Cento's fleet past and present au revoir Volvo, bonjour Shaguar, 924's, french shite, Xantia Activa 😎....

[Cento16v]

I dont have any kind of car thread here as what I have is possibly a bit new to be true shite, but I'll throw them up as I do tinker lots!

May as well include some old gems I've had along the way as well!

Currently have lovely oldish Swede, 2005 S60 2.0 T5 with a few choice mods.

Bought from a friend of the family about 5 years ago.

This was how it looked before project refresh kicked in!

Its just had a full recent suspension refresh compromising Bilstein shocks and Volvo Sport/Polestar springs, new front lower arms, front and rear ARB bushes and links, inner and outer track rods, top mounts front and rear, front and rear suspension bushes on all arms that were available.

Also has a full turbo back Ferrita Exhaust, a TD04-16t turbo and is on a custom stage 3 BSR remap which is updatable by soft loader.

Looking at changing to a hybrid turbo and upgrading rods and pistons as I'm at/above the limit now really for standard internals, went for a 2.0 as condition wise mine is much nicer and lower mileage than any 2.3/4 T5 I could find.

I've had it 5 years now and it's never put a foot wrong, its lovely and comfortable, quiet and can really get a move on if required.

It also handles tidily with the suspension refresh, but isn't harsh over bumps either.

All it needs to be 100% now is the front and rear bumper spraying and it will be 99% as it should be looks wise, they wear they're age well this shape Volvo and the paint is superb for a car of its age, it does have some fancy silver paint that was a big cost option which probably helps.

Also has the full 13 Speaker sound system and it really does sound great, even compared to modern stuff.

This picture is of it looking mucky and sorry for itself before I set of to the states with work a couple of months ago, it looks lots better now its polished and clean!

My other current car is a 2012 Peugeot 308

That's the only picture I have, as it's a shopping trolley, not a car.

It's been in my Family since almost new, my Dad had it last then when he Bought a new 3008 I traded my 2007 R56 Cooper S, with JCW engine upgrades towards his new 3008 and kept his 308, as we had a 1 Year old and the Mini was a pain,and cost me a fortune in parts over the 5 years we had it!

Still loved it though!

308 is a 1.6 VTI Active, is a pretty high spec car for what it is, comfy, averages 44.2 MPG on my wife's 7 mile each way commute, has cruise, speed limiter, bluetooth, music streaming, auto lights, wipers etc, it's just a white goods appliance really.

On Goodyear Vector Gen 2 All season tyres it's been unstoppable in the snow as well.

Been very reliable, just past 46000 miles, oil changed every 6-7k miles as these engines are shocking if not looked after.

Handles well though, leans but sticks well and would be quite fun with lift off shenanigans, if you could turn the DSC off, which you can't.

Did a couple of recce's in it through Kielder and pulled the fuse for the ABS/DSC and it surprised me tbh with how much fun you could have in it.

Slow though with 125hp and about 1350kg to haul about.

I'll add to this with some of the more fun cars I've had when I get a moment, hope you're not all bored yet, I would be ?

[Cento16v]

So, Prior to the Volvo, was a 9-5 SE Airflow, which came with the big brakes and suspension from the Aero model, 74000 miles on it when I bought it, one previous owner.

This was a great car, had it for 3 years, Aero turbo fitted and Noobtuned it was a lovely car. Possibly the worst handling car I've had, but 30-70 it was an overtaking machine. Good towcar too, but not as stable as the S60.

At the same time I had the big Saab I also had my Mini, R56 Cooper S, fitted with JCW engine package but not body kit, it was a flying machine for such a small car, especially after a live map and bigger Intercooler, 252hp made it a lively little car, it needed an LSD really.

It was pretty high spec, panoramic roof, mood lighting, chilli pack etc..

I spent a lot of money on parts fixing that car, 2x HPFP, timing chain, timing chain tensioner. Tensioner again, water pump, turbo oil feed, radiator, all cooling pipes, 3x Wheels as they cracked (common issue on my wheel design) 4x tpms sensors, and more I've forgotten.

It was a superb car to drive, great handling, quick enough, decent on fuel, but it was the most unreliable car I've had by far.

So I miss it, but if I got another it would probably be r53, not R56.

 

[Cento16v]

The Mini had quite a few partners in crime.

First up was a pair of 924s, a proper 80s gold one I bought locally for £1k 7 years ago

and a red one I rescued on Porsche 924OC about 6 years ago for £250.

The gold one was superb, had it for 2 years as a daily driver, coat nothing other than tyres, refreshed the ignition system and just drove it.

It needed some bodywork doing and some welding so I sold it on for what I paid for it, free motoring!

Wish I still had it as values have skyrocketed now!

The red one was a rust bucket, came to me in pieces, I machine polished it back to red, got it running, lost interest and sold it back to who I bought it off as we were moving house and I couldn't be bothered moving it with me!

 

[Cento16v]

One of the reasons the 924 went was I wanted a Caravan, my parents had them when I was little so I quite fancied seeing if me and the wife would enjoy it.

My friends didn't understand why a 25 year old wanted a caravan (and still don't ?) but my mind was made up!

So I bought a D9 Manual V6 406 off ebay for just over 500 quid, and a cheap caravan from a local dealer my parents used for 900 quid and off we went!

If I could by any car I've owned brand new, it would be the 406, I'd buy one tommorow.

It was brilliant, superb ride and handling, genuinely quick, it had the cats removed and a full stainless exhaust fitted by the previous owner which I think helped it breathe quite a lot better, certainly quicker than a 3.0 Manual X Type of the same age from 60-100 which surprised me and my friend whose car that was!

However it was truly french, and water in the ECU put paid to it in the end, not economical to repair, the body was in a bad way, dents and dings on every panel almost, so off it went to a local Citroen specialist as a parts car.

[Cento16v]

Prior to that I had a few more fun cars, a Saxo VTR with Newmans Cam and raised rev limit, lowered 30mm and had the Leather interior from a 106 GTi, that was a lovely car

It was also surprisingly practical helping us move house twice!

That's a full height ikea wardrobe!

And the boot closed!

Not recommended though ?

I swapped the Saxo for an Ignis Sport which was much newer, and worse.

Slower, harder riding, worse handling.

It had nice seats and working air con, but that were the only positives.

The Ignis shared the drive with a Bravo 150 Sport which was a lovely looking car, not comfortable for long journeys due to poor seats, and not particularly dynamic.

But it looked nice, was 3 years old 21000 miles when we got it and the least reliable car (worse than the Mini) 2 gearboxes and a head gasket in 18 months were enough for that to be moved on!

[Cento16v]

So what's going to change?

308 will probably stay as its reliable and cheap to run.

S60 will not be going anywhere as it's a great all round car.

But theres space for more, I fancy a convertible as I've never had one, and the space in the garage is reserved for a forever car, which is a Xantia Activa.

My search has been fruitless so far, hopefully someday one will come up that's not rotten and I'll be able to give one a forever home, but even normal Xantias have all but disappeared now, let alone Activas! So it's a waiting game on that front.

 

[Cento16v]

Put a 3rd layer of Hybrid Ceramic Wax on the cars today, its great stuff! 

[Cento16v]

LOCKDOWN UNINTENTIONAL BUY ALERT ?

I've bought an 2006 R50 Mini Cooper, with JCW body kit and non functional panoramic roof and gearbox for 350 quid.

I don't need it, and it wants a gearbox and an exhaust, but it will give me something to do I suppose ?

Will be nice transport for the wife once it's done I suppose, seems tidy, 70k miles, nothing bad in the MOT history.

I'll need some proper Mini wheels for it as it's on some non standard 17s which don't suit it, but that's about it!

Will keep me occupied for a bit!

[Cento16v]

Pick up day tommorow for the Mini!

It's about 6 miles away so I'll have a walk for it I think (Up a big sodding hill!) And get some fresh air, supposed to be a nice day tommorow.

Once its home I can see if it really does need a gearbox or not!

[theshadow]

great choices.so far...

[Cento16v]

Spot the Mini! 

Had to shuffle the cars a bit but they all fit, need to clear the garage out so it can go in there until I find an Activa, its out the way then!

[New POD]

On 5/13/2020 at 2:56 PM, Cento16v said:

LOCKDOWN UNINTENTIONAL BUY ALERT ?

I've bought an 2006 R50 Mini Cooper, with JCW body kit and non functional panoramic roof and gearbox for 350 quid.

I don't need it, and it wants a gearbox and an exhaust, but it will give me something to do I suppose ?

Will be nice transport for the wife once it's done I suppose, seems tidy, 70k miles, nothing bad in the MOT history.

I'll need some proper Mini wheels for it as it's on some non standard 17s which don't suit it, but that's about it!

Will keep me occupied for a bit!

I thought that age had the gettrag 5 speed, not the unreliable rover Midlands cheese box. 

[Shandylegs]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2020 at 2:56 PM, Cento16v said:

I don't need it, and it wants a gearbox and an exhaust, but it will give me something to do I suppose ?

 

If it's a keeper might be worth considering a 6 speed conversion?

[Cento16v]

1 hour ago, New POD said:

I thought that age had the gettrag 5 speed, not the unreliable rover Midlands cheese box. 

So did I!

It has a getrag box, drives lovely, goes into all gears fine, but it has a noise, in all gears it's the very same noise.

Goes away when clutch depressed, no noise at a standstill clutch depressed or not, side loading seems to make no difference to it.

Will have a look at it next week at some point, Diff or maybe a Driveshaft/CV issue I reckon, but more likely to be diff.

[Cento16v]

1 hour ago, Shandylegs said:

If it's a keeper might be worth considering a 6 speed conversion?

I wonder if the LSD will fit in the 5 speed box from a 6 speed one?

[Cento16v]

12 minutes ago, Cento16v said:

So did I!

It has a getrag box, drives lovely, goes into all gears fine, but it has a noise, in all gears it's the very same noise.

Goes away when clutch depressed, no noise at a standstill clutch depressed or not, side loading seems to make no difference to it.

Will have a look at it next week at some point, Diff or maybe a Driveshaft/CV issue I reckon, but more likely to be diff.

But if it was diff when clutch depressed should still be noisy....

 

Hmm.

[Cento16v]

So what does a 300 quid Mini look like after a quick wash?

Not bad I reckon!

So I've been through some of the receipts and in the last year and a bit its had a new clutch, new NS driveshaft, all discs and pads, all 4 (budget) tyres, an inspection 2 service at a mini specialist, a new exhaust, 4 coil springs, an inspection 1 service, the roof drains unlocked, a new battery, and a 4 wheel alignment!

One of the invoices also states, 'c/o inspection 2 service, customer complaint of noise at NSF since driveshaft replaced.'

Car was recovered for loss of drive 4 month ago to a dealer after snapping its NSF driveshaft, previous owner was a lady in her 60s so not a boy racer.

Wonder if it's the wrong shaft?

[Cento16v]

So over had about an hour spare since I washed it, I replaced the rear sidelight/brake and indicator bulbs as a couple were out, cleaned up by the NSR lamp connector as it had a but of crude in it.

Fit new front sidelight bulbs as they were both out.

Next job is to remove a and c post trims, make sure sunroof drains are still attached, then clean all the silicone out of the panoramic roof and work the motor open/closed a few times manually, grease everything up and then see what happens!

Every thing seems to work as it should other than that, just need to get it up in the air and see what this noise is!

[Cento16v]

So I had a bit of time today which was spent removing all the sealant from the sunroof, removing all the a and c post trims and checking the sunroof drains were all attached, which they were.

Then I thought I'd have a look at what's wrong with the sunroof, I used an Allen key to manually open it and all the mechanism appears fine, opened smoothly without any excess force needed.

Removed the parts to access the motor and found the switch and the motor had both been disconnected?

So I plugged them both back in, power is up to the motor and the fuse is present, tried it and.......nothing ?

Will need a wiring diagram so I can see how it's supposed to work as with earth on it there is a live to the light in the switch when the headlamps are on, but moving the switch shows nothing else is happening.

Check BCM and its dry, but the amount of tape down there around wires and the fact the retaining nut was loose makes me suspect someone's been in there before, all fine now though.

Will break out the wet vac tommorow, remove the seats and give it a good old clean!

 

[stuboy]

cheap buy

[Mrcento]

1 hour ago, Cento16v said:

Removed the parts to access the motor and found the switch and the motor had both been disconnected?

A sure fire sign that a previous owner opened it one day, then couldn't get it closed.

So once they got it wound shut (probably at a dealer, with dealer prices), rather than risking forgetting about the issue (or having someone else driving not knowing and opening it) and to avoid paying for a dealer repair to get it working again, they just disconnect everything to avoid the hassle.

At least this does seem to wind open and shut, so it probably is just a motor or the controller.

Some sunroofs are utter bastards of a design. The absolute worst one i know about was the Vauxhall Calibra that had a totally botched design of cables meaning the second they either started to wear, corrode or stretch, one would pop off the spindle, cross the other cable and lock the thing solidly open. Couldn't wind it, the whole mechanism was always locked absolutely solid. The only way to get it shut was then headliner out and untangle the cables (then disconnect the switch to make sure it never happened again).

[Cento16v]

Yeah my thoughts are the Motor or what ever sends the signal to it (BCM?) Not sending the signal as the mechanism is spot on.

Will do some wiring diagram hunting on autodata tommorow!

[Cento16v]

I've ordered a tested working motor off ebay for 20 quid delivered as if it works great, if not, its 20 quid. Can sell it back on to help someone else.

[Split_Pin]

Nice buy that Mini, I'd love one with the panoramic sunroof. Hopefully you'll get it working.

I feel your pain on the R56. Bolting a turbo to an already fragile engine  is never going to end well! As you know they do drive exceptionally well though. Mine feels like a much larger more solid car on the road.

[Cento16v]

7 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Nice buy that Mini, I'd love one with the panoramic sunroof. Hopefully you'll get it working.

I feel your pain on the R56. Bolting a turbo to an already fragile engine  is never going to end well! As you know they do drive exceptionally well though. Mine feels like a much larger more solid car on the road.

I think the R50 Cooper feels more fun to drive than my R56 Cooper S, has less mechanical grip, but flows better through corners, steering feels much more direct.

It's less refined than the R56, the engine is harsher towards the redline than the Turbo unit in the newer car, and the NA version of the Prince unit I have in the 308, but it has a decent amount of mid range for a little NA engine.

I do miss the reach adjustment on the steering which the R56 had, but the seats are more supportive in the R50 and it feels more like a Mini, not a BMW, which makes sense having read about its development!

Once it's up and running I might swap it for a R53 Cooper S, but we shall see!

[DVee8]

Found this on a google search. No idea if it's any good..

https://gethypoxic.com/blogs/technical/16457981-how-to-actually-fix-a-bmw-or-mini-cooper-bcm-bc1-unit

[Cento16v]

So the Mini got Vax'd today

Before on left, after on right.

Looks a lot better now! Smells better too as the last owner had a small dog she took places in it, amazing how much dirt comes out of seats!

Just need the mats to turn up on Tuesday along with the Aux lead and the interior will be as new pretty much!

Also had time to fit the Dynaudio subs from a C70 (I think?) to the S60s rear shelf.

Fitted them under the holes in the rear of the shelf then dynamatted the whole lot, thought I had an after picture but apparently not ?

Anyway, it's made a big difference to Bass response, especially very low down and means the rear view mirrors are now even less use at high volumes ?

A productive day!

[Cento16v]

1 hour ago, DVee8 said:

Found this on a google search. No idea if it's any good..

https://gethypoxic.com/blogs/technical/16457981-how-to-actually-fix-a-bmw-or-mini-cooper-bcm-bc1-unit

Cheers, I dont think theres an issue with the BCM now, i think it's been replaced in the past due to all the insulation tape where it shouldn't be!

Everything works but the sunroof so we will see when the motor turns up next week what happens!

[DVee8]

What's the plans for it,keep it  or move it on.

[Cento16v]

It won't be staying forever, just a little lockdown project for now, keeps idle hands out of mischief.

But, my wife has taken a shine to it and it is great fun to drive so it may end up staying ?