COTE 2 ... further toughts

So I've been thinking about the COTE, and the 335i still checks all boxes, but there's just one that could be better.
It could be a complete sleeper, or Q-car if you prefer the queen's English. In order to pull that off I have to make it look like your run of the mill 318d. Which means it should be a 4 door sedan instead of the sportier looking coupe.

I have to give credit where it's due, my SO was and still is pushing for a 4 door to transport our little family. So she put the idea in my head and it made me realise the potential.

All of this doesn't make my life easier, since most people who buy, I should say who have bought these kind of cars bought coupes. The 4 door is a bit of a rarity and then I need to find an OK one with the options I want.

Speaking of options, I want navigation, cruise control, aircon and keyless go. Let me talk you through these.

Navigation, I hear you when you say navigation will suck on this car, the maps will never be up to date and even if they are it's not an online system so you'll get stuck in traffic. I fully agree and probably will never use the navigation. I just want the screen in the car. There's a lot of hardware out there to inject other streams on the screen, even as picture in picture. So here are my brainfarts regarding the screen. Miracast for the cellphone screen. It's always nice to have waze high up on the dash. Front and rear cameras and a raspberry pi connected to the OBD plug. Also this is the first generation of 3 series where some of the cars vitals are incorporated in the navigation system. So it's a lot nicer to use a big screen in the central console to check the oil level than to fumble around with a small stalk and monochrome display in the tach.

Aircon. Well this shouldn't need an explanation. Creature comfort

Cruise control. Since it's supposed to be my daily, it'll see a lot of highway. So cruise control is a must. Not neccesary adaptive, although available and nice.

Keyless go. I like the idea to press a button to open the car, and then not to have to fumble with the key to start. My previous Focus ST had this system and I loved it. I even prefer this over a keyless entry and go system, since here you still have to lock your car with a press of a button. (call me oldschool)

So there you have it my COTE wish list. Now I only need to find the car, which is going to be a nightmare. I'm already looking as far as Switzerland so there's bound to be some more stories on here before I have the car.

COTE Z3 coupe - stereo upgrade

Remember when I first got the car and said I needed a navigation system. I did spend some time looking at a parrot asteroid. Yes, well since then I decided against it. Mainly because a modern era screen looks really out of place in the classic dashboard.

That left me with a fugly radio in the dash, which in the same logic had to go as well.

I do wanted to have some possibility of music in the car and Bluetooth hands free calling is also a must, which brought me to buy a parrot mki9100.

After some fiddling I managed to get it installed and working. Apparently the bmw needs 12v feedback from the radio to turn on the amp.
For the moment the mounting is really temporary, I just stuck a blanking plate in the radio opening and hot glued the display and mic on there. Here's a pic for those who haven't seen the Z3 recently. 

If you've read my blog you'll know I spent way too much time on the S3 to do something useful in the Z3, so the blanking plate is still there.

If you know me, you also know that my mind has been over the blanking plate situation a lot. The plan is to replace the blanking plate with 3 gauges (oil temp, oil pressure and voltage) and hide the parrot completely. The display should come in the gauge cluster and the control panel in the ashtray..... One day

COTE 2... Maybe

So, since the S3 didn't do it for me I'm looking in another car. (yes, what else is new)

So it should have more power, more cylinders, more turbos, more doors (according to my SO) and less driven wheels.
That brings me perfectly to a E92 or E90 335i with the N54 engine..... Let's see if I can find one that checks all boxes.

COTE Audi S3 8L APY

Here we go.

About a year ago I bought an 1999 S3 APY.
All was well for a while until the car decided to break down a couple of months ago. OK I'm not going to lie, half a year ago.
I've been fixing it ever since and it took me a lot of tries to find what's actually wrong with it. So here's what I did
- cleaned out the air intake ducts
- cleaned out the intercoolers
- cleaned the injectors
- changed the spark plugs
- changed the fuel pump
- changed the fuel filter
- changed most of the parts in the pcv system
- replaced the ripped inlet hose
- replaced the crankshaft position sensor
- replaced the MAF
- replaced the oil pump
- replaced the oil pickup line

So needless to say, I spent a lot of time wrenching before I got the car running again. Only to realise that I actually prefer rear wheel drive, 2 cylinders more and 2 turbos more.

So the COTE is probably going to become a COTY (car of the year)

Btw, I've been putting the pro in Procrastination and blogspot is pointing it out. Despite the post date being 25/12/2016, I'm writing this in the 19/11/2017

I'm back

Well. I'm back (or at least I have a reason to rant a bit)
This time it is windows that at the basis of this rant.
Here I was reading away on, y favourite sites when windows decided to reboot.  It's really a pain that it just reboots without giving you the option of postponing it.  It's a laptop computer,  so it's not like it's going to run for ages without ever being turned off,  right? Anyway,  it's back up so I guess I'll get on with my life :)

Btw,  this was typed on a phone with a bluetooth keyboard,  so please forgive the typos

BMW doesn't like vacations

So we went on a trip for a week and a half, so the BMW 320d (yes I should specify) didn't drive for that time. When I tried to start it yesterday it had a dead battery. Luckily not dead enough for all the electronics to loose their settings, but not starting dead.

So went and borrowed a friend's (thanks Paul) jump starter. It's one of those small Lithium battery jump starters and it worked as a charm.

This got me thinking I'll have to get one of those. Some googling taught me that
- there are a lot of those out there
- they come in all different sizes (roughly 5000mAh to 20000mAh)
- most of them have additional extras like flashlight / usb charging ports / compass / ....

One thing that's really missing from most of these is the ability to charge from USB, which really hampers the power bank function of the thing. I have a nice solar panel to charge it, but can't use it.

I'll keep you posted if I find one that's USB rechargeable (and doesn't cost 150$ like the noco geniusboost)

COTE - BMW Z3 coupe

Here we go, a new COTE (Car Of The Era).

Saturday we went and got the new car, or at least the new to me car. 

It's a Z3 coupe with the M52TUB28 engine, as you guys should know from previous posts. 

Here are some pictures, which should give you an idea about the car. 

The car has dutch export plates for the moment, which are rather funny since they're just stickers glued on a plastic 

 So now comes the time where I ramble on about what "needs" to be changed / repaired / modified on the car. You've been warned.
- all bushings on the rear suspension. They aren't shot, but according to the interwebs it's a nice improvement in driving feeling and could actually prevent chassis damage in the long run
- Navigation system is much needed. I've been ogling the Parrot Asteroid RNB6. Can't wait until it is released
- Check radio reception. For the moment there is no reception. I suspect the antenna amplifier to be either defect or not powered. More digging is necessary
- Polish the windshield. There's some swirl marks in the glass.
- Gear shift knob. It's too high for the moment
- Put lights in the gear shift knob i don't have yet :-)
- Get rid of the curb rash on the left rear rim. Not much, painting and polishing should do the trick.
- replace the engine hood ground wire
- and the list goes on :-)