E30 Zone

11am - wish me luck !

good luck mate hope all goes well

did it pass then mate.

Failed - but then I was kind of expecting it - not on much though !

Failed on : n/s headlamp aim too high
V small hole at end of sill on n/s - needs patch welding about 1" square
Drop link bushes to rear axle worn

Plus advisories on both rear radius arm bushes worn but not too bad.

So all in all it failed on fairly standard old car stuff !

Booked in for Wednesday to sort it - shouldnt be too expensive either.

Underneath looks very solid - no leaks from engine or transmission at all.

ah well, no too bad mate.

doesent sound too bad,a small victory i suppose.from experience,if thats all the failiure and advisory items youve got yourself a pretty sound e30 there.just expect welding to get bigger,always does when grinding down to find clean metal to weld to.did he not find hole in your n/s/f inner wing?

wackiacki wrote:doesent sound too bad,a small victory i suppose.from experience,if thats all the failiure and advisory items youve got yourself a pretty sound e30 there.just expect welding to get bigger,always does when grinding down to find clean metal to weld to.did he not find hole in your n/s/f inner wing?

If he did he didn't comment on it and I certainly wasnt going to point it out !

Was quite suprised at how thorough the test is now - especially the checks for corrosion - the bit he failed it on I hadnt even noticed and he seemed to spend ages tapping away at the sills/underside with the little hammer trying to find crusty bits !

Will get it through the MOT first and then worry about it when I do the bodywork blitz.

hopefully he dident spend too long tapping.corrosion is to be assesed in 3 ways. 1.visual 2.finger and thum pressure and 3.corrosion assesment tool.(little hammer). the test is now so thorough because modern cars have become more complicated.sill looks like he gave her a good going over for ya,least you knw shes sound.bring on the rain!!!

I think for old cars these things have to be expected dont they ,

Hope you get it sorted for cheap enough fella .

wackiacki wrote:hopefully he dident spend too long tapping.corrosion is to be assesed in 3 ways. 1.visual 2.finger and thum pressure and 3.corrosion assesment tool.(little hammer). the test is now so thorough because modern cars have become more complicated.sill looks like he gave her a good going over for ya,least you knw shes sound.bring on the rain!!!

He spent ages tapping away with the "corrosion assessment tool" !

Suprisingly he didnt find much - and I suppose MOT failure on knackered rubber bushes goes with the territory on a 21 Year old car.

Oh well - it will have 12 months ticket on it by this time next week and I'll be a few quid lighter....again

Welding required .....


Should I be asking the garage to fit poly-bushes instead of the standard rubber ones ?

Is there much difference in cost / handling when its done ?

if there rear anti-roll bar drop link bushes,polyurethane ones are only a benefit if you completely replace all the bushes with them.but if thats what your planning to do its a good place to start.and i suppose it wouldent hurt.wouldent ask the garage to supply them though,might get stung on cost. i have a guy that sometimes does some heavy work i cant do myself and if i get the parts first he does it for cash,bit cheaper.woth an ask!!

agreen wrote:I think for old cars these things have to be expected dont they ,

Hope you get it sorted for cheap enough fella .

Never had an MOT failure, and the only advisory I can remember was for tyre tread (or rather lack of it). This is what I expect from a car with a BMW badge on it!

capri_rob wrote:Should I be asking the garage to fit poly-bushes instead of the standard rubber ones ?

Don't even consider it on a car that is ever used on the road. Leave the nasty aftermarket stuff to the Nova/Corsa/Saxo brigade.
Use genuine BMW bushes, with E30 M3 control arm bushes at the front, and E46 cab top damper mounts at the rear.

WOOHOO ! - Now have 12 months MOT !

£131.50 all the work and partial re-test. Quite happy with that !

nice one mate enjoy!!!