Reuse and Recycle

I cannot stress how important it is to save every unbroken or even slightly damaged part. From clips & screws, right up to bigger items like charge pipes.

I specifically mention charge pipes as mine was forced off the FMIC during the crash and broke the clips, but the pipe itself was fine (check out pics in the earlier posts).

Now BMW in all there wisdom do not sell any hose spring clips separately, even though these are common items that are lost or broken.

There are a few people selling replacement spring clips for £20 each!!! Crazy for what is essentially a glorified paper clip.

There are two pipes attached to the FMIC. Pictured here (above & below) is the smaller, shorter (cheaper) side, which came as part of the rad pack I bought.

One day, after a certain time wasting idiot who promised a new charge pipe never came through. I was looking at the two pipes on the car and thought I wonder if the are the same size?

Turns out they are!! So I carefully removed the spring clip and guide and transferred them on to the original and voila! Insta-fix cheapo style.

After this I began to checked all my other hoses and found some of the new ones were missing clips but seeing as i still had the old ones I could re-use those. TOP TIP: Check all used hoses for clips when buying!!!

Salvage yards are also good places to pick up cheap genuine parts. My car needed a new front subframe as part of the front was bent slightly. I picked up one cheap as it had a few scratches on it.

A bit of wire brushing and some hammerite paint

Good as new