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Good afternoon last week i spent a couple of days down in MK , i had not been for a decent drive in the SWB for a couple of months so i used that , first the bad points ,
1 The blast of air that came into the interior that was so refreshing when in Italy 2 years ago was bloody cold when its just come from Siberia!
2 Metal gear knobs can get very cold when the outside temp is freezing .
good points
1 I drove back on Friday (just gone) when there was a couple of inches of snow on the ground and my narrow tyres worked really well as everybody else was sliding around on their wide tyres .
2 The heater works really well .
Can I ask (I looked, but couldn't find!) what size wheels/tyres and offset? Any issues on full lock? If good, these would be the way I'd want to go If I progress with one of these kits.
Can I ask (I looked, but couldn't find!) what size wheels/tyres and offset? Any issues on full lock? If good, these would be the way I'd want to go If I progress with one of these kits.
Good morning , my wheels are BMW 5 series 6.5 x 15 ET20 steels with Avon ZV7 tyres 195/65/15 , i bought the wheels from Mister Towed and it was he that drilled all the small holes (god knows how much time and drill bits) , i have had them blasted and coated , no issues on full lock , thanks Geoff .
That's useful - thanks. I believe Mr Towed bought them new off Ebay, but I've searched, (even tried Oponeo.com) but seem to only be able to find 47 offset, or wider rims. The World is in turmoil
I recently bought some 5 series (for an F10/F11 model) from eBay that were 16 inch but a decent offset of 33.
They won’t be to everyone’s taste as the design shows the holes in the steels are oval shaped. I was after a custom slot-mag sort of style rather than Dunlop’s.
They were 6.5J 16 ET33 and I bought them from Poland. Cost £115 for four including postage.
I have since had them banded by a chap in Essex by 1inch front and 2 inch back.
So now I have (if my maths is right) of course as the banding is attached to the ou side of the wheel the width changes but the backspace doesn’t, hence I have
7.5J 16 ET 21 fronts
8.5J 16 ET 8 rears
I plan putting on 225/50 16 fronts and 245/45 16 rears this week and then mine are going on a Kobra soon. Will share pics when I have them.
I have also changed the centre console to a MK2 version the MK1 hid the 3 BMW heater controls but i could not get them to operate efficiently i did want to hide them as they are the last item in the interior that gives a clue to the BMW heritage .
The final interior change is a net fitted behind the seats to give extra luggage capacity .
[QUOTE=couerdelion;94524]What does the AFFH stand for?
Its Air Con/Front Fog/Rear Fog/Hazards , Geoff .
Thanks Geoff - been trying to work out what switches I need from memory of what was there before.
I think it's just front/rear fogs, hazards, horn (will be seperate from steering wheel I think) and then lights (3 way = off/side/full) then still use stalks for everything else. I've no aircon.
Thanks Geoff - been trying to work out what switches I need from memory of what was there before.
I think it's just front/rear fogs, hazards, horn (will be seperate from steering wheel I think) and then lights (3 way = off/side/full) then still use stalks for everything else. I've no aircon.
Couerdelion my light switch is fitted to the right of the steering column in the dash in a similar position to the Z3 , i have a horn button fitted on the left hand side of the steering column (this can be seen in the picture showing my centre console) Geoff .
On Friday last i decided it was time to have the Air-Con re-gassed , for various reasons it had not been used for some time , after ringing around it became clear that the days of the £40 recharge are long gone , i ended up paying £80 plus a couple of quid extra for a failed seal . Now dependent on which internet site you believe the cost has increased because
1 A new different more expensive refrigerant has to be used,
2 Imports of the cheap stuff from China have been banned,
3 The older charge units that some garages have are no longer suitable ,
anyway its done just in time for this years UK heatwave , Geoff .
Good morning i am sure that some on here will be aware that my SWB is for sale , a constant question i had was what was my car registered on the V5 know it never bothered me that my car was still on the V5 as a BMW Z3 , but i decided that it would probably be worthwhile to have a change , in fact one person strongly suggested that it would no longer be possible to MOT my car as it did not look like a Z3! , i MOTd it a week later with no problems before sending the paperwork of to the DVLA ,so i am know driving around in a Tribute 250 , Geoff .
Geoff to be fair all rebody or replicas must be registered correctly so the questions are correct you cant leave the car as per the original model and make that's has been the case for quite some time even just a re body.
With ANPR you would also run the risk of your car looking like someone had cloned the number plate so it has to be this way. Some of the older replicas C types registered as the original XJ6 Auto etc are really worthless and would require IVA it will happen sooner or later you just dont want to be the person with the car at the time and losing all that money.
When my Z3 was put back on the road I contacted the people at DVLA. They seemed to be a competent department, covering a small area of vehicles.
I asked them to title the make of my body conversion as a BMW Tribute 275GTB. They accepted this and gave this as the whole make, rather than title and type. So nothing appears in the type or model spaces. Finally they changed the convertible to coupe at my request.
It will be worth your while ringing them up to get details of what you could title your car. I provided a receipt from Tribute and some photos. Chris was knowledgeable and helpful.
Geoff to echo what Kevemm says and give you my own personal experience of the V5C descriptions of body panel kit cars situation - completely out of the blue one day in back in 2007 I received a note (see attached) from my local DVLA office (when they still had local offices) asking to inspect my car.
When I phoned them up to ask if it was about the F355 kit I had put on my MR2 they refused to say. At this point I got somewhat annoyed and asked what would happen if I didn’t turn up for the appointment, to which they replied that I would not be able to re-tax the vehicle until the inspection had been done, effectively putting my car off the road in under a year.
On the day of the inspection they phoned me up and asked me to bring all my documentation relating to the kit I had added to the car. When I got there they looked around the car and I explained how the kit was added to the existing monocoque body. They were satisfied that I had still retained the identity of the original car (as I had not altered the monocoque) and they proceeded to change the description of the car on the V5 so I left a happy chappy.
It is also my understanding, although I have never heard of it happening, that an MOT inspector is quite within his rights to refuse to MOT test a car if the description of the car does not match its appearance.
I have since built a 250 GTO body panel kit for which I have also had the V5C description changed. There is certainly a lot more awareness of this requirement amongst buyers of completed kit cars to the extent that not having had the V5C description changed can effect the value of the car.
