Humour Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 (edited) The old hag got her first oil transfusion for this year ong with new filter and I also replaced the Fuel filter as that was an unknown quantity for me. Things of note. The Oil filter looked clean, no sparkles of note and also it's no longer jet black. Admittedly I am changing the oil every 6 months no matter if I do 6K or 1K in that time (average is 4-5K), but it's taken 5+ oil changes in a little over 2 years of ownership to start seeing colour in the used oil and oil filter. The engine sounds better too. There are all sorts of rattles around it, but that's a different story. Also, I was happy to see that the fuel filter was not the original, but was less happy to see more ham fisted mechanics work. The exit end of the filter had a mangles hose clamp, you couldn't tell if it had a slot for a screwdriver or a hex for a socket. Suffice it to say it needed mole grips to remove and even they struggled it was so mangled but that clamp is so tiny I fail to understand why somelne felt it needed to be torqued to 100Nm 😳 Lucky for me my mechanic friend's workshop has an assortment of these clamps new on the shelf, a No12 was a tad big but did the job. I now owe him the cost of a No12 😁. Lifesaver bro!!! A number of other little jobs were done on with changing the mid pipe (the flat pipe located between the Downpipe and DPF) again. I could swear when my original and the replacement were placed side by side one was longer by at least 1 inch. Anyway, that fix backfired royally (pun intended) as the issue of my exhaust locating 1 inch backwards from its original OE location is due to the second hand OEM Downpipe and Cat having previously received a replacement Flexi, which obviously was not welded in exactly the same as OEM. Long story short, my original mid pipe didnt solve that issue but added an extra instead, because it's heat shield has failed at the tac points and the thing makes a racket at 2Krpm, which I previously got rid of and now installed back through my ignorance, haha. Never ever had so much grief with a bloody exhaust, and I've had a few custom jobbies in my time. Lesson reiterated, never ever through away original parts even if they have failed unless replacing with new original parts from the manufacturer, or you will pay the price. Anyway, both the flexi joint and the midpipe will need doing at some point in the future. I also postponed fitting the Poly bushes to the front lower/rear arms due to lack of time in the end. I decided it's probably best to buy new arms and fit the poly parts in new arms with new ball joints for longevity. Edited June 27 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 34 minutes ago, Humour said: The old hag got her first oil transfusion for this year ong with new filter and I also replaced the Fuel filter as that was an unknown quantity for me. Things of note. The Oil filter looked clean, no sparkles of note and also it's no longer jet black. Admittedly I am changing the oil every 6 months no matter if I do 6K or 1K in that time (average is 4-5K), but it's taken 5+ oil changes in a little over 2 years of ownership to start seeing colour in the used oil and oil filter. The engine sounds better too. There are all sorts of rattles around it, but that's a different story. Also, I was happy to see that the fuel filter was not the original, but was less happy to see more ham fisted mechanics work. The exit end of the filter had a mangles hose clamp, you couldn't tell if it had a slot for a screwdriver or a hex for a socket. Suffice it to say it needed mole grips to remove and even they struggled it was so mangled but that clamp is so tiny I fail to understand why somelne felt it needed to be torqued to 100Nm 😳 Lucky for me my mechanic friend's workshop has an assortment of these clamps new on the shelf, a No12 was a tad big but did the job. I now owe him the cost of a No12 😁. Lifesaver bro!!! A number of other little jobs were done on with changing the mid pipe (the flat pipe located between the Downpipe and DPF) again. I could swear when my original and the replacement were placed side by side one was longer by at least 1 inch. Anyway, that fix backfired rpyally (pun intended) as the issue of my exhaust locating 1 inch backwards from its original OE location is due to the Second hand Downpipe and Cat having previously received a replacement Flexi, which obviously was not welded in exactly the same as OEM. Long story short, my original mid pipe did solve that issue but added an extra, because it's heat shield has failed at the tac points and the thing makes a racket at 2Krpm, which I previously got rid of and now I stalled back through my ignorance, haha. Never every had so much grief with a bloody exhaust, and I've had a few custom jobbie in my time. Lesson reiterated, never ever through away original parts even if they have failed u less replacing with new original parts from the manufacturer, or you will pay the price. Anyway, both the flexi joint and the midpipe will need doing at some point in the future. I also postponed fitting the Poly dishes to the front rear arms due to lack of time in the end. For exhaust pipe heat shield I found long lasting solution. 2 years now, still dead quiet. Once it was tightened, I did cut off spare thread bar ends 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallman85 Posted June 27 Author Share Posted June 27 7 minutes ago, Ray112 said: For exhaust pipe heat shield I found long lasting solution. 2 years now, still dead quiet. Once it was tightened, I did cut off spare thread bar ends 😁 But what is that u-clip holding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 (edited) 59 minutes ago, Ray112 said: For exhaust pipe heat shield I found long lasting solution. 2 years now, still dead quiet. Once it was tightened, I did cut off spare thread bar ends 😁 @Ray112 that's a good call. For now I wedged in some exhaust wrap wadding left over from the track toy that has made things a touch better (the top of that pipe is hitting the body heat shield when going left too due to the exhaust sitting 1 inch back which was making an even bigger racket and actually is the likely noise I came across when I drove through a couple of really big puddles a few months back, it's a loud gruff noise that will shit you up the first time you hear it. The wrap has hopefully stopped that happening for now and a bit of the resonance has also been reduced but that's a bodge job. I also reused the DPF gasket (twice now). So the mid pipe is coming off again one way or the other. The quick fix is to put the other mid pipe back which has been re-tacked (poorly), or have mine tacked when it's off to do the flexi properly to relocate the exhaust position downpipe backwards. Not a critical issue for now, but an annoyance for sure, this car seems hell bent in making me pay, or is it just my poor decisions on this one 🤦 Edited June 27 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 2 hours ago, Tallman85 said: But what is that u-clip holding? Heat shield around exhaust pipe. Over time it comes loose and start rattling. People have tried to weld it at places to exhaust pipe, but it's so fine metal that it just burns instead of welds. So getting it tight with u clamp was my idea and it does work perfectly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 1 hour ago, Humour said: @Ray112 that's a good call. For now I wedged in some exhaust wrap wadding left over from the track toy that has made things a touch better (the top of that pipe is hitting the body heat shield when going left too due to the exhaust sitting 1 inch back which was making an even bigger racket and actually is the likely noise I came across when I drove through a couple of really big puddles a few months back, it's a loud gruff noise that will shit you up the first time you hear it. The wrap has hopefully stopped that happening for now and a bit of the resonance has also been reduced but that's a bodge job. I also reused the DPF gasket (twice now). So the mid pipe is coming off again one way or the other. The quick fix is to put the other mid pipe back which has been re-tacked (poorly), or have mine tacked when it's off to do the flexi properly to relocate the exhaust position downpipe backwards. Not a critical issue for now, but an annoyance for sure, this car seems hell bent in making me pay, or is it just my poor decisions on this one 🤦 Not sure if I have any gasket around dpf left at all, last time when doing gearbox replacement I totally forgot about dpf gaskets, so when everything was about to go back together I just scraped all the fragile bits off (looked like old gasket and rust) and used some exhaust putty mastic from toolbox to seal both flanges and it's still not leaking year later. One day I will change it...... maybe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 23 minutes ago, Ray112 said: Not sure if I have any gasket around dpf left at all, last time when doing gearbox replacement I totally forgot about dpf gaskets, so when everything was about to go back together I just scraped all the fragile bits off (looked like old gasket and rust) and used some exhaust putty mastic from toolbox to seal both flanges and it's still not leaking year later. One day I will change it...... maybe. Mine too is put together with hope and a prayer but I did manage to unstick the gasket and clean up the surfaces with a rotary air tool then back on with plenty of exhaust putty too but next time it's off I will have a gasket at the ready. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted June 28 Share Posted June 28 14 hours ago, Humour said: The old hag got her first oil transfusion for this year ong with new filter and I also replaced the Fuel filter as that was an unknown quantity for me. Things of note. The Oil filter looked clean, no sparkles of note and also it's no longer jet black. Admittedly I am changing the oil every 6 months no matter if I do 6K or 1K in that time (average is 4-5K), but it's taken 5+ oil changes in a little over 2 years of ownership to start seeing colour in the used oil and oil filter. The engine sounds better too. There are all sorts of rattles around it, but that's a different story. Also, I was happy to see that the fuel filter was not the original, but was less happy to see more ham fisted mechanics work. The exit end of the filter had a mangles hose clamp, you couldn't tell if it had a slot for a screwdriver or a hex for a socket. Suffice it to say it needed mole grips to remove and even they struggled it was so mangled but that clamp is so tiny I fail to understand why somelne felt it needed to be torqued to 100Nm 😳 Lucky for me my mechanic friend's workshop has an assortment of these clamps new on the shelf, a No12 was a tad big but did the job. I now owe him the cost of a No12 😁. Lifesaver bro!!! A number of other little jobs were done on with changing the mid pipe (the flat pipe located between the Downpipe and DPF) again. I could swear when my original and the replacement were placed side by side one was longer by at least 1 inch. Anyway, that fix backfired royally (pun intended) as the issue of my exhaust locating 1 inch backwards from its original OE location is due to the second hand OEM Downpipe and Cat having previously received a replacement Flexi, which obviously was not welded in exactly the same as OEM. Long story short, my original mid pipe didnt solve that issue but added an extra instead, because it's heat shield has failed at the tac points and the thing makes a racket at 2Krpm, which I previously got rid of and now installed back through my ignorance, haha. Never ever had so much grief with a bloody exhaust, and I've had a few custom jobbies in my time. Lesson reiterated, never ever through away original parts even if they have failed unless replacing with new original parts from the manufacturer, or you will pay the price. Anyway, both the flexi joint and the midpipe will need doing at some point in the future. I also postponed fitting the Poly bushes to the front lower/rear arms due to lack of time in the end. I decided it's probably best to buy new arms and fit the poly parts in new arms with new ball joints for longevity. The original clips some strange design that's meant to cam out before it overtightens from what I can gather, usually chewed to bits by the first mechanic who touches it 🫣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj123 Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 New rear pads & discs today. I was looking to change the handbrake shoes, but they have still plenty of material on them - so they'll be left for another few years until the brakes need changing again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 (edited) Finally some progress has been made to my bi-led headlight project, one headlight is ready. Might do a separate, more detailed post later when they both are finished and fitted. In case someone wants to do something similar. And big thanks to @olliecampbell for donating his old headlight to make this happen 🥳. Edited June 30 by Ray112 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 I found yet another rattle today, CIC controller... Luckily I bagged a brand new one a couple of years ago so I fitted that 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 On 30/06/2024 at 19:07, Ray112 said: Finally some progress has been made to my bi-led headlight project, one headlight is ready. Might do a separate, more detailed post later when they both are finished and fitted. In case someone wants to do something similar. And big thanks to @olliecampbell for donating his old headlight to make this happen 🥳. That's cool. It's amazing to see the difference between an aged and a new lense. How much are the new lenses and how difficult is it to refit those? I will have to do something with my lenses so trying to workout if it's better to polish and laquer/protect or replace with new. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 19 hours ago, Humour said: That's cool. It's amazing to see the difference between an aged and a new lense. How much are the new lenses and how difficult is it to refit those? I will have to do something with my lenses so trying to workout if it's better to polish and laquer/protect or replace with new. I paid £35 for pair or around that number on ebay. To remove them I cut them off with grinder, the edge that's left inside were coming easily out by twisting with cable clippers, and to cut out all the old permaseal I used tyre regrooving blade fitted into soldering iron, does the trick nicely. Sanding down faded plastic and spraying clear lacquer on top of it does work well and will last good few years, plus it's easier than getting them lenses off. I did it on my e39 and as well on my current e61 headlights, plus I added some clear protective wrap to reduce stone chips in clear lacquer. They are looking good year later, but obviously not as clear as brand new lenses look. I'll add picture of my current headlights after sanding down, clear coat and 3M protective wrap. By all means they look tidy. But in this case it wasn't an option to reuse old lenses, since I needed to open headlights for projector swap and to paint all silver parts black, so had to get new ones. Used butyl sealant to make them watertight again. Fitment seemed quite good on headlight housing, hopefully it will be the same when lining up with bumper, wing etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted July 2 Share Posted July 2 2 hours ago, Ray112 said: I paid £35 for pair or around that number on ebay. To remove them I cut them off with grinder, the edge that's left inside were coming easily out by twisting with cable clippers, and to cut out all the old permaseal I used tyre regrooving blade fitted into soldering iron, does the trick nicely. Sanding down faded plastic and spraying clear lacquer on top of it does work well and will last good few years, plus it's easier than getting them lenses off. I did it on my e39 and as well on my current e61 headlights, plus I added some clear protective wrap to reduce stone chips in clear lacquer. They are looking good year later, but obviously not as clear as brand new lenses look. I'll add picture of my current headlights after sanding down, clear coat and 3M protective wrap. By all means they look tidy. But in this case it wasn't an option to reuse old lenses, since I needed to open headlights for projector swap and to paint all silver parts black, so had to get new ones. Used butyl sealant to make them watertight again. Fitment seemed quite good on headlight housing, hopefully it will be the same when lining up with bumper, wing etc. The outcome is magic, mate. Having the right tools for each part of the job cannot be underestimated. When you mention them it seems obvious but I wouldn't have though of combining a soldering iron with a tread cutter. I hope those eBay lenses have some UV coating built into the plastics to have them last. Would love to have my lenses swapped for new but I dont have the tools or much of the time, nevermind the skill. I most likely will have to go with the spit, sand and polish and see where I end up with that effort. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 Took my e61 to kwik fit for free wheel alignment check this morning, since I replaced all control arms, rose bushings etc over last two weekends and did old school two string wheel alignment on driveway, and guess what, it was all green. Indeed car was running perfectly straight, so I was wondering what it will be. So quite pleased with results and my skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 6 hours ago, Ray112 said: Took my e61 to kwik fit for free wheel alignment check this morning, since I replaced all control arms, rose bushings etc over last two weekends and did old school two string wheel alignment on driveway, and guess what, it was all green. Indeed car was running perfectly straight, so I was wondering what it will be. So quite pleased with results and my skills. I'll bet they didn't weight the car to meet test conditions though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 3 hours ago, Gonzo said: I'll bet they didn't weight the car to meet test conditions though? Your bet is correct mate, but I had full tank of diesel at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 So back to headlights. They are both finished and fitted. And they indeed are bright. Pictures doesn't really say actual effect, but I'll add few so you get idea. That's dipped beam in picture with light output. And they are adjusted quite low, so I don't dazzle anyone. Will get them set up correctly at garage this weekend. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomp1983 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 46 minutes ago, Ray112 said: So back to headlights. They are both finished and fitted. And they indeed are bright. Pictures doesn't really say actual effect, but I'll add few so you get idea. That's dipped beam in picture with light output. And they are adjusted quite low, so I don't dazzle anyone. Will get them set up correctly at garage this weekend. Could do with something similar for my e61 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 4 minutes ago, thomp1983 said: Could do with something similar for my e61 Will take a pinte in front and make little more detailed description some time this week. Definitely car looking fresher with brand new lenses and bright lights. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) On 08/07/2024 at 20:21, Ray112 said: So back to headlights. They are both finished and fitted. And they indeed are bright. Pictures doesn't really say actual effect, but I'll add few so you get idea. That's dipped beam in picture with light output. And they are adjusted quite low, so I don't dazzle anyone. Will get them set up correctly at garage this weekend. Looks great and looks bright too even though hard to judge from a picture. You also blacked out the Eyebrows silver parts, I like that look much better than OE. 😎 In other news, I also did some lights work today, with bitter sweet results. I've been waiting to get a chance to do that job for over 3 months and finally got on it. Let just say one guy's idea of "mint" and another are different universes and the Cnut had my money for over 3 months and wouldn't honour his part of the deal. Anyway.... they are mint, if ya squint. The first pic is after both lenses where wet sanded and one side was polished while the other wasn't, yet. The both polished, waiting to be sealed. After which I noticed the bits inside.... (mint my arse). I may have to polish the ones on my car and make one good(ish) set. I'm definitely going to have a crack at polishing my headlights, they need it badly and the TurtleWax speed kit is cheap and easy enough to use, the only issue is they give you way too much polishing paste and not enough Acrylic and Ceramic sealer pads. The results are quite obvious to the eye with a bit of wetsanding effort. Edited July 14 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 @Humouryes mate, every single silver part inside has been made black, imo looks good on black car. Yesterday took some late hour driving through rural areas and despite roads being wet and raining most of the time, visibility was truly impressive. I would say money well spent this time. Another good thing is that it's been raining in East Yorkshire most of the week and there is absolutely no condensation inside headlights, so safe to say that front lenses been fully sealed with no leaks anywhere. On first day there was slight condensation after 20 minutes headlights being on for first time, but it's been down to installing them in damp weather, which I thought was the case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 (edited) I did a tyre claim on my RAC policy, then got told the less than 3 year old M5 wheel is buckled with a flat spot, fuxking potholes 🤬 Edited July 18 by Gonzo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallman85 Posted July 22 Author Share Posted July 22 Has anyone ever converted an E61 to a rugged body style? like the Audi A6 AllRoad? lifted with some cladding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 (edited) I finally fitted the cleaned up rear lights today. Having been polished and ceramic coated they look pretty sharp on the car. I also cleaned the car myself for the first time in 2 years of ownership lol. It's not the first time it's been cleaned, but it's the first time I cleaned it myself. My excuse,.the body work has soo many dinys scratched and stione chips (as bought) that I couldn't bring my self to pay attention to it. I had recently bought some foam and other clea I g gear though so had to try it. The paintwork still looks peppered with marks and blemishes, but the outcome is much better than when the Albanians get to do it. P. S. And what thanks do I receive for showing care the following day? PDC failure when I turned on ignition and selected reverse.😂 Had a listen to the sensors and found the culprit at the front near the kidneys. Tapped it a few good times with a fist, and nowt. Gave it a bootfull the next time around and now it's working again. Moral of the story, some old hags are B1thces who only appreciate abuse 🤔 Go figure 🙄 Edited August 19 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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