What have you done to your car today?

Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
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10,823
Booked car in for some TLC next week.
Loud crunch going over speed humps at 15mph or more. And odd popping when left front wheel goes over a bump.

I expect something suspension wise.

Tooo cold to go out and do it myself... I really cba.

Annoying though as car has been trouble free for nearly a year.
 
Man of Honour
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17 Oct 2002
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159,596
Total cost was £634 and I believe, had I taken it to a BMW main dealer, it would have been the lion's share of £900!!!

The BMW online service pricer reckons £810 before any negotiations. Assuming you managed 10% that's only 90 quid more. Not sure 90 quid is a big enough saving to be worth breaking the full dealer history on an F80 M3.
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Dec 2005
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10,541
Water pump replacement is normally par for the course when you're doing a cambelt, on pretty much most cars. I would presume changing a cam pulley is also fairly simple when everything is off, I'd imagine it wouldn't add 3-4 hours to the job, unless of course someone is willing to pay for it.
Pity the research didn't lead to asking questions here as we may have saved you some dosh.
If a cambelt is going to snap, it'll snap regardless of who changed it, and paying through the nose certainly does not guarantee trouble free motoring!
Honestly in London its really hard to find a decent mechanic to do this kind of work! They either retired or only do more expensive lucrative vehicles!!! I could have done it all myself I have seen many videos about what to do but not worth taking the chance if you get the timing wrong on re-assembly (its not 100% clear from the workshop manual on where the actual timing marks are taken from! You need to buy a piece of metal for £30 from Renault which locks the engine timing marks before you remove the old cam belt).

There are loads of eastern european mobile mechanics who will charge you the £563 to do it all (including parts!) but when you look at their actual day to day jobs in user reviews its not complex stuff at all just checking cars before people buy them or other basic stuff like changing batteries & bulbs! I spent a lot of time trying to find someone in London there does not seem to be anyone who will give a warranty which is worth the paper its printed on!
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Oct 2004
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5,222
Location
location, location
The BMW online service pricer reckons £810 before any negotiations. Assuming you managed 10% that's only 90 quid more. Not sure 90 quid is a big enough saving to be worth breaking the full dealer history on an F80 M3.
£865 it what I was quoted (BMW service pricer says £864 - I also had brake fluid done) so even if I had managed 10% discount it was still £143 cheaper. It's been fully dealer serviced thus far and it's not like Evolve are an unknown in the world of BMW, and it is 5 years old and has 68,000 on it...iI don't think a service history like that is going to be the main determining factor in the value of my car!
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2011
Posts
10,401
Went to change the front springs on the focus today - one top mount bearing disintegrated (should really have seen that coming in fairness) and one of the strut mount points chewed it's own thread at the hub.

Helicoil and some bearings ordered tomorrow I guess, also got new control arms coming which will undoubtedly be fun. Due it's MOT in just over a week now, glad it can miss it if need be with current near zero use!
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
Joined
31 Aug 2007
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20,015
Washed the winter wheels for the i3 in preparation of a looming wheel swap. I hate multispokes.

Also passed its MOT.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Feb 2014
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2,674
wasn't today (Wednesday) but had a stainless steel sports cat and full exhaust fabricated and fitted which has ruined my car :(

Drone so bad I drove most of the way home in 5th just to give my ears a rest.
Hopefully getting it sorted next week.
They have removed the standard system which was a huge resonator, split to twin silencers, initially it was a single silencer wit no res.
I got a mile and half down the road before I took it back and had a resonator fitted. I think they are going to remove the silencer and fit twin silencers when I go back
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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10,676
Location
Castle Anthrax
Rolled it!

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It's just a parts car I picked up of eBay recently (Can't complain for £53!), decided to cut the roof off and turn it over after stripping everything off the shell as I want to do a flat floor/diffuser for the sprint car over the winter and figured it'll be easier to figure out all of the mounting points etc without crawling around under a car whilst fighting against gravity.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Feb 2014
Posts
2,674
wasn't today (Wednesday) but had a stainless steel sports cat and full exhaust fabricated and fitted which has ruined my car :(

Drone so bad I drove most of the way home in 5th just to give my ears a rest.
Hopefully getting it sorted next week.
They have removed the standard system which was a huge resonator, split to twin silencers, initially it was a single silencer wit no res.
I got a mile and half down the road before I took it back and had a resonator fitted. I think they are going to remove the silencer and fit twin silencers when I go back
Took it back this week and got it sorted.
Some extra silencers fitted, car is now un-ruined and actually has a nice sounding noise now.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
45,008
Noticed the first squirrel pass in front of me, barely noticed the second chasing it. Think I just about positioned the car so that it went underneath and not under a wheel. That was some on-point driving while half asleep :p
 

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
100,280
Location
South Coast
Replaced the old fast Frankenstein wireless charging plate I DIY modded into the centre console with a off the shelf one that literally is such a perfect fit that I cannot believe it lol. The old one looked OEM still but allowed the phone to slot in at an angle whereas this one allows the phone to slot right in and lay flat flush with the whole cubby.

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It does however mean that my phones must be no larger than a Galaxy S20 in future (currently an S10e) as that's the max size that will fit in this space.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Aug 2013
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6,612
Location
Shropshire
Today was warm - overcast with a bit of drizzle so I washed the car - Gave it a good wipe down then put it in garage and final dried it.
Wheels are now shiney alloy coloured and I thought they were grey.
Still looks ok for a 11 yr old Focus.
Just had a email saying my insurance is due £359 - going to have to look around.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,596
Managed to find the time to give cars the full exterior clean today - got dark before I got to move onto the interior sadly :D

cars.jpg
 
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