Beiträge von Nifty50

Yes and quite a nice collection too.

Would it be presumptuous to assume they are already in order of favouritism!!

Zitat von Timm;129244

better being run than left on the drive to slowly rot away!

But they do like a nice warm garage to come home to as well

Zitat von NickF;129237

Oh and Graham, tell me about your 123d.

The 123 experience was very short lived but glad I got it out of my system. It was never boring but after the initial fun of its explosive performance wore off, I felt all I had was a car of poor quality. I was persistently provoked by all young hot hatch owners and one such experience got me 3 points and a nice fine; I honestly found it difficult to be invisible. The economy was dreadful and the more I lived with it the more I became increasingly annoyed at the build quality. BMW are without question, masters of marketing for being able to attain such high prices for mass production build quality.

Nevertheless, I could have lived with many of these things had it not been for the dealership lack of service and care. I suspect some dealers are honourable but I have had so many bad experiences with my local dealerships over the last 25 years that the final straw came when the 123 developed an electrical issue whilst still under warranty. They advised that it could have been a number of things and I should let it develop further. Well it got steadily worse and after three or four further visits to the dealer, it finally gave up a week after the expiry of the warranty. They took great delight informing me that the warranty had expired and that I was looking at a £700 bill to replace some unit or other. The car was traded in for another Merc within the week.

In contrast, Mercedes have now on two occasions (mine and the wife's) requested the vehicles for a final once over just before the warranty expired and in my wife's case a whole host of impending nasties were replaced.

Very little of my driving these days involves blasting as the congestion simply does not allow it and a wafty Mercedes is just perfect for my needs, so boring? Yes, probably.

I completely agree however, that driving an 8 is an occasion and with seldom use, it keeps it so.

Cheers

Graham

Zitat von NickF;129231

Have you still got your 123d? I bet you're bored of it now.

Not sure how to transfer this topic to Off Topic?

Hi Nick,

Obviously a big decision and it will not likely be cheap as you realise. For these reasons it has to be a top job and you are right to do plenty of homework before taking the plunge. I am sure many on this forum will pitch in with good advice and recommendations.

For starters you could have a chat with Chris Burton www.chrisburtoncars.com/index.php/paint-trim/ I have seen a full body shell respray he had done on a yellow CSI which was owned by the European head of Heineken. It was a fantastic job but have no idea of cost. Chris is worth having an initial chat with because he is an 8 specialist and a man of the highest integrity. One other that I would recommend is Doug Hurley whose reputation I have known about for donkeys years but maybe a bit far. www.dchurleyvehiclebodyrepairs.co.uk

Just a couple to go on with but there will likely be more local ones brought to your attention.

Thanks to you and Angus for keeping me from slipping back into hibernation.

Cheers

Graham

Just as long as there's no fatigue cracking or underlying fractures as one of them has had a bit of a wallop at some stage. Take a trip down to Canterbury and have a good looksy, good excuse to have a run and not too far for you.

At least they are not Throwing Stars

Nick,

Whilst I know this will be a minority view and I will probably get worse abuse than you got from Angus: I think Throwing Stars are horrible; they always remind me of a steel wheel that has had its hubcap nicked!!

Thank goodness we are all different.

Good hunting

Graham

Hi All,

Angus, you asked about brake hoses earlier. I (Munich Legends actually) replaced my hoses earlier this year with Goodrich stainless steel hoses: goodridge.brakes-hoses-fittings.co.uk/car-brake-lines/bmw-8-series.html , for no other reason than they are a top end brand and competitively priced. The set of 4 was only double the price of one rubber hose from BMW, so bit of a no brainer.

I was also given an advisory last year about corroded fuel lines so whilst at Munich Legends I got them to check and quote. The best news was that they weren't corroded; it was only the breather pipe that was showing some signs. When I passed on the advise at the MOT this year they just passed it, so well worth a second opinion.

Best upgrade I have ever done was to fit Wokkes upper control arms back in August. About an hours work and the difference to the steering is fantastic. Wokke also does an X-brace that will stiffen the entire front end. Personally I wasn't looking for this as I never drive the car really hard and didn't think I would feel any benefit but might be what you are looking for.

Nick, now you have your MoJo back, when are we going to start seeing some pictures

Best wishes guys

Graham

You just had to drag me out of hibernation didn't you!

I hope you are wincing from Angus's thoroughly deserved berating and I have only one thing to say to you. Who was it that brought me back from the brink after many dark thoughts!!

Behave yourself and get on with it. Time and tide wait for no man.

This has just come on the market and the chap wants only small change from £35K.

http://www.cariconics.com/our-cars/bmw-850csi/

Zitat von BBMatic;116283

Do you know anyone that rebuilds them Timm?

BB, I replaced all 4 of my calipers back in 2006 when chasing a binding brake problem. The problem turned out to be the master cylinder which was costly. From memory, the calipers were about £80 each on an exchange basis inclusive of new pads. This will likely have gone up in 7 years! Budweg were excellent to deal with and the turn around was about 48hrs. The part numbers for mine were 342286;87;88;89 but I guess the 840 will be different.

http://www.budweg.com

Cheers
Graham

I appreciate that this is the holiday season but the activity here is dreadful and I am being drawn more and more to Bimmerforums just to enjoy the banter. It has to be said many of the contributors here are major contributors there also and perhaps they feel similarly. I cannot contribute much technically but I try and take part when I can and thoroughly enjoy reading much of what is going on and what people are up to.

If it weren't for these forums owning an 8 would be a depressing thought.

What are your thoughts and opinions?

Cheers
Graham

Hi Angus,

I used http://www.transcal.co.uk/steering-wheel-leather-re-trim last year who are based in Bristol. If you have a look at their website you will see some very nice steering wheels. My own wheel fell slightly short of my expectations but this was through lack of understanding of the process. My main requirement was to obtain a thicker feel and thumb grips as you have shown. The thumb grips cannot easily be added and after discussions I decided to leave them off. Regarding the thickness, I was told the maximum they could do was two layers of Alcantara at 6mm per layer. This was exactly what I wanted but I completely overlooked the fact that they would strip the original material off so I ended up with the same wheel in a different material. It is actually very soft and comfortable but the lack of thickness is my disappointment. I have had a good many positive comments and a couple of not so sure's!

I would not hesitate to recommend them but be absolutely certain you detail what you want in writing and get it confirmed.

This company were also highly recommended to me. http://royalsteeringwheels.com

Good luck

Cheers
Graham

Back in 2002 -5 when I did use the 8 as a daily driver I just went with the most competitive quote I could get. At the time I used a broker named Livingstone Warman who have some experience with cherished vehicles and from memory, I still managed to get an agreed sum insured as opposed to 'market value' which is the downside of most insurers. It really all depends on the mileage you are going to do; if you only do 100 miles a week you could still get a restricted mileage policy which will bring the price right down, but if like me you do 4/500 miles a week you are not going to have much of a cherished car left in a few years. Is it out of the question to get a cheap run around as your daily driver?

Cheers
Graham

Cheers Reinhard,

Excellent pictures.

Yes, I saw that lever under the rubber cap and thought it might be the fellow but didn't try to force it in case it was wrong.

Incidentally, is it just these cars that has this facility or would I find something similar on my Merc?

Cheers

Graham

Zitat von reinhard;114078

This flick of a lever has been standard for what... maybe the last 50 years

Reinhard

I have just followed Timms instructions and cannot see any lever to flick? The metal loop can only be accessed by taking off the 6 clips ( 3 of which are underneath and not easily accessed) and the front lens. Surely this would be more grief than its worth at 6.00am in the rain at a ferry port.

What have I misunderstood?

Cheers
Graham

Zitat von BBMatic;114065

Just one more thing to LOVE the 8 for..

Absolutely BB, truly amazing. I wonder if Sandwich found this out?

Thanks again Timm.

Cheers
Graham

If anybody from the UK has taken their car to Europe can they please advise the precise positioning of the beam adaptor?

The instructions I got said this needs to be done whilst in front of a Headlamp Alignment Machine I can't imagine these are waiting to be used at the port side!!

Cheers

Graham

Hello Steve,

I think these guys have a decent reputation although I have not tried them myself. I have a spare MID that I am tempted to send to them and see how it goes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2712…_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Cheers
Graham

Zitat von BBMatic;113881

Thanks for reply G.
Did the general paintwork, eg the body of the car get any detailing, or was it just the engine bay/ arches/ behind wheels?
thanks if u can be bothered with that one [my guess is, it didn't, not enough time in 10 hours]

Just as you guessed BB, it was just the engine bay, wheels and arches. I thought that was quite impressive in 10hrs.

Wayne, I know you will get there because you have done it before!!

Cheers
Graham

Not this year Gerry, it's as you say and all a bit samey. I am going to the Cranleigh Classic Car Show instead on Sunday. About 1700 cars of all makes, shapes and sizes so a bit more to do and look at.

http://www.cranleighlions.org/classic-car-show.php

Cheers
Graham