maf sensor . thats why it wont run from cold. cheap quick fix.

Talking of pollution. Has anyone had a look on the "net" at planes round an airport.
There are thousands of planes per day over the U.K. alone. Just one plane uses more fuel for take off than I will use in my lifetime with my car.On the T.V. a few weeks ago i watched a documentary on cruise ships and there was more pollution on the sun deck than in Manchester, caused by the diesel engines so why pick on the poor motorist. All the talk of this global warming just keeps the boffins in a good job. History tells us that the earth has been warming up for thousands of years

Many years ago bought a 330d small mileage ex BMW staff car. The dealer tried to persuade me the petrol version was equally parsimonious.
Few weeks later drove to Italy, filled up in Le Havre at 0730, one top up en route small quick lunch, tour around Chamonix for a look see and was in the centre of Milan at 1630 having sat at about 100 mph all the way and did 42mpg. No way in the world a petrol car would have got even close.
When we sold we got a premium. Due to stupid and inaccurate articles like this plus the largely extravagant bad press second hand values may currently be down. Good time to buy !

I did have another unidentified noise with the van. This one was even more frustrating/baffling/annoying because despite 2 seperate visits to the garage i use, they couldn't suss out what was causing it. And was something i had become increasingly aware of for at least 6 months up, to shortly after the fan belt being replaced. It wasn't really an intermittent noise as such, it wasn't 'random'. But at certain (regular) times it seemed to happen, and while it was sometimes very faint, at other times it was pretty loud. It was a ticking noise, which seemed to coincide with the wheels turning. From the drivers seat, it seemed to be (definately!) coming from the n/s front. Anyway, there was one day i'd started to work, but contrary to what the forecast said, the rain started in earnest. The noise had been particularly noticable on the way to where i had been working, so with it playing on my mind, i phoned the garage (again) to ask if they had time to have another look/listen. I should point out, that the mechanics had not actually heard the noise on either of the other 2 occasions i had asked them to investigate. I was told to come up, and all the way there i could hear the noise, to my ears, very loud!. Got there, the mechanic went out, came back and declared, again, that he couldn't hear anything!. Byt this time i was fit to burst and the boss suggested i take the van out, he would come with me and see if he could detect anything. I could hear the noise myself, though it was much quieter than it had been, but the owner of the garage wasn't so sure. Back at the garage, he put it up on the ramp again, for another look, 1st at the front n/s, then at the other 3 corners. After about 10 mins he shouted me over saying he had found a possible culprit, but not at the front, at the back. The handbrake cable was slightly loose and was very close to the n/s rear wheel, so close in fact, that it was catching on the balance weight on the inside of the wheel rim every time turned. He did point out that heat, length of run, weather, etc, could account for the fact that the noise was not constant. I was just delighted that it had been identified and sorted, though i am still baffled by why it sounded so much like it was coming from the front!