I bought Delilah in February this year. Spent ages looking for one with the right colour combo and the options I wanted (and at lots of M3s as well). Only option missing was xenons but that's not a deal breaker as they can be retrofitted. She was pretty much 100% OEM apart from golf tee mod and hole in the bottom of the airbox. Only issue on test drive was air con compressor was a bit noisy. Previous owner admitted to never having refilled it in his ownership so I figured the level was just low. Even though she had 106k on the clock, he'd clearly looked after her. Here are the pictures from the advert:
Cheers, it is awesome. Had to be a manual! I've driven autos, the new dual clutch ones are seriously impressive. So fast but I prefer as much driver involvement as possible!
Thanks, wheel faces are mostly uncurbed but one has lacquer peel. The barrels are pretty bad and the the inner faces are almost completely corroded. More pictures to follow.
Golf tee mod is putting a golf tee into vacuum line that operates the butterfly valve in the exhaust. In standard form it only uses one exhaust below 3000rpm. Block it off and uses both exhaust all the time and sounds awesome all the time!
Lovely car mate, looks mint. Only thing is your leather seats, a bit to glossy for me but a quick clean to bring them back to factory finish would look great.
Cheers, I love them too. I've only driven e46s for the last 7 years.
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Tuesday 2nd Feb: My mate took me in his R32 to view the car. As soon as he saw it; he loved it. It's my favourite colour as well. The black interior with alu black cube trim and anthracite roof lining makes it such an awesome cabin. Managed to negotiate ÂŁ180 of asking price and there was enough petrol in the tank to drive the 70 miles home from Shrewsbury. Really enjoyed driving her, love the power delivery and handling.
Got home and immediately spent ÂŁ125 online on cleaning products: Meguiars lambwool's mitt, Dodo Juice buckets with grit guards, Car Plan leather renovation kit, bilt hamber foam, marolex sprayer, Martin Cox Water Wizard drying towels, and some Gtechniq C4 to bring back the faded plastic on the wing mirrors. Here she is next to her older sister:
Swapped insurance over from the 320d, only cost ÂŁ37.48 until renewal in May.
Wednesday 3rd Feb: Can't wait to pick up Squidger from the station today. She's been away in Mallorca and has no idea I've bought a new motor! I know she is going to love the heated seats.
Quick daylight pic, as you can tell she really needs a clean:
Thanks! Plan is to hoon it around and clean it. I'm a detailing newb and there's loads of stuff on it I need to restore to bring it back to its former glory. Definitely keeping it OEM. Debating whether to get a track car or bike to interfere with.
Ahh so the wheels haven't escaped the ravages of time....strangely seems quite common on some BMW wheels, I know the MV1 cross-spoke style wheels always like to rot.
Yeah they are trashed, I'll sort out the picture and post on here. I like the MV1s, was very tempted to buy some for my summer set.
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Thursday 4th Feb:
Squidger likes the new beamer; I think she's just really glad I didn't get an M3 as she thinks I drive fast enough as it is.
Paid ÂŁ290 for a year's worth of tax and had a quick go at the alloys after work. I didn't have time to take them off (will do that at the weekend). Used AG products I already had: custom wheel cleaner, alloy wheel seal, and instant tyre dressing.
Went to stealership to get the bit of rust on the rear wheel arch sorted, here are the picture they took:
They said paint depth was 312 microns, which implied that the q/panel had previous work and paint applied. It's therefore not covered by the BMW corrosion guarantee. They quoted ÂŁ1,641.38 to sandblast both arches and paint. No warranty. Bargain. Went home and took the alloys off to give them a better clean:
Loads of horrible orange staining on them:
Managed to get some of it off:
Then sealed with AG alloy sealant.
Still some staining and the barrels are pretty trashed, couldn't clean them too much as the paint flakes off. I'll take them off will clean them with better products until I can afford a refurb.
If I could afford a new card, I think I'd get an F-type type R. Would be happy with normal F-type though:
I bought this ODBII scanner on ebay and read the codes; was very pleased to find there weren't any stored. I tried the torque app it connects to with bluetooth. Couldn't find oil temperature on it, only has coolant temp. I did a 0-60mph but only got 7.5 secs. Didn't revs hard at start (save clutch) and traction control kicked in...
Sunday 14th Feb:
Spent Valentine's day with my true love lol. I cleaned the leather and paintwork for the first time. Pictures in this thread.
I also restored the faded wing mirrors. Pictures in this thread .
Tuesday 16th Feb:
Went to change the belts to stop her squealing like a piglet on cold start ups. Old belt:
Vs new:
I couldn't get the main belt off (I don't have a T50 or 8mm Allen):
I got the aircon belt off but the tensioner pulley is trashed, I took a video of the squeaking:
More bad news, radiator is bowed:
It's not leaking yet but need to replace it before it fails!
Wed 17th Feb:
Recorded a quick video of the engine after a cold start this morning, I think it sounds like there is a little rattle somewhere:
Did the tensioner and idler pulley, and the serpentine belt:
Changed the air con belt but not the tensioner pulley yet as that hasn't arrived yet:
Nice easy job. Gave her a quick service (oil, oil filter, and air filter). Replaced the sump plug as well (it was fine but bought one just in case). So much easier to service than the 320d, that air filter housing is a POS.
Gave her a clean, sprayed a 1:4 Demon Shine to water mix after rinsing her and it was 10x better. Helps with drying and gives a nice shine. Really pleased with it. Used it to do door shuts as well.
Fitted the new radiator but it leaks from connection with top hose (near expansion tank). Drips a little bit at the connection. The old o-ring isn't is a bit flatten and isn't sealing properly anymore.
Old radiator vs new
Thurs 3rd Mar:
I fitted a new top hose and it doesn't leak any more. But the bottom hose leaks!
I ran the engine and let it warm up to 100C, some coolant spluttered out the bleeder then stopped. The coolant temp dropped to 80C, crept back up to 100C, then dropped to 80C, etc... Must be quite a lot of air in the system.
Fri 4th Mar:
Topped up the coolant this morning and went to plumbers to buy some O rings. Coolant didn't go above 96C. O ring was 38mm x 4mm. Looks like the hose is leaking so I've ordered a new one. ÂŁ37.50 from dealers so I bought a febi bilstein from bmwmotormec on ebay for ÂŁ21.40
Under tray fell off as pulled up to gate! Clips were corroded so bought some new one on ebay.
11th Mar:
Check out his beauty:
9th April:
Went to see Squidger's bro races in the British Superbikes. Some very tasty cars in the paddock:
I need to get myself a motorbike, they look so much fun. I had a go on 50cc scooter in Croatia last summer and have been thinking about get a bike ever since.
Straight pass MOT, no advisories. Whoop whoop. Going to treat her to some Shell V-power as she's been such a good girl.
2nd May:
Need to fill up:
Mon 3rd May:
Insurance renewal was ÂŁ415.93. Managed to negotiate them down ÂŁ385.44
Squidger is keeping the 320d to commute to the train station and go shopping. I'll take her on long runs every couple of weeks to keep her running smooth. Was going to sell her but Squidger is used to driving her couldn't find anything with similar build quality in her budget.
Tue 10th May:
Finally got the aircon refilled. Apparently it was half empty. No wonder compressor was noisy as it had to work so hard. Idle is now super steady: it used to drop and jump back as compressor kicked in.
Fri 13th May:
On the way to training, I had to pull as could feel vibration through steering. Nearside brake disc was really toasty: the brake caliper is stuck.
I replaced the n/s caliper and bled the brakes. Disc and pads are almost new so didn't replaced them. Piston slides nice and freely now. Took it for a spin and the brakes are good and no vibration.
Fri 20th May:
Carlimits driving day. Best fun I've had in a car ever. Learned loads from Andrew Walsh about car control on an airfield:
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That's his current whip. I prefer mine lol. Driving sideways got the tyres a bit toasty:
I kept going and eventually the tyres started to delaminate lol:
Good job I bought a new set of alloys with tyres! Can't wait to do it again. Going sideways is the best.
Approaching a roundabout, some &rsehole swerved into my lane and slammed his brakes on. There was nobody on the roundabout. I didn't have enough room to swerve completely out of the way. He drove off the roundabout so I couldn't get a picture of him straddling lanes.
Delilah:
Where I hit him:
Check out the rest of his bumper:
Three of them in the car and first thing he was: "have you got insurance?".
I was fuming but there is CCTV on that roundabout:
I rang the polcie and they said I had to report in person within 24 hrs. I went to the station and the lady just fobbed me off. She said it was up to the insurance companies to get the CCTV etc...
Insurance company said that I would be liable unless I could prove he braked for no reason, i.e. I need the CCTV. The liability team said they may get 50/50 if the picture of the damage to my car is on the side, concurrent with an impact from a vehicle swerving into your lane...
Only one thing to do to cheer me up. Get some acid cleaner of those alloys, wonder wheels from Wilko ÂŁ6, before:
At the weekend I polished them with AG super resin polish:
And sealed them with two coats of AG extra gloss protection
Managed to fail mod 1. Was going really well until last part. Hit two cones on the swerve avoidance. I was trying go through the racing line and went too close to the cones. Really disappointed. Apparently it's quite rare to hit a cone, let alone two. Booked to try again next Friday.
Sunday 26th Jun:
Time to sort out the old alloys. The new ones are for the summer and the old ones for the winter. The inner faces and barrel are in a sorry state:
This one is even worse:
Just gave them a clean with bilberry wheel cleaner and left it at that. Can't clean them any more as the paint just flakes off. They need a refurb but just going to sort out the faces for now.
Before:
After AG custom wheel cleaner, bilberry wheel cleaner and Iron X:
Got these bad boys out again:
Polished:
Seal and shine
After some buffing:
Second coat:
My tennis elbow has flared up again so can't put them away. Squidger is dead pleased we get to kept them in the living room:
Headlamp from rtb-spares on ebay arrived today. It came with all the bulbs and the bracket. Thanks Ryan. Definitely recommend him.
Removing the headlamp is a right pain. Had to remove the airbox and the stupid headlamp washer really gets in the way. It eventually came out:
Bracket is smashed to pieces:
Good job Ryan from rtb-spares sent me one with the headlamp! I popped the hood back down to get dinner:
Wing was pretty bent out of shape so headlight didn't fit in. Popped the bumper mount, wheel well covers and got the mallet out for some reshaping. Eventually the headlight went in:
Looks the business; I should be a panel beater. The dog sh!t headlamp washer is leaking. It's ÂŁ32.29 from stealership.
That wing really does look awful but at least she's road legal! Trying to find a second hand wing but no luck so far. I might have to buy a new one and get it painted. Anyway it's 11pm so perfect time to test the new lights:
She looks like a one eyed pirate in the top left one! One light was broken (see top right) so put the old one back in. If that side light is broken, then the indicator lights up instead. I forgot to take a picture but it really threw me off to start with. Couldn't work out why the indicator was lighting up!
Right, that's up to date now. I did some more stuff but that's the bulk of it. Gave the alloys a clean yesterday and it is so much easier to clean now they are sealed properly. I'm really happy with result so I'm probably going to do Squidger's alloys this weekend.
I polished Squidger's alloys with SRP and sealed with two layers of Planet polish seal and shine. Before, during and after pic (had to put my winters on in order to remove all 4: looks so much better on 18s!)
Passed mod 1 at last! Only one fault for going 48kmph for the serve avoidance instead of 50kmph. Mod 2 booked for 21 July.
Gave Delilah a clean
rear end:
Also polished the shadow line trim with super resin polish to get rid of the horrible water marks.
50/50 during shot:
After buffing:
It's not perfect but it looks 10x better. Looking forward to weekend, going out to celebrate Squidger's new job and Silverstone!
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