Serviced the car today.

[Ross R75]

Well, its been a good day for me today. There's not much wrong with the world on a day when you have the pleasure of seeing your unborn first child on a scan and then going home and servicing your 75/ZT.

Ross junior is due on 4th November and is looking healthy today at 13.5 weeks.

Now to the car. My trusty Haynes manual in hand I set about the first complete service I've carried out on any of my cars. I've done bits and bobs but always left servicing to the "professionals".

I changed the oil and oil filter, air filter and fuel filter without so much as grazed fingers. I used Castrol GTX Diesel specific 10W40, 6.5 litres of it! BMW certainly didn't skimp on sump capacity. I got the filters from ebay (genuine rover ones) for £35 but I think I'll get them from Euro car parts next time as they're cheaper and are made by oe manufacturers. They're listed as the E46 BMW 320d M47 ones. I greased all the door hinges and check straps and also the bonnet catches and boot lock. I finished by fashioning a service display reset tool from some bell wire and reset the service indicator by shorting pins 4 and 8 of the OBD II socket for 5 seconds.

The most fiddly part of the job was removing the engine undertray but the whole thing took about an hour and a half from jacking the car up to putting my tools away.

You get enormous peace of mind from knowing your car has been properly cared for rather than merely knowing somebody has stamped your service book.

I am at peace with the world today.

[Simon]

A big congrats to you for you mini-man, I hope you, babies mother and baby will do well in the future too.



Another congrats for the service too. I too would do a service on my car but the next ones a biggie so may leave it for Lates and crew to do As you say, it's very satisfying doing it alone, not only have you saved yourself £££ but you get the reassurance of a job well done knowing that it wasn't left to anyone else to make any errors or such like.

Well done (on both accounts) once more.

[Ross R75]

Thanks Simon thats appreciated

I think Lates is more than trustworthy, its just a shame the same can't be said for most of the main dealers. It always amazes me that people are so hung up on main dealer histories. I've seen more than enough shady main dealer practices to put anbody off. Unless you stand beside the technician and watch him/her doing everything (I used to do this), you can prove nothing more than the fact your book has been stamped. I'd far rather see a book of receipts and a comprehensive but owner created history when buying a car, I find that much more reassuring.

There's a few things on the KV6 I wouldn't fancy doing myself (cambelt etc) but the M47 diesel is very user friendly when it comes to servicing. If you don't mind getting your hands and most of the rest of your body dirty there's not much you can't do yourself on the diesel.

[Simon]

I got plenty of dirty today and that was just removing wheels to get at the brakes. The other week I had the front bumper off too so I could get at the bonnet release mechanism to free it up. I reckon come mid-service interval an oil change and new filter will be a doddle.

[Ross R75]

Originally Posted by Simon D

I got plenty of dirty today and that was just removing wheels to get at the brakes. The other week I had the front bumper off too so I could get at the bonnet release mechanism to free it up. I reckon come mid-service interval an oil change and new filter will be a doddle.

Hehe, all in the name of keeping your pride and joy purring, well worth it! Brakes are a dirty job, I've done it once before on a previous car and had the bumper off to change headlamps once also. SWMBO says I'm not happy unless I'm covered in motor oil

[EnEnGee]

Originally Posted by Ross R75

Well, its been a good day for me today. There's not much wrong with the world on a day when you have the pleasure of seeing your unborn first child on a scan and then going home and servicing your 75/ZT.

Congrats on the little one. I remember when I saw my daughter for the first time on the scan. That was when it became real for me. Up until then, she was just an abstract thing that I couldn't see or touch. Pretty amazing though isn't it??

I also agree that the diesel is more than agreeable to service. The position of the fuel filter is great with no having to poke around under wheel arches and such as on many other vehicles. My only gripe would be putting the oil filter right over the top of the alternator, right where the oil drips when you do it the first time as you haven't changed the BMW oil filter before!!

Brakes is my next thing before our long trip to the north of Scotland next month.

[Keith]

Remember guys doing an oil change alone does not constitute a service
Please remember to follow the service sheets that can be found on the web site.

Service histories and garage servicing despite those being mainly based on the word "check" still sell cars

[EnEnGee]

Well said. Far be it to skimp the servicing on our cars. The service sheet is quite clear on what should be done/ checked for each of the service options.

My CDT tourer is just coming up for its 5 year service, which I think should be service A, as our car is not in sync with mileage services with only 48k showing after 5 years.

[Kandyman]

Service sheets can be found on our web site under Members/Data/techdata

or follow this link
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/inde...epage=techdata

[Ross R75]

Originally Posted by Keith

Remember guys doing an oil change alone does not constitute a service
Please remember to follow the service sheets that can be found on the web site.

Service histories and garage servicing despite those being mainly based on the word "check" still sell cars

I think the vast majority of us know this. Most of the things that are on the Rover service sheet to be "checked" at yearly/15000 mile intervals get properly checked in a daily or weekly basis on my car.

I have zero confidence in a piece of paper with a dealer's stamp on it.