Shirley Knott

Well, I guess I'm here 🤣

Not much going on here over the last 3 months. The Clio had some new front pads, and the V70 got an oil and filter change in October. It then spent the festive period hauling Christmad trees around and generally being used as the family van.

I've been looking after my brothers cars as usual (Both Mk1 diesel Octavias, the blue one us a VE ALH 90 TDI, and the silver one an SDI in AQM flavour)

Basically, aside from an indicator that lost its lense, and an upgrade to Osram Nightbreakers on one of them, they've needed nothing.


This one's now approaching 220k miles, illustrating the terrible VAG build quality and reliability that it used to be trendy on here to talk about!
Meanwhile,  today I set about the annual adjustments to the Volvo's handbrake system in preparation for MOT next week.


These are a major week point for the P2 platform across the board, and despite the annual battle to set it up as best as I can, I never escape without and advisory for it.
 
 

Home. No pez shot as filled from a can. Weather was absolutely filthy so no fannying about. 
Drove really tight and strong given the mileage.
Anyway I have a very clean boot badge. #VAGLife


More later as housework duties to do and keep Mrs SiC sweet.
 
A few quick pictures for what £1400 gets you nowadays. CHEAPEST DRIVING GTI IN THE COUNTRY (Maybe)


 Not as filthy as you might think it could be.


Headlining is dropping

No stereo but...

No warning lights!

Collected on Page 2 here: https://autoshite.com/topic/57354-2006-golf-20tfsi-gti-bargain-basement-high-miler-tfsi-club/?do=findComment&comment=2940644
 
Mrs SiC is deeply unhappy with me. Apparently I should at least let her know that I'm buying something. However I did show her the advert the other day when she asked what I was doing. Turned her nose up by saying it's old looking and thought I was buying something decent next. Well I thought it was decent ... In truth I was intending to spend a good few grand on something far more modern. 
Except I was thinking about it while on the long walk to the garage to pick up the TT from it's MOT. Decided to message the chap to have at least a gander. Problem is that I tend to just buy if I see a car. So I tend not to see cars otherwise I'd be in even deeper multi-car doodoo.
Seller took it in as a part ex. Got his dad to weld the sills up and then listed it. No interest at the original price. So knocked £195 off his asking price and offered it to me at a price with £500 off since Xmas. I'm a cheeky sod at times and knocked another hundred quid off despite being no offers. 😇
So it's cheap. It's done 197k. Zero history with the car. There is a massive hole where there should be a stereo. It runs, it drives and no warning lights. 
As there was no tax or insurance, I got the seller to do the test drive. Seemed to drive okay with no untoward noises and no apparent clutch slip. There was a weird grinding type noise when turning sharp out of a corner but I pretended I didn't hear that. 
While it's cheap, that doesn't mean it is a bargain. So it could be an absolute bargain or just as much an absolute turd that someone has used up all it's life. 
I'm catching the bus into work as handily there is a direct bus to his. Collection will be tomorrow afternoon/evening after work. Or probably today by the time you are reading this.
P.s. someone buy my TT as I have too many cars again.

This morning my mrs told me to sound the alarm and get us to the hospital.
An hour’s brisk driving in the Disco of Doom and amazingly we had no FTP’s and no major traffic and found ourselves at Hastings Conquest in good time.
Even more amazingly, my partner wasted no time in bringing child number two into the world.

I got to name our son (Jensen), and my mrs has settled on Amélie for our daughter.
I’m absolutely over the moon, couldn’t be more proud of my partner and I’m incredibly grateful for the excellent care once again by the maternity team here in Hastings.
All being well then they’ll both be home tomorrow!

Not much going on here over the last 3 months. The Clio had some new front pads, and the V70 got an oil and filter change in October. It then spent the festive period hauling Christmad trees around and generally being used as the family van.

I've been looking after my brothers cars as usual (Both Mk1 diesel Octavias, the blue one us a VE ALH 90 TDI, and the silver one an SDI in AQM flavour)

Basically, aside from an indicator that lost its lense, and an upgrade to Osram Nightbreakers on one of them, they've needed nothing.


This one's now approaching 220k miles, illustrating the terrible VAG build quality and reliability that it used to be trendy on here to talk about!
Meanwhile,  today I set about the annual adjustments to the Volvo's handbrake system in preparation for MOT next week.


These are a major week point for the P2 platform across the board, and despite the annual battle to set it up as best as I can, I never escape without and advisory for it.
 
 

I had a day off yesterday, so a couple of minor jobs were completed on the remaining fleet.
V70 
This one passed its MOT with a clean sheet last week, but meanwhile has been cruising around struggling to raise the temperature guage above 30% - Not good for a PCV system already infamous for gunking up.  A stuck thermostat was my diagnosis.  A very simple job on pre 2003 P2 cars thankfully. 


Old vs new (NOS calorstat branded item sourced via Ebay for £12)


The original was Volvo branded, so in all likelihood had been in situ for 23 years. New stat installed, now the temperature gauge is pinned in the middle so job jobbed.
Clio
Next up, squealing brakes on the Clio, in spite of the recent clean up and new pads. Remedied this time by a further strip and clean, chamfering the new pads slightly and installing a new fitting kit (£7) to hopefully allow the pads to move more freely.

I followed this up by replacing the miss matched wheel trims (Different on opposing sides) with a set of spokey looking jobbies from ECP (£13.50)
Old.


New.

As you can see, these give the car much more of an aggressive edge and highlight the 1.2 8v Clios racing heritage,  hopefully firmly establishing my status of the 'cock sportif' of our street.
Total spend for the day, £32.50. Satisfaction gained - Moderate.

Not much going on here over the last 3 months. The Clio had some new front pads, and the V70 got an oil and filter change in October. It then spent the festive period hauling Christmad trees around and generally being used as the family van.

I've been looking after my brothers cars as usual (Both Mk1 diesel Octavias, the blue one us a VE ALH 90 TDI, and the silver one an SDI in AQM flavour)

Basically, aside from an indicator that lost its lense, and an upgrade to Osram Nightbreakers on one of them, they've needed nothing.


This one's now approaching 220k miles, illustrating the terrible VAG build quality and reliability that it used to be trendy on here to talk about!
Meanwhile,  today I set about the annual adjustments to the Volvo's handbrake system in preparation for MOT next week.


These are a major week point for the P2 platform across the board, and despite the annual battle to set it up as best as I can, I never escape without and advisory for it.
 
 

Being entirely new to removing engines, and somewhat of a worrier, I'm half convinced that I'm making a massive cockup and it'll never in a million years go back together. But then credit myself with a little confidence that it's all a case of following instructions and being methodical, and even if I do somehow cock it up, I'll learn in putting it right.
Pep talk over, I went through the list from the HBOL...

 
I thought I'd be a smartarse and mark up the propshaft lining up with a chinograph pencil, luckily realised just before taking it off that the grease and so on down here won't guarantee it surviving. I ground a little nick to be sure of having some reference when putting it back together.

The nuts were a bugger to undo with limited ground clearance and a bit of play in the shaft! A spare extension bar was used to stop it rotating, which allowed the nuts to be cracked. A little tugging later and the propshaft slid off.

Also, there's something satisfying about looking at shiny new parts, even if you know that within a few miles it'll be mucky! 

Next job, try to separate the bits of exhaust which really aren't for coming apart... (or, give up, take the angle grinder to the bottom of the manifold, and treat myself to the new manifold as the current one is a bit rusty...)

I've been quiet for quite a bit, a combination of weather, work, and illness.
The wait for paint drags on, I've been pointed towards somebody who has said he can take the car at the end of Jan. We shall see.
After a while discussing engine out vs engine in, I decided it should come out so the bay can be painted too. May as well.
Started by removing the bonnet - a 2 man job, which I managed alone, although I think if it was a finished car with glass in I'd have wanted a second person.

Oil and coolant drained, rad out and all hoses, fuel line off, vacuum, choke and throttle off, battery out, carburettor off...
Lots of random photos taken along the way as reference points of linkages etc, hoses marked up with chinograph pencil.

 

Rest of the fleet - Focus is plodding along quite happily, albeit it is slow on the take-off - whether this is a clutch issue or something I'm not sure, but may need to check and adjust. Mondeo is fine, I did a coolant change and had an air lock I think as we had intermittent heat output and at one point wildly varying temperature gauge - ran the engine parked uphill with the cap off and topped up a bit, seems better now.

Little progress in these parts. Fuel tank was fine, everything nice and tight and running well, gauge works - chucked a couple of gallons of 4* in (at great expense) and it registered (even showing empty on the tank, before taking the old one off, I drained about 2 gallons out).
The old tank itself is still kicking around, I offered it for free online, it's got surface rust but it is intact and perfectly servicable.
Paint wise, I've contacted a couple of other painters that I've had recommended, and one is coming to have a look at the car next week. Hopefully, that will mean some progress!
I'd no idea it'd be quite this long (but I suppose that's the nature of a project like this) and feel a bit silly given that others can work miracles in half the time.
I popped down today for a bit of a tidy up, and to have a looksee at some shiny parts ready for refitting, as some form of motivation. And to figure out the fixing holes for the side rubbing trim which is supposedly a complete cow to get back on! The longer runs have studs along the middle and some sort of clip should be inside for them to locate on. Hmm!

Opportunistic (or magpie-like) as ever, I found an old coat hook board and re-used it as a fan belt storage unit...

Meanwhile, the Mondeo had a further tart up with a couple of coats on the front bumper.

Foam strip arrived and fitted:

 
The back of the speedo had a repair a few years ago - one of the connectors was iffy and I previously soldered some foil to make contact. Maybe need to upgrade - pie tin foil?!
 

 
Mondeo had a wash and a speed-wax this afternoon, which seldom happens.

Right, update time. 
Saturday before last, I managed to get to the oil separator and flame trap. Bit of a pain as its stuck behind the pulse air system which needed removing first. 
Once out, was very simple to replace with the whole new set I'd ordered as opposed to cleaning the old one. 
The one on there was metal as opposed to plastic like the new one. 

Put it all back together and the car ran okay. Result. 
So that's one worry out of the way, so I then took the front to bits to sort out the oil leak. 
Looking at all the oil, it wasn't apparent where the leak was from so I replaced the two top seals and then went to do the crank seal which is the one that I suspected was the issue as it had moved further back than expected when putting it in. 
2 hours later and a variety of bent tools it still wasn't coming out and my enthusiasm was well and truly gone. 
Screwdrivers wouldn't do it, I tried putting some decking screws in, no joy, used some dental tools for scraping plaque that I found in a drawer buy they just bent. Nothing would get it out. 
Looked at one of these:

But the seal would've been too far in to get at it. 
Messaged Volksy for any hints and tips and he suggested I get one of these:

So one was ordered and the car was lobbed sort of back together waiting for the weather to clear to give it a go. 
This Saturday, the weather was nice so got up, put my new tool together and the oil seal came out in seconds. 
Halle-fucking-lujah. 
So the new seal was lobbed in, everything was cleaned up ready to be put back together. 
Volksy came ovet to drop off some oil and to do some work on the BIG, although part of the reason was probably to just check what I was doing to avoid me bothering him again. 
Started getting it sort of together, ran it, took it apart again, no sign of oil leaks. 
Result. 
Started putting it back together again, tightened one of the pulleys before releasing the tensioner and the belt slipped, so had to re time it. 
So put it all together again and fired it up. 
Was working fine. Took it for a short drive to the pub. 
No oil leak. 
Came back out of the pub. 
No oil leak. 
Drove back via the shop
No oil leak. Also no rear n/s indicator. 
Okay, think I can relax. 
Yesterday, I popped to Halfrauds for a bulb. They were selling off their bulb kits for £2 each. Bought a few, replaced the indicator bulb got home and lifted the boot floor and found all this. 

Including 3 cambelts, fan and ps belts, lots of bulbs, Haynes BoL, which I'd bought myself in the last few weeks. If I'd looked here before it would've saved me a few quid. 😂 
So the car is now running...... however it's now not idling right. 
Idle is fine when I start and I assume its on choke but when driving and pulling up to a junction its on the verge of stalling. 
Gonna start looking at the pulse air again and oil separator again in case something isn't right before I look at other things that could be causing it. 
Any obvious suggestions appreciated before I start adjusting it normally. I don't want to adjust the idle and upset a balance if its something else as it was fine before. 

Righto, the weather looks mostly bearable tomorrow so I'm gonna go out and tackle this. 
I suspect that the culprit for the oil leak is the crankshaft pulley seal. When I put it in, I'm sure it went a lot further back than the one I took out, which I thought was odd at the time but there was no way of me getting it out again without damaging it and I didn't have another, so it all went back together.
Has anyone else had this on any vehicle? I assumed (probably wrongly) that you'd push it back until it was seated on something?
Looking online at vids you can see that the ones people are putting in are pretty flush:


So this time I'm just gonna lob the new one in about that far and leave it with a gap behind it?

Trip to York and back in the Audi completed, around 36MPG at Autobahn motorway (I swear) cruising speeds. The driver side front tire definitely has a slow puncture, confirmed before setting off this morning as it was down to half the pressure it should be. I assume that's the wheel that was welded, the cold nights probably didn't help. It takes a week before becoming noticeable but definitely something worth adding to the list. The parking brake error seems to be gone after setting it a few times at least!

I'm probably driving to York this weekend, nice 180 mile roundtrip to see what MPGees I can get out of it. It certainly is impressive, no wonder why everything turned diesel in the early 2000s. With a mild tune this would certainly close the performance gap between it and the petrol V8 somewhat, too.

The weather was good enough this weekend to actually get something done and make some progress on the Celsior. As previously mentioned the transmission cooler line was the most important thing to tackle now that its back on the road. As you can tell, it's been leaking right where the bracket was holding it in place:

Fortunately this is indeed a pretty low pressure line so some quick sawzall action later we cut the offending section of hardline out:

Lucky for me it was close enough to the oil cooler that I just needed to replace the existing hose with a longer section. Toyota added the S-shape to clear the swaybar, I cannot see a reason why a long enough hose wouldn't do exactly the same without ever rubbing through.
As mentioned before, it made sense to do a quick gearbox service while the atf was low. Toyota actually isn't using a gasket to seal the transmission pan but a sealant (ThreeBond 1281 to be exact) instead. I could see that it was weeping in some areas around the pan so now would be the best time to tackle it.

Naturally things had to come as expected and the inevitable total mess unfolded in due time, despite the pan actually having a drain plug. Normally removing a transmission pan isn't a particularly hard thing to do. Doing this on the drive with hardly any room to maneuver underneath the car is just one of those moments that make a garage with a lift that one thing I will not compromise on in the future. Toyota attaching half of the dipstick tube directly to the oilpan didn't help either, just another proof that all manufacturers have idiotic engineering moments. Fishing it back in while not disturbing the fresh sealant was NOT fun.
For those who wonder what the inside of an LS400 tranmission looks like. The filter is just held on by 3 10mm bolts, the seals were rock hard so probably still the original one.

The inside of the pan. The ATF that came out of it didn't look bad at all. Some sludge as to be expected at this age, the magnets didn't really catch any metal debris either.


Pan properly cleaned, removing the old gasket naturally took a little while. Now with new sealant applied:

Pan back on. I've let the sealant cure over night as I wasn't sure how quickly you could fill the transmission after applying it. Apparently its supposed to be perfectly fine after 10 minutes but I cannot quite believe that.

It better not leak again in the next 20 years or so... I've tried filling it using my patented paper funnel technique this morning, naturally this immediately failed and made even more of a mess. I then found a better funnel which also left a mess as for some reason it takes absolute ages to fill the gearbox via the dipstick tube.

I've replaced the PCV valve and grommet while in there. The old one was still alright, I can't remember whether I cleaned it at some point. Considering the grommet was rock hard nothing probably ever got replaced there before.

The hole. Naturally half of the brittle grommet disappeared into it when I pulled it out. Fortunately there's a baffle right underneath it so I was able to fish it all out with surgical precision.

Finito. Getting the new grommet in required a socket and a big hammer.

Since this weekend was the big Celsior weekend I decided to tackle a few more things, the misaligned fuel door was next. I cannot remember it looking this way, not sure if the bodyshop tried to force it open to fill the tank (it read empty) or something.

Because this is Toyota's billion dollar flagship the inside of the fuel door was hidden behind a plastic cover. I could tell that the cover didn't quite perfectly fit the door hinge though. Lets take a closer look with the cover removed:

It looks like the sheet metal holding the pin was bent back slightly. I would have expect the mounting bolts on the vehicle side to have come lose but I'm pretty sure this was the issue. Nothing a bit of force can't fix though. Much better:

Everything reassembled (sans 3 unobtanium clips). Love the service stickers, everything that reminds me of its previous life in Japan is worth preserving.

I've had another look at the fuses to see if there might be an indicator of why the radio doesn't output any audio. It'll most likely be an amp (also unobtanium as this is a Japan only audio system) but it was worth a try. I've also cleaned the driver seat belt and applied some silicon spray, its actually retracting a bit better now.
That concludes this weekend's improvements on the Celsior. I'll call Powerflow tomorrow to see if they want to fix the exhaust leak. There's a coin sized hole in the side of it now, straightpipes m8.
Quick update on the 540i Touring. Took half a year's worth of scrap to EMR in it which netted me 37 quid. The Alfa 166 Twinspark cat was completely unidentifiable so it went straight on the scrap heap, it was breaking apart internally anyway. Nobody wanted the front bumper either. If anything breaking the Twinspark 166 proved that absolutely nobody in the UK is willing to fix one of these up. It'll be one of most other Italian cars that will be completely wiped from the face of the earth in a few years time (in this country anyway).

It had to be done. Scrapyard action shot!

It also got a wash! I was finally having some time to quickly clean the engine bay. Its not coming across 100% in the photos but it was utterly filthy before. I might actually be able to spot some leaks now.

 

Until next time!

Weather forecast looks grim for the weekend but I'm hoping to get a chance to fix the leaky transmission cooler line on the Celsior, to then be able to get it booked in to have the exhaust sorted. I have to admit that I have no idea whether that line is pressurized enough that a section of hose and a few clamps wouldn't do to sort it, it probably isn't as the gearbox would be empty by now. Rockauto delivered a gearbox filter in record time (2.5 days or so despite the order coming from opposite ends of the US), I think I paid 15 quid for it. Toyota wanted an absolutely mental 132 quid!? for the filter, I don't know how they justify this when I can personally buy the same original part in Japan and get it for about half that shipped over. Naturally I didn't call them back. I'll change it while the line is draining, some fresh ATF surely cannot hurt.
Going through the paperwork I noticed that I still have the original UK owner's address. He owned the car since it was imported in 2003 and drove it for 9 years before it was laid up in his frontyard. Well, here it is in 2008, still on the road!

And in 2009. It would later be stuck under the tree in the back for 5 years, where it deteriorated pretty badly unfortunately. Address details removed for the sake of privacy, loving the Landcruiser he must have owned for a while as well.

More updates on the Celsior hopefully on the weekend.
I've also visited the local Audi dealer for the first time in a long time again, I picked up one of the bits needed to help the electric bootlid open. I don't think it will fix the issue of it not lifting enough straight away but it'll be a piece of the puzzle. I'll probably end up replacing the motor with a later stronger unit, fortunately a very straight forward job.

Long car is long. Being a diesel it cranks a bit longer in these freezing temperatures to start the engine, I think it was mentioned previously that the glow plugs could do with replacing. Nothing that needs urgent attention but something I might consider when the opportunity arises. The washer fluid warning came on again as well despite filling it recently. I wouldn't be surpised if the tank is leaking somewhere just above the level it would come on for. Other than that no issues to report so far, the Quattro, heated seats and aluminium body make this the perfect car for winter.

Weekend away with the in-laws survived. For a moment I thought the driver front wheel must be losing air the way it looked, one wheel needed welding half a year ago and it wouldn't have surprised me if the rough country roads caused another hairline crack. It must be a very slow leak though as the tyre pressure was still fine after checking back home again. Will keep an eye on.
Other than that all good , definitely can feel the 3.0TDI struggling a bit with the car full of people and luggage. I also backed it into the pole right in the middle of the drive I forgot about, no harm done fortunately...
Back home the Ms' Fiat received some attention, the passenger door handle hinge must have been snapped for well over a year. Fortunately an easy fix once the door card is off, only held on by 3 bolts and the usual clips. One 10mm holds one side of the handle on, a torx bolt the other end. That gives you enough slack in the assembly to remove the snapped hinge from the handle. Looks much better now.

As announced, a new member of the fleet arrived yesterday, you can follow the pretty much trouble free collection here. Plenty of other information available about it from some of its previous owners on it here as well of course. Its a late 2005 A8 Sport Quattro with the 3.0TDI.

As mentioned in the collection thread first impressions are very good despite 215k miles, and theres a good reason for that. More about that below. Believe it or not this is actually my first diesel I have ever owned or driven much outside of the A-Class I learned to drive in. The engine is so smooth and well insulated that you wouldn't notice at motorway speeds though, it could be a petrol V6, at least until you are back in town again. Plenty of torque to get you up to speed as well, its only above very illegal motorway speeds (I have heard) where the engine is eventually running out of steam a bit. Also seeing a range of over 600 miles is completely alien to me, especially after a quarter of the tank already gone!

It's very well equipped as well, with the optional 20 inch 9-spoke alloys (which as they sit right now are worth a good chunk of the purchase price), Nordlicht Blau/Aurora Blue Pearl paint, the tan interior with heated sport seats front and back, the Bose Audio system (there was an even better Bang & Olufsen with fancy speakers as well), keyless entry and start (really missed that after selling the GS300), power bootlid, Xenon Plus and everything else you'd expect to see in a flagship like this. The original owner even upgraded the SatNav software at the dealership (looks more up to date). Overall its a very nice spec that looks great in person.

Luckily the car did come with the bookpack which contained at least some service history and a stack of receipts. Most of them were from @Kiltox and the original owner's father who recommissioned the car in 2018 after his son's death. Thats when the car received some serious love with brakes and control arms plus a few other random bits and pieced getting an overhaul, hence it driving so well now. However, what I love to see even more is the original bill of sale, which reveals that the first owner was Audi of Wolverhampton themselves!

It's not rare that dealers register cars to meet sales targets and offer some decent discounts to customers that way, I didnt necessarily expect that on the sales leader 3.0TDI, especially on the then brand new facelift though. As you can tell, the car was £44.250 at a months old, I'm not sure what the regular list price was back then but its probably a few grand below. And what do I spot was traded in for it? A Toledo blue E65 745i, just like mine! Actually one of the very first ones ever sold interestingly enough. Not planning to repeat that anytime soon though.

Very happy with it so far then. It'll do its first longer trip end of this weeks with my gf's sister visiting from the states, it's certainly a nice car to be shuffled around in. Knowing the car's history, many rather prominent people have been sitting in the backseat of it before. And knowing the previous (and often quite interesting) life of a car is half the fun to me. Lets see if I can keep improving this one then.

My diagnostics cable adapter arrived from Amazon today, one day before leaving for the UK tomorrow. Together with a 10 quid resistor I was able to clear the notorious passenger occupation mat error and therefore the airbag light on the 523i Touring. Similar to the E65 the passenger airbag would now deploy even when no passengers are onboard, what's more important is that this is one TÜV relevant issue less on the list though. I didn't have as much luck with the 540i's rear suspension height sensor, clearing the error it comes back immediately so I'll have to properly check the wiring to it next, a job for another day. It also donated it's cigarette lighter and backseat cubby to it's German sibling, chances are I can pick these up for free in the UK again.
Today was also the first longer trip in the 523i since I got it, Berlin and back to pick up some '64 Thunderbird parts for a mate in Norfolk, 450km total. I now know that the cargo area is exactly the size of one Tbird trunklid! Seller was a decent bloke, originally from Spain but living in Germany for most of his life, obsessed with Fords. He had a late '82 Sierra he converted to a Cosworth (visually), among the Tbird thats getting a nuts and bolts resto and an E23 7-Series.
With the worst of two sets of wheels on the 523i the ride was actually much better than on the 540i on my way here, all we did on that warped wheel was removing the weights. Still hardly amazing but certainly tolerable.
The journey back in the 540i starts tomorrow, this time it'll be Rotterdam-Hull which was almost 150 quid cheaper than DFDS. I might pick up some E65 parts in Hull while there. Nobody can tell me that I'm not making the most of my holiday trips.😂

Quick Christmas Eve update. The 540i received a wash and 523i was started for the first time since September, might take it for a quick drive to visit family later. I forgot it had a slight exhaust leak. It briefly snowed but has melted already, 10 degrees at the moment. I didn't expect to have two more E39s this year but here we are.

Over 500 miles later and we successfully made it home. Aside from a pretty annoying vibration at lower speeds (probably because of the partially deflated rear air suspension, see below) the journey was trouble free! I dropped my better half off at Schiphol around 1:30pm and got to my parents around 9:30, so around 8h in total. Before people got nuts and lowered the speed limit on Dutch motorways to 62mph during the day I could make it home in 6.5h in decent weather and normal traffic.

Unfortunately it's been pouring down pretty much the entire way home, the new bridgestones certainly helped at high speeds. As mentioned, there is a vibration going on at speeds below 70mph. I originally bought the car with a faulty ride height sensor which I didnt have a chance to investigate yet. That meant that the suspension was sitting much lower than intended however, at least on one side. The less than ideal driveshaft/axle angle probably played a roll there, something I'll definitely have a look at on the weekend.

To be fair, with the car full of leftover stuff from the parts donor 750i how could you fault it. Fortunately the german border control decided to pull over a poor Corsa B driver before they got to me, so no explaining to do there.

And here we are. The poor 523i Touring has been gathering dust over the last two months. And yes, I hand drew my UK sticker. Since the UK government decided that GB as a country identifier wouldnt do it anymore these are now mandatory, and you can't buy one in Holland should you forget to buy one before...

Total MPGs throughout the whole journey, which was 90% 60-90mph Autobahn: 25.4! Thats acceptable.

I've already started ordering a bunch of parts for the various cars that need them. Everything automotive bought new is generally a little cheaper in Germany, even when bought through the same websites, probably partially thanks to no post-brexit trading tariffs so it always makes sense to make a list and bring it all back when the opportunity arises. Its vice versa for used parts so I should be able to cover the cost of the new stuff by selling what would otherwise be near worthless in the UK, its a win-win really if you got the ability to do so. I'll see if I can find a few panels for the 540i while Im here as well, as mentioned prices for something like a bonnet are a bit silly though.

Yeah, Autobahn. Might be fine in a normal car on a UK reg with two people inside but I was stopped regularly, on a German registration more recently. In that case probably because I could bring in drugs from the Netherlands, however I doubt a car full of stuff on a UK reg is less suspicious.😂 At this point I can claim that I bought it all in the Netherlands though.
Until then, have some Amsterdam spots. Despite ULEZ and other car related fees there's still the occasional interesting spot.