Bizarre
Too quick to get a look at the lights and I am not sure I could face watching it for a second time.
Are there two sets of wheels?
It may be an optical illusion but there appears to be a set of wide spoke wheels and a set of narrow spoke wheels.
Phil
Whatever happened to ‘the customer is always right’?
These days it is ‘the customer is always wrong unless they can prove otherwise’!
In Gerry’s son’s case it is a simple matter of the Insurance Company not updating the MID correctly. I suspect the DVLA sent an initial letter highlighting they could not confirm the vehicle was insured. That in itself is fine as long as you understand what a MID is, a lot of people don’t and assume because they have a valid insurance certificate that everything is ok. Before they know it they are being created as criminals.
The most frustrating thing with all these situations is that the ‘jobsworth’ could have stopped a simple mistake or misunderstanding escalating into court proceedings. All that it takes is a simple bit of communication giving the motorist two weeks to resolve the problem with their Insurance Company.
Does anyone know if the same applies to a vehicle that is taxed but does not have a valid MOT?
I think it all points towards having a road tax supplement added to the cost of petrol, pay as you go. I will get my coat!
Phil
I thought I would check the CD system in the car and was disappointed to find that I could only get one of the CD trays to work.
A little bit of investigation revealed that the trays were sticking, most times I could release the tray from the cartridge but quite often it meant opening another tray in order to open the tray I wanted to put the CD into.
When the cartridge was inserted into the changer it was apparent that the mechanism was also struggling and only one tray (number one) could be opened successfully most of the time.
Timm to the rescue again, what a great website and resource he has created.
I followed the instructions on the website and discovered that I only had 4 of the required 5 ball bearings that separate each of the trays and stop more than one tray being selected at any one time.
So, I removed the 4 ball bearings and put it all back together and low and behold I can now select all 6 CD’s.:)
It is a bit of a mystery how the ball bearings can escape and where they go and can only assume that a complete set was never present and it is only after a bit of wear and tear or lack of use that the problems occur.
Question is, without the ball bearings, how likely is it more than one tray can be selected at any one time and if I wanted to replace the missing ball bearing where can I get them from?
Phil
Try as I might I could not get the service menu to unlock, everything I tried produced the message ‘Lock on’.
Then I had a flash of inspiration, instead of trying to unlock the service menu I decided to see what would happen if I tried to activate an option and it worked.
It was the volt meter I was most interested in and I am pleased to say that the maximum reading was 13.88 and thanks to Gerry I no longer I have a red light and as a bonus the previous failed number plate light has cured itself.
Today I washed the car, tomorrow I will enjoy driving it.
Thanks all.
Phil
Very interesting that two cars are compared which are about a decade apart, speaks volumes for the timeless appeal of the 8 series.
The discussion on values was also interesting, when I was looking there was a few cars around the 3K mark (which never seemed to sell) but the majority were 5K plus. But what surprised me most was the number of cars being broken for spares. That was until I discovered that some spares are no longer available and some of the parts prices from BMW are stupidly expensive.
It is a real shame that good cars are being broken because they are worth more in spare parts than they are as a whole. Surely BMW must know they are responsible for killing off their heritage?
It is not hard to understand that the people owning and maintaining the cars today are not the same people who could afford £60K plus in the 90’s It is a shame BMW don’t realise that and offer parts and sensible current market rates.
The one good thing about the low market values is that they are being bought by enthusiasts.
Long live the 8!
Phil
Good news, from what I can see the alternator does have a plastic air intake and the volts when the engine is revved don’t exceed 14.2.
However, I think I will keep my ears and eyes open for a second-hand or new genuine alternator. Does anyone know if the 4.0 and 4.4 versions are the same?
The only disappointing thing is that I cannot get the service menu to unlock. I have followed the instructions but after pressing the ‘set/res’ button to activate code 19 the message ‘LOCK ON’ remains.
I am sure I have followed the instructions to the letter but I will try again tomorrow when I have more time. I tried unlocking the service menu with the engine running, next time I will try with the engine off to see if that makes any difference.
Anyway, it looks as if I can go back to enjoying the 840 and with no rain forecast for Sunday I think that is what I will be doing.:)
Thanks.
Phil
And first prize goes to ………………………………
Gerry!
I suppose Gerry did have an advantage as he has previously worked on my car but this morning I attached a volt meter to the engine bay terminals and confirmed that the alternator was doing absolutely nothing. That is until I took the revs up to about 4k and the dash light went out and the volts meter was showing in excess of 14 volts. I put the lights on to try a load test and all was still well.
The joy was short lived because shortly afterwards a dash ‘check light’ came on. However, a quick look at the OBC told me that a number plate light had blown, now that is the sort of problems I like!
Back to the alternator, Gerry has told me that the alternator fitted to my car did not look right. From what I can see, and that is not a lot, there is a Bosch label on it and I can also see part of a number. The number starts with 09 and ends with 310, I can’t see the numbers in the middle due to a cable blocking the view.
A quick check on EBay using the search term ‘BMW E31 Alternator’ lists a few with the number 0986 040 310. I have an invoice showing that a replacement alternator was fitted at the end of 2011 by a garage so I assume they did not buy it from EBay so it must be a common non BMW fitment.
Question now is, should I be worried about the alternator fitted to my car?
I can live with giving the car a quick rev if the problem occurs again but am I looking down the barrel of a potential total failure?
Hopefully the New Year has brought a change in luck and the problem has been fixed with no more than a blip of the throttle. The bonus has been the replies to my post as the MID ‘service menu’ was very interesting as was the information regarding the circuit diagram.
Must remember to replace the number plate bulb at the weekend.
Thanks All!
Phil
Thanks all
By the weekend I should have a voltmeter so that I can check the voltage.
Currently I am currently charging the batteries (only a couple of weeks old) via the engine bay terminals, tomorrow I will try revving the engine. I did that when I discovered the ignition light was on but I doubt if I went above 2000rpm so I will give it a bit of stick.
At the moment the ignition light does not change brightness with revs, in fact it is exactly as if the belt had snapped. That is why I suspect it is something other than the alternator. In the past on other cars when I have had an alternator failure the ignition light reacts to a change in revs. If it is the alternator then it must be a total failure.
I am also trying to beg/steal/borrow a mirror so that I can check the connections at the back of the alternator. At the moment not only can I not see the connection I can’t even touch it.
Just a thought, but could the ‘link’ fuse in the boot be a suspect?
Phil
Happy New Year Everyone!
The weather forecast was good (no rain!) so thought we would make the most of it by going out for the day in the 840.
However that was not going to happen as on start up the battery/ignition light remained on.
Normally I would assume the alternator was faulty but in this case I have a nagging feeling that it may be something else.
Prior to buying the car I spotted that the alternator looked reasonably new, in fact it is just over one year old therefore I would not expect it to fail so quickly.
I suspect it is a cheap aftermarket alternator that is the problem but I was wondering if I should be checking anything else first prior to taking the alternator out.
Are there any relays/fuses that could cause a break in the charging circuit?
Thanks.
Phil
Something to do with the wipers?
Hi Hayden
It is difficult to advise without seeing the car.
The three letters BMW ‘probably’ means that you will be able to have the job done cheaper at an independent but based on what you have said £2000 seems to be a reasonable quote.
My advice would be to obtain two more quotes and a price for genuine BMW front wings.
When speaking to the body shops ask exactly what they will be doing, for example:
1) Are they going to blend in the paint or completely paint both sides of the car
2) Are they going to remove the trim or mask the trim
3) Are they going to weld in new metal or repair with fibreglass
If both sides of the car are going to be resprayed have you considered having the complete car re-sprayed?
Phil
Zitat von arnie;106626It might be in Tim's write-up but after disconnecting/reconnecting the bateries, you'll need to reset the sun-roof and windows one-touch-opening by fully opening and closing the windows and sunroof.
The hazzard warning thing I found is common to all BMW of the same era and I think it's related to the crash detection system, where the hazzrad flashers are supposed to be activated and door unlocked.
Thanks Arnie.
This is where the forum comes into its own, I would not have realised and then in a few weeks’ time would have wondered why the windows one touch feature was not working.
Phil
After thinking the best long term solution would be to try and fit a longer lasting Kenlowe fan I have taken the easy option and purchased a new one from Euro Car Parts.
And the reason is?
Simples, in total it cost £71.10. There is something nice about an invoice which states the list price as £247.50 and the selling price as £59.25 + vat.
The price includes the 25% discount offer that Euro Parts often have and the delivery was free. Even if only lasts the same length of time as a genuine BMW fan I will be happy because at least I will have the old one that I will take out of the car to play around with to see how easy or difficult it would be to modify a Kenlowe.
All I need now is some thermal underwear, might have to add that to my letter to Santa.
I did have a quick look at the existing fan to see what was involved and apart from being a bit tight on space one of the brackets is at the bottom of the fan. So it looks as if the bottom cover has to come off and a bit of lying on my back getting an eye full of dirt. Something to look forward to at this time of the year.
Car designers should be sent on a course to obtain a sufficient level of common sense before they are let loose on a drawing board. It would have been so easy to have slide in type fittings at the base of the fan with bolt on fixings accessible from the top, allowing all the work to be done from the engine bay.
Maybe I will wait until summer!!!
Phil
[FONT="]In theory, if you can cut all the rust out, replace with clean metal and paint both sides of the repair then it will last as long as the remaining wing.
That is the theory, in practice it is usual to find rust in more than one place so you could go to the expense of repairing one area only to find that you will be back to square one.
Also during the course of welding the protective paint at the rear of the repaired area is likely to be burnt off and if you can't reseal it then it will rust.
Finally, the repaired area will need filler to blend it in which over time could shrink.
There is not a real answer to your question, a bad repair may only last a few months, and a really good repair may last the life of the car.
But why bother, it will be cheaper to bolt on a replacement second-hand wing or even a brand new wing. Whatever repair is undertaken the wing will have to be re-sprayed so really you are comparing the cost of a replacement wing against the hours of labour cutting, welding and filling. And by taking the wing off you will be able to find the source of the rust.
The cheapest repair would be to find a second-hand wing the same colour as your car, bolt it on and polish the complete car.
Phil
[/FONT]
Zitat von shiggsy;106587Yeah seems to be normal behaviour, mine did the same. Have you started the engine up yet? When I changed my batteries and started it up, it spluttered a bit to start with but then it sat there rythmically revving itself to 2500rpm. Sounded pretty awesome.
Oh yes, fired up straight away and quickly settled down down to a even tick over.
What a sound when it fires up, in fact I am thinking of entering my car into 'X Factor' next year. 
Phil
Today I replaced the batteries, thanks to Timm for a great write-up on his website.
All very easy but I have a question, when I fitted the earths I started with the RHS and immediately the hazards started to flash.
I was not sure if it was an alarm thing or the ECU detecting only one battery was connected.
I fitted the earth on the LHS battery and was hoping the hazards would turn off. No such luck, so assuming it was the alarm detecting a change in voltage I locked and unlocked the car using the remote. No effect, the hazards continued to flash.
I then had an inspired moment, I switched the hazards on and then off and that stopped the hazards from flashing.
So, the question is, why did the hazards flash and continue to flash after connection the first earth cable?
Just in case this has any bearing, when the batteries were removed I turned the ignition on as I remembered reading that would ensure that all ‘memories’ would be cleared.
The reason I changed the batteries was because even though they were less than 12 months old the previous owner/garage fitted the wrong spec.
Not only were they under powered they were also about half the size and therefore could not be clamped in place. And because they had been left for long periods in a discharged state they were probably knackered.
A nice pair of over spec’d Varta’s are now clamped into the rear wings. 
Phil
Zitat von Lloyd;106542Alles anzeigenWell the clock is ticking......
Do I let it run or remove it....
1000 views
100+ watching
10+ questions
5 call
still only £4k
For £4k (or offers) you could have this 850 without an engine, EBay item no 140892750918.
Without seeing your car I do wonder if you have priced it way to low.
As a matter of interest why have you not advertised your car on this site in the classified section? When I was looking for a car that is where I looked hoping to buy a car just like yours (but an 840) and was disappointed that there wasn’t any at the time.
It may be advisable to pull the car and re-advertise it after Christmas when in theory there should be a few more buyers with more time to look.
Anyway whatever you decide, I wish you well and I hope you get a decent price for your car.
Phil
Thanks Arnie, that was a very useful write up (I am sure Gerry would be pleased to take the credit ).
Another and cheaper option is this:
http://www.gsfcarparts.com/936bm0060
However, currently out of stock. Never know if that means more stock coming or we did sell these but can’t get them anymore and forgot to take it off the website.
Given how common it is for the BMW fan to seize I would imagine a Kenlowe replacement would be far more reliable.
In simple terms I suppose all that is required is either to transfer the bracket and wiring connectors from the BMW frame to the Kenlowe frame, or (if it is feasible) fit the Kenlowe motor and blades into the BMW frame.
Hopefully someone will come along who has attempted it.
Phil
That’s interesting, based on an original rear tyre size of 265 40 17 (taken from the handbook) a 285 35 18 tyre (taken from the handbook) would produce a positive 2% error, i.e. when the speedo reads 70mph the actual speed would be 71.4mph.
Referring to Timm’s chart a 285 30 18 would produce a minus 2.42% error, i.e. when the speedo reads 70mph the actual speed would be 68.31mph.
If I was to use 285 profile tyres I would be inclined to use Timm’s chart to avoid exceeding a speed limit. In that respect, even though the margin of error is low, I am surprised that BMW did not error on the negative side. Of course there may be other reasons e.g. offset, comfort, noise etc.
All getting too complicated for me so I think I will use 235 40 18 fronts and 265 35 18 rears which seem to get the thumbs up from people on here.
Now that tyres are being labelled with efficiency information, has anyone found a tyre with ‘C’ or better fuel consumption rating?
For a 4.4 litre engine if (driven sensibly) the fuel consumption is good but anything that reduces the consumption even by a relatively small percentage is worth considering so I will be looking for fuel efficient tyres.
Phil
I am now confused. Using the calculator, the 18” equivalent of the original 17” front wheel is 235 40 18, the 18” equivalent for the rear wheel is 265 35 18. The 18" tyres produce only a 0.1% speedo error at 70mph.
However, according to the handbook the recommended sizes for 18” wheels are 245 40 18 front and 285 35 18 rear which produces a 2% error. The 18” wheels listed in my handbook are for an 850 csi, I assume that they would also apply to the 840.
A rear tyre of size 265 35 18 produces a -0.1% error, i.e. at 70mph the speedo will be reading 70.1mph.
However, a rear tyre of 285 35 18 produces a 2% error, i.e. at 70mph the speedo will be reading 68.6mph.
Therefore the recommended tyres produce a less accurate speedo reading, am I missing something?
On the basis that the ‘smaller’ tyres will be cheaper, less prone to tramlining and less chance of a speeding ticket I think that is what I will go for.
Peter: where will I find "Anleitungen", "Zusatzbetriebsanleitungen"?
Phil
