Oops I did it again

It wasn't done parking at all It was done when I was driving hard and turn in too quick.

I got it repaired today at Wheel Solution today. The owner is an important teacher in my life. Most of the racing skill I know is from this man, Matt Coleman... the ex Porsche Carrera cup champ. He is now good at driving a sander and spray gun.

He does it much proper way. He takes the wheel off, strip the tyres, sand and respray the whole wheel. Cost is the same as the mobile service.
Highly recommended.

Bye Bye 325… hello back TAKA-1

After about 2 weeks,  the parts arrived by air from Germany. However, after changing over the headlight parts. They found the headlight module also faulty and has to be replaced. That is a sealed box that has to be changed as a whole. The parts is located in the head office in Sydney. After another half a week, they have sorted by car. They also washed by car to test out the new headlight. :). They said every thing is fine. So fine…

Now make me think a little – the car has a headlight warning signal before but it also dies before the car went to BMW.

On the same token, I had to return the 325i I borrowed. My thought of the car is that it is very comfortable. Handle well. But 2.5L engine drinks a lot (13L/100km), and it goes only moderately well.

The update iDrive is a must for all the BMW ... although it took me a few days to fully know all the functions, but once it is all sorted and explored, it work better than most units out there. The navigation of the route is easy to understand and speak well. It also has lane directions. The only draw back is the navigation menu is difficult to access fast, even if you know where to go.

I manage to do 8.1 sec from 0-100kmh. I thought the car was quicker.

Guess what… I have a “new” car to bring home

Well I got a call from the BMW Melbourne that my car is not going to be ready in one day. Well they do not have the part (the adaptive headlights) from Australia. Show one has to be ordered from Germany or hopefully get one from Asia. So for safety, BMW Melbourne gave me a loaner. I treaded a key of a small diesel car will come to be. But instead, they gave me a brand new 17km on the clock 325i sedan, which is fully optioned up. It has sat nav, comfort entry, premium sound system, sunroof and stuff. Very cool.

Only the colour is quite mid life crisis-ish :(. And BIEGE :O leather.

It does not do 8L/100km. Try 24L/100km if you stuck in traffic from Southbank to Heidelberg.

 

Wood grain makes me look old… But I quite like the sat nav and the new iDrive, particularly it has a TV. But the language setting is only English, French and Portuguese. Hmmm. Not Chinese for these few weeks.

 

More pics and performance data later. :)

Headlamp failure!

Frustration cannot sum up my feelings. It is a well known problem in the other makes that headlights can have water vapour getting inside the case. This is happening to a top of the range BMW. It is not even common in the RX-8. When I heard about it in the 8, it is normally due to the seal not being tight around the edges and when you spray water to say… clean the car. Water will get it and block the lens.

To top that… the xenon light die on me the next day. I have called BMW Melbourne which offer me a spot on the same day for repair. Unfortunately the work is tight on Mondays and I will have to go tomorrow. Here are some shots of the mist before it goes away tomorrow. They have asked for my rego, hence the VIN number and I guess they will just change over the parts.

Oh I replaced the RDash LED before tomorrow. It only took me 1/2 for 2 lights. I somehow wonder the workmanships of some of the so called professionals.

Wheel repair… OU>>CH!

I have hit a kerb!
The damage is heart breaking. I was made aware of people doing mobile alloy repair in Sydney by lovely people here in 1addicts.... so after crawling the web I have found the following website called www.thesmartguys.com.au. Their number is 1300 WHOOPS haha... I was going to repair it at Morrabin but I also have a dent from I dunno when. So it is more convenient for me. Wheel cost $150 to repair and dent is $100.
I was not intending to replace the wheel but I called BMW to get a quote.... $1025 each back wheel!
Before

After

Before

After

This is how they fixed my wheels. Firstly they smooth it out with an orbital tool. Then put some fillers in. Then cover all the parts (brake disc, caliper, body, logo on the wheel etc). Then 2 coats of paint (undercoat and cover).

Sun tan treatment :)