April 2003
Thinking of getting a sri estate are they any good? they seem good value for the money with the trip computer etc. Read more
Re: 1999 new shape BMW 318i auto
Just taken my car into the one and only BMW dealer in Abu Dhabi, yes I live and work in the middle east.
Latest in long line of faults since new is that the air flow meter has packed up and is about and is responsible for rough idle and vibration. Speaking to BMW service manager his view is that BMW electronics find life tough due to the heat and dust of the middle east, which is a fair point but are cars not made these day for all geographies? It seems to me that these cars are only made for the average environment and if you live and drive these cars in extreme heat or cold then you should expect more faults. So much for the "ultimate driving machine". BMW service manager says Japanese electronics more reliable but also more simplle which I find hard to believe.
Incidenly the other faults have been 5 window regulators, a/c unit, thermostat, steering wheel bushes, air bag warning light, electric mirror motors, DISA adjustment unit and crankcase vent valve all in only 40,000 KM of motoring. Pretty shoddy d'ont you think! Any comments would be welcome. Read more
Hi
thanks for reply, my idle is fairly stable - their is no rocking as you suggest.
One thing is for sure my next car will have made in Japan written on it, the fact is that if you buy a small Nissan Micra or a Lexus dealer service and vehicle reliability is consistently superior to UK / Europe car manufacturers. How are the Swedes when it comes to reliability and service?
My car is two years old and has covered 35,000 miles, I use Shell diesel and most of my jouneys are motorways. Early this year the fuel pump had to be replaced along with some damaged parts - timing guardrail.
My car was out of warranty but BMW agreed to pay 75% of the total cost of £2000. The car was at the BMS dealer for 11 (eleven) weeks!
My question\'s are: Is there a known fuel pump problem, would a faulty pump cause others problems or could the damage parts be caused my incorrect fitting of new pump?
Thanks
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Dude, likewise I haven't heard of any trouble with BMW engines using ULSD. I'm sure they learned their lesson after the problems they experienced a few years earlier with ultra *high* sulphur petrol attacking their Nikasil cylinder bore coatings!
TJW, the BMW garage should be able to tell you why the pump failed and why the other part became damaged. Did they have anything to say on that score?
HJ, on the matter of detergent/additive packages, I would please like to know the source of the scientific evidence in respect of your rating of various diesel fuel brands. Not that I'm disputing any of your claims -- as a retiree from diesel engine design I am genuinely interested in the substantiating evidence.
i am going to replace the standard radio cassette with a standard landrover cd tuner on my 2002 freelander. to do this i need to disconnect the battery. does anyone know if this will effect any electronic gismos in the car ? i know the radio code will need imputing but is that all? thanks Read more
You'll need to reset the time clock and maybe reprogramme the electric windows if they're one touch. If it's only a case of pulling the rad-cas out the dash and sliding a rad-cd player into the same mounting, why bother disconnecting the battery?
A news snippet that made me chuckle found in today's Sun newspaper in one of their "Sun Spots", I think its a way of reporting the weird and wonderful. Anyway I have omitted the owners name for fear of public persecution:-)
"An Austin Maestro stolen from its 39 year old owner, was found sub merged in a canal with its headlights STILL ON in long Eaton, Derbyshire."
Now who thinks this has made the news because
(i) It is weird that the car was found with the lights STILL ON?
or
(ii) It is weird because someone thought that it would be worth there while to steal an Austin Maestro? Read more
A friend of mine had his Austin Maestro Automatic stolen a year or so back. They used it to get them to a car park in the rain where they stole a nice 3 series, leaving the engine of the Maestro running.
Either they got bored of the Maestro very, very quickly, or they used it as an alternative to an umbrella...
Hi
I have a 1984 FIAT Regata 70 ES (Energy Saving) with Magneti Marelli Digiplex electronic ignition (Actually it has the CityMatic system which cuts off the engine at traffic lights.)
The car is in excellent condition having only covered 37,000 from new and me being the only owner from new.
Recently, I have been suffering intermittent non starting problems (no spark). I have changed the coil, HT lead, distributor cap/rotor arm, battery but still I get this intermittent non-sparking. The only thing left to change is the Digiplex electronic ignition unit. Does anyone know if these tend to become faulty or what else might you suggest?
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Peter
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It has been suggested that this may be caused by the TDC sensor or the RPM sensor. What do these look like and could this be the cause?
Peter
I have just found out that we have invalidated the warranty on my wife's Punto by overlooking a service. We bought the car when it was about 8 months old with 2000 miles on the clock. It is now 24 months old with 11500 miles. We assumed it would need a service at 12,000 miles so I booked it in this morning. Bloke told me it should have had a 12 month service and since this was missed the warranty is now invalid. The service (a 24 month or 24,000 miler) is nearly £200. A local non-franchised garage could do it for about £50.
My question is thus: is it worth getting a main dealer service? We will probably keep the car for a good while yet so does the absence of a main dealer stamp for the 1st few services matter? As we have no warranty I am thinking about resale value only.
Actually, as I write this I realise it probably does not! Any BR'ers agree?
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Maybe not a huge amount, but I would imagine that it would make the car easier to sell.
You say you're gonna keep the car a while, if you are, then I'd seriously think about more regular oil changes, it should always be done every year even if you haven't covered the mileage. Check out HJ's advice in the FAQ. I'm gonna go for 5,000 mile changes to keep the Fiesta running sweetly, but then I can't afford for anything to go wrong with mine, and it does take quite a lot of abuse from my right foot. :)
Blue
Why is it that when dictionaries give standard plurals such as galaxies, legacies, etc., whenever such words gain a capital letter and become attached to a vehicle, logic is abandoned and we find Galaxys and Legacys, which to me looks clumsy. Sometimes the greengrocer's apostrophe emerges as in Cavalier's; to say nothing of the examples in foreign languages, which are harder to call, I must admit. I agree that things like Xsara present problems (which are easily solved). Any suggestions? Read more
this is absolute rubbish, the Escort from Ford or wherever was
NEVER econimic(al)
You're right. The Escort was purely comical !!
Excuse my naivety ? but in a nutshell ? why are they offered?
Over production?
Model being phased out/replaced?
General sales figures well down on expectations?
I'm talking particularly about the latest Skoda promotion running 'til 30 June. I've not been aware of deals of this type being offered before on the Octavia RS ? for me an object of some desire. The Fabia yes, etc.
£15,100 OTR, deposit of £6,100 = £9K over 36 = £250pcm = well within my grasp! When to jump?... Read more
Cheers for your sound advice David. Glad I caught you before you 'qualified'!...
I'm replacing the head gasket on my 1995 114SI Auto but I can't get the three nuts undone which hold the exhaust downpipe to the manifold. I can only get a socket onto one of the nuts because of limited space and I cant get enough leverage on the bar to make that budge. I'm thinking of trying a nut splitter if I can get one on the nuts. Are they any good? Or if that fails I can only think that I will have to cut through the downpipe. Can anyone offer any ideas? Read more
Thanks David I had tried that but found I couldn't get the manifold out between the bolts and radiator and I didn't fancy stripping out the radiator as well. However on your suggestion I looked at it again and took the bolts out of the head and the manifold parted readily from the head.
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"Well this is a turnaround; the Vectra actually getting some positive comments for a change"
DD behave! Phrases like "OK" and "not to bad" litter these posts - certainly an improvement but heck, you'd want "OK" as a bare minimum wouldn't you?