Bear's bangers: upgrading the C320's infotainment system with one neat trick

[Missy Charm]

8 minutes ago, RichardK said:

More time to play with

I really like that car, there's a sort of unpretentiousness about it.  It's strange because I didn't at all enjoy my time owning one, albeit a coupe rather than a convertible.  Perhaps it was because the coupe was only a four cylinder.  Times change, don't they, and that sort of 3 Series was considered an old banger at the time, whereas it's now a future classic.  

As regards condensation in the headlights, the only thing that seemed to work was removing the units from the car and using a hairdryer to persuade the water to evaporate.  It wasn't brilliant by any means, but worked temporarily.  

[Bear]

Dilemma:

I got to drive the MX-5 to grab lunch today. It's lovely. I really can't see a sensible reason to keep it and the 323i, but I put my K666 plate on the BMW and like it. Also I like how the BMW drives, too.

So what could replace the BMW, be useful, and wear that plate?

I am thinking black Volvo estate, black or techno violet E34 or E39 estate, black 3-series compact, or a hearse. Any other suggestions appreciated.

[Bear]

Take two Mazdas into the garage? I just MOT and go!

Reported "amazingly solid underneath, nothing to worry about at all, the wheelbearing noise is just a noise it makes probably"

[hairnet]

On 2/17/2022 at 2:36 PM, RichardK said:

Take two Mazdas into the garage? I just MOT and go!

 

Reported "amazingly solid underneath, nothing to worry about at all, the wheelbearing noise is just a noise it makes probably"

hopefully not now waiting for aa near stamford

 

[stuboy]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

hopefully not now waiting for aa near stamford

 

that be aweful

[Bear]

Seems like a good day to vacuum the cars (got a Proscenic that's currently cheap on Amazon) and more importantly, prep the BMW's roof for some Renovo...

[Bear]

Quick post-wash run - sometimes I wish I just had time to drive about, that was fun.

[Bear]

Trip to hang out with friends and acquire cheese; the BMW's first long run in my ownership; extended with a run to Peterborough and back straight after.

Six hours, 250 miles, lots of hilly/bumpy roads, roof down for a fair bit. It seems to have enjoyed it - I certainly did. Doesn't feel like anything else, that 2.5 is a really nice engine. A bit rattle-squeaky on rough roads, but I wish I had gone for one when I was in my twenties and in the Borders...

Roof needs some more cleaning before treatment, and it's going to be gummi pfleged everywhere.

 

[Bear]

Well, that drive proved inspirational as I've just chucked £100 at the BMW, purely on things That Don't Affect How It Drives.

First £50 is the headlining 'batwing' C-column plastics, which arrived today - plus some contact adhesive. These are attached via some cat's cradle affair and pull the headlining in behind the rear windows when the top is up, and tuck it into the right position as the roof folds. When they get damaged they get trapped in the roof and get REALLY damaged, so sorting them out is really a high priority fix for the roof.

Next £25 is a new orange glovebox light - it was doing my head in not finding an orange replacement for one with a damaged bulbholder. It'll be upgraded to LED so heat won't be as much of a problem, but genuine BMW part and genuine BMW orange light. Yes, the glovebox torch is on the list for refurb - but that involves a lot of work and may not happen in my ownership.

Final £25? The plastic cover for the roof emergency release. I am fairly sure mine was damaged; either way, it was loose and fell out and I can't find it now. These are an eye-watering £72 new (someone with a 3D printer could make a packet) but secondhand seemed more reasonable - the one pictured has no broken clips so if anything other than that arrives it'll be straight back.

[Bear]

Not the prettiest - contact adhesive and windy days and useless hands are a bad combo - but it folds away properly now!

[yes oui si]

I love that e36 ❤️

[Bear]

55 minutes ago, yes oui si said:

I love that e36 ❤️

Me too - if I hadn't bought an MX-5 as well I would not be selling it!

[Bear]

Poor life choices?

138K-ish, drives okay (a little low-frequency vibration on front), looks fair, back of sills not good but most other bits seem fine. Gadgets apart from radio display working.

MOTd to next year. Will see how trustworthy it is before deciding on the rust being either "death" or "get it patched up".

3 owners and new gearbox in 2018.

So, BMW out then this gets taxed etc.

Currently the tailgate is trying to behead me so new struts will be first fix.

[Bear]

Only bit I'm unsure about is the engine has a low-level beat, a soft rumble, when warm and idling. It looks and works fine - I just don't know what a BMW V8's noises should be. Nothing that sounds chain-related to my ears and it seems to go well and no smoke cold or warm. Maybe they just have that sound? Like a bassier version of an XU almost - I was always convinced my XU engines were wrong and that is just what they sound like.

[dome]

Excellent purchase!

I've had mine since December 2020 and absolutely love it. 4.4 like yours but on LPG. 

Stick a video up and we can have a listen to your engine.

Are you ready for all the really* funny* jokes about breakdowns?

[Bear]

17 minutes ago, dome said:

Excellent purchase!

I've had mine since December 2020 and absolutely love it. 4.4 like yours but on LPG. 

Stick a video up and we can have a listen to your engine.

Are you ready for all the really* funny* jokes about breakdowns?

I bet you've got more sills than me!

TBF all the jokes so far are from RR owners, so more like bitter experience? I hope the engine is a tough thing. Will video when I've got fuel in - forgot wallet and phone and drove back - including getting lost - on the warning light the whole way terrified to touch the throttle (I did drive it properly on the test drive).

Because it's a low-intended-miles use car I didn't want an LPG conversion, so was very happy to find one without extra bits to go wrong - suspect more than 3,000 miles a year and you'd be nuts to run it on anything else though!

Also. I found one without a towbar. I am still not sure how.

[dome]

My sills do seem solid but i think it's had attention in the past-there is a wee bit of oversrpay in my arch.

I'm not saying they don't deserve the reputation to an extent, however there is a massive knowledge base and parts supply set up around these so everything is fixable. 

I did 8k miles last year so LPG was a necessary evil.

Mine came without a towbar, I fitted a detachable one to it but naturally bought one where the detachable bit won't any more

There's a few L322 owners on here so hopefully we can help with any issues. 

[Bear]

So far it looks like the usual "every bit of trim has a loose or broken clip" of 20 year old luxury cars - like, the scuttle panel is loose and mossy. Bonnet up, panel off, SCRUB!

[Bear]

Stats:

3 owners

136ish thousand miles

No history to speak of but claimed new gearbox around 2018 which seems about right

Has nav, but screen is bust

Has air con. It at least has fan and heat

All the windows work

The sunroof works

The air suspension works

The headlamp wipers appeared to work

The electric seats work, and the steering wheel

The CD player works and the stereo has some sort of DSP reverb thing on

The central locking works

The inner wings look quite nice

The headlights and indicators don't seem well attached

The bumper lower trim is detached (see also scuttle trim etc all needing little tweaks)

The dash LCD is unlit on one side and pixel-bare (TADTS)

It's nice to sit in and listen to music

It's Giverny Green apparently

It still has no fuel as I need to insure and tax it to nip to the pumps. Not sure a 5 litre can will satisfy it somehow...

[Bear]

Why are people so cackhanded 😕

[Bear]

So, a Sunday of tinkering with the Range Rover. It certainly seems happy to start from cold without untowardness.

Current thoughts. My fat ass broke the tailgate strap, so it's getting new ones, the spare wheel mechanism is so neat, tools present. I've cleaned more grubby moss off it and each stage makes it look nicer, if it weren't for the sills I'd be very very happy with this, and if it behaves it'll be good. One reversing light being replaced because it's been overtightened and the screw hole was mashed,  The lower wing cladding was pushed out with a rusty metal bracket - turns out that bracket is just part of the mudflaps which are clearly designed to withstand abused without ripping the plastic panel off. Will tidy that properly in the long term.

Seats clean up nicely. Headlining looks like an easy one to refurbish. Door seals need doing, the black grille is going for a proper Vogue one, I need a tail light. No rust in the back end at all. No rust in the front that I can see yet - it's just the trailing edge of the sills under the rear door seals and trim, clearly terrible design there that owners could have avoided being so bad with the use of a hose.

Biggest headache so far is the audio system. It is the BMW-derived setup with TV tuner, nav, CD changer and DSP amp. All the important bits are working - it makes sound and the controls select tracks - but the display is black with white pixels in the middle. I am pretty sure the LCD is FUBAR, but a new LCD is expensive (I am happy to repair if I know it'll work but dead-end spend if the problem is elsewhere).

There is an utter rats nest of wires in there and I think the car must have had the phone and DVD player, or at least, phone modules - I've found antenna and other cables. Would reinstalling the phone module bring it back? Who bloody knows. I can't quite track the wires back without removing more trim.

Unlike the XJ6, where I despaired at some of the engineering, the L322 seems pretty bloody good. Like, properly impressive in places. Really fit for purpose and deeply sophisticated after the gussied-up Mk 1 that the P38 and Disco are. This is essentially the guts of the new Defender in the earliest revision of design, after all - air sprung, independent, heavy as a tank.

The paint isn't acutally bad, either.

If the cam chain tensioners are like the six-pot BMW and can be replaced just by removing and replacing a component external to the engine, I'll do that. There's loads of room in the engine bay.

Big jobs:
Tyres. One, I'm naturally a little worried about the sills but I am pretty sure they're strong enough for a wheel change; I think new tyres would do it the world of good and also avoid any mysteries of suspension and steering wear. i.e. if there's something intrusive, I can discount the tyres.

Thinking Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain+ - probably ruin the refinement but it's going to go off road.

Proper service. Change as many fluids as can be changed, clean up as many earths, chase away as many foul flickering LED bulbs.

Actually detail the blasted thing.

Until it's got the numberplate swapped, insured and so forth I suppose I won't know if I've bought a dog, but it's got three previous owners - 2002-2004, 2004-2018, 2018-2022. 135,000 miles. 

I paid less than most of the clearly horrid ones I can see on Facebook and it's a nice, not crass spec. And it is absolutely lovely to sit in and listen to music.

[Bear]

[DirtyDaily]

I have very mixed feelings towards these. I think on one hand a working l322 is potentially one of the best cars on the road. I think they have aged insanely well with the oldest ones being 20 years old now, typical LR 3.5 tonne towing capacity, plush seats, ride, etc etc. But then on the other hand absolutely horrifically ruinous to run. Gearboxs failing on the regular (sounds a good thing yours has been replaced) the 4.4 petrol and 3.0 diesel have known to be fragile. The 3.6tdv8 chews through turbos and changing them is body off. The 4.4tdv8 I think is the best of the bunch but obviously a much later and expensive engine. I think if you found a "decent" early one for like sub 2k then you can't go wrong. I will have to have one one day. Look forward to seeing how you get on with it and for the inevitable roffle. My biggest problem with the range rover is the land cruiser amazon's.

[Crackers]

34 minutes ago, DirtyDaily said:

Gearboxs failing on the regular (sounds a good thing yours has been replaced)

A function of them being "sealed for life", except that very statement determines that lifetime.

Land Rover will tell you the fluid never needs to be changed, which is why so many fail.

ZF state 80k fluid changes on the 6HP box in these, if I recall correctly. Doesn't take a genius to guess what sort of mileages they go bang at...

Stephens Engineering in Ware seem to be well respected for rebuilding these gearboxes properly. They have a Street-View camera view inside their workshop on Google Maps - if you want a giggle, check out what type of vehicle is occupying most of their lifts!

[Bear]

Find an MOTd Land Cruiser Amazon that's even remotely pleasant to sit in for less than 2K and I will take ten...

The boxes are a weak spot on everything they went in for the same reason. As far as I can tell the L322 has two Land Rover-blame weaknesses by design - water ingress, and mud outgress from the wheel arch liners and sill covers.

Rust is the killer for the back arches like mine, and rust is the killer for damp electronics.

The 2.7/3.0 V6 diesel in Discos, wouldn't touch with a bargepole. The bigger V8 diesel, much too expensive if not broken.

No idea about the 3.6s, are they stretched Lion or a different unit. (Google, ew, Lion - no thanks. Not at this age).

 

[DirtyDaily]

Find an MOTd Land Cruiser Amazon that's even remotely pleasant to sit in for less than 2K and I will take ten...
 

Less than 8k I find for the diesel amazon's is where they start becoming scrap fodder. I think I will have to jump in a cheap RR sometime and just enjoy it until it dies and then break it for parts to get my money back. Something that needs to be done.

[Cooper1]

3.6 TDV8 is crap headgaskets, turbos and EGR's plus a mountain of other issues!

 

Prefer the old pushrod V8's me, even at 13mpg.  

[dome]

Mine has had the original stereo replaced with a double DIN head unit by a previous owner, i was very glad of this as it's a ball ache of a job to change by the sounds of things. A display repair sounds like the best option if you're happy with the current setup.

Do you have the original phone under the armrest? I have but of course it's dead. 

Mine also suffers from aftermarket LEDs on the interior with varying levels of flickering, I swapped out the worst of them. 

Looks like you've got later wheels fitted, the same ones I have too. I run Continental Winter contacts just now and find them very good. 

[Bear]

No phone - and no space for one? But I have cables for the module in the boot. I didn't know the wheels were wrong! I'm thinking Scorpion ATR or similar as I will be green laning more than motorway munching... Could get a set of correct alloys for some road-biased tyres maybe...

[Ghosty]

2 hours ago, RichardK said:

No phone - and no space for one?

Bluetooth on these. 

I had an L322 Vogue TDV8 for a weekend last year, as I was sourcing it for someone - black with beige interior, and in remarkable condition with everything working(?!). It was absolute class and I loved every second driving it.