The sand and the seize

Things took an unsightly turn for the worst car wise last week.
We'd set off to go down to Exmouth for a short holiday away. Quite a straight forward trip.... so you'd of thought!
Half way down the M5 the battery light comes on. Every thing seemed ok, so was unsure as to if it was a loose wire. I pulled over in the services to be on the safe side and parked up. Everything seemed ok wiring wise so thought it best to call the RAC. After ringing them I thought I'd move to a more accessible location, so started reversing out, only to be met by a cloud of smoke and a loud squealing noise!
Things were not looking good now...

When the RAC finally arrived they took one look at it and told me to start her up. They too got the cloud of smoke and noise. It was pretty obvious the alternator had seized. Fantastic start to the holiday hey.
The RAC chap asked where we wanted towing to, as we were half way there we decided to go the rest of the way on a tow truck.
He called the external tow company and went on his merry way.
Being a bank holiday things took longer than normal, and after much feeding of the rats in the car park, the truck turned up.

So on we go to Exmouth.
We arrive at about 9pm outside the hotel and park up.
The next day I set off walking to find the nearest garage asking if they could re-condition the alternator or fit a replacement one.
After two or three places saying yes, but it would take 5 days I hit lucky.
They said they could do it that day which was great. They went out to look for the car, so I broke it to them that it was about half a mile up the road outside the hotel.
They took the keys, said they'd sort it out and call me when done.
I must admit I was a little dubious after handing over the keys that they might just swipe it and deny all knowledge. Working in recruitment defiantly makes you sceptical.
Anyhow a few hours later I get a call saying it's ready, happy days!
So £90 later and a good few JDs we are back up and running. Apparently the alternator is a common fault (among many by the looks of it) on the BMW.

Clunking noise from the drive-train (Guibo / rubber cuppling)

After a good few trouble free months of motoring the first issue has arisen. The car gained a rather worrying knocking noise. This noise would happen upon acceleration and sharp deceleration. The car would thud, which could be felt through the drive-train. After a few Google searches I'd diagnosed the problem to the prop-shaft coupling (a small rubber doughnut or know as a Guibo) that links the transmission to the prop-shaft for dampening purposes. This tends to perish over time and cause a banging sensation. So off to the local garage to have it diagnosed for real and get a quote. I dropped the car off and then went to pick it up later. I had already bought a rubber coupling from GSF car parts for a small charge of £18 as to be prepared.

When I arrived back the coupling was still on the passenger seat. I got a sinking feeling to start with. I was told the prop-shaft needed a Universal Joint (UJ) on the end which meant it needed to go to a specialist to be done. At this point the quote was getting towards the £200 mark, not really ideal and made my £18 pale into insignificance. So I booked her in and took a solemn drive home to break the news to the wife.

So the big day came for her to have her new UJ fitted (the car, not the wife!).I went in early before work to drop her off. Due to living in Yorkshire, the weather was damp, to say the least. Add to this the fact my umbrella was sat in the boot of the car, and I'd just posted the keys through the garages letter box. Great.

So after arriving at work soaked the day went ahead as normal. Mid day I get a call to say the car is sorted. Puzzled at the rather fast response I am told it wasn't the UJ after all. The problem was the rear differential bolts had come loose which was causing the judder. What a relief (cost wise, not the fact my diff could of come off at any time!!).So £5 later we are back to normal. The coupling (Guibo) goes on EBay to get rid.

Purchase of the "Ultimate Driving Machine"

After having my old faithful Ford Mondeo written off by a kind lady in Sheffield I caught the BMW bug. The look of the E36 3 Series lured me in with its old-skool shape. It also fitted in with the £800 price tag that the other parties insurance paid for the Mondeo. Not bad bearing in mind I paid a measly £500 for it back in '07!
Here I will post my stories about the car and what my thoughts are on it. So far so good, it drives really well and sounds good. Not bad for a 16 year old car.