Failed MOT :(

[Mitchen]

Nothing like an MOT failure to ruin your day..

I was kind of expecting the failure, handbrake drum spring adjusters are fucked and were on order from Germany, but thought I might still have enough resistance to scrape through.

What surprised me more was the list of advisories. The tester said he likes to be picky with advisories to give the owner an idea of what's on it's way out, which I guess is a good thing.. but not so good on paper..

Anyways they are as follows;

1: Considerable footbrake travel = linked to my handbrake issue, so not concerned.

2: Nearside washer jet weak operation = quick fix, so not concerned.

3: Under engine oil leak = it's an M20 what does he expect

4: Some dampness to power steering pipes under vehicle on limits = This is a concern and something I wasn't aware of.

5: Corrosion to offside and nearside front flooring =

6: Both offside and nearside rear flexi brake hose ferrules corroded and on limits

7: Offside front flexi brake hose and ferrules deteriorated on limits = What sort of job is the brake hoses? Parts are cheap

8: Front to rear brake pipe corroded at rear


Last year i got it passed with just one advisory of some corrosion to underbody which the tester said was minimal.. So kind of gutting to get a list like this!

[capri_rob]

The 2 arseholes of jobs on that list are the floor plan rot and the front to rear brake pipe.

The brake pipe goes to a t piece at the back of the car which is awkward to get at - if you replace the other solid pipes at the back end you can actually re site the t piece in a more convenient location which is what has been done on my car - it's not ideal but workable.

Sorry not clear are these fail points or advisories ?

[maxfield]

Take some photos of the offending items and I'll give you my opinion.

Going by the advisories he's a picky tester, most forget it's minimum legal requirements.

[Mitchen]

The 2 arseholes of jobs on that list are the floor plan rot and the front to rear brake pipe.

The brake pipe goes to a t piece at the back of the car which is awkward to get at - if you replace the other solid pipes at the back end you can actually re site the t piece in a more convenient location which is what has been done on my car - it's not ideal but workable.

Sorry not clear are these fail points or advisories ?

Yeah the floor rot was my main concern

These were all just advisories. It failed on parking brake lever has no reserve travel. Which I was 50/50 with it passing.

[Mitchen]

Going by the advisories he's a picky tester, most forget it's minimum legal requirements.

He said it pained him to fail it, as most of it is immaculate After he's just ripped it to pieces on the advisory information!

[maxfield]

Going by the advisories he's a picky tester, most forget it's minimum legal requirements.

He said it pained him to fail it, as most of it is immaculate After he's just ripped it to pieces on the advisory information!

The advisories do look a bit harsh, brake ferrules have to be really corroded for me to advise or fail. Same with an oil leak, I would only advise if it's a bad one. 9/10 cars come in with an oil leak.

I had a MK1 caddy in today for MOT, it looked a really nice car on the outside and I had high hopes for it. 24 fails later a˜³

[bss325i]

I've seen your car on a ramp and am an ex tester, he is a picky tester!

You knew about the front floors as I told you they have been previously repaired and not to the greatest standard.

Brakes hoses are a tenner each from Ecp and straight forward enogh as long as the metal unions are not corroded badly.

The dampness to pas pipes is just a sweat around the pipes that join the resevior which is common on bmw's when the rubber pipes go a bit hard and the crimp clips don't hold them tight enough.

[maxfield]

Yes, they come part of the hose. Which are only about £10-15 to buy.

[jimbom30cab]

PM me mate, I know a place which will pass it no problem (bringing the car is optional)

[Mitchen]

I've seen your car on a ramp and am an ex tester, he is a picky tester!

You knew about the front floors as I told you they have been previously repaired and not to the greatest standard.

Brakes hoses are a tenner each from Ecp and straight forward enogh as long as the metal unions are not corroded badly.

The dampness to pas pipes is just a sweat around the pipes that join the resevior which is common on bmw's when the rubber pipes go a bit hard and the crimp clips don't hold them tight enough.

I'm sure we only spoke about the arch's being rolled, I didn't know about the front floors. I'm sure there's not been any previous repair on them, are you sure that was my car?

I guess at least it's some more things to get our teeth in to, rather than me messing about with 5 pin dins

[Mitchen]

PM me mate, I know a place which will pass it no problem (bringing the car is optional)

Is that Kos' little lock up in Heathrow where he replicates pass sheets

[Kos]

PM me mate, I know a place which will pass it no problem (bringing the car is optional)

Is that Kos' little lock up in Heathrow where he replicates pass sheets

LoL

If there's one thing I like to be legit it's my MOT

[bss325i]

I've seen your car on a ramp and am an ex tester, he is a picky tester!

You knew about the front floors as I told you they have been previously repaired and not to the greatest standard.

Brakes hoses are a tenner each from Ecp and straight forward enogh as long as the metal unions are not corroded badly.

The dampness to pas pipes is just a sweat around the pipes that join the resevior which is common on bmw's when the rubber pipes go a bit hard and the crimp clips don't hold them tight enough.

I'm sure we only spoke about the arch's being rolled, I didn't know about the front floors. I'm sure there's not been any previous repair on them, are you sure that was my car?

I guess at least it's some more things to get our teeth in to, rather than me messing about with 5 pin dins

Yes deffo your car and I also told you your car has been repaired near the rear tow eye where a lot of E30's rot out.

[Mitchen]

I've seen your car on a ramp and am an ex tester, he is a picky tester!

You knew about the front floors as I told you they have been previously repaired and not to the greatest standard.

Brakes hoses are a tenner each from Ecp and straight forward enogh as long as the metal unions are not corroded badly.

The dampness to pas pipes is just a sweat around the pipes that join the resevior which is common on bmw's when the rubber pipes go a bit hard and the crimp clips don't hold them tight enough.

I'm sure we only spoke about the arch's being rolled, I didn't know about the front floors. I'm sure there's not been any previous repair on them, are you sure that was my car?

I guess at least it's some more things to get our teeth in to, rather than me messing about with 5 pin dins

Yes deffo your car and I also told you your car has been repaired near the rear tow eye where a lot of E30's rot out.

Oh yeah, I remember now

[jimbom30cab]

Slap some underseal over it, forget it and enjoy the cruise

[bss325i]

Don't feel too down about it. All those repairs can be redone nicer with and not much paint.

[bss325i]

Slap some underseal over it, forget it and enjoy the cruise

Unlike many, our Nick is an excutive and likes things done properly and doesn't mess about.

His blaupunkt morsel collection puts mine to shame!

[Mitchen]

Slap some underseal over it, forget it and enjoy the cruise

Ha, until wheels come off!

Don't feel too down about it. All those repairs can be redone nicer with and not much paint.

Sounds like a plan!

[jimbom30cab]

I'm only talking for the short term whilst he decides what to do.

I saw a couple of those graphic equaliser arms on ebay.de the other day, bidded £180 ish for one (if i remember right) but was trumped out the auction. Do they fit any Blaupunkt?

[Mitchen]

I was also following them.. but I'd blown way too much on ICE recently. As long as it has an output.

Barry has a nice conditioned one.. might be able to twist his arm for the right price.

[Gert_8]

Harrow!

[Mitchen]

Offer expired.......

Thanks for the offer mate But it's not the getting it through the MOT that mattered, it was the feedback

[Grrrmachine]

I did all that work to mine at one point, so there are pictures in my resto thread if you're going to tackle the job yourself.

It's gutting when you see all the faults, but just tackle each one on a weekend and you'll get it all dealt with.

[Automaton]

I think it will make a great original 320i even better.

[magpie]

rear car to subframe brake flexis are fun ...glad i done mine with the rear beam out

[Mitchen]

Quick update with this.. Probably the worst and most dragged out MOT experience of my life.

It failed on the braking system, a shit load of advisories, and also because the wazzock who owned the car before me, cut in to the metal under the parcel shelf.. At the time of the first test, I was in the midst of my stereo install, so didn't have the parcel shelf or rear seats in the car.. so the 'tester' saw the holes and deemed that to make the seat belts unsafe as there was 'structural damage near the belt anchorage'

I was told to bring the car back with the brakes fixed and the shelf in, as he won't be able to see it, and then it'll pass..

I replaced the brake pipe.. all brake hoses.. and the handbrake adjusters on the drums finally arrived and were replaced. I put all the interior back in, and all was set for an easy pass.... OR NOT!

On Monday I took it for the next test.. the 'tester' failed it again, because firstly he said he could still see the holes in the shelf from inside the boot looking up So he actually got inside the boot, and looked up to see if they were still visible! Obviously they were going to be visible, I didn't weld it all up! Bear in mind, this was NOT a re-test, but a whole new test, and supposed to be treated as a car that hadn't been brought in before.

He also failed it on two other ridiculously trivial things.. like the middle seat belt was tucked under the seat by accident, he failed this as a missing seat belt! And he chucked in a few more advisories for good measure. This guy was a cunt of the highest order..

I obviously reacted as anyone who's just had their E30 slandered and told him what I thought of him using a few choice words.

Anyway took it to Kwik Fit today with the seat belt tucked out, and low and behold it flew through the test with one advisory.. and the tester went as far as to say it was in better condition than all the cars he had tested this week!

To summarise, I can finally get it back on the road, and will celebrate with a road trip to Bath this weekend.

[jimbom30cab]

Awesome, that MOT dude is a bit pedantic to say the least.

Glad it's passed now like it should have done. It looked like a new car sitting on the drive on Monday. Proper time warp e30.

[Mitchen]

Pedantic is one word... a fucking cunt is a couple more

Thanks Jim

[steve_k]

file a formal complaint to vosa about the garage that failed it twice, also post up the name so anyone else on here in the area knows to steer clear, sounds like a total prick to me.

congrats on getting it passed though.

[Mitchen]

file a formal complaint to vosa about the garage that failed it twice

I was thinking to do this, but then I think these are things that would probably fail the test, but are REALLY unreasonable.

Like the seat belt.. he could see it stick out of the bottom slightly.. so any reasonable person would of pulled it out!

The other thing is one of the front indicators needed a tap, as the connection to the bulb went a little awry.. any other tester, would of just said the front indicators gone, I'll charge you a fiver for a new one.. but he just failed on these things.

So I don't know whether VOSA would just take the view that he was just very 'by the book' rather than malpractice.

[spook]

You need to take some Biscuits to the MOT station next time mate.

Jim who is this mystery MOT man

[Mitchen]

Should have taken it to my MOT tester.........

Your offer came when I thought it was the car at fault and not the tester..

I'll never doubt her again