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HalfJobHarry

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Everything posted by HalfJobHarry

  1. HalfJobHarry
    It's because if they can trace the contacts and locate the source they will make a decision based on that. The reality surely is that we are not going have just 3 days of level 3. At this stage there are in excess of 150 people designated as 'close contacts' (although this is a very broad term) of the current cases. One of the cases went to Rotorua on Saturday, broadening the blast radius to who knows how many. Agreed, the data just isn't in yet on the next stage, that will become apparent by end of the week. It's very much a remain at 3 or go to 4 in my mind right now. This isn't a failure of anything IMHO, this is the system working as best it it ever can in the face of a highly infectious virus like this. My homeland the UK has the highest excess deaths in all of Europe and looks to be on course for the worst recession of most European countries (currently showing a 20% drop in GDP ...20%!!). To date here in NZ we have paid with minimal human lives and the impact the the economy seems to me to have been managed as best as possible. Simply 'carrying on' Australia style is somehow seen to be a way to save your economy...it's not true given the global nature of things as countries like the UK and Australia are finding out. I'm very curious as to what the source of this new outbreak is, given that it's been 100+ days, surely it's must have come via quarantine or some lapse in border control? Either that or there is something more going on with COVID than we yet understand.
  2. HalfJobHarry
    That's the size of IPA I need really....will track down a commercial place. Yeah IPA is an ingredient (or part of the process) in a popular illicit substance so they understandably keep an eye on bulk buying
  3. HalfJobHarry
    Oh....never though to check Bunnings. Cheers. I'll checkout the Ech20, been looking for something like that.
  4. HalfJobHarry
    Thanks, Totally get that everything has immobilizers, and my view in the past 20 years has been that aftermarket alarms etc are probably unnecessary in case of a factory fit immobilizer. I'm tempted to maybe go for a GPS tracker though as the DIY with a SIM card (got to pay the data charges of course) jobbies don't seem too expensive. Agree with others too, in that if somebody wants to steal it ....they will steal it.
  5. HalfJobHarry
    Thanks. You speak sense. I think Ceramic might be something I do for the Wife's car where I don't really want to be bothering with it very often. Yeah I'm going to stick with what I know. I've got a cupboard full of sealants and waxes I like and yeah I enjoy the process, especially as a good wax lasts a few months. Do you have a place to get hold of decent amounts of IPA ? I keep buying tiny bottles from the chemist for about $9!!! Washing the car at all is a total pain given the water restrictions in Auckland right now!
  6. HalfJobHarry
    I'm trying to make this decision now. Fresh cut and polish done...... I've ALWAYs been Klasse + Collinite + Some soft paste wax on top of that person.... I am curious to try a ceramic coat though, I'd apply myself as it doesn't look all that difficult. Yeah... 9 months of beading would be nice...but I'm worried for all the effort it won't be as shinyas sealant + wax is on a proper freshly cut and polished car... I hear people saying it's not as shiny..but it is different to sealant + wax....more of a reflective mirror type thing than the depth of wax...?
  7. HalfJobHarry
    I've not thought about fitting an aftermarket alarm/immobilizer since 'the old days' where immobilizers were not standard and alarms even less so..... Are additional alarms/immobilizers still 'a thing'? If so are there any recommendations for BMWs? Is it all GPS trackers now or what?
  8. HalfJobHarry
    To be brutally honest, I love BMWs, but it's hard to recommend anything out of warranty as a 'commuter' unless you are going to budget in for the maintenance and the 'princess' factor. Commuting, especially in your price range is about economy, the trust it's going to start in the morning every time and a general lack of stress. You're just going to be better served with a Japanese car in that price range for your use case. But if you are dead set , then the smart money as many have said is a 130i although not sure it will meet your fuel economy need. Gotta budget for the BMW maintenance factor though.....don't overlook this...
  9. HalfJobHarry
    So I've long been "warned off" convertibles (and sunroofs) by my old school mechanic father who embedded into me that these things are trouble. I have a line on a E93 convertible that could be ideal for my project...... That said I've never owned a convertible (would only be a 3rd project car for weekend / summer / fun user)... Is the hard top a source of additional aggravation from a maintenance perspective (do I really need to ask with BMWs? ). Any experiences and advice gratefully received.
  10. HalfJobHarry
    Pump fix guide posted in here.
  11. HalfJobHarry
    As promised a while back here is my guide/shared experience with things E8x washer / sprayer related. Formatting needs a tidy up which I'll do if there content is useful/wanted or look at making a website/blog post or something as that might be easier. EDIT: It's also worth mentioning that if your washer pumps are not leaking but you suspect you're strainers are gummed up....shoving very long plastic tubing (something from a fish tank place or similar) down into the tank and blowing can cause the dirty water to back flow. I've also driven compressed air through the sprayer lines on the bonnet back into the tank. These approaches provided some short term fixes...but sooner or later you are going to have to get in there...) E8x and E9x Washer tank guide.pdf
  12. HalfJobHarry
    They do leak as has been said from all over. I've never owned a BMW where I didn't have to change the valve cover gasket and a bunch of others. My advice is to try hard to locate where the actual leak is. Stick a pair of gloves on and feel around the valve cover, especially at the back. Another culprit is the oil filter housing. Also be prepared for your entire coolant system to start leaking soon too...from hose, tank, thermostat etc. If it hasn't been changed either yet, your water pump will be about to die. Unless you have positively identified the leak, don't part with any money unless the garage identifies the leak and pledges a fix. That said, oil housing gasket AND the valve cover gasket are easy/moderate DIY jobs requiring ordinary garage tools and is a few hours work (if you've done it before...took me twice that the very first time). Unless you are particularly attached to the car, think hard about what you do, but be prepared for massive expense over the next couple of months and years
  13. HalfJobHarry
    I'll throw my vote in for 130i. I foolishly but still happy picked up a low km 120i (130i's were substantially more expensive a couple of years back so no regrets) as my 'daily' (I drove only 3800kms in 18 months!). Looking back, the 120i has never satisfied that itch that my old 330i did, which has led directly to me building and rebuilding a N54 to drop into a 135i...so my 'do the sensible thing and save myself some money' really ultimately cost me more. I suspect the 130i would have more than scratched the itch for me. There is certainly hell of a lot less to fix on the 130is vs the N54/N55s...
  14. HalfJobHarry
    Case in point. Just today I paid $27 for a pair of 'wash pump strainers' (9 on the pic) tiny little plastic cage with a rubber grommet attached. They are listed all over the world for about $3 each. They had them in stock and the service was good which is some consolation. The dealers in the UK were not cheap by any stretch, but still wasn't a steep as here. That said, I've had some success here cutting the odd deal or two when it was recognized that the pricing may be a little bit wide of the mark (timing chain tensioner! and a few other odds and ends). The dealer I've used here is actually nice and polite with good service, whereas almost every dealer in the UK I ever went to was arrogant as hell and pretty much laughed as they took my money in glee. Then strangely other things like DOT4 LV seem priced like 'normal'. Mileage definitely varies.
  15. HalfJobHarry
    Just the filter housing to block one in this case. Wasn't too difficult. Now fiddly on this car was getting that vac pump bolted back on to the back of the engine. I contorted in ways I never thought possible for that one :D. I recall the being a bit more involved on my E46 (I seem to remember needing to take the alternator out and hang the power steering pump off the subfame) and oil seemed to emerge from every possible orifice.
  16. HalfJobHarry
    Couldn't agree more....but for me personally most of those jobs have either been down to tricky access requirements...some things are simply nightmares even with a lift..attempting them without them is only for the masochists. The others are ones that require VERY specialist / VERY expensive tools. I'm not going to try and machine a block or deck a head myself (although the Youtube videos of this being DIYd are madness!). In recent years I'm also in a position where I've had access to other vehicles and don't rely on the BMW(s) in the way I once did. I've found this takes a large amount of the 'worry' out of attempting the tough jobs. If I destroy my own car, I'm not the type to go pointing fingers or blaming any guides/advice I was given either . It's on me. I could understand if they have become brittle...but every time? They are $70 set from the dealer , which means maybe OEM for $40 ish elsewhere? I suppose planning ahead for when it's strictly necessary to remove the inlet and minimizing the amount of times you do it could work. I've never thought about this before, I've always just replaced gaskets when they looked to have 'had it' or at some lengthy interval :D. That said I don't have much experience with boost so presumably that's the difference? A lot higher pressures in the manifold to keep contained....
  17. HalfJobHarry
    I'm totally ...totally ..totally with you on that one. I'll level with you on this one...the $250 + GST quote I once received to change the oil housing gasket (3 bolts and a $12 part) has rather jaded my view of some operators. I'm all for loyalty and I'd love to establish a good rapport with a reliable and good value for money garage. However when the first conversation goes like that I'm never getting in the door to start that relationship because I'm immediately feeling like I'm going to get 'stung' for every little thing. For example I'd much rather pay and trust somebody to do my oil and filter changes, because I always ache the next day from getting under there and stuff....but the mark ups on the filter, the oil ($5 for the drain plug washer!, yes I have been quoted for the new washer!) leave a bad taste. I'm in no way "chasing the bottom dollar" ...and I love the example further down the thread on the Chinese brake rotors. This is what the uninitiated do not understand....all things especially parts are far from equal. There is a class of car owner/customer it seems that their only objective is to keep their vehicle running for the least possible dollar outgoing. I question why people with that mindset drive BMWs at all...there are far far far better options for 'cheap hassle free motoring'
  18. HalfJobHarry
    At some interval or literally every time you take your intake off?
  19. HalfJobHarry
    It's mostly about learning how to do something for me. I'm totally happy to pay what I feel is a fair price for work, which I often do. Granted some jobs are not ones I want to tackle... By that logic I'd be paying $85 for somebody to change my air filter + the cost of the filter. Like anything, it varies on ones appetite for the difficulty of the job at hand right?
  20. HalfJobHarry
    It's about using your head.. If you're builder says 5 years to build a 3 bed...do you go? "Take my money, sounds good you are the expert" or do you go....hmmm, it seems that other comparable houses get built in less than 12 months...I'm no expert but 5 years seems a bit too long to me. I'm not claiming expertise, I'm just questioning the "accept any price" at face value position and applying some thought to it. Shopping around is allowed. If as a customer I don't like the price/service offered I'm not obligated to simply pay up because that's the first price somebody gives me.
  21. HalfJobHarry
    Again agreed. All very valid points. All of those costs/operating/risks etc apply to pretty much any job performed by a mechanic at a business. It's the lack of transparency that is my issue. Nobody seems to dispute that taking your time this would be a 5 hour job, $120 an hour + $50 brings it to $650. Leaving $350 to bring it to $1000 for overheads? It was my understanding that those other costs, opportunity etc were already mostly covered by a garages hourly rate. Either that or a lot more $$$ goes into a mechanics pocket these days than I thought. I've ordered an appropriate vac and sand blaster and I just need to source the right sized walnuts and fashion some kind of adapter (I'll be waiting months for one to come in from overseas otherwise) and I'm keen to see how much blasting a set of moderately dirty valves takes to do. I may find it a real nightmare and I'll gladly eat a massive dose of humble pie
  22. HalfJobHarry
    Great stuff! The older engines are a lot less fiddly. I don't really count it as a build but in college we did a 1.8L project from the British Ford Escort. I may have been from the XR3. My dad was a mechanic so grew up with it. Didn't go into the field professionally despite a strong interest for whatever reasons.
  23. HalfJobHarry
    I agree totally that conditions do vary...but then why fix the price to the 'upper bound' for the job? Still even on the longer end numbers that are going around and this is a 5-6 hour job...it's still a stretch in my mind to get it up to the $1000 dollar mark. It would be a lot more transparent if the quote were a range with the caveat that it depends on how bad it is etc etc. I'm not saying and didn't say I can do it in under an hour. I'm saying I reckon an experienced professional could be doing one in...lets say 'average' condition in less than two hours. If anybody has the equipment going spare , I have a recently extracted N54 on an engine stand that has medium-heavy dirty intakes, I'd be keen to take 'first time walnut blaster challenge'. Another element that I think plays a part is the fear factor...this clearly is one of those jobs that could do some damage if it goes wrong. Between the "specialist" equipment and the risk factor, my feeling it's just one of those things that the majority of people will just stump up the cash to transfer the risk to a mechanic.
  24. HalfJobHarry
    Internally to the pumps themselves? Do you stock them new? EPC says: 67127302588 67127302589
  25. HalfJobHarry
    What's not simple about it? Am I missing something? If I had the equipment to hand, removing the airbox and intake is a 10 minute job if you have done it before. You have to tape off the other 5 intakes. Rotate CYL 1 to TDC...attach your blaster....even the DIY videos with marginal equipment working right, the actual blasting seems to take less than 30 seconds per cylinder. The super diligent people then seem to blow out the cylinder with air via the spark plug hole as a precaution. The BMW procedure does not do this. Given the above I reckon the total is about an hour....say 2 for kicks plus the roughly 12kg of walnuts doing six seems to require. At retail they pay about $55 for a 20kg bag, so $30 for walnuts. For a first timer DIYer I can see a bit of a mess about for a few hours or more figuring stuff out, but a pro who does this regularly? 5 hours...I can't see how you can reckon that. I don't see there is a requirement to change the gaskets unless they need it, granted if it's been 55k they probably need it. I'd love to be dead wrong here, but can't see how an accounting of the time involved ever reaches $1000 + GST...
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