Wagger

A good idea, especially if you label all for reference. Saves loads of time when fault finding.

Straight sixes will vanish in a few years I fear. The Triumph engine survived in the Rover SD1's that had an overhead cam. Shame that the british straight sixes came to an end. very few marks now make any except BMW and Mercedes.

The most exciting BMW that I ever had was the four pot 2002 tii. Same performance as a Dolly Sprint but more reliable. Just as with Triumph, the four pot versions usually handled better. The M3's were four pot originally. However, if you want a smooth cruise car, go for a six pot.

I tried aged 16 to supercharge my moped by fitting a ram air tube so that forward motion forced air into the carb. It blew the fuel back the the tank, so useless. Gravity feed. There is no pont in having turbulence before the air is mixed with the fuel. Swirl in the intake after the carb is desirable but not exactly the same as turbulence. Of course, some 'Moderns' have the dreaded swirl flaps to mix fuel with air as it enters the cylinder. Fine until bits break off and jam valves, pistons etc.

It should like Vintage and Veteran. Veteran as in about pre 1910. My Vitesse is 1960's Vintage. Colin's Z3 is amongst those of. 2000 Vintage. Most of that era can be sorted relatively easily. Forget anything after 2005. Far too complicated.

Colin, when I first had an E60 five series in 2017, all forums were full of de-catting procedures and egr bypasses that would fool MOT inspectors. Looks like yours is an example. These cars will pass without Cats and by passes as the fuel management systems are quite good. However, it usually requires re-mapping to gain more performance. I did block the vacuum tube on my E46 3 litre diesel's EGR valve to stop it fouling a replacement inlet manifold. It improved fuel economy (surprisingly) and pickup after decelleration. The gunge in the first manifold dissolved the ultrasonic welds and the manifold split under turbo pressure. I bolted the replacement to prevent recurrence. The deposit was over 3mm thick on the old one.

Congratulations on a really good .publication. I usually read it in two evenings, but there is a bit more in this one. This would sell easily off the shelf an maybe encourage the younger driver.

No grease access on my prop. Not even a plug. The front end has more rubber mounts to absorb vibration. I inherited a Vitesse with the prop wrong way round. It vibrated less when I reversed it.

The sliding spline should be at the front (gearbox) end. Is this the case with the picture shown?

At least live axle cars have a relatively constant distance and angle for the propshaft to accomodate. Unlike cars with sprung axles. The choice here is a long Prop with no overdrive, or a shorter one with overdrive. Long prop will have less of an angle to cope with, but may vibrate more if the sliding spline begins to wear and throw out. Many later cars use a two piece propshaft and the angles are even more extreme. Maybe you are worrying too much.

I have used BMW breakers near me for used spares. Euro Car Parts and GSF for new parts. My local BMW dealers occasionally do a free health check which includes a full jet wash as they won't have dirty cars in the workshop. If I time things right they do a diagnostic check for about £50. My friendly mobile mechanic then does the necessary if I cannot fix it. I have only spent around £1k on my 520D in four years. (20,000 miles) Most of that been on Runflat Tyres.

Don't despair Colin. There are some good BMW forums where you may find a solution. There are some clever guys who can program out some features and there used to be plug on bits that would 'Fool' the system into believing all was well. Quite how useful Airbags are on a CV I cannot suggest. I know two people thrown clear of a CV car who would not have survived if they had been wearing a belt. This was before belt wearing was compulsory.

Most posh BMW's have a plastic under tray beneath the floor which hides the rubber bungs. I had a Five series 530D with a Pan roof with blocked drains and it wrote loads off by flooding the spare wheel well that contained all of the relays. PO had that sorted but the stupid drains have valves at their exit that block with sludge. I removed these leaving all pipes open. In the case of the floor and the 2 in thick foam, I cut a rectangular section out, removed the invisible floor bungs and dried the foam before replacing it and hiding the joins under the over mats that were the same colour. Secured with velcro before I part-exed it for a 520D with a solid roof. I pushed the bungs out of the floor within a week of obtaining it. Two years later, parked on a steep camber, heavy rain flowed down through the heater ducts filling front and rear floor areas on one side of the car. Had to cut the foam and carpet out again repeating all learned before. I now do not park on a slope or a camber if I can avoid doing so.

Under the foam there will be some rubber bungs. All of mine are removed to let water out. It is not a convertible it is a five series estate. The water came in through the heater ducts during Pissing hard rain parked on a slope sideways. Soaked front and rear floor. I have cleared leaves and muck from the drains in front of the bulkhead. The foam will take years to dry. I cut it away and made a false wooden floor made like a mini pallet to keep the carpet off the floor. Now I have to suffer road noise generated by the open holes. May replace some of the bungs.

It may be worth connecting a voltmeter across the battery leads when disconnected. If there is no voltage present, all should be safe. Connect a bulb across it if charge takes too long to decay.

Do you know any mobile mechanics who have experience of BMW's? I worked on my 2001 330D many times without disconnecting the battery. Nothing went beserk even when repacing window winders. I did disconnect the door airbags on some occasions. Never had to wait any period of time before reconnecting the battery either if I chose to disconnect it. There is a fuse that can be pulled to stop the light coming up. However, It disables some other 'Safety features' and nothing shows when you turn ignition on. My favourite mobile mechanic fixed all properly with my 330D, then a van reversed into the side of it within two weeks writing it off. Very annoying as it was the best car ever owned by me.

It will be one of the connectors under the seats, BUT, you will need a reset tool. Had this on my 2001 330D.

That is why I stick with Diesel BMW's. Never had to replace an exhaust or cat in sixteen years and 200k miles. Over here there are many illegal exhaust systems going undetected. Empty cats etc and bypassed EGR's.

It is sad when you cannot find your old car. My first (a Riley 1.5) went grass track racing when I sold it in 1971. Both of my 1600/6 Vitesses were beyond the capabilities of most when sold in 1976.

Mechanically, just make sure that the pulley aligns with the others. You may need a different tensioning arm if you cannot modify it. It will be trial and error with belt length. I did mine in two hours and followed the instructions that came with the kit wrt connections to the Voltage Regulator box. Electrically, the original Dynamo for a 1600/6 was 25 amps. Most of the alternators can deliver at least 40 amps. When you have succeeded in fitting it, turn everything on with the engine doing about 2000 rpm and measure the voltage across the battery. It should read 13.2 to 14.5 volts. Check the temperature of the thick wire that connects to the alternator. If it is too hot to hold, replace it with wire of about 1.5 times the thickness. You may choose to fit a different fuse box at some future date. That can help with current sharing and fault finding. Do not fit higher rated fuses than those originally fitted unless you uprate the wiring.

Can you take pictures of the mounts, then we can assess spacers, belts and pulleys. The plastic can be repaired using appropriate adhesive.

I always go by the Cross sectional area. This means measuring the diameter of the copper content, halving that to get the radius. then using pi r squared in order to get the CSA. Having worked in that industry for over 40 years, I just use my judgement (eyes and fingers) and fit a fuse up to 0.7 of the rating. Most reels of wire can be bought using the Cross Sectional Area specified. The reels are marked if you are lucky. If you double the CSA, the resistance will be halved.

Our cars were designed when we used British Standards. These were superceded by Systemes Internationale (SI) in the 1970's. Then they were rationalised under the EU as ENsomething. They still apply. They were aligned with all European Countries including those not in the EU. USA and Canada use UL and CSA. They differ from EU standards. Use a fuse box and fit fuses to protect the wire size. That is what fuses are for, contrary to the thoughts of those who use nails. 'Moderns' now have fuses in the battery post connectors. You do not need to go to that extreme unless you are going to use the starter to drive you when the engine fails. These cars do very well with just three fuses, but it makes fault finding tricky.

When looking at cable size and ratings on any chart, be careful because gauge, diameter and cross sectional area all need consideration. Even then, if bunched up or in a hot place you need thicker wire. It also differs between the UK and USA.

My dad used those and repeaired all of our shoes until the moulded rubber ones appeared in the 1950's.