What Have You Done To Your Car Today? Volume 2

[mjn]

Wash n wax

 

 

[MICK 330]

Washed em both,

Last week Vert had to have power steering pump (at 90K!). Went with used part & ill take my chances lol. Strange though as it just packed up on the spot. No warning signs at all.

 

[Tim-Ci]

Fitted a new dash cam setup, as the Eonon stereo was struggling a bit to cope with doing stereo duties and dash cam (USB webcam) recording. My stereo is a quad core RK3188 unit so not really quick enough, the newer ones might cope better.

So I had a slightly unpleasant time contorting myself to feed the wires underneath the windscreen top trim, facing the rear of the car and bending backwards to work at the top of the windscreen. It seems the M Sport seats want to hold you in place so well I spent half the time sliding towards the back of the seat.

Anyhow, I think I got quite a bargain, it's a fairly common dash cam type available online, but this one comes with a rear view camera which it records too, which is harder to find. First impressions the camera is cheap and cheerful, but seems to work okay and records 1080P video and audio too.

Some pictures:

Getting electric to it - I chopped the plug off an old cigarette lighter multi-plug thing and soldered the wires to the power feed for my Freeview tuner, the plugged the dashcam cigarette lighter adaptor into it. There was a nice bit of space to the right of the glove box.

Wiring fed behind the windscreen trim, aargh my back!.

Front view.

Rear camera. The 'vert rear headrests open apart in the centre around the trim piece, they they are spring loaded to allow the roll over hoops to fire up and through them without destroying them. This meant I could hide the wire inside the headrest. Some double sided foam trim tape worked well to stick it to the aluminium trim piece. The roof just about clears it too when folding down.

End result, showing the front and rear cameras - I hadn't adjusted the view yet. The unit can also act as a reverse camera if you wire it to the reverse light feed, and will then show the reverse camera full screen when reversing.

Here's a link to the camera: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201725927152?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT.

I think it's a bit of a bargain at £20, you need a micro SD card too though, 32Gb one is best (won't take any larger).

Edited April 25, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Markxr]

Got its codes read today will post them up later 

[Benji83]

Checked the tyre pressures for the first time since getting my wheels refurbished. Went over a pretty big pothole on Wednesday that jumped out of nowhere and the unfortunate wheel (O/S/F) was 10psi down. Fingers crossed I haven't cracked the rim . Hopefully it was somebody forgetting to pump it up all the way, or there's an unrelated puncture. Or the tyre just popped off the bead for a split second and let a bit of air out, but that's just me clutching at straws really.

[TriggerFish]

Refitted the cooling fan and engine covers after removing them in the winter to fix something, and never bothering to refit them.

Never showed any signs of going above 95c (recalibrated temp. gauge) on the move with both fans disconnected.

[TriggerFish]

Met up with Sam in his z4m. I actually made it to a meet under my own power!

 

I'm the penultimate car on the left hand side before the grass, next to the neon green Holden

Edited April 30, 2017 by TriggerFish

[mjn]

Wash n wax. Put 0.5 bar of air in all the tyres.

Car needs nothing. It's all good. Well, ok, maybe an audio upgrade.......

[Baz2435]

On 23/04/2017 at 19:31, MICK 330 said:

Washed em both,

Last week Vert had to have power steering pump (at 90K!). Went with used part & ill take my chances lol. Strange though as it just packed up on the spot. No warning signs at all.

 

My power steering pump went a couple of weeks ago at 92,000.

Like yours no warning at all.

[Baz2435]

After costing me £700 in April, thus me ignoring the fact it was filthy for the past couple of weeks, I commenced operation 'spring clean'.

Washed it, gave the headlights a polish up, clayed it. Put it under its cover.

Will uncover it to polish and wax it over the week. Will also add the boot lip spoiler I bought a while back.

[Tim-Ci]

Sorted out the iffy DAB radio reception on my Eonon stereo.

Firstly the dash cam cigarette lighter adaptor I had hidden behind the dashboard was hurting the signal, so I have wired in a 12V-USB convertor and used that to power the camera. Secondly I moved the aerial to the driver's side. I think on narrow roads the driver's side less likely to be next to obstacles that hurt the radio signal. I also needed to bubble wrap the bottom of the aerial, as in its new home on the driver's side it was touching a bare metal plate, which hurt the signal, previously, when on the passenger side it was okay touching painted metal. Finally I made up a new lead from the DAB box to the aerial, and made sure the braided shielding material covered the cable all the way to the end of the connectors - I think this is what made the biggest difference.

Now I can drive around the town and listen to all my favourite channels with no dropouts, a massive improvement. They're served by two different transmitters, one for the BBC-supplied stations, and the other some of the commercial ones, so previously it would be a lottery which stations would work well in different places. Now it seems perfect everywhere locally.

The aerial still stucks up from behind the rear set like in the picture above, it's just on the driver's side now.

I remember when I first fitted the aerial and the signal was also very good (I must have messed up the old cable somehow at some point), and on some days when the weather was very good, the DAB box would find Dutch radio stations, couldn't quite play them though.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Baz2435]

Lip spoiler added. Finishes the boot lid off nicely. Stubby aerial looks better on there too.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Baz2435
.

[Tim-Ci]

^ Nice! Can I ask, what make is the spoiler, is it from BMW?

[Baz2435]

1 hour ago, Tim-Ci said:

^ Nice! Can I ask, what make is the spoiler, is it from BMW?

It's an eBay special. There are a couple of guys on the forum sporting these now.

The link I used doesn't work anymore. I'll see if I can find the seller.

[Tim-Ci]

That's good to know. I'm not in the market for one at the moment so please don't go out of your way to find the link.

I think a lip spolier suits the 'vert well.

[Tim-Ci]

Today I think I solved my oil level yellow warning light coming on when it shouldn't, which started happening about a week ago. I hadn't turned the ignition on with the oil drained from the sump during an oil change, so I didn't think the sensor itself had burnt out.

Live data on my Delphi diagnostic tool showed a reading from the sensor, this confirmed the sensor probably hadn't burnt out. However, the reading was all over the place, jumping up and down all the time, so I suspected a poor connection somewhere. So, I disconnected the connector plug from the sensor, cleaned the contacts with brake cleaner, blew dry, tightened the contacts with a small screwdriver, then refitted.

The result is that the Delphi tool shows fairly constant oil level sensor readings now, just how it should be, it isn't jumping about any more. Fingers crossed this sorts it out.

I had a similar issue with a DSC brake pressure sensor, after cleaning that connector a few times it has been perfect for two years.

The free fixes are the best type!

Edited May 5, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Foe]

Glad you sorted it! You've got to love a free fix! Can I just ask. I didn't realise, the ignition had to be turned on once the oil drained. Is this for all e46s? 

[Tim-Ci]

32 minutes ago, Foe said:

Glad you sorted it! You've got to love a free fix! Can I just ask. I didn't realise, the ignition had to be turned on once the oil drained. Is this for all e46s? 

Cheers! Don't do that - It's the opposite. DON'T turn the ignition on with the oil drained. Apols. if I wasn't too clear in my wording.

Once the ignition is on I think the sensor heats up and turns off, then heats up again etc., to try and work out how much oil is there, it's something like if it cools fast then there's lots of oil present. If you turn the ignition on with no oil the sensor can overheat and burn itself out.

[Foe]

Got it, just re-read it! 

[Tim-Ci]

I do waffle on a bit sometimes so can't blame you for missing what I was trying to say...

Edited May 5, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Foe]

Just finished fitting the Off side, front suspension, and I also fitted both rear OE springs. The ones on the car were nearly half the size of the OE ones! 

Not sure if I now, have to take the lower pinch bolts completely off, and put back on as I fitted the struts without taking the bolts completely off! 

Front wings next.... 

[mjn]

New maps.....

[TriggerFish]

Topped up the coolant (I'll look into my veeeeery slow leak once the weather's warmer).

The light flicked on, along with the TC flashing as I accelerated to overtake something on the A40 on the way home at ~80mph. The TC stepping in is fairly normal, but I don't know why the coolant level come on for ~10 seconds or so before going out again. The temp never moved above 95, so I figured it's fine!

[Tim-Ci]

12 hours ago, TriggerFish said:

Topped up the coolant (I'll look into my veeeeery slow leak once the weather's warmer).

The light flicked on, along with the TC flashing as I accelerated to overtake something on the A40 on the way home at ~80mph. The TC stepping in is fairly normal, but I don't know why the coolant level come on for ~10 seconds or so before going out again. The temp never moved above 95, so I figured it's fine!

I'd be worried if my DSC was kicking in all the time, in the dry. Has yours got masses of torque causing this?

You could consider checking the the ABS speed sensor readings and steering angle sensor calibration using a diagnostic tool (INPA DIS etc.), and the rear toe. To check rear toe angles in a crude way, just place a long straight item on the face of each rear wheel and let it overhang down the side of the car, look for even gaps to the bodywork on both sides. It should be toeing in slightly so by the time the straight edge reaches the rear edge of the front door it has closed up a few milletres, or completely.

[TriggerFish]

4 hours ago, Tim-Ci said:

I'd be worried if my DSC was kicking in all the time, in the dry. Has yours got masses of torque causing this?

You could consider checking the the ABS speed sensor readings and steering angle sensor calibration using a diagnostic tool (INPA DIS etc.), and the rear toe. To check rear toe angles in a crude way, just place a long straight item on the face of each rear wheel and let it overhang down the side of the car, look for even gaps to the bodywork on both sides. It should be toeing in slightly so by the time the straight edge reaches the rear edge of the front door it has closed up a few milletres, or completely.

I will have a check at some point, but it drives straight enough. Thanks for the tips.

It's still on 225 section winter tyres (summers still being refurbed) and it does have a fail chunk of torque as it's a remapped 330d, and very stiff suspension (overly stiff, really). The road in question is not a smooth surface either. It doesn't happen all the time, only when you hit a bump under power, so that in itself doesn't concern me. On a good surface it's fine. I don't understand the connection between the bump and the coolant light though, that's what's throwing me most of all. Whatever, it's got more coolant in it now, and I will give it a proper going over once the weather is consistently warmer!