Beiträge von argonaut

Very interesting post Tony, and I think it could be the start of a heated (sorry, bad pun) debate.
My opinion is that I am not overly concerned about the impact of my 8 on the overall environment because:

1) I will not use it every day
2) it will be well maintained and thus it's emissions will be within tolerances (compare with a newer but badly maintained car)
3) The replacement argument is for me BS - I used to drive a 40 year old Sunbeam and had to field questions from greens about its emmissions etc - the argument that normally gets overlooked is the cost and environmental impact of the energy needed and the raw materials required to build a new car. An existing car, even if heavily driven will still not produce as much impact during its entire lifetime as the impact of building a new car.

Being in Switzerland I couldn't see the CH4 programme but it sounds very interesting - what's the basis of the argument? (In contrast to the UK we got "The Day after Tomorrow" to view yesterday, I'm beginning to wonder about the possibility of a conspiracy going on with the Global Warming Topic
Having said all that, I do recycle bottles and paper but that's simply because it's convenient to do so and I don't see the point in wasting raw materials

Well done TerryY keep on leap frogging the posts

It wasn't until after I'd bought my 8 that I realised that it's actually a pretty rare beast - it's one of only 1218 850 CiA that were built (making it rarer than a CSi but not as quick )
It comes with just about every toy already fitted, I must admit that when I first started looking for an 8 I was set on a manual, early "purist" 850 or, if I could ever afford it, a CSi. In the end I've bought a '97 850 CiA Steptronic with the "old man's" kit -heated seats, electrical everything etc.
I do agree with Tony though, you don't need this stuff and it's something else that can (and most probably will) go wrong at some point - if it ain't got it, it won't break!

Still, I think these toys are nice to have and I'm not complaining. I didn't know until recently that the 850's were discontinued in the UK long before they were on the continent - that's why I could find a late model 850 and over in the UK the only late models are all 840's

PS only 16 days to go until I get my hands on the 8

Just my opinion, I think Koenig stuff is totally over the top, well into chav territory. They seem to produce only style of body kit for whatever car and they all look like cheap bolt-on testarossa look-a-like kits. Right nasty in my opinion but hey, that's only my opinion and beauty is subjective. I much prefer the original factory look, at a push I would also say something positive about the Hartge version but Koenig? no thanks.

Arnie, many thanks for your help and detailed answer. I'll think I'll take a pass on this deal, the tyres are not splendid and the wheels are not my favourite anyway.
Cheers

PS deleted the massive picture - still need to learn how to re-size properly

I have a chance to buy four BMW 17" wheels ready fitted with Eagle F1 tyres (245/45 R 17). The sellers states that they are for a BMW E39 (up to 530er). Does anyone know if these will fit an 8? [/img]

(Picture attached)

Thanks!

Bonjoir Fabrice,
I think thta you're doing a great job and I much appreciate the club site as a very useful source of help and information. I'd be happy to pay a joining fee - money well spent.

Just thinking about what else I could spend money on
Any opinions on the above? I notice that Eibach are about GBP 100 cheaper than H&R but does that mean H&R are GBP 100 better?
Thanks

Oh and what shocks other than Billies would anyone recommend?

Hi Terry, I read in a recent post that your car is fitted with Eibach springs - would you share your experience of these with me please? Are you happy with the lowering? Thanks

Hi Nathan, Hi Miniblob - I don't know where abouts you're located but there's a shop in Norwich, I think it's called Express Rewinds and it's on Silver Road in Norwich. They used to do exchange deals on alternators and starter motors and were very reasonable. Might be worth a short if it's not too far away for you...

"I have a temporary way of fixing this using a 'special' hammer "

That'd be the time honoured "Percussive Maintenance" method I guess!
Sorry Tony, con't offer any help to you with your problem though - I tried the PM method on my mobile phone the other day, I have a new mobile phone now.....

Zitat von stevep840

I'll jump in here as Terry is probably in bed right now

The plastic pads as mentioned can be seen in Stensons picture just above the axle stand

Ah ha - the black object - I wasn't sure if that was fitted to the car or placed on top of the stand. Thanks Steve - I've a whole lot to learn about these cars

Zitat von TerryY

The only *Approved* lift points are the 4 jack tubes and plastic pads.

I support in other places after it is up. I use the Strong Strut lifting adapters and a 26" lift low profile floor jack to pick it up from the outer lift points and then use jackstands under the 4 pads. Sturdy that way

I have had it up about 16" a couple of times. Don't like cramped spaces

http://www.strongstrut.com/ e31 jacking tool

(My car is the top picture for the E31 stut brace and Wuffers is the second picture)

Alles anzeigen

Hi Terry, I'll be collecting my 8 at the end of March and after picking it up the first stop is the tyre shop - I'm not overly impressed by the way some of the tyre-monkeys handle cars (inside trade experience from a summer job years ago) and I'm worried they'll simply run a jack under the car and heave away. You mentioned "plastic pads" - are these already fitted to the underside of the car somewhere?
Thanks for your help

It's now T minus 29 days (and boy am I counting!) until I can collect my 8. The batteries are currently pretty flat and as the dealer is not a BMW dealer and freely admits that he doesn't know much about the car I want some advice on charging the batteries. Specifically, what's the correct way to do this to avoid any other problems? My understanding is to connect a charger to the red "+" located in the engine bay and also find a suitable earth point (any suggestions here?) and not to connect directly to either of the batteries. Is that correct? Anything to be aware of? Ignition fully off etc?

Thanks for your help guys

There was a post over on Roadfly about clube31 being hacked. Apparently it was a very simple trick that simply redirected the html address meaning http://www.clube31.net would point to the wrong IP.

Anyway, good luck to Fabrice and hear's to the move to the newer basis soon.

(BTW, good clean up Al, well done)

http://www.5starshine.com/spo.html

I was looking for this link a couple of weeks ago when this thread was current.
This stuff looks too good to be true = I don't believe a word of it. Has anyone got any genuine experience of this "wonder product"?

No problem Wayne, I guessed as much but just wanted to check.
Cheers

(remember to show them your BMW membership card, if you are a member, if not then join as this will easily pay for its self in discounts you get).

Hi Wayne - what BMW Membership Card are you referring to here? Owner's Club maybe? (I'm not in the UK but I will be joining the BMW club here in Switzerland)

Thanks

Hi Steve,
I guess if you're a techy geek hacking is pretty easy.
I was pretty frustrated and wished I knew more about programming - I would have thought up some choice words to asnwer!
Ah well, we're back on line

Just checking to see if I experienced some wierdness on only my machine. I tried to log-on during the day a couple of times and saw only a black screen with a message that the site had been hacked by some group in Turkey (who claimed "I not hacker I Turkish defacer").
I mailed Fabrice to let him know and this morning the site is fine again. Did anyone else see this yesterday?
Cheers

It's looking good Tony - unfortunately your links wouldn't work here - am I right in thinking that you've now fitted the Matrix II clusters?
Cheers