Project 'sensible' - I'm old, I can deal with it

[arry]

Minor update

The car took me all the way to France and back last week - with a bit of running around in between it racked up about 1000 miles; not using a drop of oil or water in that time, and averaging a very respectable 43.5mpg That's at French motorway speeds ie ~85mph, which I did all the way there and all the way back.

In fact, on the way back I managed to get right the way from where we were staying in Argenton, all the way back to Essex on a single tank of Diesel! Did the whole journey non stop, apart from when on the ferry, didn't stop for anything not even a wee wee! The car is so comfortable at speed, I felt like I could do another 500 miles and still get out fresh as a daisy

Anyway - the mileage through France took its toll on some components.

The front brake discs were looking a little poorly beforehand and, having taken a battering from going up and down the side of the valleys, the fronts are now warped, sticky and a bit tired. Have ordered a new set of discs, pads and sensors along with a rebuild kit for the front calipers - recommendations of what colour to paint them whilst rebuilding greatly appreciated.

Also up front the ARB bushes are looking past their best. I've been pondering over this. I don't really want to modify the car per se and above all else I don't want to ruin the ride comfort as that's one of the main reasons I bought it. However, I do want to sharpen turn in and cancel out some mid corner push on that the car has "as standard". The ARB bushes up front being a little worn probably doesn't help anyway but what I'm wondering is whether to upgrade both front and rear as there's quite a bit of body roll that I want to control and I don't want to do that with aftermarket bumpy suspension. What concerns me is if I go thicker on the front and don't uprate the rear, I'm going to get more understeer? Answers on a postcard on that one.....

And again up front; finally decided I'd had enough of the absolute garbage ditchfinder front tyres which in the rain were nothing short of shocking - they were so plastic you could feel them skipping off towards the kerbs at less than 20mph round roundabouts. Gone for another pair of Falken 452's which have done really well on the back. Car now feels much more planted and dependable, and hopefully will be even more greatly improved in the wet.

Last thing now is to order up some swirl flap blanks so I can de-swirl-flappery-ectromy the old girl. Unlike the Lesbian community - I don't want my flaps to get eaten

[S3 1MDl]

can't believe you haven't had this mapped yet, its amazing what can be unleashed.

let me know if you want it done i know someone who specialises in BMWs and various maps to suit.

missing the dc2 yet?

[arry]

I've not really had to think about mapping TBH. It's actually a fairly quick motor for its size and carries it well, so I never really get a lack of feeling from driving it.

I guess I'll think about it at some point - if the offer comes up cheap enough.

Missing it? Yeah, I am, but not anywhere near as much as I thought - but then that's because of what I've always said which is the 95-5 % rule, only 5% of the time I drove it did I absolutely PROPERLY enjoy the teg through no fault of the car, just the roads, circumstances, passengers on board etc. For that one off through the lanes at the back end of night, just for the hell of it - oh feck yea I miss it

[arry]

The front brake discs were looking a little poorly beforehand and, having taken a battering from going up and down the side of the valleys, the fronts are now warped, sticky and a bit tired. Have ordered a new set of discs, pads and sensors along with a rebuild kit for the front calipers - recommendations of what colour to paint them whilst rebuilding greatly appreciated.

Also up front the ARB bushes are looking past their best. I've been pondering over this. I don't really want to modify the car per se and above all else I don't want to ruin the ride comfort as that's one of the main reasons I bought it. However, I do want to sharpen turn in and cancel out some mid corner push on that the car has "as standard". The ARB bushes up front being a little worn probably doesn't help anyway but what I'm wondering is whether to upgrade both front and rear as there's quite a bit of body roll that I want to control and I don't want to do that with aftermarket bumpy suspension. What concerns me is if I go thicker on the front and don't uprate the rear, I'm going to get more understeer? Answers on a postcard on that one.....

And again up front; finally decided I'd had enough of the absolute garbage ditchfinder front tyres which in the rain were nothing short of shocking - they were so plastic you could feel them skipping off towards the kerbs at less than 20mph round roundabouts. Gone for another pair of Falken 452's which have done really well on the back. Car now feels much more planted and dependable, and hopefully will be even more greatly improved in the wet.

Last thing now is to order up some swirl flap blanks so I can de-swirl-flappery-ectromy the old girl. Unlike the Lesbian community - I don't want my flaps to get eaten

Ok, so MAJOR update time

So, after nearly a year - I've just had deek (legend ) fit new front discs and pads (cheers DB Power ) and rebuild my front callipers - which turned out to be a nightmare, as one of the bleed nipples was seized to buggery, so we binned that idea off and I went out and bought brand new front callipers for it too

He also de-swirlflapectomied it for me, using parts from www.swirlflaps.co.uk - whom were most awesome. That's another little worry gone.

I've also had all the drop links and bushes on the ARB changed up front - were going to do the rears as well, but it turns out GSF stock a bush kit, that consists of one bush

New fuel filter, an oil and filter change, new cabin filter and a few other little tiddly bits is all for now.



Next up is new gearbox fluid and filter, rear ARB bushes (I might just go buy a kit that consists of more than one bush, you pony bunch of slags GSF), and I may even consider some new suspension for the old girl - lowering your hearse FTW

[sideways14a]

I changed the air filter in the 330cd the other day, it was utterly minging - so much for a good history.
Oil and fuel filters coming next.

There is this odd sensation of not always having full boost avaliable to me, suspect i have a duff vac pipe to the turbo that needs a look at.

[Mr C]

Cool, how does it feel with the bushes up front done?

[arry]

A lot more positive Still not AMAZING, but a lot cleaner.

The brakes have made the biggest difference - they don't pulse now


Sideways - I've a sneaky suspicion that there's a boost limiter in early gears, kinna like S14 style (backwards but you get what I mean). Worth looking into.

[Matt_S]

When we changed Darryls turbo on his 320d, I noticed a similar boost control solenoid to the S14.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...27&hg=11&fg=40

Part 11

[sideways14a]

Yeah i think there is a boost limiter in the lower gears, however this also happens in the higher ones - sometimes its like there is no boost at all.
Gonna check all the vac pipes as they can be poorly, also my bluetooth obd tool has turned up from hongkong so i can monitor boost pressure (and other stuff) on my phone or laptop.

[arry]

Was my point mate, if it's similar to the S14 one, then it's not a limiter as much as it's an increaser - if it's a bit knacked, it might well fail to raise the boost in the higher gears.

[Mark]

The brakes have made the biggest difference - they don't pulse now

ooooo I get that now and then, wonder if its the calipers and at the mot last week they were borderline so Geoff recommended i would need at least one new one. Seems to be if i hit a bump as i first brake they pulse like fook

[arry]

Mate, the ones in my boot are rebuilt with fresh seals and are ready to go bar getting one of the old, now broken, bleed nipples out. If you wanted to do a deal...If they fit of course... I'd be looking for just the surcharge on the GSF order

New callipers were £215 with £50 recoverable by surcharge I think.

[Mark]

Thanks for that mate but it looks like they are different

[sideways14a]

My obd scanners just turned up, will see what it says.
The torque app appears to be very good - cheapest boost gauge ever

[arry]

Sideways - I meant to mention to you, if you've not done it already - perform a throttle response reset:
For those with M54 M54 MS43 lumps under the bonnet with throttle drive by wire ( electronic ) and not by a cable there is a reset than can be made that may improve throttle response. This is typically done if a customer complains after an a new EDK is installed - allthough it should be done as part of the procedure anyway).

Its easy and quick just 20 seconds thats all !!

1 Place key in ignition and turn to detent 1 and count for 10 seconds ( only postion 1 do not start the engine. )
2.Turn key back to 0 postion and count for another 10 seconds
3.Now turn the key all the way to detent 3 to start the engine

Thats it your throttle is now reset. this can help to improve the cars throttle response. this little trick is always worth a go if you feel the car is a little sluggish or has been bought off someone who has just gone to the shops n back in thier BM. In theroy the throttle should now adapt slightly to your driving style





Done ~450 miles since the service and have averaged 39.7mpg, that's a mixture of a bit of motorway, bit of town and a bit of fast A road driving, not particularly hanging around - well happy with that. Car feels great TBH.

[arry]

If anyone was ever wondering what Swirl Flaps were all about and what they look like, here they are after 150k miles of hard labour



You can't really see the issue with them, which is the screws giving out and falling into the engine, as they're so mucky I doubt the screws would have ever been able to work their way out!!

[arry]

And straight through its MOT today That's made me happy

[arry]

Jeeeaaaaaaaaasus.... Nearly 4 fricking years I've had this thing How does that happen?!


Anyway, it's still running, it's still hauling me to work and back and actually it's still a nice car. Could do with new, err, stuff, like, err, stuff, but it's generally ok. But I fancy a change in the new year. It's going to be something interesting again