WillieO

If you have a sound box and big power then the least mod that should be done is a decent cooler for the fluid. On normalish power at least from the experience of my car - 140K was done before the box eventually expired and that was only with the water pipe in the rad type cooler. If you are going to do repeated full bore standing 1/4 miles then all boxes will eventually give in.

It's totally normal. Its just doing what it's supposed to do. It does not mean the engine is overheating. When it is hot also check that the system is pressurising properly by squeezing the top hose. Obviously it will be hot so take care. It should be well firm. If it is soft you have a leak or a radiator cap that is not sealing against pressure.

the engine driven fan has a bimetallic spring coil clutch gizmo that locks it up when it is sensing high temperatures. Typically after being sat in trafffic when its warm. You then hear this fan noise tied to revs when you rev the engine. Otherwise the viscous coupling lets it almost freewheel and make no noise like when its cool.

....and it has an electric pump to run it that only comes on when the oil reaches a set temperature or you are cruising above about 90mph. I discovered a leak from the rubber pipe conns to mine after a highish speed run. Not clever if it would empty the diff but I think the pick up pipe always leaves some oil in the diff for safety.

The latest Renault Laguna has a version of the HICAS on it as if it was a new invention but it is basically derived from the early Nissan one. The way it works on the 300zx was opposite direction rears to the fronts up to about 30mph ish for low speed manouvreability and same direction as the fronts afterwards for high speed stability - is it less yaw? When there is wear it feels very odd. When its sound the car just feels right. Would concur with the above. For cars with big power outputs the issue is the distortion the big forces place on the rear suspension components causing bushings to compress all out of shape etc. One US mag reported the rear wheels toeing right in when launching a 500hp + car hard. The moral of the story is you cant just mod one thing without consequences elsewhere and maybe big power can defeat the hydraulics or electric rack in a battle between power and the HICAS operating. Certainly if this happens then its better removed. Big power through rear wheels which don't know which direction to point is not a good plan.

Do a search - loads on this. Probable cause is the collapse of the rubber bellows part that helps locate the prop centre bearing. It lets the middle of the propshaft sag down onto the mount - on the bones of its ar5e so to speak. Classic symptom is vibration around 40-50mph especially when cold. Replacing the centre bearing is not too hard to do.

After market immoblisers often have nicad battery back up packs and when they're dead they consume milliamps continuously. If your alarm fails to chirp then battery back up pack is probably dead.

If you have the patience you can sometimes release the stuck pistons by putting the caliper back on the car but with the disc off! U then use a wood block between two pistons while you use a G clamp on one of the other ones and then use the massive pressure you can make with the brake pedal to ease each "free" one out. I broke a G clamp doing it. But once you get them out you can see which pistons to replace (£16 is each). With good pistons you can push them in with your fingers! Alternatively there are places that will sell you refurb calipers with your old ones as a return. Doing the rear brake pipes is a problem. Some argue best to drop the rear subframe or alternatively the diff. I have to look at this myself.

Was going to stick Falkens on but got offered a better deal on khumo's Did you go to Skidz?

Would all the bits be stuck in the intercooler though?

If the engine light is indicating a hot cat then that is unburnt fuel and that means failure to ignite / missfire in one or more cylinders. Doesnt really explain fan running though.

Air flow meter fault leading to "get you home mode" maybe? Does it fail to rev past 2500rpm or so once it happens?

HICAS doing odd things because a non standard steering wheel is fitted and the steering angle sensor is reporting steering rate of turn input when there is none and causing the rear wheel steer to do odd actions in response. Just a long shot possibility!

You'll probably find the idle speed needs reset once its clean. There's a procedure to do it. Anyway its good for the planet too to have the slowest steady idle speed.

One of my original turbos went at about 140k but the engine is otherwise sound. If its not used for months the first start will sound clattery and you can find a noisy hydraulic cam follower but let it warm up properly or give it a drive and within 20 minutes it can tickover smoothly and quietly with no noises. Well maintained and not overly thrashed these engines can do huge mileages. Turbos seem to last from 80 - 150k miles.

Low 13's is pretty good but the auto box will not take a lot of those kinds of starts before it gives up.

The only bit that really matters is the little hot wire sensor in the middle. The mesh hopes to stop any bits of fluff that gets past the air filter from landing on the hot wire sensor. It needs clear air flow.

If the caliper pistons really are bigger then you may have bad pedal travel as the master cylinder piston must travel much further to move the higher volume of fluid when braking. Also the ABS system might similarly have an issue doing the business if they ever lock up.

No guru but inlet bottom outlet top sounds the best plan to bleed out the air. Arent they usually side connections to the cooler?

Yes but not on the zed. Maybe they were greased? Nuts and bolts that are greased have a habit of work loosening.

Is there not a huge debate about how the big discs might not work properly with an ABS system based on the normal ones? Also that old thorny issue about insurance and modifications. I remember asking insurers about big brake mods and their attitude was it does not make the car safer. It only implies you are going to drive it faster therefore risk is up and premium too.

Wiring gets really brittle with age on these, like Pete says if there is no instruction getting to the injector it wont open. Mine has a bad connector on number 3 back on the drivers side - give it a wiggle and it comes back on all 6. Injector is fine though.

Maybe a wastegate suck open before and working fine now

I thought that could almost work till I saw the email address for info. I was even trying to calculate how much power the electromagnet would need to have so it would never have been really fuel free. email his colleague uve.vollenvorit@bmw.co.uk

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/about/news/0,,1156___co-181251681,00.html