BFG resistance is futile - Cookie's adventures in shiteing

[andyberg]

Wow I would never have thought that. The BFG looked much bigger when we picked it up.

[Cookiesouwest]

3 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Wow I would never have thought that. The BFG looked much bigger when we picked it up.

Yep I was amazed.

Maybe I've just got use to the Mondy, but like you, I thought the BFG looked bloody huge on first viewing and when we picked it up.

 

[andyberg]

When the Merc was new that was a super luxury big barge. But a modern(ISH) family rep car is bigger! I'll have to get the Safrane next to the Merc and compare them.

[SiC]

According to this:

https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/ford-mondeo-2007-fastback-vs-mercedes-benz-e-2006-estate/

The Merc is slightly longer but slightly narrower. Feck all difference in it though.

I guess there is a physical maximum you can make vehicles before they become unusable in Europe and manufacturers are pretty much at that limit now. 

[Shite Ron]

I parked my Mondeo mk4 alongside my Volvo 740 when I first bought the Mondeo, I was amazed the Mondeo was taller wider and longer than the 740. Space in the Mondeo is good for a modern car but nowhere near as good as a 740 or E class. I have not measured the C5X yet but it seems similar to the Mondeo. Modern cars are crap.

I do not currently have gates on the drive but when I did I usually only opened one as each one was 7’ wide, most cars went in and out easily, the Mondeo had 1 “ either side of the mirrors and barely fitted in parking spaces, they are ridiculous for what are just average cars. 

[jim89]

16 minutes ago, Shite Ron said:

I parked my Mondeo mk4 alongside my Volvo 740 when I first bought the Mondeo, I was amazed the Mondeo was taller wider and longer than the 740. Space in the Mondeo is good for a modern car but nowhere near as good as a 740 or E class. I have not measured the C5X yet but it seems similar to the Mondeo. Modern cars are crap.

I do not currently have gates on the drive but when I did I usually only opened one as each one was 7’ wide, most cars went in and out easily, the Mondeo had 1 “ either side of the mirrors and barely fitted in parking spaces, they are ridiculous for what are just average cars. 

Airbags, crumple zones & crash bars innit?

[Dyslexic Viking]

10 hours ago, jim89 said:

crumple zones & crash bars innit?

A 740 has that.

[2flags]

All modern cars seem to be like this. We have a X Type Jag and that seems small when put up against some of these newer cars. 

[Cookiesouwest]

The required pez shot.

 

The first of many many trips to the pumps. Shes a thirsty old girl. But a lovely place to be.

Mrs Cookie is seriously happy with it. Although I did get the 'I told you to buy a mercedes years ago' speech.

[Cookiesouwest]

I did a VIN decoder look up, to find full spec.

Std E Class fuel tank is 80L.

The BFG has an extended tank fitted (Code 915), which is 90L.

God knows how much that cost when it was specced.

Who thinks, nah 80L is not enough, I will pay extra for a bigger fuel tank, cause those extra 10L will come in handy.

Full spec for BFG below - nappa leather for extra softness

Code U16 - Stowage tank behind rear seat backrest.

@SiC thought it was for the storage of the Load compartment package (code 942). Makes sense because it fits.

But when I ordered the boot mat, the guy asked if my car had the gun rack behind the rear seats !!

SiC is probably right, but gun rack sounds cooler, so I'm going with that

[barefoot]

I've posted this picture before, but here it is again in response to the big car little car thing...

[Cookiesouwest]

The instruction manual has arrived. I can now work out what all the buttons are for.

Although not the stereo / navigation / dvd player.

A separate manual is winging its way to me for that.

[Cookiesouwest]

Another car pressie has arrived

Put the new rubber boot mat in, to give some protection from the dogs (on the rare occasions they will be allowed in it).

Before

After

Needs a bit of a trim in places, but happy. Note the back of the gun rack - saying that will never get old. Gun rack

While in the boot, I had a root around and tried to access the spare wheel.

The handle that you use to release the floor and pull it upwards, is no longer attached to the floor !! so need to find another.

[andyberg]

It's a keeper if only for the fun of getting " oh yes my car has a gun rack" into a conversation 😂

[SiC]

8 minutes ago, Cookiesouwest said:

The handle that you use to release the floor and pull it upwards, is no longer attached to the floor !! so need to find another.

@rantingYoof dad broke it after not realising that you have to remove the back seat completely before trying it.

I fixed it when I got the car.

Broke it again when I forgot about removing the back seat 🤦‍♂️

Fixed it again.

Broke it good and proper when I forgot again about removing the back seat. 😫

 

So I'll put a health warning that you may end up doing the same with a new handle. 🤣

[rantingYoof]

One of the reasons my dad bought it was the spec. When I found it for sale, I told him that the 'Elegance' was, basically, the 'luxury' specification. When we were looking at it in London, I told him that it looked like the first owner had basically clicked a 'Select All' button when faced with the options list.

Both of us love finding the top-spec top-specced cars...a long time ago I found him a V-plated 3.0 Omega Elite which had all options ticked as a factory demonstrator. Even a built-in phone which worked.

Nicely bought. My dad will be chuffed it's still within the Autoshite fold.

[Cookiesouwest]

52 minutes ago, rantingYoof said:

One of the reasons my dad bought it was the spec. When I found it for sale, I told him that the 'Elegance' was, basically, the 'luxury' specification. When we were looking at it in London, I told him that it looked like the first owner had basically clicked a 'Select All' button when faced with the options list.

Both of us love finding the top-spec top-specced cars...a long time ago I found him a V-plated 3.0 Omega Elite which had all options ticked as a factory demonstrator. Even a built-in phone which worked.

Nicely bought. My dad will be chuffed it's still within the Autoshite fold.

You did well to find it. It is very well specced and yes the 1st owner looks like he ticked all boxes.

I might try and find out what spec was available to see if any boxes were left unticked.

[HMC]

6 hours ago, Cookiesouwest said:

You did well to find it. It is very well specced and yes the 1st owner looks like he ticked all boxes.

I might try and find out what spec was available to see if any boxes were left unticked.

Looks great! Cooled seats, and massage seats may have been an option on these, has it got a sunroof ?

[SiC]

8 hours ago, Cookiesouwest said:

You did well to find it. It is very well specced and yes the 1st owner looks like he ticked all boxes.

I might try and find out what spec was available to see if any boxes were left unticked.

In the paperwork folder there is a UK price booklet. 

It's high spec but not quite all the options. Like the passenger seat isn't memory, no electric tailgate, no distronic and stuff like that. Tbh it's probably about the right level of spec without far too much extra electrical liability!

[Cookiesouwest]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Looks great! Cooled seats, and massage seats may have been an option on these, has it got a sunroof ?

No sunroof. Def not cooled or massage seats.

How dare the 1st owner, not tick ALL the boxes

 

[Cookiesouwest]

The BFG has made we anxious.

Went to pick up Little Cookie from Taekwondo.

Car park is always full, so I just do slow laps, till she comes out.

Little to no throttle and BFG starts stuttering while lapping the car park. Not kangarooring but stuttering

Seized by the fear, I give it some welly and go find somewhere else to park.

Behaved impeccably on the way home.

Hopefully a rare occurance. Just an old car thing. Fingers crossed.

[andyberg]

Safrane sometimes does this, especially if there is a slight incline/decent in a car park. But the Safrane 'creeps' on zero throttle so maybe it's that 🤷

[Cookiesouwest]

53 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Safrane sometimes does this, especially if there is a slight incline/decent in a car park. But the Safrane 'creeps' on zero throttle so maybe it's that 🤷

Yes could just be not enough gas.

Still getting use to the box. Sometimes it will creep with no throttle - which I'm used to and expect. Sometimes it won't.

Also when in Comfort mode, its reluctant to get going. It does start in 2nd in Comfort. Maybe I'm not giving it enough beans. Switched it to Sport mode, that gets off the line quite nicely.

[High Jetter]

Did you get LC tho?

[Cookiesouwest]

1 minute ago, High Jetter said:

Did you get LC tho?

Yes LC got picked up.

She asked if she was going to get to drive the BFG.

I was non committal

[SiC]

Little to no creep in comfort mode is normal. I can't find the document to hand that I read but it's by design to reduce/remove aggressive creep in traffic by being in 2nd gear. 

Remember this is an old school slush box design. There will is a slushy torque converter slowing things down at lower revs. You'll need much more revs than say your dual clutch gearbox where the clutch pack is almost always engaged and providing a direct mechanical power transfer through the driveline. 

Once you get moving, the torque converter will start in its slip mode function which reduces that but doesn't eliminate it. Only at high speed does this box fully lock up that TC. Even when letting off when fully locked up, the revs start to drop as it reduces the amount of TC lockup. BTW Slipping TC lockup is a perfectly normal part of operation of an automatic gearbox and doesn't damage it (sounds bad from someone used to manual clutches). The fluid keeps the clutch pack cool and prevents wear.

This is from the service manual on the TC lockup function and when it's disengaged/slipping/fully engaged: (note the revs is the transmission output speed, not engine revs - so car speed dependant not revs dependent)

Modern boxes like to lock up the TC asap to reduce losses. People (especially American market) are used to that aggressive nature now. I.e. let off the accelerator and you get sudden engine braking. However this is of a different age where people weren't used to that and liked the slower reaction.

I tended to drive everywhere in Comfort. As it is a torquey engine, it didn't need to stay in 1st gear long in normal driving anyway so didn't seem to really need it. If you floor it stationary in comfort, it'll kick down to 1st and use all the revs anyway. Plus comfort changed gear sooner and kept the revs down - better for fuel economy 😅. My wife actually preferred driving in Standard (she couldn't believe a big comfy barge really would have a Sport mode) as it was a bit more responsive due to being in a lower gear.

[Cookiesouwest]

The new drivers mirror indicator arrived, so once work was out the way today, thought I would give it a go.

Watched a YT vid. Seems easy.

Well it wasn't. My mirror had a internal cover that the ones in the YT vids didn't have.

So being the professional mechanic that I am, I pryed it out the way with a screwdriver. Miracle - I didn't break it.

See that little metal clip at 10 o'clock?

It needs to be pushed to the right, so the cover will come off.

Success.

Two little philips screws to remove and unplug the puddle light.

Fitting the new one is simply a reverse of the process.

Then push it back on. Sadly epic fail.

I can't get it to clip back in.

See the electrical connection, with the red plastic round it?

Well in theory, it should slide back in to the connector attached to back of the mirror assembly.

It won't. 

So now my mirror looks like this

Classy hey

 

[SiC]

Does it start to go in? Sometimes those rubber boots on connectors can snag
Small dab of silicone grease/spray of silicone lube can help them slide in better.

[Cookiesouwest]

11 minutes ago, SiC said:

Does it start to go in? Sometimes those rubber boots on connectors can snag
Small dab of silicone grease/spray of silicone lube can help them slide in better.

I dont know if it does, as its all being done blind.

I will get some silicone for the rubber boot and try again.

[SiC]

Can one side be disconnected temporarily and use the length of the flylead to get an idea of what's causing it to snag?