shadowface

Thanks Jack, I went with Comma Xtreme G48, which has BMW’s approval. Very well priced compared to others.

A few years ago, when I went back to Poland for over two weeks, I rented a car and decided to test my dad's theory on these different "premium" fuels. I did about 2.5k miles over the course of 16 days and "tested" 4 different fuels (full tank each, filling from almost empty) on petrol engine (then brand new, 2009 Yaris 1.33 VVT-i ~ 102 bhp): Basic cheap fuel that was pre filled when I picked up the car: !Removed! as ever, compared to what I put in later.Orlen Verva: this is a flagship Polish uprated fuel, with some nice additives. It performed oh so much better than stock stuff, had more response, smoother revving.BP Ultimate: very renown for its cleaning properties. Not much different to Verva, didn't feel the difference to be honest.Shell V-Power Racing (we used to have this in Poland, like a more punchy version of V-Power): this was really noticeable difference. The small 1.33 VVT-i really liked it and was more keen to rev higher with a nicer noise and much better response to pushing it.Now, from what I'm told by a chemist, the octane content is pretty much the same on all premium fuels (differences being measured in 0.1—0.2 of octane), and the only real point to them are additives which all have different purposes, mostly adding cleaning properties by making sure the fuel burns thoroughly, without leaving nasty carbon-based residues around engine components, such as injectors, etc. Now, I'm not an expert (just assembling common sense with widely available knowledge), so I might be wrong, but I see the point in running premium fuel on my BMW. I don't need any standalone additives, etc. Just keeping the engine safe and clean from the inside by using better quality fuel. Obviously, those cleaning properties need time to start working, so a few fill-ups are required to feel the difference on an older vehicle. What are your thoughts on this guys?

Since I couldn't find anything on the forum about it, and big brother Google came up with more questions, I'd like to ask what would you recommend as the best (to your knowledge and experience) coolant/antifreeze for BMW engines, and M47N2 engine in particular? I'm currently looking at BMW's own coolant, as I want to do the system flush this weekend, but I'm not sure if there are maybe some better aftermarket solutions?

If you’re looking for an affordable set of sport dampers, look for Bilstein B6 or B6 Adjustible 10: http://www.bilstein.de/en/products/high-performance-shock-absorbers/bilstein-b6-adjustible-10/. For adjustable dampers or a full coilover kit, you have to fork out the dough; the cheapest (single) B6 A10 damper I found was around £280 online. As for coilovers alone, Bilstein PSS series comes to mind, but it starts at around £580 per kit.

From what I've learned recently from BMW about DSC and DTC: DSC is a system combining traction control and stability control systems together. DSC is a "safety" system which acts as a sophisticated electronic version of LSD, making sure you don't ever lose grip, by throttling the engine output and placing it on wheels that have more grip, to get you out of trouble easier. It constantly measures variety of data based on plenty of sensors (g-forces, yaw, wheel speed, oversteer, understeer, and more). When it detects a difference from the implemented safe model, it then interrupts. As for DTC, this is a part of DSC programme, but it acts like "sport" setting, so it allows for some wheel spin, throttle response is definitely better and so on, but the system still "monitors" driver's progress to interrupt only in exceptional cases, so you can still have fun driving, while staying moderately safe on the road. Apparently, it switches off traction control, while preserving stability control, but I was not able to confirm that. I think it's just a "sport" sport setting of the two. Based on my tests, I would not recommend driving with both DSC and DTC off, especially when you haven't equipped your car in a limited-slip differential, unless you'd like to wrap your beautiful car around the nearest lamp post or a tree. As for changing default settings during a remap, I will let you know as soon as I've done it, cause I'd like to set DTC as a default programme.

A note to mods: I just noticed a Wheels & Tyres section, if you feel that it's more relevant, please move the topic there. I was wondering if anyone could help me pick the best fitting wheel size for my 2006 120d M Sport (E87). Currently, I have a set of genuine 207M wheels, with the sizes as follows: Front: 17x7" ET47 (205/45 tyre setup) Rear: 17x7.5" ET47 (255/40 tyre setup) I would like to replace them at some point with 18" aftermarket rims and run the following tyre setup: Front: 235/35/R18 (+6 mm difference to diameter)Rear: 255/35/R18 (0 mm difference to diameter) Can someone point me into what sort of size should I look for when browsing for 18" rims to run such tyre sizes (I like 'em nice and wide!)?

I'm a freelance web designer, been doing that for over 5 years professionally now.

I think you're lucky that the DSC is interrupting at all, I've heard stories about remapped diesel engines on post-2004 BMWs, where there is so much torque, even DSC is not able to cope well enough with it, so you get an occasional screech/spin on slippery surfaces. A lack of LSD on these cars is a real shame; having so much power and not being able to put it down correctly because of interrupting DSC is like giving a kid his favourite toys, just to take them away the moment he starts enjoying playing with them...

My list of cars I wouldn't my life complete without: 2013 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 2004 Pontiac GTO (or Vauxhall Monaro VXR 6.0) 1982 Pontiac TransAm (AKA "K.I.T.T") 2004 BMW M3 CSL (E46) 2013 BMW M5 SaloonI'm a fan of both muscle cars and modern European BMWs as you can see.

In regards to the glow plugs, they are designed to heat up the engine block in the immediate area of fuel delivery and burning, to allow your car to start when the engine is cold. Glow plugs are one of those components that are hard to estimate when they require changing. They should last you about 3-4 years or around 50k miles. If your garage really gets fault code for those, you would have to change them, as they may fail at some point, rendering your starter useless in cold temperatures. What is surprising, is the price they've quoted you for. Main BMW dealer in Manchester charges £35 + VAT per hour of labour, and plugs cost about £10 each on avg. This shouldn't require more than 2-3 hours of labour by a skilled technician. As for the rear wiper, I have no idea what could it be. You can check the harness, the motor, the wiring. It's best to do it with the probe, to see if the current is passing through the wiring. I bet you can easily get to the wiper motor inside the hatch door.

Sapphire Black 2006 120d M Sport (all mine) Silver Metallic 2004 Nissan Micra 1.2 SX (my girlfriend's car).

Modern run-flats are a very good fit. In fact, last month I've replaced what I had been given by the dealer (non-RFTs) on front wheels, by a brand new set of Dunlop SP01 ROF. The result? More feedback, MUCH better grip, less understeer (due to better traction) and the ride is much quieter now (those tyres have noise rating of 68db, so they are quieter than most). I have an M Sport suspension, so I thought that it now will be even harder (due to RFTs having reinforced sidewalls and all), but the ride is actually the same, I can't feel any difference in anything else other than large potholes or manholes, or low kerbs. BMW have specifically designed their suspensions to run RFTs, so I'd stick with them, but choose your tyres carefully nonetheless. IMO, RFTs are much safer to run, unless you use your car for racing.

I almost fell from my chair when I read that they wanna charge you £200 worth of parts and labour. Either the garage is full of incompetent fools or they are trying to charge you for all the standing around which is probably part of their "service". Anyhow, if those guys would've plugged your 1er to their diagnostics properly, they would have probably found the fault with the wiper, as most of the electrical stuff is hooked to on-board diagnostics system anyway. There can be several reasons, as to why your wiper isn't working. The wiring may be loose (a bit unlikely), you said you checked the fuse, so I would suspect a faulty wiper motor. Only a proper diagnostics check could help you figure out what's going on. Is the wiper really not working AT ALL, or does it engage at random times? Do you have a rain sensor with automatic wipers on your spec, or is it manual? If it's the former, do your automatic wipers work correctly? Turn them on and splash some water onto the front windshield's sensor (it's close to rear-view mirror). Also, if there's a malfunction with the auto wipers, diagnostics should pick it up too.

Matthew, from Altrincham. PS: Ready for a meet-up :-)

I've recently got a nasty puncture and had to change both of my front tyres. Got a new set of Dunlop SP01 ROF* (Run-Flat) for a low price, to replace some mid-level, non-RFT tyres. I have to say, I'm more than impressed with the feedback, feel of the road, the grip and how quiet the new tyres are. A note to all those RFT-agnostic people: modern (new) RFTs are as good and regular tyres, with safety advantage added (main reason why I bought them).

I understand that council have nothing to do with how manholes were placed 50 years ago, but that doesn't mean they can just ignore the problem. I'm not after a compensation, as I haven't had any damage (yet) done to my car, except for scaring the poo out of me and possibly other motorists using A560. The problem lays with making cheap road repairs (oh, I've seen loads of those during last month on A56). There has to be a way to make effective repairs, both financially and technically. I just feel nobody cares about any standards I this country anymore.

I can easily relate to you. Last Saturday, I was driving down to Altrincham on A560, when I've noticed a manhole, enclosed about 5cm deep into otherwise flat road. Didn't have time to swerve, thus I've bumped into it driving about 30mph, which as a result has made my CD player freeze and I was worried for a moment, that I've lost half of my front-end suspension. Who makes it possible to place manholes in the middle of a dual carriageway, in the exact spot where your nearside wheels will be rolling? Just so we should swerve to avoid damaging our cars, then hit a post, a tree, or worse: another car? It's ridiculous for councils to stuff their pockets without maintaining the roads. What is the freaking road tax we pay for each year, if not for road maintenance?

After a month of driving it (it's still before the ECU remap), I absolutely love it (and I'm a petrol head). Next in line is a ECU remap to get it to 200 bhp.

I was considering all of them back in January, including the famous 123d, which has TwinPower engine (and around 204 ponies). I decided to go for a pre-particle filtered 120d from 2006 over 2008 123d, because it has a good amount of power (161 bhp), best of the old M47 engine platform (M47TU2D20) and you can still get around 45-50 mpg. It's my first diesel as well (I'm a petrolhead), but I was so impressed with its famous reliability and fun it can give you, that it was a sensible choice for my first BMW. Also, look for the optional M Sport package, if you fancy something better looking and much better cornering/grip (the downside is the firm ride). I'd forget the 116d, as you won't get any fun in it for the money. 120d is the way to go in my opinion. Edit: Best of all, you can always remap the ECU (for around £200-350) on the 120d to give you almost 200 ponies. :)

When you get a factory install with a DVD (I think this is what the iDrive is capable of supporting), the display lands on the top of the central dashboard, above the centre air vents. The player and controls are retained in the original locations (1st slot for radio/iDrive, 2nd slot for air-con, 3rd slot for PDC). If you want a custom head-unit/multimedia system/sat-nav in the first two slots of the centre dash, you do have to relocate PDC panel somewhere else. I think there are some retro-fitting kits to get a multimedia system installed in a way the iDrive is done at the factory, so you may try and look for those. A tip: avoid those cheap touchscreen multimedia all-in-ones, as they're more of a problem than a solution.

Well, if you have the same layout (3-slot dash with the bottom one for PDC, etc.), you need to look at a way to move those bottom controls somewhere first. Two locations come to my mind here, either the interior lights panel above the mirror (a very elegant solution, IMO), or to where the ashtray well is. Both options will require some custom fitting to be done.

I've seen them relocated to the light switch panel underneath the roof, but I think this was done by some fitting specialist in Portugal, so a custom job would be required. If you have 3-slot centre panel (as in pic above), it's not as bad as in my case (I have 2-slot centre panel). I will have to order a larger case for the console and install aftermarket aluminium frame to keep air-con controls on the bottom and have 2 top slots free to install some kind of large multimedia device, such as this bad boy: http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/299/35829/SPH-DA100/page.html.

@Phill106: That unit looks like good fit for a basic E81 without climate control (automatic air-con). If you have such version, it should fit it spot on, otherwise it won't be compatible with the dash. I, for one, wouldn't be able to fit it into my dash:

I was planning to buy a used BMW 1-Series this year, and I did it indeed, not 3 weeks into a new year. I bought myself a nicely equipped 2006 120d (163) M Sport in Sapphire Black, and I'm more than happy with it. No more cars to buy in the 2013, but maybe an ECU remap with a K&N filter upgrade will suffice.

I've been wondering what do you guys think about replacing the standard BMW Business CD head unit with a Professional CD which was always an option on earlier 1ers? I've heard there are numerous advantages behind upgrading to BMW Professional (Alpine CD73), such as: - improved sound quality (the standard Business model has worse sound than a stock radio from my girlfriend's 2004 Micra SX); - built-in Bluetooth for hands-free, and USB support (on certain units); - better, clearer display; - CD changer support; - more built-in functionality, etc. Did anyone of you have done an upgrade like this before? Is it worth spending around £150-200 to upgrade the head unit? Bear in mind, I love me some quality tunes (my glovebox is full of CDs).