plastic and fix the cracks but no luck. So forming a plan now…

Always fun when simple jobs become complicated…

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Went to get fuel in the M this evening after putting the kids to bed. God what a tonic after a full day of solo parenting whilst my wife recovered from a hangover 🤣 absolutely fecking love the lightened flywheel, it's so revvy
 
rich1068 said:
Didn't really do anything to it other than drive it.

We got up a little earlier than normal to head for the Full Throttle Cafe near Buxton. This involved a drive out from west Sheffield to Bakewell, taking the B5055 Monyash Road, through Monyash to the A515 Ashbourne/Buxton road, a right and then the cafe is on the right at the site of the now closed Bull I' Th' Thorn pub. The cafe itself was quiet but is getting a name for itself as a car and bike pitstop. Anyway, very enjoyable.

Got talking to the owner and he told me a story about the stillborn Derbyshire "Le Mans". Look it up he said. So I did. Fascinating. The map half way down that page shows the B5055/Tagg Lane that we took from Monyash to the A515. The cafe is 200 yards up from that junction. The thought of 1950s racers potentially doing 100mph+ on that B road just blows my mind. Narrow with dry stone walls on either side, tight turns and sweeping dipped corners. And after seeing four (no doubt) replica Lancia Stratos blast down the A515 while we drank our coffees, that straight would have been something else.
Click to expand...
By coincidence, this video about the same thing was published over the weekend:

 
I'm just of the 515 further south towards Ashbourne 😂 cracking road, we hear the bikers a lot on sunny days!
I had heard vaguely about the proposed 'UK Le Mans' track - supposedly it was canned after that awful accident, but would have been the longest straight in motorsport if it had gone ahead?

I'll be heading up to the Bull I' Th' Thorn next weekend with my boy, I think there's a porsche gathering so off for a gander :)
 
BMWZ4MC said:
By coincidence, this video about the same thing was published over the weekend:

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Ha! What are the chances? The chap at the cafe has a mind to promote this bit of local history. I'd never heard of it.

Ed Doe said:
I'm just of the 515 further south towards Ashbourne 😂 cracking road, we hear the bikers a lot on sunny days!
I had heard vaguely about the proposed 'UK Le Mans' track - supposedly it was canned after that awful accident, but would have been the longest straight in motorsport if it had gone ahead?

I'll be heading up to the Bull I' Th' Thorn next weekend with my boy, I think there's a porsche gathering so off for a gander :)
Click to expand...

We sat outside chatting but every few minutes something went screaming past. On the road to Monyash we were overtaken in quick succession by a McClaren, a Ferrari and an Aston. Obviously all together, driving like twats and taking ridiculous risks.

Any more info on the Porsche gathering? Just 911s or can anyone join in? We met a friend there yesterday who's recently bought a 2018 Macan Turbo with the performance pack and he's in love with it. 440bhp in a small SUV 😂 I'd tell him about it but I know 911 owners can sometimes be a bit sniffy.
 
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