Beiträge von ukzero

I mentioned this at the start of the thread, but forgot to repeat it.
I also removed the towing eye bracket - easy to do, but BEWARE.
Rear bolts go into a reinforcing plate inside the chassis. The reinforcing plate is not welded in, so unless you do some fiddly "take one out/put one back" with the bolts you may have a loose lump of metal rattling inside the chassis!
You could probably raise the diffuser without removing this bracket, but the towing eye would be inaccessible and the diffuser bracket would need to be cut.

Despite that - by far my easiest and quickest mod

Zitat von rogbmw;100593

That looks good. What exactly did you do to accomplish that?

1. Raised the support bracket on the spare wheel well and reattached with M6 stainless bolts.
I left the original studs in place - just drilled the bracket so they didn't foul.
2. Used the diffuser locating hooks on the rear bumper to locate stainless self tappers and washers to screw up into the diffuser through spacers to hold it in the right position.
Feels at least as strong as the original arrangement.
3. It can be undone, because unless you get on your knees you won't be able to see the small downward facing holes in the top of the diffuser.

Quick, simple and "in the flesh" totally changes the look of the rear of the car.
Like I said, I will post proper photos when I get the car back on the road.
Sadly, unlike the experts on this forum I didn't take photos as I went.

It needs the whole car in the open to get the full effect, but I'm working on the front suspension so can't move it right now.

I'm thrilled with the result - which is what really matters

I'll do some much better "in context" photos when I get a chance, so you might want to reserve final judgement until then.

Anyway, here is the raised rear diffuser fixed in place - raising it by about an inch makes a huge visual difference!

At the recent meeting at Duxford, I had the perfect chance to have a good stare at and make a comparison of everyone's back end

It may vary colour by colour, but in my opinion, on my car, the infamous spice rack doesn't quite work. My resolution of the day was to do something about this.

I know there is a rare 3rd party diffuser, but I was thinking more along a DIY route and began to look for some suitable PU foam.
However, I have found an easier way to get the look I'm after and it won't cost anything other than a bit of time and a few fixings.
The picture below is a mock-up, but it shows what I'm going to do.



My plan is to remove the heavy towing eye bracket, raise the diffuser mounting bracket on the wheel well and find a suitable way to reattach the top edge of the diffuser to the rear bumper.
I've now tried it in the raised position held temporarily by wooden blocks and it just looks better than standard from every angle. This is definitely going to be my next and easiest mod so far
Will post pictures when finished.
(The mock up picture is "old number plate and old PDC", but you get the idea).

Looks good!

I think to enhance it further, I'd consider doing the centre panels with a similar grey to the plastic parts of the seat. That could look more subtle and OEM perhaps?

As always, the attention to detail and clear photos we've come to expect.

Surely there must be some tiny corner of Gerry's car that's not as new or, more likely, considerably better than new

Zitat von NickF;99286

I have a spare box rotting in my garage if anyone wants one BTW. It's from a 99 840, it's slightly different design (hose locations are a bit different) from the 850 box but it should fit.

Does the later box have the normal adjuster on top?
Mine looks as though it's a sealed for life item
I may well be interested.

Zitat von shiggsy;99214

Not sure I actually bumped into you (did I?) but I did recognise your spoiler, thought it was great, you certainly wouldn't know it was home made. Parking sensors are also looking good now.
Timm got his laptop plugged into my car, we diagnosed my diagnostic connector needs some diagnosing.

Not sure either if we said hello. If not, "Hello!" and thanks for the comments.
As Timm was acting as meeter, greeter and organiser (Thanks Timm - excellent event) I let him know I had the BMW DIS with me, so I'm sure he'd have put us together if that might have helped.

And who did I have to restrain from seeing if my sound system could register on the Richter scale?!?
You know who you are

Yep - good turn out.
Good to put faces to some of the regular avatars.
Great to see a wide range of colours and how different they make our cars look.
Nobody's car appeared to need a diagnostic check so computer stuff stayed in the boot.

Having compared all our rumps, my Summer project will now definitely be a new rear diffuser to complete my tail end treatment. This was the first time my DIY rear spoiler had to face real life scrutiny and you were either very kind or polite enough to keep quiet

Zitat von Timm;99164

I will have INPA and an inverter if needed

Excellent. I recently upgraded to a version of full blown DIS which looks as though it does just about everything. Haven't used it much in anger yet, so could be a good test to see how much it can actually do.
Anyway, if I get there I'm sure I can entrust it to someone from this forum to "supervise" while we "do" the museum - this would allow any member who wants time to be plugged in and diagnosed - just be careful not to reprogram your keys or worse!

I only have the OEM round plug, so probably not much help to 7 series owners?

If I can get there I'll bring my laptop.
I've got an OEM OBD connector and matching software.
Only problem will be the very short battery life on my old laptop - anyone got an inverter?

Wow - well, let me see.
Unknown technician who might see an E31 once a year or a well known E31 expert who deals with them all the time.
Price that is about £70 less once I've allowed for travel.
Chance to meet this forum's mentor.

Difficult choice

I'll cancel the BMW booking!

Yes - this is to do with Duxford - hopefully.
My shoulder was so bad I went to a Chiropractor yesterday to try and get some immediate relief. This was my first experience of such things.
After some "gentle" manipulation of my neck () my shoulder feels noticeably better, which is good, but I've now lost some feeling in my right arm

Anyway - as my car's an auto and steering's not that critical when driving, I'll still try and get there (unless other bits of me stop working or drop off before Sunday ).

I won't be alone if I get there because I'll bring someone I made earlier (20 years earlier). He likes aircraft; perhaps there might be something nearby that might be of interest to him

I think I may have improved the chances of good weather - have damaged a muscle in my shoulder digging up a tree. Driving is seriously painful.
Murphy's Law dictates that if I can't get to this event which I've been looking forward to for some time, the weather should be ideal!

Haven't given up yet, so if I'm there, the same law will mean I'll bring the rain and gales with me

After the comments from several of our resident experts here I've made my mind up.

I know we have expert specialists on this forum, but arranging transport and/or accommodation when the garage isn't local has proved a headache in the past with other cars I've owned.

The car has now been booked in to the local BMW agent for mid May.
Wasn't sooner because they wanted it for a "few days" - which prompted me to confirm that the price quoted was fixed, because a "few days" at their rates buys a new car!
I'm assured the price is fixed, so will await the outcome with interest and will report back

Still planning to be at Duxford - if the road out of our village isn't too far underwater

I leaning towards taking my car to a BMW dealer - as the best value option - honest!
My logic goes like this:
Local independents have said they'd charge based on how long it would take them - given the complications without specific special tools they recon this could be a long job.
DIY appeals, but there are worrying unknowns about access to some of the bushes for pressing out, etc. Don't want to find myself with everything dismantled and unable to proceed.
BMW are now quoting £472 including VAT as a guaranteed fixed price for all six bushes (I've already got the parts). With all the special tools I hope they should be able to do the job with minimal disturbance/hammering/levering on other components.

Of course, I might be kidding myself

Thanks for the pointers guys,
Plenty to consider here.

I managed to get hold of some OEM rear bushes at a very good price.
They are the inboard bush for the lower arm (which has the spring seat) and the two bushes that fit into the hub carrier - six bushes will do both sides.
(The inner top link bushes have been done, as have the large trailing arm bushes).

For a guide I asked my local BMW dealer what they'd charge to fit these bushes (as I assume they'll have all the special tools to save time).
They quoted £472 inc VAT labour to do both sides, but excluding retracking. Given their eyewatering hourly rate that equates to about 2hrs per side......

I've no idea how reasonable this is - comments?

Does anyone know if the hub carrier bushes can be done with the drive shafts still attached and semi-in-situ if I make up a couple of "special tools" similar to the BMW ones?

If not, does anyone know how much the hub needs disassembling to use a normal press for these bushes?

Thanks Steve