Bored of blogging

If anyone still reads this you'll notice I've not been updating this as regularly as before.

This is mainly due to lack of time due to starting a new job but also due to lack of motivation if I'm honest.

I've not had any interaction with readers via blogger. I get a few comments when posting on the owners Facebook group but that's it.

The car was completed in Nov 2017 and I've been enjoying it since. There's been a few little "Gremlins" but all good.

I've a few post on draft detailing the bodyshop progress and these gremlins as well as the interior work. Plus a breakdown of costs etc.

But if no one is interested then i'm not likely gonna bother.

If you are interested and have been following along please get in touch, say hey and let me know.

Faith in humanity lost again

Whilst the car was in the body shop, I'd regularly pop in and check on progress and chat to the guys. Normally this would normally involve me bringing more parts over.

This time instead of the normal greeting I got a look of horror. So when I asked what was wrong to the main man he replied "Your car was stolen". I gave him a bemused look and asked "What are you talking about"

He replied "No, no, your wheels are gone" - English was not his first language.

I thought he was winding me up and he took me round to the yard where i saw....

They accepted responsibility and asked for the details as well as any pictures so they could get like for like.

In the end I ended up sourcing a set from a owners group member an agreeing with garage to take cost off bill.

BMW F Series Emergency Neutral Procedure

During delivery and taking the car to body shop I've had to learn how to engage emergency neutral on the 8 speed ZF auto gearbox.

Essentially there are two methods

1. Jack car up, remove splash covers and screw in bolt on underside of gearbox until you hear a click. This engages neutral mechanically and car will stay in neutral until bolt is backed off. This method is usually used when the engine is unable to be cranked.

2. Electronic method as detailed in the iDrive manual. Essentially you crank the engine, move selector to N and hold until a gong and message is displayed then release and move back to N within 6 seconds.

Hopefully this will help someone as I couldn't find this online anywhere

To the bodyshop... finally

Just as I was nearing completion of all my prep for bodyshop work, I noticed crank pulley (what BMW call a vibration dampener) was wobbling when rotating. Brand new these are £400 on back order from Germany and no salvage yard had any. But it needed to be replaced before radiators were installed.

In the end I found one 2nd hand in Germany for £167. The problem I then had was how to change it over as i read the crank shaft needed to be locked and i never had tools to do that nor get the torque for bolt spot on.

After consulting a few knowledgeable people I ended up using a breaker bar and some strategic placement to loosen and remove the old pulley

The bolts came off fairly easy, so as long as I tighten them evenly then I should be OK.

The last thing I noted was the air duct for the front was broken. Again this was something that needed fixing before the front end was installed.

The plastic was really brittle and I managed to break it more removing it. The replacement was cheaper brand new from BMW (another reason to always check prices). New one turned up broken too so was replaced and I was extremely careful installing it (still broke a clip).

Below is car finally at the body shop (Sept 2017)

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

Check these out

I thought I'd share some of the sites and channels I find helpful and enjoy watching in relation to this project and cars overall.

Youtube

Doug Demuro

Doug is a very animated car journalist who reviews quirky cars. He often buys cars and reviews them over a longer period.

Arthur Tussik

Arthur is literally a magician when it comes to car body repair. Some of the cars he fixes look beyond repair yet he manages to pull it off and somehow make it look easy.

Chrisfix

Another animated American, Chris shares useful tips & tricks as well as knowledge on how to maintain cars yourself

Carwow

New car reviews & vlogs by Mat Watson

Car throttle

Factual & crazy car videos

Parts

Parts Gateway

Online parts request tool for breakers in the UK

ETKBMW

Online BMW parts system

NewTis

Online BMW workshop manuals

Faith in humanity restored

More often than not when buying a used car these days it's pot luck whether you'd get both keys with it (especially true when buying a car that has been part exchanged to a dealer). Now imagine how less likely it is when buying a salvage car. Most of these cars are recovered at the accident scene and go straight to auction/salvage when insurance company is through with it. The owners get paid out and most never bother to send in spare key.

I only got 1 key with the M135i.

New keys supplied and coded by BMW are approximately £160.

On the F series car you can programme your own keys.

So I thought just buy a used key for cheap (you know one of these spare keys that never key returned). and programme it and get as new blade cut. Job done.

But there's the idea that someone has a key to your car. Hmm.

So, One day, whilst rummaging through the car after I first got it I find a motorbike part with a note stuck to it saying "Jamie" along with a phone number.

I think to myself I wonder if this is the previous owner, so I WhatsApp him and ask if he used to own the car. It turns out it was and after explaining who I was and how I got his number.

I asked him how the car was damaged - He was driving in heavy rain and he aquaplaned and hit a concrete bollard.

Anyway long story short - He had the spare key and offered to send it to me for free.

I received it today

Thanks Jamie

The Air Compressor Gamble

So in an effort to only get genuine bmw parts and keep to the budget, i took a gamble when sourcing a replacement air con compressor.

As you've probably seen in the previous posts, the impact damage bent the chassis leg into the air con compressor, busting it and the bracket in to process.

As the N55 engine was used in a number of engines you'd expect to be able to find a used compressor fairly easy. turns out there was a number of configurations of aux belt on these engines depending on model used in. As such there are a few different compressors available. And sod's law the one i needed wasn't that common.

To add to this from 2013 BMW had moved to the new refrigerant R1234yf ahead of the EU regulations to mandate the use.

Quick background: The older R134a had been found to be contribute towards global warming.

The compressors listed above are for a pre-LCI car. There are two listed as they switched to R1234yf.

The compressor listed above is for the LCI car which was only offered with R1234yf.

I'm told there is some slight differences in the pipe work between R134a and R1234yf due to operating temperatures and pressures. But on the whole near identical.

The compressor is made by Denso and by checking the compressors model and series you can see they are the same type and rated for same use.

So seeing as a new one was a £1k and the newish one was £300 I opted for the LCI model going cheap for £150 after confirming fitment.

Here's what it looked like after i removed the old compressor

(Above) As you can see the alternator needed some cleaning up

(Below) Side by side comparison of old and LCI compressor

I cleaned up the alternator pulley and vibration damper with a wire brush tool on a Dremel.

When I mounted the bracket I realised I was missing 2 long bolts to hold compressor in place securely and ordered new ones to pick up after the weekend. Only to find them a day later but couldn't cancel order. £5 wasted. Top tip, do not throw anything away when stripping down the car (more on that another time).

Below is my first attempt at routing the belt.

A quick Google, and got the correct routing.

Below you can see new compressor in situ with minimum clearance.

After this I cleared the fault codes & attempted to fire her up - No joy. Also I could see the vibration damper had a slight wobble too. Double No Joy. That will need replacing too and they aren't cheap.

Surgical precision compressor removal

So now the elusive headlight has been found and i have the whole front end in parts and have fixed the steering, it's time to send the car to the body shop right?

Eh, not quite.

As much as the engine cranks strong and I think the problem is ECU telling the car not to start due to certain parts not being connected. The fact the engine will be taken out  to repair body has left me with the niggling feeling that I'd like to hear the engine start before it goes in.

To achieve this at the bare minimum i need to fix the accessory belt. This involves replacing a few broken pulleys and belt along with the broken air con compressor  and bracket.

The Problem

As detailed in previous posts, the bent chassis leg has pinned the compressor in place. Meaning I can't remove the old one.

So I got to thinking could bend the leg over enough to release the compressor? NO CHANCE!!!

2-3mm thick steel strengthen structure that was already crimpled was not going to budge by hand unless I spontaneously developed super human strength. Which is why body shops use hydraulic rams to push and pull.

My neighbour then suggested I cut a small piece off to release the compressor. But the gap was tight and couldn't get the dremel in their and didn't fancy using an angle grinder as I'd probably chop my arm off somehow. In the end I was able to cut the smallest piece off using nothing but a hacksaw and a lot of elbow grease.

An hour later and this was the result...

 

As you can see from the pics, only a small sliver of a piece was needed to be cut to free the compressor. You can see how much the leg had been bent in that cross section. This is why we would straighten the leg as much as possible then cut and replace.

Also you can see the compressor and the bracket took the brunt of the impact and broke their mountings. This is actually a good thing and testament to good engineering. As if they didn't break I could be looking at engine block damage instead. As it stands all the block side mounting points look fine.

I had a look at the intercooler charge pipe whilst there and could see some tiny damage but already had decided to replaced due to intercooler side coupling damaged.

New Compressor

I actually have a new compressor already. Which I got from a breaker at a steal for £150. The only issue is the part numbers do not match exactly.

It came from an M135i LCI and the BMW part number is different. RealOEM says neither the original or newer compressor is exchangeable with the LCI version. However the look identical, have same Denso part number (albeit newer revision) and are rated the same and use same bracket.

So this will be either a moment of brilliance on my part or an exercise in futility - time will tell.

Current Plan

Next i plan to get all the pieces to repair the accessory belt. New pulleys and belt.

Hopefully after that it will just be a case of connecting up some of the front end parts like the radiator to trick the car into to starting.

But am running close to top end of budget so finances will slow things down.

If you can spare some beer tokens or click on some ads here it would be greatly appreciated and help the cause immensely.

Catch you soon

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