Friday was the last track day of the year with MoT, and incredibly it stayed dry and sunny all day. There were nearly 50 cars there so the track was pretty busy, even congested at times. Nobody crashed, that's a first! No issues with the clutch, and the brakes were at least consistent, if not very good. I blew off an intercooler hose at one point, but it was an easy fix.
A couple of laps...
and beating a 911 into submission :)
After lunch (an expensive cheeseburger that came in a pretty Motorsport Vision box), I topped up the oil... but was distracted and forgot to put the filler cap back on! That made a bit of a mess, and I had to rig something up to get me home. The round bit from the spare wheel, a bolt that mysteriously appeared in the footwell, a nut from the fusebox and some cable ties were fashioned into a McGyver-style solution. It wouldn't have been suitable for track use so I headed for home early, at least missing the M25 traffic.
It's been put away until next year now.
I've had a problem with water getting into the near-side rear footwell of the BMW. A bit of Googling suggested it was most likely the membrane behind the door trim, and a bit more Googling revealed a video on removing the E39 door trims. Once in, I found the foam membrane had become detached at the bottom, which was quickly put right with some silicon sealant.
My R53 Cooper S has the unexpected bonus of the Harman Kardon premium audio system. While it has impressive power and sound quality (once you discover the hidden settings ), it's firmly stuck in the past with just CD and analogue radio. You can't change the head unit as the speakers are all wired to the 10-channel amp that lives in the boot, so new cables would need to be run from the head unit to each speaker, which would be an almighty faff. I wanted to add bluetooth so I could play my cheesy '80s music from Spotify, so bought a Grom BT3 which is a small module that plugs into the CD-changer port on the rear of the standard-fit Boost head unit. It allows you to stream music from your mobile, and make/receive calls via the supplied microphone. You can also buy another module that plugs into the Grom to provide DAB radio, USB, or iPod wired connections, I didn't bother with any of those, I just wanted Bananarama, loud. There are 2 versions of the Grom...
I replaced the fuel pump in the tank of the 530D yesterday. It was quite fiddly and I couldn't find any useful guide on the internet, so I thought I'd create a quick outline of the procedure: Symptoms of failure : poor starting/cutting out when the fuel level falls to around a quarter of a tank. Cost : £42 from GSF , plus 2x 9mm petrol hose clips (the originals are not reusable). Procedure : remove the rear seat base by pulling up sharply on it's front edge (there are a pair of spring clips holding it in place). Beneath are 2 access panels to the tank, the pump is under the right-hand side one (behind the driver on a UK right-hand drive car). Remove the cover and disconnect the 2 hose connections and the electrical plug (removed by pushing the locking clip sideways). Unscrew the locking ring by gently rotating it with a hammer and chisel. Now slowly remove the fuel sender unit, noting it's orientation and how it slots into the pump assembly below ...
I replaced the snapped tailgate hinge on t'old MINI today, and it wasn't too bad a job. The design is a bit crap and they tend to seize, and then break and attempt to bonk you on the head with the tailgate. Didn't like that. The hinge is held on by a single nut but you need to partially drop the headlining to reach it. To do this you need to: remove the tailgate seal remove the rear seats remove the rear side panel trim on the affected side This is all covered by some helpful folks in this YouTube video. After this, you need to remove the white C-pillar trim; it's held in by 4 plastic tabs (2 top, 2 bottom), which fit into metal clips in the body. It needs a sharp tug but there is a fair risk of breaking the tabs, but I got away with it. Now you should be able to gently pull down the headlining, to release the clip in the centre: That should give just enough clearance to get a 13mm socket onto the nut securing the hinge. There is...
