Barry Cade

Yup, Perfectly possible, but possibly illegal.. The answer is on the sticker inside the door.

That's a really bad idea.

More common than I thought !

Some might have? Mine is AWD which has a pretty normal system. I only really thought of the Corvette with composite springs..

I saw one of those in B+M in Berwnick upon Tweed, couldn't quite believe it 🤔 Astro passed its mot today, 1 advisory for an idler arm. Had to guide the tester through the test, he'd never done a test before where it had a cat but doesn't get a cat test, never done an mot with a steering box, never seen plastic leaf springs, never seen a hydroboost brake system, or front torsion bars.. Youngsters these days. Strange thing is, he's older than me! Been testing 4 years..

There will be a workaround, when the aftermarket catch up. Last job today was a 20 plate Skoda Octavia. couldn't fit a bar as it had 0 towing capacity on the VIN plate. The calibrations for towing are already there, they just need to be activated , which we do after fitting a bar- it alters all the systems required

I've used Rockauto, and Summit many times, but when I need 1 thing, usually quickly it can be a pain. I love cross referencing stuff and am always surprised what fits what from a local factors.... I'm having issues with the Astro at the mo, and not getting in to parts darts, which I would if I put in a big order to the 'States! Waiting on a coolant temp sensor now, which is the same as a Vauxhall Combo 1.7D 😆

Fun facts I have just discovered.. The Espero shares an Ignition control module, ignition pickup coil and ignition coil with my 4.3l V6 Chevy Astro .. .. I got Espero parts next day off the shelf!

Brink exclude the ST with their towbars, they are OE supplier for Ford. Some other companies don't mention the ST. The only certain way to check is look on the VIN plate inside the door. 2nd line. If it says 0, or is blank, then you can't legally tow. Like this: New 2024 model year VAG stuff cannot be coded for a towbar, not even by a dealer. I have been having issues coding a 2024 A Class Mercedes, had to do it remotely today.... £159 quid to the coding company and 2 hours standing in the rain with the Transit idling and jump leads between the 2.. The future's bright...

Mind you. Pintos used to eat camshafts.... because the oil hadn't been changed for 30k and the spray bar was blocked..

You'd think, but the tolerances they were built to and the fact that all the layers , most gasketless didn't give more problems and the bhp/litre efficiency that they gave, along with the influence Honda had on the company at the time meant they were way ahead of the game on build too. Just a pity they didn't realise this in 76 with the SD1.... I was just leafing through a What Car from 1991- cars of the year. Rover cleaned up in quite a few categories. They really were a viable company at that time.

Subaru Impreza's are a vet's car with a VW 411 engine and a big turbo. They didn't do anything the Audi Quattro couldnt , made a stupid noise, Rusted badly and weren't even good looking. Never driven one that's impressed me. The Legacy was a better car.

Unpopular opinion but all mine based on having pretty much served my time on them. 80% of HGF diagnosis was actually a split inlet manifold gasket at no4 . Same symptoms. Using water, misfire when cold and steam out the exhaust. They are replaced as part of head gasket kit rep so problem solved...... if it wasnt caught early, the as the K had a small coolant capacity and an odd location of the thermostat it would lead to HGF. The crappy temp gauge calibration didnt help. If liner heights weren't checked and made good during a real HGF, then it'd happen again and again.. wrong clamping force on the fire rings. The original type gasket and plastic dowels allowed for a little movement as was expected on a "sandwich" engine. The MLS gasket steel dowels and land rover "ladder" was ,in my opinion, a poor answer to a problem that was much overblown. The MGF suffered from thermal shock and incorrect bleeding and the stupid jiggle valve made those a bit more likely to go full HGF. K was a powerful,light,efficient engine that was miles ahead of the competition at the time. I always said treat your K's like you would treat an Alfa Romeo.. use quality fluids, check levels very regularly, warm up gently and drive it hard.

Fiat's are actually very reliable and tough cars which don't really rust. There is so much crap talked about the K Series engine. The OMGHGF is caused by poor maintenence or misdiagnosis.and the "cures" are bolox. BMWs are dangerous twitchy poor handling over rated piles of crap. VTEC is shit. Sierra Cosworths are shite. As Saab used to say. 250BHP is the max for FWD cars.

Used to have this with Fiestas.. try tapping the tailgate hinge pins back and forth slightly if that's the hinge they have

Work continues on the Astro. After finally finding and curing the coolant loss I built it all back together, then a few days later it wouldn't start from cold. Would crank and crank but nothing. Slightest waft of brake cleaner and it would fire right up and be fine for the rest of the day. Take out wooden Starcraft dash, then plastic Chevy dash then the doghouse again and hours of diagnostics.. it's pre OBD2.. turns out its the ignition control module.. doesn't activate the injector when cranking, but as soon as it sees 400rpm, the ECU takes over and it fires right up . Early injection/ECUs are fun! Waiting on a module arriving so fitted the sink and tap, then stuck a new bumper sticker on 😁

I think you've connected the brake light wire to the tail light. Remember you only need to hook up 1 tail light feed too

Yes, and did you test the wire colours with the lights plugged in? BMWs put on the brake light if a tail goes out etc so if it sees things unplugged it changes all the rules!

Orange need to go to permanent live, did you hook up tail lights or just a brake wire? Some only need 1 connected, it'll tell you in the instructions. Tails shouldn't be on if all car lights are off .Best check this as Bimmers are terrible for not going to sleep and flattening the battery "· IMPORTANT! Dual lamp function: If brake light and tail light or fog light and tail light share a common wire do not connect either of the side light wires (Black or Brown) from the relay to the car. The relay will interpret the signal on the brake signal wire (Red) or fog signal wire (Blue) and operate the lights, including the side lights, correctly"

Yes , that's basically what I use. Just make sure the green box has some air around it as they can get slightly warm. @mk2_craig its a common question..BMWs are weird this way, some do some don't. I did an X1 today and it shut the sensors off automatically through the CAN BUS with no coding. Usually when it doesn't, there's a button or a bit in the menu where you can shut them down. I have heard you can code it in but depends on the maker of the electrics kit. Got a 3 series tomorrow so will plug in the coding machine and see if it gives me an option to change anything.

Yep, you don't really gain anything on a 2013 by going with a dedicated kit on a BMW. That kit is all you need. Check with the instructions with that box if you need to connect the tail light wiring. We use the Ryder boxes and you just connect the brake and it sorts the tail lights out. Also, test the light wiring for colours with the tail lights plugged in... German motors can have the bulb failure substitution, which can cause a bit of head scratching!

@JJ0063 Ooft, that's a question which got the wheels turning. The early 1 series E81/E87 and early F20/F21 uses low speed CAN to activate the trailer module, whereas the later f20/f21 (03/14 on) use high speed CAN, so are not interchangeable. The CAN wires are different colours between the two as well. To be honest, on an earlier 1 series I'd just wire in a bypass box, power from the battery in the boot and all the light wires are at the o/ s in the boot. Really easy and doesn't upset anything. If it has battery management, remember and wire to the battery side before the little black box at the positive terminal, and - not appliccable to the 1 series- wire a BMW towbar power to the rear fusebox. It stops the car going to sleep and it won't start in the morning..

2 in 1. Edinburgh , where executive apartments surround a scrapyard!

The tank is aluminium, hidden under the fairings, so fairings off, then tank out to get to tha battery.