What do I need to do before a 1000 mile journey???

[the_ginga_ninja]

Well, I'm heading upto Scotland next week to a) Goto a mates wedding and b) pick up the missus as she's moving down here before teh wedding.

So, 400 odd miles each way, plus a fair few hundred whilst up there I'd imagine.

It's just had it's oil changed, new front tyres and pads.

What should I do to make sure that it can withstand that many 90-100 ish mph miles without spitting me out on the hard shoulder at 3am?

Oil levels, coolant etc obviously....

Also, is a slight 'tappety' sound usual on the 4 pot 318iS? I've been told that because the tappets are run hydraulically then unless the engine is under power (i.e not at idle) then they'll always sound a bit like that? Horse crap or veritas?

All posters will be rewarded... in 'karma'!!!

[TOURINGDADDY]

Check all fluids and fill to requirements , check tyres&pressure , check all lights and most important put gogo in or you'll stop,stop

[ZS]

90-100mph is illegal, so it might be worth packing a few "Get out of Jail Free" cards.

Just do the normal checks - oil (which you've done), tyres, water level. Pack of 5 litre container of water, cos you never know when a rad hose is going to pop, or you might drive through a swam of bees and knacker the windscreen, so some water is handy.

[320Touring]

:yeahthat:

also take a decent jack!
and something to kneel on!

i'd also have at least a litre of decent oil incase she needs a topup

other than that just watch youself dude-have a good one

[glenn]

i do 120,000 miles a year,
often do 800 miles a day
and never leave the house without two flasks of coffee and plenty of fags!!

[rare]

RAC cover...

[Gwynleym10]

the ticking you have, is it under load? i.e accerleration going up hill? Could be exhaust manifold gasket...but prob be o.k for a 1000 miles, mine used to tick like mad for about 6months..

Motorway miles are pretty easy on cars really, especially if you don't push it tooo much

[Lordschleife]

Sleep?!

[Dominitry]

Also, make sure you go to the toilet before you leave!

[glenn]

Also, make sure you go to the toilet before you leave!

[placey]

i'd say pack some usefuls - a decent size adjustable spanner, torch, sheet of cardboard or a newspaper (for kneeling/lying on without messing up good clothes), strong tape (holds many things together for a while), allen keys, spare fan belt, a length of wire and a hammer - all wrapped up in a couple of clean rags. with the oil and water suggested above it may well get you going again after a stop. failing that a decent book passes the time while you wait for something else to happen.....

also make sure you've got any wheel lock keys with you and your spare is fit for use. if a garage monkey did your wheel nuts up with an air gun or a scaffold bar it's worth loosening and re-tightening them yourself so you can move them if necessary.

paul

[TOURINGDADDY]

or if need b u could call that v v v v v very nice man

[c76jon]

turn the key!?!?!?!

john

[the_ginga_ninja]

Turn the key?! Now why didn't I think of that?!

As for the rest, well apart from the wire and fan belt everything is carried as a matter of course anyway!

So nowt else mechanicaly then?

[320Touring]

So nowt else mechanicaly then?

its an e30 mate-it'll do ya proud, and if it goes wrong-hit it with a hammer til it starts working again

[TOURINGDADDY]

its an e30 mate-it'll do ya proud, and if it goes wrong-hit it with a hammer til it starts working again

[pacerpete]

1000 miles in an IS ?, i'd suggest prayer !

[dazleeds]

fook it man leave with fookall spare
what an adventure done it many times not come unstuck yet
shit just jinxed meself

[Brianmoooore]

RAC cover...

All the breakdown cover you need is in that 3" disc in the centre of the front of the bonnet.

[Jesus325iTouring]

i do 120,000 miles a year,
often do 800 miles a day
and never leave the house without two flasks of coffee and plenty of fags!!

Glenn,you da man

Same as me when I have to go out for a long run!

[dazleeds]

:yeahthat: topman trust ya beemer

if youve looked after it it,ll look after you

[Jesus325iTouring]

fook it man leave with fookall spare
what an adventure done it many times not come unstuck yet
sh*t just jinxed meself

Me too Daz,my spare "blew out" about a year ago,and i havn't got around to repairing it yet!

[Richy325iTouring]

RAC cover...

never broke down till i got that

bloody jinxed me

[peejay]

This all reminds me of my Dad, when I was a teenager not long passed me test and off down south for me hols for the first time on me own he usd to tell me to take all sorts just in case. This covered just about everything from a shovel to torch plus every thing else youve all mentioned, what with oil,maps, water, jump leads and shovels etc (he actually stopped short of a horse and rope to pull out of quicksand or a replacement lead roof in the event of a nuclear holocaust ) there was no room for me carrier bag of clean jockies and socks that were the real vital requirements for pulling mingers at Newquay !!

Oh how things have changed.... when I set off now I make sure I've got me mobile phone ,me AA card and me wad. O and all me bezzie CD's.

Peejay.

[minime1275]

I think most of the essentials have already been mentioned.

I was proud of the way my Ԛ£300 320 gobbled up the miles last Sunday. Thing is, I was supposed to be convoying with a couple of brand-new cars up the M4, M5 & M6, but they sped off at 90mph. It was a scorcher of a day at 90 farenheit (32C) and my temp gague was stuck at 3/5 (never usually goes beyond half-way), so I decided to back off and keep to 65-70mph to avoid any problems.

When I stopped at the services, the oil pressure light came on momentarily when the revs fell to tickover, then it went off immediately (its had a recent oil & filter change and the level is ok). Im guessing this is normal after a long, fast drive in hot weather. Is it?