It’s taken an embarrassing amount of time, but five hours later I have remote central locking working. The kit was ยฃ34.45 including delivery, and was in hindsight easy to install. I started by installing the new central locking control unit. In comparison with the old board, the new unit is in far better condition. At […] Read more »
I’ve just returned home from a gigantic curry to find a present from the postman – a replacement Central Locking Control Unit. Yet more thanks to Mr Ian Haynes for sourcing and sending on this unit. It looks in good condition: no signs of water ingress on the board which is promising. It’s late and […] Read more »
Other than a giving the car a quick wash, the only other progress this weekend has been to attack the rust I discovered in the sun roof tray on Friday. I have put more primer on since that photo was taken, but I haven’t taken any more pictures. I’ll try to get a touch up […] Read more »
I took a day off work today because Ian Haynes kindly volunteered a day of his time to look at the central locking issues. It took hours of methodical testing to work out that the locking system had four separate faults: Intermittent 12v power to the control unit Knackered control unit input stage Passenger door […] Read more »
The parts for the bearing replacement come to about ยฃ50 at BMW before any discount I may or may not be able to wangle. This is broken down as about ยฃ46 for the bearing and four quid for peripheral clips et cetera that are likely to make the job a bit easier. It looks from […] Read more »
The advent of Christmas has meant that there has been a shorter than usual interval between this and my last report, so yet again only one fill up and a few hundred miles of activity to report on. Even so, after last month’s whining about its lack of involvement, the 330d has to some extent […] Read more »
I’ve collected the car from a local mechanic, and had a long chat with him about it. It’s good to meet someone genuinely interested and willing to help. We went for a drive so he could have a better listen, and he, like me, is 99% sure the grumbling noise is the rear right wheel […] Read more »
Things are looking up today. I get up at 7:15 and manage to go to BMW to pick up the seat cable, and get across to West End Tyres to have a new Bridgestone Potenza fitted to the M3’s spare, and get to work early. Brilliant. Also, on the way into work I manage to […] Read more »
Ian Haynes has kindly provided some troubleshooting documentation for the central locking. Sadly it seems to fail at every hurdle, and so suggests either a rogered control unit, or some shorts in the leads. Today is windier and generally less pleasant than yesterday, so I clean up the door to A-pillar connectors and when that […] Read more »
I’ve got a large pile of bits from BMW: coolant cap, coolant, door lock rebuild kit, some plastic fixers and four spark plugs. I’ve also ordered a Bridgestone Potenza for the spare wheel. The plugs are easily changed, and the plastic fixers see the bonnet sound insulation and headlamp backing covers re-attached as the factory […] Read more »