Masked Marauder

Most BMW "customers" are not spending their money, they are wasting their companies money. My sister (a finance manager for an international hi-tec company) has a very nice BMW as a company car. When I was doing some bits in her flat for her she commented that she would have to go to the BMW garage the next day on her way to work. Why? What was the major defect that required rectification? The windscreen washer bottle low level light was on. They would have to fill it up again. And no, I am not joking. But a guy at work took his 4 year old BMW (bought at 3 years old) to a local three men and a dog business for pre-MOT and MOT. He dropped in on his way to work at 8.30am. They told him that the car would be put in for MOT and then anything would get done that needed done. It was agreed that any work would be advised before repair. They took him into work, then rang him at a little after four, did he want collected, his car had passed, no issues. Picked him up at 5.30 and took him to their workshops and into the office where he was told that the bill was

The most common cause of this type of damage is an insecure connection, that arcing out will burn away the terminals. 14.5v output is about right, your battery is 12.6v and it needs about 2v over maximum standing voltage to fully charge it. And my first reaction to the flat battery, no warning light, was that the bulb was blown. It is part of the charging circut, if it blows, the battery will not charge.

What is the year of manufacture for the car? Can you get the VIN so I can de-code it for you?

In days gone you could buy 6 months before you went if your posting was for at least 2 years. You had to register the car with the DVLA, then on export you had BFG plates. These distinctive registration plates simply made you a terrorist target so were dropped. However as the Military Police still wanted to keep tabs on you the new rules said you should keep your UK plates on. Terrorist attacks continued, including an attack on some Aussie tourists in a UK hired car in Holland. The Army gave in and now your car is re-registered with the Germans and has a German plate when it is exported to Germany. When it is then returned to the UK it is again registered with the DVLA but declared as previously registered (not new) The DVLA then issue a new registration number and V5 with the declaired age of the vehicle reflected in the registration mark. As the time abroad is not reflected in the HPI check there is no connection between the old UK registration and the current one.

By The Way

Yes, absolutely. This is a common cause of warped brakes, especially after hard braking.

Air lock. The garage should have spotted it. You need to fill the heater matrix up through the heater top hose.

Head gasket - Was the failure related to a failed water pump? Tensioner - Has a 6 year 60,000 mile life expectancy. Should be changed with the timing belt. My 106,000 mile one is fine. Shame they never changed the belt either..... Water pump - Why strip down the engine to change the timing belt and not spend an extra

http://trevor.dynip.com/documents/8yearsService.pdf

The MAF is the Mass AirFlow meter, it is the plastic pipe with the connector on it that is mounted on the air filter box.

The fuel tank thud tends to be about a 3rd of a tank of fuel btw.

It could also be a faulty ignition switch.

It is on the top of the clutch housing, underneath the coolant pipe that goes to the heater. You will not see it unless you remove a lot of wires and pipes. I never saw mine until today when I finalised the engine for removing the cylinder head, and it is still difficult to see.

No, the glow plug either heats hot enough to burn the fuel or it won't run at all. White smoke is normally poor atomisation or a poor fuel-air mix.

Whilst all things are possible it may be a big job. I have both, I bought the higher spec one hoping to fit it but half of the wiring is missing.

The ABS will work fine without the fault codes being re-set but next time the car is hooked up to the computer the fault will show as a stored error. ------------------------------------- http://promote.opera.com/medium/simplythebest234x60.png

Damn it, he is right...... http://www.investinportugal.pt/MCMSAPI/Hom...ive/AutoEuropa/ ------------------------------------- http://promote.opera.com/medium/simplythebest234x60.png

Yes, best way to do that is with a brakepipe clamp on the flexable hose and open the bleed nipple.

Then it should be under the drivers seat, at the door side, sometimes covered with some masking tape for some reason. ------------------------------------- http://promote.opera.com/medium/simplythebest234x60.png

What age is your Galaxy? ------------------------------------- http://promote.opera.com/medium/simplythebest234x60.png

Must be a VW quirk - don't forget that the Galaxy is a VW in drag (VW designed and built) They are made by Seat in Portugal

Are you saying the device is taking the piss?

It is a case of practical experience over logical thinking, one of those "trust me" occasions!

:blink: :( :( :lol: :lol: :lol:

Who wrote the blurb on that site, there are some real classics