06-22-2015, 03:08 PM | #23 |
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Ok I spent a Saturday morning detailing the car a few weeks ago, and FINALLY see what all the fuss is about... I do indeed have a fair amount
of sandblasting in the area depicted above. The fact that I hadn't hand washed the car yet, and that the paint damage is so low on the body mostly hid this issue from me. It's not ideal, but not the end of the world either. I am not inclined to spend much on any kind of protective film, as the damage has already begun. So filming it now would just trap in the current level of damage. I will just watch it progress, and worry about it down the road. I expect to put very low mileage on this car so it's not like I will be hitting the highway everyday. On the plus side, the car looked great after a handwash/vacuum. Here is the result. You can't see any of this damage in this pic, go ahead and try! If I have to have the entire vehicle repainted I am definitely going for Carbon Black Metallic.
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g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star Last edited by heatmizr; 06-22-2015 at 03:20 PM.. |
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08-24-2015, 05:27 PM | #24 |
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TAG you're hit
August update
Well it had to happen. I've suffered damages... I curbed my driver rear wheel exiting the parking deck at work - ridiculously tight s-curve with curbing that sticks out too far. ARGH. This was inevitable... But what WASN'T inevitable (or maybe it was) was that some TWAT hit my rear bumper while parallel parking. What the hell is wrong with ppl that can't drive? And worse, can't take responsibility for damage they caused! No note, no nothing. I went to my kids t-ball game, parked, returned home and saw this after parking in my garage. It's not horrible, but G.D. it... Was pretty much perfect before. Ok, bitch session is over and I am over it. I am not going to invoke any insurance claim, just gonna buff it or whatever my body shop buddy tells me to do with it. I figure some other jackass will hit it again if I spend too much on the repair. (I've been hit 4-5 times since moving here, always someone else's fault.) If/when they do, I'll do a more thorough repair. On the plus side, I don't seem to be burning any oil. Last time I checked it was still pegged at MAX after a couple thousand miles. Will check again soon. I have noticed that this car feels so much better when driving it hard. Its a bit stiff and inelegant at slower speeds, but it really comes into its own if you drive it like a sports sedan
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heatmizr [Todd]
g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star Last edited by heatmizr; 10-02-2015 at 01:54 PM.. |
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08-24-2015, 06:05 PM | #25 |
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Hey Todd....long time no talk...sorry about the hit and run. That kinda thing will ruin your day for certain.
However...given the damage pictured I'm not sure why you don't want to file a claim and get it fixed properly? (or if the damage amount is low enough, just pay yourself). You're driving a really nice vehicle that I assume you'll own for years to come...if you've got a good insurance company and you're in decent standing with them, most won't ding you for a hit and run like that. You pay insurance for just this sort of this - you outta use it ....just my unsolicited advice there It's easy to curb the 20's - my wife hit a curb pretty good within 2 months of owning it. I had that fixed right away, I couldn't live with the damage, even knowing it would probably happen again (which it did, but very minor). Interested to see how it looks after some buffing though... |
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08-24-2015, 10:14 PM | #26 |
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You can buff that out and bring it back to 95% of original. That's what bumpers are for.
Use some superglue (gel) on that piece that's ripped and hanging near the reflector. Black is a difficult color to match and if it comes back with any orange peel, you'll like it even less. IMO.
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08-25-2015, 11:29 AM | #27 |
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Thanks guys.
I am a little less picky than I used to be regarding the perfectness of my belongings. Comes with having kids I think, as well as the family budget you need to keep. Or maybe I am mellowing out. Anyway, on this amount of damage I tend along PAX5's feelings. I can't be sending cars into the shop for every little ding. On this repair, I think most of the cost would be deductible anyway. One of my best buddies is an experienced body/paint shop whiz. I'll prob have him look at it and advise me on self-repair procedure. Should be cheap to attempt it, and I still have the option of having him repaint it afterward (under the table) if I'm still not happy. Jeff I will be sure to post a pic here after the repair. PAX5 do you agree I should glue that piece back on first and then do the buffing? This should hide the tear better.
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10-02-2015, 01:50 PM | #28 |
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Bumper Repair - AFTER Pic:
Been meaning to post this since I did the job a few weeks ago. See above post for BEFORE pic... My buddy gave me a 'kit' he made with matching paint he mixed up at his shop, a buffer, several wheels/pads, sandpaper, compound and some clear coat. And some detailed advice. I used a razor blade to remove the piece of paint that was dangling, and left that void. It would need filler to do much with it, I opted not to mess with it. I followed his instructions, but could def see where experience on this work counts for a lot. My admitted hack job now keeps me from seeing the damage at a distance, it doesn't draw your eye. Remember this is an up close high def pic; stand further away and it almost disappears. Its only an ~80% repair, but I'm fairly happy with it (for free anyway). And I learned something! In fact, I kept his buffer so that I can maybe smooth out some scuffs on our other car... That compound does amazing things...
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g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star Last edited by heatmizr; 10-02-2015 at 01:55 PM.. |
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10-02-2015, 02:11 PM | #29 |
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In other news, I have been flirting with my battery. Since I bought it it has been showing me readings in the upper 11v range... Alarming! And yet I have had no indications of a low battery whatsoever.
I boosted it with an old-school charger for a couple hrs before a weekend trip once, and since then have connected a motorcycle trickle charger a few times here and there overnight. Over time I got it up over 12v, maybe 12.3. But my trickle charger I believe only puts out 12.5+ volts, so its not going any higher. Had it off for a few weeks now, no issues still but this wknd I will check it again and probably leave it "trickling" for a couple nights. Keep in mind this battery is the original, so if it did die it would not be that surprising. Regarding the dealers' stance on replacing them, maybe I ought to NOT charge it, to ensure I get to that point before my warranty is up in Feb? I did buy one of those Jebsen cigarette lighter voltage monitor things. Its not showing that the car is not charging sufficiently; on the contrary, it appears to be flowing plenty of voltage almost all the time. Going on 6 months now and NO CHANGE to oil level indicated in the iDrive. Still at Max. Hmm, does it ever show higher than max? If the dealer overfilled it, would it just read Max even though its going down until such time the oil goes below that? Mileage with almost all city driving in rush hour, short trips daily, in sitting at just under 12 mpg. I do try to be smooth and judicious with the pedal mostly, but then a couple dips into the throttle wipes out all that gentle driving. Mmmmmmm...
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10-02-2015, 02:45 PM | #30 | |
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You have been in max oil level for 6 months but how many miles? I was doing 15 mpg on city before changing the battery. Now that is reset is showing me 12.9 mpg.
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10-02-2015, 08:56 PM | #31 | |
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If for whatever reason you didn't, or you don't qualify (and there is NO REASON why you wouldn't), get yourself an intelligent battery charger (not a trickle charger), like a C-TEK or a Battery Tender (about $60) and charge for at least 48 hours. Key to your problem is "city driving". Your battery never gets charged! But it may be too late. Under charging AGM batteries is as bad as over charging!
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10-02-2015, 08:58 PM | #32 | |
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... so you got it back 80%. I predicted 95% ... It's fine. Looks good. And guess what: it will happen again!
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10-08-2015, 08:02 AM | #34 | |
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Yes I was aware of that but also figured it would be up to the dealer for a final decision based on the condition of the battery. Anyway, I got the CPO inspection paperwork before I purchased. On that it showed all the items they replaced as part of N63CCP -> battery not listed there. It also showed they tested the battery (as part of the CPO inspection) and it was rated in the middle (good, not great), indicating that likely it wasn't brand new. Nevertheless, as to your comment I checked the battery this morning and it is a 105 ah AGM. So it had to have been replaced at some point, correct? I am guessing it was replaced in the 12 months prior to N63CCP and therefore not replaced a second time. If I pull the battery out will it have an actual date on the side? I couldn't see one anywhere with it locked down in place. Also thanks for the push on the charger, again I knew this but hadn't bothered yet. I am using an old Battery Tender (not sure if it was intended to be Motorcycle specific, but that is what I bought it for and been using it for). I think it simply reduces the charging when it detects a certain voltage. If the newer versions do anything beyond that, I'll look into picking one up.
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g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star Last edited by heatmizr; 10-08-2015 at 08:17 AM.. |
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10-08-2015, 08:09 AM | #35 | |
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Very interesting! So add AD Sway Bar malfunctions to the dying battery symptoms list... Terrific it went away though. I have right around 4k miles on it so far. No detectable oil usage (according to the iDrive). I've only been daily driving it since school started, and even then its like 8 miles a day. So your MPG went down! That's gotta be just that your current driving is not as efficient as before, or at least hasn't averaged out yet... I don't see how the new battery could affect that very much. Anyway you are ahead of me, been stuck around 11mpg not counting trips outside of town. And its not improving... if anything I have been in the 10's lately. All rush hour driving in hilly city terrain.
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10-08-2015, 09:36 AM | #36 | |
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About the oil usage. You are saying that the level haven't even move a drop from full in 4k miles? If its like that I guess there is something wrong. From full to low are like 4 drops. Do you know if you got the fuel pump replaced?, Some people here are saying that after the fuel pump got replace, went from adding 1 qt around 1k miles to 3k miles. Not sure the relation to the oil consume.
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10-08-2015, 09:09 PM | #37 | |
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Oh, and when you find on what date the battery was replaced ... keep in mind that Original BMW parts have a 2 year 24K (or unlimited?) mile warranty on parts and labor! The mileage warranty period changed at some point in the not too distant past ...
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10-11-2015, 01:29 PM | #38 |
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Ok my battery is stamped: 04 12 = April 2012... (why would mine be MM over YY when yours is YY over MM ?)
Since this was a Feb '12 build, I would have expected it to have a Feb or March battery at the latest. Don't they ship with battery already in? So I would say this is an original battery... and yet its the 105 ah... I would think I am due for a new battery at the next oil change and before my warranty runs out in Feb 16.
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11-30-2015, 03:54 PM | #39 |
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Update on Battery Charging:
Although my battery is giving me no issues or signs of weakness, I continue to see only ~11.87v at the posts under the hood. So I have continued to monitor my voltage with the above mentioned Jebsen cigarette lighter voltage monitor. I have detected no change in the several months of watching it. Except for 2 secs at startup (where it reads 11.x), its always reading 13-14+ volts no matter how I drive. Which has me wondering if everything is actually fine but the voltage as measured at the terminals in the engine bay is low. Could there be a voltage drop from the battery in the rear to the front under-hood posts? I guess the only way to answer it is to pop the trunk floor and measure there. I will report back in a day or two once I check to see if there is a difference. NO OTHER ISSUES to report. Been motoring happily! No change whatsoever to my Oil Level reading yet after close to 5k miles, still pegged at the MAX line. I have been noticing a bit of wear on the driver's seat seam that runs front-to-back on the left (door) side of the seat bottom. I don't think I rub it too hard getting in and out, but maybe the prev owner was a bit shorter and did. The gloss has worn off the edge of that seam, so I'll be looking to treat that in some way and try not to wear it further.
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g26 i4 e40 - Clean Machine e70 X5 50i M-Sport "The Boss" Loaded e90 328i - sold e36 M3 - Gone to become a track star Last edited by heatmizr; 01-07-2016 at 02:23 PM.. |
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01-07-2016, 02:25 PM | #40 |
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In regards to the above continued low voltage readings, I had a hunch about the battery voltage not being accurate at the front jump posts under the hood. So I compared them to readings taken directly at the battery terminals.
The readings up front were exactly 0.1 v lower than in the rear. I measured 11.9v in front, and 12.0 in rear at battery. So, yeah, lower but not much different. We'll see if the cooler weather has any effect on my readings over time.
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01-07-2016, 05:22 PM | #41 |
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Nice ride. Just like ours. We just did a nice wheel/tire upgrade and H&R 1.2 drop on it. Will post some before and after pics soon! I love these things. I just found out though about the N63 recall not-a-recall so have to get that stuff done to. Havent had any symptoms yet on mine, everything is great, 64k on it.
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01-07-2016, 07:32 PM | #42 | |
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03-01-2016, 01:40 PM | #43 |
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A few weeks ago, I took the truck into the BMW dealer just before the Factory warranty expiration for :
- the above battery suspicions - oil change (had not hit mileage but had been over a year) - minor corrosion on rear wheel centers - asked about the paint sandblasting issue on rear rockers - Final inspection for anything prior to factory warranty expiring They: - Tested and Replaced Battery with same type/size (and coded to car) - Oil / filter change - replaced all wiper blades - denied any coverage on the wheel corrosion (I knew this was a long shot) - They claimed they couldn't see any paint 'damage' but did some buffing on at least one side. I can't say it looks any different. - no other issues found I will take a voltage reading on the new battery soon and see how it differs from the old one. I have however seen a variation on the voltage reading on my Jebsen cigarette lighter voltage monitor... It seems to ramp up from a lower initial voltage when I first start the car (starts in 10v range now), and ramp up slower (longer than a few seconds) and its hard to be sure but seems to not always read as high once topped out as it did on the old battery. Still hits 14v but doesn't seem to stay there as steadily, dips down more than before during driving. So possibly it is charging it differently since it was coded for the new battery. Does anyone know what the expected charging voltage differences are old vs new battery? Does it make sense that it isn't pushing as much voltage to a newer fresher battery? I am thinking of just pulling that voltage monitor out, it gives me more questions than answers. Especially with the new battery installed, I don't feel like I need to track it at all really. No other issues with vehicle. However it SEEMS like the throttle response is slightly softer lately. Anyone heard of any new programming/tuning changes that might account for this?
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03-01-2016, 02:13 PM | #44 | |
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Please post a couple of close up, hi res pics of the problem ...
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