Sab 9-3 1.9 TID Vector Anniversary + Swift Sport and others
Discussion
Little job complete on the Saab. When selecting reverse you have to push up on the tab underneath the gear knob, which allows you to cross over to the reverse gear. When coming back over to the main gear gate, there should be a spring located underneath the gear knob which pushes back down so that reverse cannot be selected.
The spring has broken, meaning that when coming back from reverse you had to physically push down the tab so that you don't accidentally end up putting it in reverse again.
Anyhow, the gear knob had to come off. I had seen all sorts of videos online of people drilling in to the metal of the gear knob,and drilling a flat end bolt in order to prize it off. This was absolutely not needed. I just heated it up with a hot air gun and it literally popped straight off.
Neo Bros do a replacement spring for £20. However I managed to make one from an old metal aerial from an RC car. I will see how it gets on, but it seems to do the job fine.
The spring has broken, meaning that when coming back from reverse you had to physically push down the tab so that you don't accidentally end up putting it in reverse again.
Anyhow, the gear knob had to come off. I had seen all sorts of videos online of people drilling in to the metal of the gear knob,and drilling a flat end bolt in order to prize it off. This was absolutely not needed. I just heated it up with a hot air gun and it literally popped straight off.
Neo Bros do a replacement spring for £20. However I managed to make one from an old metal aerial from an RC car. I will see how it gets on, but it seems to do the job fine.
New car for myself.
BMW 125i 2013.
75k miles and with full service history, mostly BMW.
Mechanically, it is superb, not a knock, squeak or rattle from anywhere.
It does have a few cosmetic issues though, however, all these can be sorted for very little money. Worst part is a tailgate that has been resprayed in the past and the lacquer is now peeling. A new tailgate is £80 on eBay. Tailgate still has the sytner sticker on the glass, so can only assume it was sprayed for a minor reason.
I have never owned a BMW before. I don't know why. But driving this has made me realise what I am missing. It is fantastic.
This is a pretty rare model (in comparison to the 135i) which sold in larger numbers due to it only being a couple of thousand more expensive. When new, anyone who bought a 125i would have been daft as that extra got you a 6 cylinder engine and considerably more performance. However, I think second hand at the price I got it for, it makes a convincing case as a more mature Golf GTI alternative.
In other news. I have done very little mileage in the Swift. The gearbox is still playing up. The chap I bought it from, insisted that the movement in the gearbox was down to the mounts. After replacing both bushes, he was talking out of his behind. Wish people could just be honest in this world. We are thinking it is a gearbox issue, so will have to investigate. Not a major issue if it is. More annoyed of the time and cost wasted on the bushes. One plus though is that if the gearbox comes out, I will be installing an LSD.
BMW 125i 2013.
75k miles and with full service history, mostly BMW.
Mechanically, it is superb, not a knock, squeak or rattle from anywhere.
It does have a few cosmetic issues though, however, all these can be sorted for very little money. Worst part is a tailgate that has been resprayed in the past and the lacquer is now peeling. A new tailgate is £80 on eBay. Tailgate still has the sytner sticker on the glass, so can only assume it was sprayed for a minor reason.
I have never owned a BMW before. I don't know why. But driving this has made me realise what I am missing. It is fantastic.
This is a pretty rare model (in comparison to the 135i) which sold in larger numbers due to it only being a couple of thousand more expensive. When new, anyone who bought a 125i would have been daft as that extra got you a 6 cylinder engine and considerably more performance. However, I think second hand at the price I got it for, it makes a convincing case as a more mature Golf GTI alternative.
In other news. I have done very little mileage in the Swift. The gearbox is still playing up. The chap I bought it from, insisted that the movement in the gearbox was down to the mounts. After replacing both bushes, he was talking out of his behind. Wish people could just be honest in this world. We are thinking it is a gearbox issue, so will have to investigate. Not a major issue if it is. More annoyed of the time and cost wasted on the bushes. One plus though is that if the gearbox comes out, I will be installing an LSD.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff