Hey all,
More problems with my 306 DTurbo again!! There seems to be a rattle coming from the O/S front wheel area. It only happens when I dont have my foot on the throttle, eg slowing down or slowly cornering. I recently changed the driveshaft on that side because it had a lot of play in it and I thought that would be the source of the problem. How wrong I was. I cant feel any movement in the ARB droplinks, and there seems to be no movement in the wheel bearing. I thought it would be the droplinks, but the problem only manifests when driving slowly over rough ground or cornering, never when accelerating or cruising.
Anybody have any thoughts??
Cheers
Ross Read more

Following on from the recent tirade of all things gallic (i agree!), what are the collective views of this most beautiful, yet fairly heavily depreciating (is that a clue!) coupe. I know they are assembled by Pininfarina in Italy, a country not renowned for build quality but I suspect any company doing niche assembly for mitsubushi must be ok (Shogun Pinin build quality any good?) possibly better than the french build saloons and estates? I quite fancy the v6 model or the 2.2hdi when it ages. What is this v6 like to maintain and run, it was updated to 210hp plus better economy in 2000. I can handle the odd gremlin as long as the core build is strong and the engine is not an oil burner, my last peugeot 205 gti put me off the marque for life... stalling, coughing, smoking thing that it was but beautiful on the right road and to be fair the body was still corrosion free.

Thanks, Ian Read more

Mate has an '89 BMW 2.0l 3 SERIES.

It's just failed it MOT on R/Bush & Sterring Ball Joint.

The quote is 300 quid. ie) More than the value of the car.

The garage raised the posibility of rusted bolts.

He wants to keep the car but reckons it isn't worth spending 300 quid (plus any extras if they shear a few bolts)

Questions:

1) Can someone explain how to do the rear bush [1] and give an idea of how hard this task is.

2) I've done front ball joints before and assume they're all the same. Any special tips for the Beemer?

3) Is it worth us having a go?



[1] He doesn't know which bush this is. Will it be the same arrangement as my Rover 414 rear swing arms?
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These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads. Read more

Picture this. You are enjoying a particularly interesting article in your DT over a cup of what is advertised as coffee at your local Starbucks. Just as you are digesting what you are reading, somebody comes by and plonks a BMW or a Land-Rover catalog right on top of the bit you\'re reading, and walks off.

How would you describe that sort of behavior? Variously, no doubt, but surely everyone would agree (a) bad manners and (b) hardly likely to make you rush out and buy one of their wretched cars. You would also quite likely be a mite irritated.

Yet this is the parallel scene on the Electronic Telegraph. Everyday one of these ghastly things manages to insert itself on the bit of the screen I\'m reading. When I click at it, instead of disappearing it opens up the blasted site it\'s advertising and then I have to go through the rigmarole of getting back to where I was or else it sits there immovably. My enjoable reading has been interrupted and I do not find this clever, amusing, nor even good psychology.

What p***** me off is the insolent assumption that you can get away with on the internet what you wouldn\'t do in polite company. Worse is the arrogance in attempting to control my attention in a default way, i.e. I have to do something about the message, unlike say an ad on a page in a paper which I can simply flip over.

Well if the dumb marketing seatwarmers who thought this one up thought they were clever they have their heads up their five asterisks and need to get a real job. They have succeeded in making me want one of their overpriced vehicles even less than I did already.

But today they out-clevered themselves. Hehe! The BMW site I got taken to apologised to me for being down for quote servicing. I think I\'ll flame them with their own medicine and say hey! I get a replacement carwhen you\'re servicing my BMW, why can\'t you provide a replacement site!

Somebody needs to get on to the DT\'s ad department and tell it to start behaving more like the Telegraph and les like the Sun and fire the kids who dream this stuff up before they alienate any more readers.

TGIF, and today my tag-line, to the point as ever, seems especially apposite....LOL



Change is inevitable. Progress is optional.
Read more

Young chap living two streets from me has large Transit van with burger bar trailer. For many years, he only taxed the van for half of the year (the summer/burger selling half) and used the van for the rest of the year, without tax. Van is parked on the public highway.

Neighbours advised the Police of this on numerous occasions, each time there was no sign of any action. On one occasion, whilst walking the dog, I myself observed a marked Police car with one officer. The officer drove up to the van, examined the windscreen then returned to the car and drove off. Again there was no sign of any action.

For the last two years the van, though in regular use, has not been taxed at all. At this time, there are two tax discs displayed, one expired 99 and the other 01.

First question, What is happening here ?
Second question, Given the above, why should I or anyone else, tax our vehicles?

Answers on a postcard please. Read more