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Hi, just looking for some advice, my 2019 240i has these wheels as standard, they are a bit tarnished and i was considering refurbing them There is a set from a 240 M sport on ebay, they look mint but have black gloss inserts. I don't see them as an option in my brochure, but the sizes look identical. Would these be a good purchase or should I go back to refurb of mine? Thankyou Dave

A few weeks ago my instrument panel on my 2004 e61 stopped working properly, the only thing that worked were the two small screens in the middle so I opened it to check what was wrong and then there was a path in the circuit board that had blown on the way in/out from the processor, so I ordered a new one. It arrived in the post today so I installed The new one and everything worked fine the first drive, but on the second drive it was broken and only the two small screens in the middle worked. Has anyone experienced this before or know what could be the cause? When the car is moving either speed, rpm, fuel efficiency etc does not work and the two small screens are much brighter than they should be

Thanks for post. I’ll take to dealer in new year

Well I ended up buying it. Bodywork needs a good pollish, and I got the front discs and pads changed at the weekend. Got the rears to do overchristmas but at least it stops now and is driveable. Fortunately it is the first cheap car I have bought where every single nut and bolt came off without much effort. Callipers slid off, pistons were nice and free, and I didn't have to take the big hammer to the discs to release them from the rust. I love people who believe in a little copperslip!!! Done a few wee trips in it and the other half has used it on a couple of longer motorway trips so far. Couple of knocks and bangs to be investigated, one of them I am sure is the exhaust. I don't like the look of the way those springs are set up on the front suspension though!!! Looks like if one of them goes then your tyre is getting mangled too!!! Thrust bearing on clutch sounds a little noisy and there appears to be some noise similar to the tappits on a mk3 escort. I'll have a good poke about on google and see what I can dig out, plus get myself the Haynes manual. No noise from timing chain which is good. All in all it's a tidy wee car for not a lot of money

Great advice gents, got a similar type of noise, literally started today, definite cyclic in nature so linked to the belt and pulleys and will try the WD40 first to see if I can isolate the cause of it before moving on.

I can confirm, no more appearance of any condensation in headlights so this is a worthy fix.

Just started up this morning to be greeted with a real whistle which I think is coming from the water pump. Definite link to the belt as the frequency is clearly aligned with the belt and pulley speed. Is this a sign of water pump on way out or something else. I am guessing water pump, is there anything else I should be looking at to find the culprit. Literally, no sound two days ago and got this rotary whistle this morning. How long have I got?

Well I have wince heard of an X5 having exactly the same issue. Seems the foam sections used to prevent scratching are acting as contact water reservoirs and corroding the brake pipe which runs nearest to them. Check em out people as normally would not be picked up on MOT. Sounds like a real design flaw that BMW need to get changed and quickly.

Hi all, the last time I put new tyres on was sept 21 and since then I have done about 3.5 - 4K annual miles. Just had MOT and been informed that the rear tyres are perished and on advisory needing to be replaced after only 7.5k miles. Is anyone else seeing this phenomena of tyres perishing due to low mileage.Seems a new set of tyres are needed each 3 year period due to them perishing!!!.

Hi greydog, all down to a failed angel eye lamp, so I replaced both sides and all now good. Hi Dave, it was all about one of the the angel eye bulbs having gone, so installed two new front ones. All good.

Hi Carl Normally a wheel bearing can be heard louder when under load left or right turns. So left side should be louder on a roundabout If it is under acceleration load it could be Diff related, have you checked it for leaks and maybe top it up to see if that helps. If the diff leaks then a top up will only be a temporary fix though Dave

Thanks for the information Dave, I've already replaced the shocks as they were overdue and the coils look newish with no rust or hairline cracks. I'll see if I can get a recording of the noise and upload it here. I've got plenty of time to find the problem as I don't go back to work until the second week of January. One thing I didn't mention previously it the car is quite hi milage 150k but had a timing chain fitted not long before I purchase the car, so a thought is just to replace the drive shafts ect.... But if not needed why waste money but on the other hand I could end up replacing parts that need doing then 500 miles down the road something on the other side of new parts might need doing. Anyway I'll see if I can get the noise recorded and post it. Thanks again 👍

Took it out yesterday and then shopping last night 4x20 mile runs and the car didn’t miss a beat. Still a few little nigly bits to sort, but hopefully the limp mode issue is solved! got a long run next week when I go on holiday so we shall see if I end up coming home via the RAC or not… now to fill it with more petrol!

Morning John Welcome to the Forum The cause could be an issue with your phone, though I think as you are having the issue with two seperate phones that can be ruled out (it will be a Dealers first comment) There could be an issue with the cars Diversity/Bluetooth antenna or even the CiC/NBT media system As the car is less than a year old what is the Dealer doing to sort it ? Have a Great Christmas Dave

Morning Carl Welcome to the Forum Without hearing/feeling the noise we are all guessing in the dark First stop for me would be check the Wheel and Tyre, then the Wheel Bearing and Carrier, then the Drive shaft The fun part is if your doing one side don't forget the other side if your in there changing major parts I would buy a rebuild kit and do the rear suspension as well Have a great Christmas Dave

Hi, I've had this F20 for almost a year but has started a rumble noise and I can feel it to. Basically this rumble comes from the rear left when under hard acceleration at only certain revs, I'm thinking a bad drive shaft maybe ? I have a few other things in mind that it could be but thought I'd give this a go to see if anyone knows the exact problem to save me waisting time looking at the wrong culprits 😅 Thanks in advance and hope you all enjoyed Christmas 👍

X1 25e 2024. Intermittent problem with CarPlay , Android Auto and Bluetooth. Started off by not automatically connecting, sort by turning off car, locking, unlocking and starting car. Progressively has got worse. Have connected through cable, without cable, Bluetooth and still won’t work. Have deleted on phone and then tried to search but won’t connect. Have rebooted my phone, same for my wife who has an android phone. will now delete our profiles and then restore. After that I have run out of ideas. Fault appear to be that Bluetooth is not being broadcast by the car. Any ideas what to do next would be appreciated

Merry Christmas to the members of the Bimmer Owners Club Enjoy the festive break and see you back here in 2025

Yay just the pipes to replace now 🤣 Have a Great Christmas Stu Dave

Morning Andrew BMW ISTA/INPA is a program I have loaded onto an old Windows laptop I brought it probably 6 to 8 years ago as an upgrade to the copy of INPA I already owned as an aside the same Laptop has copies of several Diagnostics Mercedes Star Volvo I also have a copy of BMW 1.4.0 on there If you are mounting it on a Laptop I would go for ISTA/INPA cost should be around £100 when buying go for a good supplier offering back up (as always cheapest isnt always best) Your E61 will have around 100 Control ECU's and Sensors ISTA will find and read them all or show them as a Greyed out box. These can be ivestigated and fixed as the program includes Wiring Diagrams Workshop Information with Pictures and Diagrams which obviously are a great help My neibour brought iCarsoft for BMW which has free upgrades (he tells me) I have looked at it and it seems very good but lacks the WIS obviously again a one off cost BMW themselves started to block access to their Technical Information website now subscription only in 2019 they also did the same for their parts website but for cars up to 2019 it is still a great tool. Hope this helps not hinders Dave

Right! Quick update…. replaced the throttle body with a brand new one and took all the pipes and diss valve off for a thorough clean. I found some hairline cracks in the folds of the air intake boot of the idle valve intake pipe, coverered it with order tape then electrical waterproof tape as I couldn’t get another one today. started the car and it was banging and popping and wouldn’t run… then I remembered to plug the throttle body back in! reset all modules and adaptions and it calmed down. took it for a 20 mile run at pace and it’s off like a whippet again. thank you to @Greydog as usual for the advice. hopefully this has sorted the issue and on to the next one!

Happy Christmas to everyone. Thank you to all that participated and helped me along the way. have a blessed festive time, a good rest, and no calls to the RAC!

Hi Dave, are there any of these programs you mentioned free? I noticed Foxwell scanners for sale and there did not seem to be any need for a laptop to run them, they seem to be all in one. The reason I ask is I bought the original Carly tool a few years ago when they said all you pay is a one of fee and that was it, all further updates were free and no yearly subscription. They guaranteed this, then they brought out a new model with a yearly subscription and the one I had wouldn't work. I argued that was not the agreement but all they did was send me the new tool and ask for around £90.00 per year. I don't mind paying a one of fee but I get annoyed when they don't stand by there word. sorry for the rant. Paneuro.

Morning Andrew That sounds like a good deal getting the tyres set up The best is BMW ISTA/INPA this will give full dealer access and also includes WIS (Workshop Information) TIS (Technical Information) Wiring Diagrams plus allowing registration of parts and programming I still see copies available for around £100 to £150 there is also stand alone systems like Foxwell, Autologic and iCarsoft Good Luck Happy Christmas Dave

Morning Mike Welcome to the Forum Check your settings for your phone first make sure it isn't something there Then check the settings in your iDrive from memory there used to be a check box that needed a tick From memory there were several Video's on the Net about setting the car up Good Luck Dave