What have you done to your car today?

Got up early to have a good blat on quiet roads on the way to a local car meet, where I caught up with 2 other forum members.

But when I got up it was covered in ice - lucky it gets the morning sun so no scraping required! :)

Reminded me why I love my Z4. :wub:
 
Kit kat
Sadly me too , ( absolutely nothing) too busy planting this years bedding plants... then had a great idea, suggested to my better half that we pop over and see the new granddaughter 👍😃 she’s happy, and so are me n the zed after the blast out on the way home, even had the wife giggling away after some awesome pull away from some lights 🏎🔥🔥💤💤💤
 
- Gearbox oil changed (to a 50:50 mix of Redline MTL and ATF) - Change is now noticeably smoother. Car has only done 60k miles but is an 03.

- Differential oil changed (Redline 75W90 Redline) - Filler plug is an absolute pain to get to and in my case it was done up extremely tight so this was a real job. First socket wouldn't fit and the alignment of the plug meant I couldn't even get my 14mm hex key (which I bought specially). In the end I managed to get another socket in there and just got it free but this highlights the importance of only releasing the drain plug once you've already got the filler plug off, because if I didn't have that second socket there's no way I'd have got it off.

- Brake Fluid Change - Used a Sealy pressurised kit to make it easy (would recommend) though I had one rusted up bleed nipple which complicated things a little, so had to depressurise and go round again. Perhaps I didn't need to check each wheel again but wanted to be sure no air got into the system. I used Dot 4 brake fluid though found out since that low viscosity is recommended, so I hope that's not a big issue. If it is I'll have to do it again, though they feel fine.

- Cleaned Roof - Used AutoGlym products. I read both the pros and cons to the protector component and decided to use it. Not ideal as the sun came out as I was doing it and so struggled to get it to really foam up. I was a bit worried about people saying it leaving marks on paintwork/trim etc but even though it was a bit windy I just cleaned it off as I sprayed it and seemed to be fine. The process only took an hour or so at most and consisted of:
1. Brush roof gently with nailbrush.
2. Lint roller to pick up debris.
3. Autoglym Cleaner - Wipe off overspray as I went.
4. Agitate with included sponge.
5. Rinse off.
6. At this point I hosed the rest of the car too so that once the protector coat was done I could clean the car right after to prevent any marks.
7. Apply Protector being extra careful to wipe off any excess with kitchen roll.

I then shampoo'd the car and carefully rinsed it by hand so the roof remained untouched.

My roof was in decent condition anyway so it might have been a different story if it had lots of buildup.

- Patched up a small hole in my exhaust with GunGum - Failed weld from support bracket. Will look into a more permanent fix.
 
One more coat of clear then buff up the filled in facelift rear end. First time painting with a compressor. Quite pleased with it.
 

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ben g said:
nhartgolfer said:
ben g said:
:lol: so much anger on this forum. Pull your finger out of his backside and calm down a little.
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Anger? :rofl: More like boredom with a “Lifer” with so little positive to contribute! :cry:
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I didn't give myself the lifer title, so don't blame me for it :wink:

I've most likely contributed more than you anyway, so I'm not too bothered. I also care about people who get ripped off on this forum :thumbsup: thieves are the lowest of the low.
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:thumbsup:
 
New bonnet switch installed today. Hopefully this cures the random alarm problem :lol: ordered Sunday evening from BMW Direct on ebay and came today, really happy with that :thumbsup:

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Also gave it a quick clean under the hood with some auto finesse finale, as it was full of dust, dirt and watermarks. Comes up well for a 16 year old motor with 132k on the clock :thumbsup: No where near perfect by any means, but I've seen worse engine bays on cars with 5k on them :oops:

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Might be removing the strut brace and refitting the original ones soon, so for anyone interested, keep an eye on the classifieds.
 
Hello everyone. I'm looking for advice re the ICV in my S54 engine. I've removed to check the state of it. It'sclean as a wistle. However I find that it's not completely closed. Is that how its supposed to be at rest?
It does do the usual knocking sounds like a castanet when i rapidly turn it in my hand from left to right.
 

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So today I ditched the first attempt seat belt tidys and replaced with these bad boys and looks and usability win hands down so anyone looking for seat belt tidys for E46 M3 seats these are a great fix :thumbsup: also fitted new fixings for my sill kick plates as mine snapped after a bit of over exuberant cleaning Sunday :rofl: all my pics need rotating with my new phone pita :thumbsdown: 20190416_182242.jpg
 

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Paddy wright
Love the car
Absolutely love the pictures
It’s a shame I don’t have a garage for pictures like that, the missus got the right hump when I went to replace our wedding picture with something bmw 😊
 
I dismantled the inlet manifold for a general wipe, clean, degrease and decarbonation of the inlet itself, all ducts and pipes, the ICV and the 6 throttle bodies. I took the chance and also replaced the TPS at the back the throttle actuator. I then put it all together, carried out a throttle adaption procedure and proceeded to take it for a test drive. I'm happy to report that the surge in power a wide open throttle at 2.5k and 3k rpm have almost completely gone. Depending on gear and engine temperature i can *just* feel them still, but i am splitting hairs and I'm biased towards feeling something there.
Overall very happy
 

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Now I've been playing with my backbox and I'm reasonably happy with the noise it makes, I decided to delete my sound generator. I known plenty love the noise it makes but I've never been keen, not a good induction noise more a metallic irritation. Mine actually came with both foams removed from the sound generator and I very quickly ended up putting them both back in. Removal wise I did think about just replacing the rubber elbow to the throttle body with one from a 2.5 but I've previously been advised on here that diameters are slightly different and I need the adapter ring to plastic elbow from a 2.5 also to make it all fit. To be honest I didn't like the idea of fitting smaller diameter pipework, even if it was only a tiny difference. At the end of the day BMW made them different sizes for a reason so I decided on another approach. I simply left the main sound generator in place and removed the pipe with the foams in it that runs into the bulkhead. I replaced the bulkhead grommet with a blanking one from other E85 models (£5 from the dealers) and I used a suitably sized bottle top wedged into the sound generator itself to at as a blank. The wife did wonder later what had happened to the top off one of her shampoo bottles! :rofl:

First impressions after a quick run a round the block in it, it definitely seems to sound better. A much cleaner/nicer sound from the exhaust without the sound generator noise polluting the sound from the backbox . I didn't actually realize just how much noise was actually coming into the cabin from the generator until it was removed, even at low engine speeds/throttle positions etc. The car definitely sounds nicer on initial impressions for it and at a total cot of a fiver I cant complain...OK a fiver and a bottle of shampoo!!! :rofl:

Just the excuse I need to take it on a blast round the Pennines on this sunny Manchester day! :D
 
bz4kev said:
So today I ditched the first attempt seat belt tidys and replaced with these bad boys and looks and usability win hands down so anyone looking for seat belt tidys for E46 M3 seats these are a great fix :thumbsup: also fitted new fixings for my sill kick plates as mine snapped after a bit of over exuberant cleaning Sunday :rofl: all my pics need rotating with my new phone pita :thumbsdown: 20190416_182242.jpg
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They look a vast improvement over the mini seat belt holders you tried 1st :thumbsup:
 
Today I have left her at the local indy for an MOT and full service including brake fluid. We have only been together since last summer but have not been apart until now. It is quite a stressful time.
 
After an MOT failure, changed both rear tyres (worn on the inside edge) Blackcircles came to my house to fit so not really me only charged £6 surcharge so bargain I thought !!, changed both front shocks one was leaking, got the local garage to replace the rusty rear brake pipes, changed the rear shocks (they just looked bad) then adjusted the camber on the rear wheels OSR was negative lots..........Issues, the front springs are short so standard spring compressors only just did it, rear shocks had to dismantle the hood tray in the boot a bit of a back ache but not that bad really.
So Mrs R's Z should be good for a while....
 
Oh yeah, on the way back up to the MOT for the first time in its life it starting missing, by the time I got to the MOT garage the yellow engine warning was on, went off for the MOT so phew.....turned out to be bad spark plug have ordered new but just cleaned and re-gapped the old for now and sweet as a nut again.
 
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