The Air Con Compressor

Whilst it's still fresh in my head.

The air con compressor is not salvageable as outer housing has sheared off at one of the bolts. I'm in luck it mounts to a separate bracket otherwise it could have been alternator or block damage also. It's also pinned in place by chassis leg so I cannot remove it from the car. It's literally floating in place as it needs to go down to be removed but is pinned and cannot go up due to bracket mounting.

 

I've got all the steering/suspension bits now. And a tyre to get the car rolling (thanks Ryan) but then realised i don't have a big enough wrench etc to take the wheel off. (more tools lol)

Had someone from a local body-shop come over this week and discuss the repair and quote. Turns out it's cheaper and easier to just replace the whole quarter. This way it will require less alignment. The downside to getting the car into the body-shop is that I need a fair amount of body parts to send with car for accurate alignment (initially thought I could have the leg repaired and phase the rest). Also engine will need to come out to give required access to weld so another additional cost.

Update 07/04/2017

Update

I'm aiming to put only genuine parts back on the car. So for me that's mostly going to be used parts or repairing what I can (or rare new genuine parts from eBay).

I'm finding when querying parts number and prices BMW don't seem to have much in stock in the UK of late and everything is on back order (not good really).


The Plan

This Saturday's plan is to remove the rad pack and intercooler along with the air con compressor and bracket. After this all 90% of the damaged parts will be removed (save for wings, windscreen and dash/airbags). 

I also wanted to fix the steering/suspension arms whilst I was at it and my good mate H was helping me.

That plan has mostly changed due to H having to go into work and Quarry Motors giving me a bit of the run around in regards to parts (QM are very good for parts, highly recommend, they also have this crazy 1M with a E90 M3 engine. In short, they didn't have all the bits i needed and the bits they did have won't arrive till Monday (£96.50 for OSF tension strut & wishbone delivered).

Still needed a NSF tie rod (and contemplating whether i also needed the tie rod end as it looks fine). Parts gateway was a bust and eBay keep showing me OEM quality parts which didn't look quite right. Eventually found brand new genuine complete tie rod and end for £55 delivered.

Compressor

Also had to hunt to get a mobile air con technician to come and drain the air con system before i could remove the air con compressor. Lots of companies that never get back to you. 
In the end found a local guy who's  coming Saturday for £25.

I had alsofound 2 brand new replacement compressors, one in UK for £230 (no returns no warranty) and one in Canada for £210 (no returns no warranty with possibility of customs charges) with 6 - 12 week delivery.

Alternative is to have my compressor re-manufactured at Compressortech for £270 but that comes with 12 months warranty.

Still thinking on the most cost effective vs peace of mind solution (remember I'm keeping the car).

So that's where i am currently. This project will be more an exercise in managing parts costs as much as anything. But as I'm not rushing should be OK. 

After steering is sorted will just need to get the bonnet and wings before i can take to bodyshop for jig work.


BONUS: This is the Arthur Tussik video i was referring to earlier -

Expecting a similar process.

Update 01/04/2017

Just a quick update:


So the air con compressor..... 2 parts listed only one available brand new from BMW £1100 - reason newer part supersedes old part due to "slight modification to allow more model fitment" lol (In actuality the difference was in the refrigerant used - R134A vs R1234YF)


Found same part brand new not fitted for £300 on eBay. lol

You can see how bent the air con compressor is in the pics below, along with broken bracket.

This pic shows some of the chassis leg damage (need to take a better photo).

What car currently looks like - just need the Radiator and Intercooler off.

Bad news


In the process of stripping down i notice some slight damage front subframe. Left side end has been bent down.

 Below shows how the hole should be facing up.

A new subframe is around £100, so whichever is cheaper - Repair or replace. This will be done whilst car is on jig.

FUN FACT: The front subframe is the same on the following cars - F20/21 (1 series - 3 & 5 door) F22 (2 series coupe - not convertible) F30/31 (3 series saloon & estate) F34/35 (3 series GT & LWB)

How bad could it be? Right?

So looking for salvage cars is about luck as much as anything else. Well, arm yourself with knowledge and get lucky. 

What I mean by that is, learn all you can about the car you want. Specifically any weird quirks. Learn how your car is put together. 

For BMW's and Mini's, Realoem is your parts bible. Enter your chassis number and away you go. It shows you all the parts for your vehicle in an exploded diagram. From it you can easily identify parts (obviously with basic car knowledge). 

Also find out what the car was worth pre-accident. I find Autotrader valuations a decent tool.

You can also find out the options specified on sites like BMW Vin if you have the chassis number (you can get chassis number from the reg on some parts websites, google it).

Doing the above will help you can figure out what's wrong a car visually (mostly... always go and see in the flesh and take another pair of eyes with you, the excitement of buying a vehicle can blind you to the obvious). This way you can decide if the car is a good buy at a good price, and roughly how much money it will cost to put right. Use this for the bargaining process.

Highly desirable cars will pop up occasionally and won't hang around, especially with minimal damage. So chances are the car you end up buying will either cost you more than you wanted or have more damage than you'd have liked.

I waited a few months before a M135i was available om the colour/options combo I was happy with.

Here's what i bought:

List of damage i can see (so far):

Both headlights (adaptive) smashed (front of one near non existent) - auto levellers damaged too (was able to salvage drivers modules, LED modules and Xenon bulbs with ballasts)
Front bumper (obviously)
Both front wings and bonnet
Bumper carrier/reinforcement - Air ducts
Crosslink/Whole support structure
Radiator and fan and pipes
Intercooler
Under shield
Air filter and collector
Air con compressor (not sure if you can repair as BMW don't sell separate parts for this unit, but do on the old 1 series)
Air con bracket (split down where deflector pulley is mounted)
Serpentine belt (shredded)
NSF chassis leg off centre along with wheel house support (possibly OSF as well) getting quotes from several body shops
OSF tension strut (lower control arm) & wishbone (see pics)
NSF tie rod (see pics)
Airbags - passenger, driver and strangely NS curtain
Bonnet
Both wings to some degree
Bumper (missing lol)
 

Why I bought this car?

This example was relatively straight considering (i obviously would have preferred no jig work, but that said it's not bad. Watch Authur Tussik's body repairs and you see what i'm on about.
Front sub-frame was not damaged at all from what I could see, and although not starting fully, the crank was very strong and there was no signs block damage or leaking oil.

Car was also fairly well spec'd too (auto, pro nav, adaptive headlights etc) and was fairly new being a 14 reg with 33k miles (interior is mint, still had new car smell) and was a good price considering the car is worth £18k (according to Autotrader valuation)
 

Due diligence prior to buying

Full HPI check with confirmation of VIN (weren't able to check log book as insurance company's destroy cat C categorised V5's. Went with my mechanically minded Uncle to view the car and spent 2 hour examining. Got a battery pack on the car and brought a ODB reader to read fault codes.

I've given myself a couple months to put right (going slow saves money).

Delivery

Trying to unload a non-running auto with front wheels that don't steer is time very consuming. Took me and 2 guys over an hour to move it from the transporter 10m on to my drive.

What I've done so far:

Bought a decent car cover - Halfords Advanced car cover Large size (supposed to be able to cover an E90 saloon, just covers the F20) £49


Bought a decent trolley jack (Sealey) and a Ring intelligent battery charger (charged battery for 2 days and all good)


NOTE: If you ever remove the battery from the car, do not fully close tailgate as you cannot open without power. there is no emergency tailgate pull on inside. and the owner's handbook suggest taking a screwdriver and moving the latch (which i couldn't do, well not without damaging something). In end had to remover boot floor and drop in very awkwardly.
Other than that I've just started stripping down front end. Removed damaged reinforcement structure and lots of broken plastic

Next steps

Sort steering out (right now front wheels trying to run away from each other.
Get quotes for jig work
Replace air con pump and serpentine belt and get car started
Source genuine parts (not using any pattern parts)
Stay tuned....

Help Me Out

So if you've reading this and have visited before you may have noticed that on the right  (or bottom in mobile view) hand side of your screen is a GoFundMe link.

Allow me to explain.....

I debated very hard about putting this up there and am not actively promoting this anywhere else but on the blog. It is basically there as a way for you and others who read and enjoy this blog and this project to contribute.

As you can imagine fixing a car isn't cheap. And yes, I was fully aware of this prior to buying the car. But what it's come down to is Time vs. Money.

I could go and spend the money I don't have today and fix the car and be broke for a long time paying it back (and possibly compromise my financial responsibilities). Or spend very little and take years to finish. I'd like a middle ground solution.

I set myself a target for end of September to finish the bulk of it. Mainly because I'd be less likely to want to work on it in the colder months.

In reality, life gets in the way and you have set backs. Just because I decided to do this doesn't mean my responsibilities take a back seat (new fridge, children's birthday party, home maintenance to name a few).

So if you feel like you would like to donate towards this project, great!. I really appreciate it (Let me know why you donated also). Your donation could also be something else like parts, tools or time helping me, that would be awesome too.

If you don't wish to donate that's great also. We can still be friends right? Please comment and interact with the blog.

Thanks

The not so mini Mini

The Mini Countryman was bought as a replacement for the good old 2006 E87 BMW 118d Manual M-Sport. Which was a good little car to drive albeit fairly cramped on the inside.

Ours was like above but Sydney Blue (the other blue they offered at the time)

It was very fun in the corners but had a fair amount of turbo lag, so to get the most out of it, you had to keep the revs higher (aka mash the loud peddle).

This car had to go for the sake of my now eldest daughter. It was just not up to having a car seat in the rear, and average height adult in front of it. Plus the boot was rather small. 

There was also an interesting issue with it where the traction control would suddenly bang in and disable itself (which both scared the crap out of you, and made driving in slippery condition a almost useless). It turns out it was a faulty steering angle sensor which comes as part of the slip ring, which BMW wanted £700 plus labour for. This was not such a big issue to warrant this kind of money spent on a car i wasn't planning to keep.

Side note: Mrs P thought the 118d was massive (considering she came form a Ford Luxury Ka (top spec, don't you know).

Finance

We traded in the 118d at a BMW/Mini main dealer and got the Mini on a 4 year PCP with (wait for it) £7k up front (118d plus £2k). It costs us £141 per month with the GAP, tyre, alloy insurance etc.

Fun fact: if you buy an insurance product from a main dealer, don't assume this product is valid at other main dealers in different networks.

After having PCP, i can't recommend it. Never get PCP, unless you will be able to meet all the requirements for the term (mileage, servicing etc). Or you don't plan to get another car after. (i.e. perpetual leaser). 

It's just not worth it. In my opinion.

And MGFV are a load of BS. Even with all the up front cash the Mini was still depreciating in-line with what's owed on the car, mainly due to interest. The up front deposit has only given us lower monthly payments (which isn't a bad thing) but I'll never see anywhere near that money back when selling. Plus at the end of the term there's still a ridiculous balloon payment (which is mainly capital, as you've been paying for hire and interest).

If you want to own the car at the end, the best thing to do get a loan (in my opinion). The rates are better and will track better with depreciation if you take care of the car.

If you want a new car every couple of years, just lease it.

Anyway I've side tracked a bit.... The Mini.

We went for a 2011 Countryman SD All4 Auto (ours has every option except JCW bodykit and wheels, even the front rally style lamps.)

Living with it

To begin with it was fun to drive, albeit a bit slow. After owning for a month, we noticed just how loud the engine noise is. You literally end up shouting to speak in the car, and all the diesels are like that (my mum has one too, petrols are damn near silent in comparison). Mini cheaped out of sound deadening (i guess to cut costs) but the diesel lump in it is fairly loud at idle too (borderline tractorish). This was very apparent when my friend pulled up outside mine in a V6 3 litre VW Tourag and i could barely hear his engine over mine. Surprisingly it's the same engine in the mini as was in our old 118d. Who knows what they did to make it worse.

Next the fuel economy, it's terrible for a diesel. I've owned diesel cars for years from different makes (see previous blog post) and anything less than 40mpg is crap in my book. We get average on the motorway 35mpg. The claimed mpg isn't much better at 38mpg (I never checked the All4 models before buying as I just assumed all BMW/mini diesels would be good and the non-all4 was 47mpg, I guess they had to cut cost somewhere right?).

My mum has same car with same engine but no All4 and get around 47mpg driving around town. I'm convinced the ALL4 system added weight is to blame, and has little benefit. Official figure has the SD ALL4 auto version at 10mpg less than without ALL4.
 
There are no reported faults with the car and tyre pressure are checked regularly.


Other than this, it's just annoying things like window switch placement, centre speedo and an annoying intermittent low battery alarm (which was present since we bought, and only went away after running the car with now A/C or other accessories for a long journey). I suppose this is the problem of owning and enjoying BMW or similar level cars and buying lesser cars like the mini (I remember my wife saying to me 2 weeks after we got the car "for my next car can we get a BMW again, people respect you on the road more and give you way" To which i replied "you've only just got the mini")

Bonus fact: The rear bumper is a right pain to get off. I found this out recently a my sister bashed one of the parking sensors in. So many perishable clips and hidden retainers. I ended up somehow just wedging my hand between the narrow gap between the bumper and reinforcer and pushing back in placed. These are only held in place with double sided tape (cheapskates)

The main reason we'd need to change was a lack of space for 2 kids and there stuff. but what to get?


My wife does not like big cars (I swear she thinks every car that's not hers is big lol). but despite this we need a bigger car.

I wanted to get an F25 X3, good size, good engine, good mpg. The prices however not so good. especially when compared to the E70 X5 of similar year. For a couple grand less, you could get a slightly older 7 seat M-sport 40d. Arguably better value for money (but still expensive). But it would be a battle to convince Mrs P to drive something that big.

I considered a VW Tourag (did not like the way it drove), a Porsche Cayenne (Price, just price) and several saloons & estates - mainly BMW Audi and Jaguar (Mrs P not keen on estates or Jags, saloon didn't offer enough boot space).

I even tried to convince her that if we got the X5, i'd get the Z4 as a fun car for whomever doesn't have the kids (didn't work).

This is where trying to be somewhat practical with my car choice and smarter with the money came in. Whatever I got would have to do double duty temporarily due to crap share price (I have investments I'd use to pay for X5 - thanks Brexit).

Choosing the right car - Compromise is a necessity

Establishing  that I am a self-confessed petrol head and that I've always compromised to some degree when choosing a car, I was adamant that my next car would be what i wanted. No more compromises.

As this car, in my mind would be for fun for me (and Mrs P). We have another car for family duty - 2011 Mini Countryman (not so mini) SD All4 Auto (I separated this into it's own blog post).


So immediately i looked at the de facto sports car - Porsche Boxster/Cayman S.

I've always liked the Boxster/Cayman, especially the 981. They looked amazing and sounded even better with the Porsche sports exhaust (That flat 6 sound, you know the one). 
Prices quickly gave me a reality check. Not just to buy, but cost of ownership (I don't cheap out on servicing or parts - just OCD like that). Salvage cars weren't that much cheaper and parts were expensive and rarer than unicorn ****.

I didn't like the looks of the 986 and 987 (bit hairdresser) plus they were down on power. And then there's the IMS bearing problem. Along with mid-engine cars being difficult to work on and not being able to add power easily, the Porsche was ruled out.

Next came the Z4. 

I like BMWs and their Boxster/Cayman equivalent is the E89 Z4, which I would argue is the best looking car BMW currently make. A good selection of engines were available (unlike the Porsche), but as much as I'd like the 35is, the 28i was still quick and economical. It also has massive tuning appeal (300bbhp from a AC Schnitzer ECU).

This car had more power than the standard Boxster & metal folding roof (so best of both, kinda). 

I wanted one.... badly. There were a couple of salvage examples available for decent money too, and I almost got one.


I had my heart set on a Z4 until i had a conversation with a mate I used to play ice hockey with who works for BMW. "Don't think you can get the stick in the car unless you have the ski hatch and the boot is tiny" he said. "There not even proper cup holders"

That one sentence was a reality check. As much as i wanted a fun car for when I drive it (which would be mostly to Ice hockey training and games), a 2 seater sports car wasn't going to cut it in the real world for me. Even if i tried to rationalise it against the Countryman.

Then I remembered another hockey mate had an M135i. A car that was both quicker and way more practical. Spoke to him and he sold me on the car in 30 seconds. Which was surprising as my wife had a E87 118D M-sport and the car was fun drive but not really anything special, so always over-looked them (kinda like how no-one pays attention to A and B class Mercs, well not until the A45 AMG came out).

Got added to the M135i owners Facebook group and lurked on there for ages, slowly getting hyped at the thought of getting one.

So all in all, compromise is necessary, but sometimes it can get you to better place. With the M135i i get a affordable, practical, sports car that won't require monopoly money or a small nations reserve in liquefied dinosaurs to run.

The hard part was going to be finding one for the right price and right level of damage....