fiestaturbo.com

[dontpannic]

So I bought a daily. This is technically speaking replacing the Saxo freeing up the ST for track use and weekend fun.










3.0L Turbo Diesel, 5 speed auto. Full leather, heated seats, cruise, climate, harman kardon audio, factory bluetooth, sunroof.

One or two little issues to sort - new brakes (one disc is warped but I want to do the whole lot) and the sunroof shade has come off its runners), but very very happy with it!

[Smo]

Very nice, Nick! Next time I need picking up from Orpington station, I'll give you a call

[snake]

They go well after a map

[Turboboy67]

The 'Ring taxi' stickers will look nice me thinks

[Tweek]

An automatic? Lazy git

[dontpannic]

What can I say? I'm getting old

[dontpannic]

Done loads today, dual rear fog light mod, coded dim fogs as tail lights, LED indicators all round (with bulb checks coded out so they flash at a normal rate), parrot mki9000 unit installed, and car cleaned

Phone Holder (my usual tried and tested Dashmount bracket and Brodit cradle):


Testing parrot unit:


Parrot remote control (until UNIKA box is installed for steering wheel controls):


Parrot dual phase microphone (unfortunately can't use the BMW microphone by the interior light):



Dual fog lights:


And general fresh and cleans:

[Maxwell]

Nice one. Similar spec to my old one. Only mine was manual. Everything else was the same.

[dontpannic]

So in the spirit of updating project threads after numerous years...

Highlight of my ownership so far - in 2019 it took me 3,000 miles (well, 2999.6) in 10 days across Europe - down to Italy, over the Alps and back. Countries: UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Holland.

Not a lot has changed on this visually, under the hood though, there's been quite a few changes:
Replaced all vacuum lines
Removed EGR
Removed Swirl Flaps
Replaced aux water pump
Replaced water pump, belts, tensioner and idler pulley
Replaced vibration damper crank pulley
Replaced glow plugs and glow controller
Replaced radiator and expansion tank
Gearbox service completed (filter and fluid)
APTuning Stage 1 remap
Replaced prop shaft centre support bearing and flex disc
Replaced all electric fans
Decat downpipe
Amber indicators all round
factory AL Bi-Xenons with factory wiring
newest generation LCM module with coded in one touch triple flash lane change indicators
Sony XAV-AX3005db stereo and reverse camera
Amplified DAB rooftop antenna installed replacing the old school mobile phone prep antenna
Refurbished carbon cube dash trim / myrtle wood trim (I've flicked between the two quite often, at the moment it's rocking the wood)
Fire extinguisher installed under drivers seat
Suspension refresh - Bilstein B4 HD shocks, Eibach Pro-Kit springs

Some photos:

[dontpannic]

Then this year came the big job. Since I got the car, it's had a little rust scab on the top of the sill in the rear passenger door shut. I had it treated early on, but it came back, and around the same time I noticed the scab reappearing, the rear arch was beginning to bubble, so I got it booked in with a local recommended bodyshop (Perfect Paint) and set about investigation and rust clearance.

Turns out, the rear quarter panel isn't original, and it wasn't prepped properly at the seams/where it met original metal. All the rust was cut out, replacement panels used to repair the damage, and the seams fixed and filled with cavity wax. Where the paint and lacquer was starting to peel on the C pillar and on the rear panel itself, we decided to paint the whole panel instead. A lot of work, fairly costly, but at least now I know all of the worrying rust on the car is sorted, there's nothing but surface rust in a few places now. The colour match is excellent considering the rest of the paint is 15 years old!