Sics Consolidated Moderns Thread - 2003 Mercedes-Benz E320 Estate

[SiC]

I tend not to post too much about my modern cars on here as probably of little interest. Anyway some have expressed an interest in the Mini as a thread, so I'll dump that and my other modern car goings on in here. Most of these tend to be longer termers, apart from I have one slot that I change more often. However that has now been filled with the Mini which is registered under Mrs SiC to stop me selling it so soon...

So what have I currently got?

2010 Audi A4 2.0 TDi
Our primary mile muncher. Currently at 204k and in the last few thousand miles is starting to feel baggy. Registered under Mrs SiC name to stop me selling it as I don't find it terribly exciting.
We've owned it since 2018 and my parents since 2010. So I pretty much know through and through what has been done on it. Answer is not a lot. Everything is original apart from clutch+flywheel, two front wheel bearings, fuel rail pressure valve and a gearbox output bearing. Problem is, that means at some point everything will start failing together.

(I don't drive it like this btw, that's just the coming home light mode when you park up in the dark)

2000 Boxster 2.7
Bought from PeterC on the beige. Done around 86k I think. Cat D write off, which he didn't realise when he bought it as the dealer appeared to pull a fast one on him.
Not been terrible ownership experience. Had a lot of cooling work needing done about 8 months after buying. Radiators split (TADIS) and replacing them finished the coolant tank off (TADIS). While I did all that, I did the water pump too. Mid engine so bit of an arse to work on. Parts expensive too.

Great fun to drive but getting to the point where I may need to spend out refreshing a lot of the suspension parts. I'll outsource that as I hate dealing with suspension struts. Too bloody dangerous and not worth my own risk.


2004 Mini Cooper S R53
The latest acquisition. A cheap banger to use as a runaround and take the wear off the A4. Mrs SiC is off her work sabbatical next month and will start commuting back to Bristol. Bristol kills cars and there is a high likelihood it would kill the A4 doing it. This isn't a long termer as Bristol is bringing in a Clean Air Zone and this isn't exempt. If it was half a year newer then it would have been ok.
But for what I paid, it is a useful stop gap to give us time till next year. By the time the CAZ comes in, the A4 make have popped it's clogs and we'll be replacing it. If not, should be easy enough to sell this and get something exempt.

Been using it today and had a good look over last night. Appears for once, I may have bought a car that doesn't actually need anything really doing to it. A good service and a few odds+ends.

[SiC]

Pollen filter on the Mini is absolutely minging. Crap on the floor is what also fell out. Why do garages never change these? The engine air filter is far cleaner than this filter. The cabin filter is the most important filter in the car imo.



New filter took some fanny around to get in correctly. Last person in here got the bottom panel the wrong way around. This is the way I think it goes, with it bending up into the duct.


Plastic trim on the side panels doesn't seem to be attached. Some hamfisted previous person who's been in here has bent these clips


Also the bottom was pushed in on the inside of the carpet, so the fuse panel didn't close. There should be a fir tree clip to hold this I think but it's missing. Can't find my box of fittings, so may use a zip tie for now.



Doesn't flop around so much now.

[paulplom]

2010 Audi A4 2.0 TDi
(I don't drive it like this btw, that's just the coming home light mode when you park up in the dark)

Aye, whatevs.

[PhilA]

Looks like the mini has had a stereo in the boot?

[paulplom]

What's the mileage on your bini?

[SiC]

Looks like the mini has had a stereo in the boot?

Possibly. Its a type of car for someone young wanting a big bass sub in the boot. Aftermarket radio too which also makes this more likely. The right hand side is also loose, so maybe ran the audio feed the other side to try stop getting noise fed into it.

[SiC]

Spare key case is knackered. Got one coming from eBay that has a mini logo on and then bought a Rover 75 one from Amazon to come quicker.

Rover 75 key arrived first.

Disassembled the old


Key blank was a different size, so took some cutting down of the plastic to make fit. Bit of an arse to get this to fit and cut slightly too much off so the key wobbles a tad. Filled up the gap with super glue to take it up.


Electronics fitted in perfectly


Not forgetting the immobiliser chip


I wonder if the Mini would have had less hate if it was branded Austin or even Rover, rather than BMW. Probably more given the snobbery in the UK on those brands at the time. BMW sold plenty so I guess they did the right thing in business.

Anyhow the Rover 75 case works fine.

[SiC]

Been using this today to runaround in. Not bad fuel consumption. Far better than I expected.


Scrubbed the headlights with a meguiars kit. Still not great but better than it was. I'll probably remove them at some point and let a detailer do them properly. I've not got the guts to sand them down with sandpaper first. Nor do I trust myself to re-lacquer them without making a right mess.





I don't particularly like the look of the pre-facelift Xenons either. Another reason to change the car to a facelift model in the future.

Ordered some new trim clips off Amazon to fix this. Irritates me everytime I go to the car.


Washed the car. Like any good old Cowley product it left a decent oil slick.


Earlier today I bought a whole lot of service bits from GSF. I can't do an oil change until the replacement dipstick arrives. Seller bought a replacement and said he'll let me know when it arrives at his.


Number 1 lost its inner core when pulling out the wire. I wasn't going to buy replacement leads, but I'm bloody well pleased I did.



Weirdly some of the coil pack terminals had gone rusty. But only on cyl 1 and 3. I cleaned them up with some 2000 grit paper.


Went to remove the airbox to lube up the gear linkage. Except it appears that the ECU is always powered. So even with the ignition off, disconnecting a plug sets the fans onto full. Plugged it back in again and I'll sort this tomorrow by disconnecting the battery first.

Threw up the engine light. Thankfully my ELM327 cleared it. Need to get some sort of diagnostic tool for this. Ideally something capable of coding. Not sure if a DS150e can do coding. Mine is a bit ropey nowadays anyway.


Decided instead to look at the rear wiper that doesn't park and leaks water when you use the rear screenwash.


Took the back off the boot and was greeted with this mess.



Looks like the washer has filled inside the motor and pushed all the grease out. Googling says TADIS.

However it also appears these Trico motors are long NLA and BMW did a conversion kit to take a newer Valeo motor in 2006. Still can get that kit but it's £55 and then the cost of the motor on top of that.

For now it can stay broken.

[SiC]

I was going to say that I think for once I've managed to buy a car that hasn't really needed anything before using for longer journeys. Except I've jinked it. 

Problem is, everytime time I buy a car that is supposed to be fully working, something goes wrong. If I buy a car that is broken, I fix the problem and it ends up being perfect. 

Driving all day in it locally. Put 65 miles or so on it since I got it. However the last 10 miles or so it's got very rattly. Sounds like a diesel sort of rattle. 

I'm just hoping it's the hydraulic tappets are telling me it needs an oil change. I might also order a tensioner now too. Hopefully it's not the chain giving me warnings. Can't be doing with getting the chain changed just yet as I still have the Dolomite blocking the garage. 

Still waiting on the car seller to receive the dipstick. Once I've got that I can do an oil change. Probably could do it by measurement but I rather have a stick to give me some idea of fill level after a change. If he doesn't get it by tomorrow, I order a replacement myself just in case his ends up coming on a slow boat from China. 

[paulplom]

The rattle isn't because it doesn't have oil in, is it?
Mine used to like a drink.