A decent diet does wonders

Post by **Charles** » Wed May 04, 2011 8:13 pm

About 800 miles covered now since the rebuild - yes, the write up is due but other things are taking my time at present.

Checked the oil - scarcely a drop used (we are now on a diet of 10W-60 and oil changes every 7k miles or so)

Checked the water - after an initial 1/2 litre once all the little air gaps etc had been filled, the level is as it should be

First tank (Sainsburys 97RON)- averaged about 23mpg and a range of 320 miles
Second tank (Sainsburys 97RON) - averaged about 24mpg and a range of 340 miles
Third tank (Shell VPower) - averaging over 25mpg and the range is sitting at about 380 miles

So, my early conclusions are that everything was bolted together properly, the new bearing shells and piston rings are settling in and VPower makes a massive difference.

On that note, a quick fag packet calculation suggests that for an extra Â£3.50 at the pump, I am getting at least an extra gallon's worth of mileage (say Â£6 worth of fuel) on VPower over 95RON.

Feels like a win-win all round

Araf · Post by **Araf** » Wed May 04, 2011 9:41 pm

It wouldn't be anything to do with the engine loosening up?

After all, your second tank was better than the first.

I have run 'Super' in all of my cars and bikes where possible, since it came out. At one time, the 5p difference in price was 6%, now it's very insignificant (3.5%), but gives me 10% better economy - even on a little Ford Ka.

ade and liz flint · Post by **ade and liz flint** » Wed May 04, 2011 10:26 pm

Pleased to hear she's bedding-in nicely!

Post by **Charles** » Wed May 04, 2011 11:47 pm

Araf wrote:It wouldn't be anything to do with the engine loosening up? After all, your second tank was better than the first.

Possibly but I am now getting the sort of economy I was getting pre rebuild and the hike between tank 2 and 3 can't just be put down to the engine loosening up. The throttle response and smoothness as it runs up through the revs is significantly improved which is, I believe, down to proper fuel which is designed to burn quickly and combust fully - something to do with shorter chain hydrocarbon molecules compared to "standard" super unleaded fuel.

I have run 'Super' in all of my cars and bikes where possible, since it came out. At one time, the 5p difference in price was 6%, now it's very insignificant (3.5%), but gives me 10% better economy - even on a little Ford Ka.

Similar maths to me

Peter&Janet · Post by **Peter&Janet** » Wed May 11, 2011 9:33 pm

Fantastic news Charles. Wishing you many miles of happy motoring in the B3S.
Really looking forward to hearing the saga of the rebuild.
Peter

Post by **Charles** » Thu May 12, 2011 12:10 am

It's on its way Peter - I promise!

In the meantime, 1100 miles travelled and water levels are unchanged. On the oil front, I reckon to have used about 0.2 litres which puts me on about 6000 miles per litre - about the same as I was getting for the first 180k miles

The car's back with Phil this Friday for a few things:

A couple of little tweaks -replacement of all four underbody plugs, a replacement airbag ECU which clearly didn't appreciate being connected to a battery which drained to nothing, a minor tracking alignment after one of the front wishbones was replaced and a new oil level sensor which was found wanting after the rebuild.

Some outstanding servicing - brake fluid change because the timed interval is up

And a new addition - installation of a bluetooth gizmo that gives me phone connectivity and streaming iPod too (which works out cheaper than trying the latest software for the original fit BT system). In case you are interested, this is the kit I'm going for - here and here

Now I am beginning to think towards the summer when the bodywork will get some TLC, some fresh paint where war wounds have appeared and maybe even some gold stripes to finish it all off.

In the meantime, fuel consumption continues to improve towards 26-27mpg, the engine is feeling looser and more prepared to spin all the way up to the redline and the gearbox has settled down after an enforced layoff and an injection of new oil.

Happy Days

joylove · Post by **joylove** » Thu May 12, 2011 9:05 am

Charles have you already ordered your BT gear, if not there are a couple of other options you should consider.

Post by **Charles** » Thu May 12, 2011 12:23 pm

joylove wrote:Charles have you already ordered your BT gear, if not there are a couple of other options you should consider.

I've spent quite a while assessing the various options out there - including Denison, Parrot and a couple of others that have been mentioned here.

To be honest, they all seem to offer similar things but done in slightly different ways.

All I want is a BT system for my phone. To be able to do clever bits with my iPod for an extra Â£20 seems like a bargain and it means I don't lose the CD player functionality either. Sure, I don't get screen display but then again I don't have satnav so the display I am used to is minimal at best.

If you can recommend something that can do all this and more for Â£200 then that would be something I would like to hear about - but you have 24 hours ...

joylove · Post by **joylove** » Thu May 12, 2011 12:54 pm

DICE Mediabridge MB1500. Â£179. [radio version if you can find it]

1) Full iPod and USB support, including text on the radio display, album, artist and Multifunction steering wheel (MFL) control.
2) Bluetooth telephony and A2DP streaming (more on that later)
3) Aux in 3.5mm jack
4) CD1 is iPod, CD2 is USB, CD3 is Aux etc; then after a pause track 1 is Artist, track 2 is Album etc.

Pros
Plug and play (replaces CD changer or plugs in behind radio)
Good range of text display features
Full iPod and USB support
Bluetooth telephony and A2DP
Upgradable firmware

Cons
BT incoming caller names not shown on display, only numbers
CD changer version has long poorly screened cables that can introduce a little data bus noise when coiled up I have found. Try to find the radio version that plugs in up front.
You need to flip the the CD changer input to receive and incoming call. Can be done by hitting 'up' twice on the MFL.
It's no 3GHz Pentium dual core, it can be a bit reluctant to respond to rapid changes from hammering the buttons to spin through the options. I suspect many of these things are similarly affected.

On Bluetooth stereo audio (A2DP):
A2DP as a system is rubbish. It takes your MP3 that gets converted to analogue then back to digital in a different lossy codec then transmits it with the audio timing signal embedded.

A poor fidelity source like MP3, submitted to conversion to analogue then a second an additional different lossy compression, then transmitted with poor tempo recovery leads to thin; low fidelity sound (in the compression you lose most of the lower frequencies of bass that give you warmth and treble above 15kHz is removed completely at a stroke) with irritating varying tempo.

Avoid this wireless method and go cabled for an acceptable performance.

Here is a slightly old video of it in operation. The asterisks are gone now on the later firmwares.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvLdeUwJ ... r_embedded

Post by **Charles** » Thu May 12, 2011 9:51 pm

To be honest, I just want to use my phone handsfree and play my iPod on something slightly better than a cassette with added wire.

I am now confused again having thought that I had a solution.

Help!

joylove · Post by **joylove** » Fri May 13, 2011 1:01 am

For me, little boxes on the dashboard with a wire hanging off look terrible!

I'd rather have a slightly awkward/slow interface via the BMW headunit for the occasional call I need to make/receive whilst driving; and the odd MP3.

As you are a non smoker you could even splash out Â£180 on the 2point5 spec.dock cradle, or make one yourself with an old iPod cradle and some modelling putty.

Post by **Charles** » Fri May 13, 2011 8:16 pm

Well the Friday 13th curse applied today as the replacement "previously loved" airbag ECU refused to code and the oil level sensor failed to arrive from BMW.

That said, the brake fluid has been changed and I decided to change the gearbox oil for the second time in three weeks to try and flush through some more of the old stuff. That's made quite a difference as I should now be on about 85% new oil in the box after two changes.

Decided to hold off on the bluetooth/iPod kit and am coming round to the idea of a DICE Mediabridge - but more investigation required.

Result of the day is that the "rear exhaust box butterfly valve rattle" which I have endured for years has been fixed. A throttle return spring from an E28 has just the right tension to stop the rattle without preventing the valve from opening as required. Top result

Araf · Post by **Araf** » Sun May 29, 2011 9:36 pm

Can you point me towards your thread with the oil problem?

My B3 has a bit of a drink problem, and I'm not sure about how to attack it.

Thanks

Post by **Charles** » Sun May 29, 2011 11:01 pm

Araf wrote:Can you point me towards your thread with the oil problem?

Never written a thread about poor oil consumption as my B3S uses a litre every 5-6k miles or so.

First stage is to establish what your oil consumption actually is.

Then we can start to make suggestions along the lines of:

"That's fine" or "swith to Castrol TWS 10W-60" or possibly "check the crank breather valve"

Araf · Post by **Araf** » Mon May 30, 2011 12:12 am

Charles wrote:
Araf wrote:Can you point me towards your thread with the oil problem?
Never written a thread about poor oil consumption as my B3S uses a litre every 5-6k miles or so.

First stage is to establish what your oil consumption actually is.

Then we can start to make suggestions along the lines of:

"That's fine" or "swith to Castrol TWS 10W-60" or possibly "check the crank breather valve"

Thanks. Rather than hijacking your thread, I'll start one elsewhere then, and explain everything.