Davie's french attraction.

[daviemck2006]

I'm expecting it to be comparable with the activa. I was over to my daughters yesterday, for the most time sitting at 55 on the cruise. It's a round trip of about 80 miles. Although there was one or two lorries that had to be dispatched with kickdown and instant acceleration to slightly illegal speeds. Of course the fuel gauge doesnt work so I have no idea what's still in the tank. I've been reading up and it's apparently a common problem which should actually be a free fix once theres a bit of daylight to see with! Until then it shall be do approx 250 miles from full, then fill again. The tank holds 77 litres so shouldnt be anywhere near empty at that. The steering on it is disappointingly vague. The 5 series e39 is funny in the smaller engines having rack and pinion steering and the v8s have a recirculating ball steering box due to not enough room in there. It is disappointing as bmw claim to be the ultimate drivers cars but vague steering dosent make an ultimate drive.

On to the others in the fleet. The c1 is a c1, theres nothing to report. The Leon today celebrated a year in my ownership by getting a new MOT. The headlight aim was a bit off so he adjusted it during the test. What I am not really amused with is that he failed it then instantly retested it with a clean pass with no advisories. This is the tester I have used for years and trust and it's the second time he has done this. He did it with the same car last year, so when you check the MOT history it shows fail both times. I would rather he didnt do this and just do the pass. Never mind that's the grump for the day over with. Apart from that little hiccup it's a good car, just about 7000 miles for the year.

[ekjdm14]

I wonder if that fail then pass thing is to do with the electronic MoT system as I think they have a certain timeframe in which to do things, so possibly didn't allow time to let you know what was happening/get the go-ahead to adjust? Or he's been pulled up on protocol and watching his back, not sure adjustments/"repairs" mid-test are allowed except for the second fast idle thing?

I know one of our regular testers doesn't even log onto the computer if we're not 100% sure of a pass, he'll go over the car in the usual manner & if it needs tweeks like headlamp aim/dodgy connection/second emissions run or whatever then he'll let us know & we can rectify it. Then he'll get his brew and sarnie, log into the system and run through the test on there. Only times we've had to take a fail is when it's been something we couldn't rectify on the day. The CC last year would've failed on a bad headlamp pattern, wiper blade I missed and non-working horn but for his way of doing it (the horn seems to have been a BSI glitch as it worked when he restarted the car to move it outside, hence it then passed!)

I appreciate the electronic system is there to help weed out dodgy tests, but it's taken away a lot of the common-sense and discretion that testers used to have

[Fake Concern]

Effortless overtaking (and therefore safe overtaking) is such a pleasure with a powerful car. It will be a right result if the fuel gauge can be fixed for free, I'll keep my fingers crossed for that!
Those C1/Pug 107/Aygos are starting to interest me and I know you've always had a good experience with them. I'm thinking that if Mrs Concern's Renault Moodus doesn't start to behave, then one could make a good replacement.
As regards the MOT fail then pass, I had been thinking they must need a certain percentage of fails. It happened to me with the Volvo recently, I had a major service and MOT at Volvo dealer (£500 phew!) and it failed on a sidelight bulb the first time. I was not amused!
Haviing read the read the reply from ekjdm14 above, think that could be the reason. Maybe.

[daviemck2006]

I actually saw Graham, that's mr mot, doing the paperwork for the test. He went into the defects section and clicked on rectified during test. Then clicked on produce test result. The printer then chucked out a fail immediately followed with a pass. Graham said that this new system is better as it allows him to fix faults during the test which previously the weren't allowed to do, although he always used to. Things like wiper blades, washers, bulbs, headlight aim etc. That's why he wouldnt fail cars before for these things, but now he does this rectified during test as the dvla expects to have a number of these show up on the system as they are aware it happens. Grahams own words was it covers his back having an amount of fails like that and then instant pass. This car had also had a major service and timing belt at a different garage, which also does mots, and when it came back from that I knew the headlight aim had been put off, dont know why.

[Fake Concern]

I actually saw Graham, that's mr mot, doing the paperwork for the test. He went into the defects section and clicked on rectified during test. Then clicked on produce test result. The printer then chucked out a fail immediately followed with a pass. Graham said that this new system is better as it allows him to fix faults during the test which previously the weren't allowed to do, although he always used to. Things like wiper blades, washers, bulbs, headlight aim etc. That's why he wouldnt fail cars before for these things, but now he does this rectified during test as the dvla expects to have a number of these show up on the system as they are aware it happens. Grahams own words was it covers his back having an amount of fails like that and then instant pass. This car had also had a major service and timing belt at a different garage, which also does mots, and when it came back from that I knew the headlight aim had been put off, dont know why.

That's very interesting, it kind of backs up my theory of having to have a percentage of fails.
Did the garage doing the service and timing belt need to remove the headights for the job?

[daviemck2006]

That's actually about the only reason that they did muck up the headlamp alignment. The left one was ok, the right o e was way off. It has the same swivelling lamps the c5 vts had. I suppose that is possible they had to remove or slacken the right headlamp to get access to the timing belt gubbins then when they replaced it it was not in the exact same position. I knew it was wrong after the service and before the mot, I suppose I should have gone round to it, all of 200 yards from the house, and got them to set it, but I never remembered during its opening hours.hours

[van ordinaire]

As I've mentioned before, never even seen a beamsetter where I get my MoT's - they only seem to check the headlights & dipswitch work.

There may be something in this fail quota theory, because I remember a colleague taking his car in for an MoT & he asked them to replace the wiper blades, which they refused to do before the test - & failed it, just on wipers!

[RichardW]

My understanding is that you get a visit from VOSA if your pass / fail ratio is too far outside of the average....

All stations should have a beam setter as they are required to check the alignment and the beam pattern.

[daviemck2006]

I think you could be correct there Richard. I suppose it makes no difference really if you get a fail for headlamp aim or a bulb out or the likes then get an immediate pass after being rectified during test, which is the bit Graham clicked on while doing the test result. Ok it's a fail, but it's not the end of the world, although when you look up the mot checker it would be nice to see a whole line of passes, instead of fail, pass, fail, pass that my leon has, both fails for headlamp aim and nothing else!

[daviemck2006]

207 miles in the beemer 47.7 litres of fuel £63.35. Just under 20mpg then. Pretty savage compared to the c1 or leon! However it's a toy so not really worried. Been reading up on the fuel gauge issue, it's likely that the fuel sender is stuck and a free off will sort it. If it doesnt then a replacement fuel sender unit may be required. Once theres better and lighter afternoons here I shall get the back seat out to get to it. Hopefully 3 bolts, free off the sender and seat back in cures it.

[van ordinaire]

Just proves the point I've made before, that BM's are easier to fix than C15's - a vehicle nobody in their right mind would tackle a fuel gauge sender on. It's even a much easier fix on my era Cadillacs, where the gauge is controlled by a module that also does the interior lights, central locking, brake lights, reversing lights & just as many other functions that I can't remember.

[daviemck2006]

I've decided I dont like the BMW. I know I dont have a lot of money in it, and theres nothing really wrong with it but I cant seem to get on with it at all. I would have thought a top range 5 series, even at 21 years old should feel special to drive. Well apart from the raw power of the thing it doesnt. The steering is the worst culprit, the steering wheel is too big and the rim too thin, the steering itself seems very woolly and vague. In fact it's horrible feeling. I dont like the colour of the interior although it is comfortable enough. The torque slip is noticeable and the gearchanges is clunky sometimes. I suspect the fluid on the gearbox, and steering for that matter, is 21 years and 157000 miles old. A change of fluid may improve matters. It has only 6 weeks MOT left, the plan is to MOT it, change gearbox fluid and engine oil and filters then flog it. The 407 coupe felt a much better car and I enjoyed it far more. The only saving grace for the BMW is that it should return me a wee profit.

At least it gives me something to talk about in my wee fleet. The Leon had a puncture and the c1 got cleaned!

[DHallworth]

At least it gives me something to talk about in my wee fleet. The Leon had a puncture and the c1 got cleaned!

I wish life was that simple... I went to the Jag the other day to go to work expecting no issues at all... got to it and it was totally dead. Popped the cover off the boot lid and opened it with the emergency key and found the battery volts were down at 2.8v. It was only about a week it had sat for! Thankfully a new battery has cured it as the charger said "Fault" on it when trying to charge the old one.

Then this morning I noticed a grumbling noise coming from the C6, upon closer inspection I think the alternator pulley has failed so that's another job on the to do list!

David.

[Fake Concern]

I'm sorry to hear this Davie, I know I'm not a RWD fan so it would have to be extra special for me to enjoy it properly, but there is so much about how pure the driving experience is and how they are a drivers' car I kind of thought they must be.
One thought the car may need setting up after all those years, Kwik Fit do a four wheel alignment for free with a laser machine (you pay for adjustments though!) so that may be worth looking into.
Or maybe just like me you are actually a FWD man!

[daviemck2006]

Being out in the bmw again today it's the steering that I really dislike. Theres just no feel at all and it needs so much arm twirling. And the wheel being too big. Maybe a smaller wheel would help, and maybe better tyres than the unpronounceable name crap which is on there. Also the interior colour I dislike, the tan seats and brown dash just reminds me of a big pile of dog crap.