[old grey steve]

A bit last minute but slenderman's car needed attention and was duly booked in for some TLC, turns out that the car hadn't been in his hands for a while.

So with an MOT on the agenda that was what was tackled first, but before that a lift to the trainstation and a quick drive of the car revealed a couple of things:

Firstly within 50 yards I could feel the front tension struts were worn(demostrated with a couple of light taps on the foot brake-watching the steering wheel shudder in the process)and secondly though not immediatly obvious I'd noticed that the gearbox wasn't shall we say on top form(more of which later) But first that MOT






passed thank god with some advisory's, namily these




scored lipped and corroded discs(rears worse than the fronts)notice on the rears the double deep scoring on the disc(deep groving).

Corrosion was more severe on the inner surface than the outer surface, perhaps some of this was down to not being used but as they met the required MOT criteria and I'd sampled them on the road and they seemed to work perfectly OK, best left as an advisory note that all brakes will need to be changed in the future with the rears coming up first.

Tension struts again were advised as I'd sampled on the road they were a little weak but not seriously so a point for future work as they will in time start to show their hand will get worse and will require changing. Another noteworthy item was the fact that like many BMW's rear brake pipes had just started to corrode as well.

But on the MOT you have a chance to glance over stuff and that gearbox issue I felt on the drive came to light as I thought it would namily this




another leaky sump. Thought it was slow to react and held on to 3rd gear too long with lack luster feel whe pulling off in 2nd, my thoughts were a fluid leak and this confirmed what I thought and TBH when you see this its well worth addressing.

So as the car was booked in for an oil service, vehicle inspection and a brake fluid service, with the knowlwdge that the gear box sump was leaking I called slenderman to inform him that the MOT was all OK but apart from the highlighted service issues the gearbox was leaking and the best course of action was the normal course of action a gearbox service. And that's the course of action taken.

So the car was transfered from the MOT bay to one of the workshop ramps for the service requested to be under taken.



Vish who was looking after the car dug out he service book and noted that there were a few issues re the history, 3 services done in the book(its a 2007 car)and nothing showing re pollen, air filter hadn't ben done for sometime and being the suspicious type I asked for the top covers and rear panel, where the pollen filter is situated to be removed for a look



as the service history stated this was due in 2014 you know the answer, so add one pollen filter. The service book also revealed no spark plug service had been undertaken.

We carried out the required pre work diagnostic(as we do on all services) and noticed for future reference that the car has or is showing the early signs of a hydro fault(codes 5DF0/F1 were stored though not current or present)therefore I was obliged to inform slenderman that this was indeed a lurking issue and gave the options and advised that this is a commonish known issue with only one cure a repalcement. As it was a 325i sadly the repalcement is BMW's £168+VAT option, but there are ways to ease the pain, namily refurbishment.

As stated earlier, the diagnostic and service book showed no spark plug service had been recorded we opted to take a look



and took one plug out for a look. Seen worse




but one was quite oily at least 2 were shall we say to remove, had they been changed before. I think so but couldn't be sure they were however tired and these too were added to the service agenda as they'd never been recorded in the vehicles documented history or via diagnosctic as a service carried out.

Air filter I felt was worth a look too despite what I saw in the book



this photo was after a fair amount of debris had been removed again on history I understand 2012 was its last change. So add one air filter.

Now with covers removed a better look at that gearbox




leak noted from the usual area rear off side sump section and the sleeve. So removed the sump




drained the oil




drained the pot had 4.4 litres meaning on paper we'd lost about 2 litres over time. Nothing unusual but with this loss the gearbox hasn't been working as effectivally as it could of been.

New sump on



6.4 litres of fluid added all engine and gear box adaptaions sorted test driven and handed over at 5.45 pm we had a car that was fitter, fully serviced and again fighting fit for the future. As these cars get older its key to service them and look forward otherwise big bills and unavoidable costs could be lurking

[Thermobaric]

Would you recommend yearly services/inspections outside of the conditional based service schedule?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Thermobaric

Would you recommend yearly services/inspections outside of the conditional based service schedule?

As cars get older you start seeing things happen, oil filter housing leaks, gear box leaks, vacuum pump leaks, rocker cover leaks if you are say low mileage user you could go 2.5 years perhaps between services these things esculate and this causes issues.

I'm not a CBS lover services are too long re time and cause issues for later life IMO and trust me seen plenty of low mileage cars with big issues. So yes once a year service is a good idea even if its a check ove rand say an air filter service(though I do recommend changing oil every year regardless of mileage as a basic service measure for preserve longevity)

[Len_Beach]

Looks fantastic Steve.

Sadly you're a little too far from being in Leeds.

I'm at 65k on my N57 330d and am looking to have my gearbox oil changed. What would be a reasonable supply and fit price for this?

[Thermobaric]

I bought my car last October and it had around 57K on it. I've added around 8K and it's saying it doesn't need a service until 8/16 or 8K miles so I'm a little apprehensive about waiting so long a service. I did get it checked by a specialist when I bought it and aside from worn discs they reckoned it was alright. MOT next month so maybe get it checked over again.

[djgandy]

Another great job from Steve.

That air filter looks awful. Mine old one looked basically brand new when it was last changed.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by djgandy

Another great job from Steve.

That air filter looks awful. Mine old one looked basically brand new when it was last changed.

Ta Andy, re the filter seen worse, but worth changing nevertheless going forward, but re filters today we had a 530 where even the parasite's refused to take up residence

[Dace64]

I bought my car in May with 50,000 miles from a mai dealer. The air filter and pollen filter had never been changed from new?!!! How can they sell a car knowing this? £25 and less than 30 seconds to change the air filter....

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by Dace64

I bought my car in May with 50,000 miles from a mai dealer. The air filter and pollen filter had never been changed from new?!!! How can they sell a car knowing this? £25 and less than 30 seconds to change the air filter....

Indeed you open your service book (especially on the earlier cars where service criteria was laid out in the first 3-5 pages)and look at the service criteria(every 3rd service do oil, air, fuel filters etc.)then check the service books you have carefully. You'd be surprised at the amount I see where even main dealer serviced the recommendations set out by the manufacturer haven't been followed.

As the owner of a car you'd simply expect the car to be serviced as stipulated and it's not the owners fault where once serviced something's been omitted where it should of been done. And what's more I can't as an Indy explain it you get suspicious you go looking asking questions, questions lead to answers. Not always good answers but once you go through the pain you can draw a line under it and move on, though it's bloody frustrating to find this all out.

[Ess]

I do the basic service at the same time of the MOT every year. It's what my Dad taught me!

[AirAndre335i]

Real question is though...

How slender is this slenderman?

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by AirAndre335i

Real question is though...

How slender is this slenderman?

Slender than you that's for sure