Supernaut's Cars - 323i / Megane

[EyesWeldedShut]

Just now, Supernaut said:

It really does have a lazy auto box, doesn't it?

I had Mr Moog say to me "It really isn't that quick..." when he handed it over.

You do have to be in 'drive it like you stole it' mode with them - gentle press on the throttle gets you not a lot - leaden right foot really helps. Big problem I find is there's a lot of pedal travel until you hit the yee-haw button and that takes a bit of getting used to - once you master that

[Dave_Q]

I thought it was pretty quick provided you apply the boot correctly and get kickdown.

I reckon a manual one would be good, I think the boxes are just like that and even changing fluid etc wouldn't make it much quicker.

[The Moog]

That looks smashing... 

Coming from electric car or the 320cdi c class, this definitely feels slow.  As you say it is probably down to gearbox, could do with a sport mode! 

For roof down cruising it is a lovely place to be.  Loads of room inside and the boot is a good side.  Sideways action is also possible if you provoke it enough .  

[17-Coffees]

Personally I found it rather quick myself, although Never drove it, but gave a guided tour to Supernaut my local 'Burn'  route  on a mix of roads and for me felt rather quick! The sound helped, as well as the weather! Worst part I found was other road users who were typical crossovers and Aberdeenshire driver mentalities...What got me most was when kicking it to 90 70 on a clear bit of duel carriageway, with the roof down I could have a conversation, and I'm 30 and admit my hearing is rather shih thanks to work! 

Oh god...I really am now the '30 year old boomer'? 🤣

 

[Supernaut]

In a severe fit of fiddling while Rome burns, I gave the ShiteLK a quick hoover out and went over all the windows with glass cleaner.

Hopefully I evicted a few Dave Q and Moog farts.

 

The BMW also got about half a ton of leafy detritus evicted from its footwells.

[Supernaut]

[Supernaut]

I think I've done almost 200 miles in the SLK already!

It lived up to its ShiteLK moniker earlier when it refused to put the roof up. So I just locked it and wandered off, as I'd parked in a quiet wee town anyway.

After having some time to think about what it had done, then after I drove it home, the roof closed first try.

Hmmmmm.

Narrows eyes at the SLK

 

 

I find myself just "pootling" about in it at about the speed limit. I could boot it, but the way the autobox is set up, it feels like I'm waking up a grumpy old dog every time I ask it to go quickly. It's all "oh, do I have to? Fine then."

The scuttle shake is real, too. On a few sections of familiar road I thought one of the wheels had gone horribly out of balance before realising it was the scuttle shake then bursting out laughing.

[Back_For_More]

I've been reading up on the roof action as I've got the ultra cheap 320CLK I'm convinced will do the same..... 

Battery disconnect for a short while will reset the sensors apparently...... 

Weird one was if your rear end is too close to another object they prevent opening and closing apparently... Seems true - as mine wouldn't open, I moved it 33ft from the fence behind and it worked immediately. Bloody bizarre tbh. 

Good luck out there - they're weirdly addictive to pootling...... 

[The Moog]

Oi ... Any farts would have escaped the open roof... The stinky feet smell, well that stayed! 

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, Back_For_More said:

I've been reading up on the roof action as I've got the ultra cheap 320CLK I'm convinced will do the same..... 

Battery disconnect for a short while will reset the sensors apparently...... 

Weird one was if your rear end is too close to another object they prevent opening and closing apparently... Seems true - as mine wouldn't open, I moved it 33ft from the fence behind and it worked immediately. Bloody bizarre tbh. 

Good luck out there - they're weirdly addictive to pootling...... 

Interesting.

It closed fine when I was back home, a lot closer than 33ft to a fence.

It refused to close in a fairly open car park, and I'd gone forwards into the space too.

 

I was having some problems with the boot latch, but twiddled it with the key blade and got it working again...

Wonder if that's got anything to do with it.

 

Whatever! It's all closed up now and I commute to work in the Megane all week anyway.

[Supernaut]

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Me too, packing tape, me too.

[Jim Bell]

On 23/06/2024 at 22:17, Supernaut said:

Interesting.

It closed fine when I was back home, a lot closer than 33ft to a fence.

It refused to close in a fairly open car park, and I'd gone forwards into the space too.

 

I was having some problems with the boot latch, but twiddled it with the key blade and got it working again...

Wonder if that's got anything to do with it.

 

Whatever! It's all closed up now and I commute to work in the Megane all week anyway.

Sure you didn't have the slide cover in the boot open?

[Back_For_More]

Apologies..... 3ft of course! 

@Jim Bell yup - 1st thing I checked as I had tools in the boot and thought they'd knocked something.

Still not sure but the only difference was moving the car forward from the fence. 

Anyway - service now and SRS lights now on so other things to worry about. 

 

[Supernaut]

The inevitable has happened.

I drove the 323i yesterday for the first time since taking on the SLK.

It knocks the SLK into a cocked hat. I find myself looking at the SLK and thinking "justify your place here..."

Roof down motoring is indeed lots of fun, admittedly. It's just otherwise a bit "meh" relative to a noisy nasp straight 6 with a manual box...

 

Does anybody want a shabby SLK? Do you have a smol hatchback or maybe a big utilitarian estate to swap? Even a small pickup truck would be hilarious but I'm probably being ambitious now.

[Supernaut]

I've just visited my local exhaust place and agreed to get a proper chambered stainless steel back box on the BMW.

They showed me the current set up and pointed out it's basically a straight through "silencer" hence the drone.

It's not costing nothing, but not as much as I feared either. They quoted £395 fully fitted, as opposed to the £120-odd the cheapest shittiest mild steel pattern part would cost.

I reckon it's worth it to save me rolling around under the car trying to make a crap pattern part fit. This is also still a nice stainless steel performance item too. Just a generic stainless steel silencer on its own is £300+ on Demon Tweeks, so it doesn't seem too bad a price when you consider the fully fitted part.

They need to order it in so it may not be next week but maybe the week after, as I said I can only really do Saturday mornings.

[Supernaut]

A bit more Land Rover faffing this afternoon.

Got the seat box and fuel tank bolted in.

Yes, the driver sits on top of several gallons of petrol. You also fill it by folding up the seat and unscrewing the lid.

[Tayne]

10 hours ago, Supernaut said:

I've just visited my local exhaust place and agreed to get a proper chambered stainless steel back box on the BMW.

They showed me the current set up and pointed out it's basically a straight through "silencer" hence the drone.

It's not costing nothing, but not as much as I feared either. They quoted £395 fully fitted, as opposed to the £120-odd the cheapest shittiest mild steel pattern part would cost.

I reckon it's worth it to save me rolling around under the car trying to make a crap pattern part fit. This is also still a nice stainless steel performance item too. Just a generic stainless steel silencer on its own is £300+ on Demon Tweeks, so it doesn't seem too bad a price when you consider the fully fitted part.

They need to order it in so it may not be next week but maybe the week after, as I said I can only really do Saturday mornings.

 

Turriff Tyres?

They did the cat delete on my Range Rover Classic.

[Supernaut]

12 hours ago, Tayne said:

 

Turriff Tyres?

They did the cat delete on my Range Rover Classic.

Aye. They came recommended by several people.

[Supernaut]

A bit more fiddling around with an inordinate amount of 1/4" bolts today;

It has an almost complete "interior" now.

[Supernaut]

Nothing but the best fibreglass for the ShiteLK.

 

Also, it's taken me this long to use it enough to need to fill it after brimming it the day I collected it.

[Supernaut]

I just treated both the Megane and the SLK to some new wipers yesterday.

Not sure the SLK needed them, as the previous ones weren't actually hooked in properly! Probably the real source of the noise...

 

I also had to charge the SLK's battery as I moved it around for short distances one too many times and it just clicked.

5 hours on the mains powered charger yesterday and a proper outing today has shoved some electrons back in there.

 

Now, however, I can't bloody set the clock! The little nubbin to set it doesn't seem to respond very well. I may resort to disconnecting and reconnecting the battery at midday.

[Supernaut]

I've been doing some vaguely car related stuff lately.

The Megane received wind deflectors and a standard rectangular radio that's slightly less shit than the factory one and has built in Bluetooth.

 

The BMW got driven for the first time in about a fortnight then got washed, ready for the new - quieter - rear silencer that's getting fitted first thing tomorrow morning.

[Supernaut]

I've been stripping paint from the Land Rover doors too.

Yep, the passenger side is red because that door and front wing are from a post office vehicle after an incident in the late 70s or early 80s.

It was badly painted in that bright blue shortly afterwards.

It will - eventually - be RAF dark grey/blue.

[Supernaut]

I went for the only tips that are correct for a 90s BMW.

It's still rather loud, despite clearly being a chambered silencer as opposed to the straight through that was previously on there.

Should I wait for it to "bed in"?

[mk2_craig]

Is it missing some sort of secondary silencer further forward in the system? 

[Supernaut]

56 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

Is it missing some sort of secondary silencer further forward in the system? 

Hmm.

It seems to have the cat about level with the front seats, then a silencer immediately behind it, then a straight bit of pipe to the rear silencer.

Seems about right as far as I know.

 

I kicked the exhaust a couple of times to "adjust" it so it's no longer touching the bumper. It's quite tight and the rubber mounts don't look to be in their first flushes of youth.

I opened the door and revved it to 4 grand and it's not actually all that obnoxious from outside. Hmm. I think this car somehow just reverberates. Perhaps the rubber mounts require further investigation...

[Supernaut]

I went back to Turriff Tyres this morning and asked the question about whether anything can be done to turn the exhaust down another notch.

They said "do you have 20 minutes?" so I went round to the shops for a few things and when I got back they'd welded in a wee extra baffle free of charge. Winner!

 

I asked if acoustic matting in the boot would help too and they said yes, definitely.

 

Thus, I've just placed an order for a whopping £15 on ebay for two sheets of 5mm thick acoustic matting. Each sheet is 50cmx100cm so should be enough to do a decent proportion of an E36's boot.

[Supernaut]

The acoustic matting arrived today.

Thus, I have stripped out the BMW's boot and strategically applied some kurust to particular areas of concern in the spare wheel well;

 

 

Ahem. Yes, cup of tea while that dries.

From rattling around in there with a paintbrush I did indeed realise that it's a rather echoey boomy bit of the car. I imagine lining it and the bit directly above the exhaust could make a difference?

[juular]

Keen to know how well the acoustic mat works.  

How heavy is it?