BMW Z3 Diary

07.01.24 - It's cold, we had snow, anyone with any sense would not be working on their car until the weather gets warmer, however; I have done just that on previous years, (must be getting older) will need to get the Z3 ready for it's annual MOT for early February, and I will need to possibly drag it out of the garage in the next few days, making sure the tyres are still inflated, check the engine block hasn't frozen, (I Did put anti-freeze in it, so it should be alright, it's unlucky for humans, namely pensioners, as they will be facing the cold, even though it was avoidable this year! This of course is down to a certain 'dictator' that can only be deemed as an 'idiot'...), however; I digress and I will need to run some errands within the next few days. The snow is currently clear for now, let's hope it stays like that...and the weather gets warmer quickly.

07.02.25 - Another cold day, no snow yet...It is that time of year, the dreaded MOT. Why it couldn't be a summer MOT? I have been trying to book one for the past couple of days and this is no different to the previous years at the same garage. I will have to drop in unannounced as previously done in the past, left recorded messages, so they should be expecting me, hopefully. Does anyone else have this problem?

08.02.25 - I decided to travel to the MOT garage today, just to see if they were still there, since I couldn't get anyone to answer their telephone, low and behold they were there and it seemed a little busy. They told me they would have to call me later in the afternoon to try and squeeze me in, this meant another return journey and it wasn't that local, (bearing in-mind the price of fuel now-a-days). They did contact me a few hours later and I did manage to get the car booked in and tested. (another reason for using this particular garage). They did eventually PASS the Z3 with one proviso, and that was to do with the offside, (driver) side-marker light was not working. I could only put that down to the journey there and falling down a large pothole in the road on the way to the garage and this had knocked it out either via the bulb or a loose wire, I was surprised that the suspension hadn't gone through the roof at the time. Fortunately, the side-marker can be easily corrected. It Passed, passed, passed, passed, passed! Clear for another 12 months.
Looking at the sills during the inspection, I did notice some surface rust on the ends at the rear of the sills, this is common for the age of these vehicle and these may need some attention when the days get a little warmer and dry. I had previously listed this on my jobs to do list last year and hadn't got around to it. I may have to get the welder out to weld on a couple of plates after cutting some rust out...I will see....? Prices of sills, like most spares and replacements are proving expensive nowadays; to the point of pricing many people out of motoring. Many of the classics are slowly disappearing to be replaced by the so-called 'green' vehicles. I had noticed catalytical converters on older vehicles are also priced out and some difficult to get hold of. This is, in my opinion, to price out owners with older vehicles. It is all down to legislation, politics and more money into government coffers and not forgetting, greed!