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Post by alf on Aug 20, 2024 14:55:48 GMT
It has been annoying to have both changed cars around the same time at great expense, and both have issues! The "power supply" warning messages on the 330e have gone from occasional and fleeting, to frequent and remaining, and this new message sometimes in addition to weirdly heavy steering. I would not be suprised if this was not alternator/traditional battery related - while it sometimes fails to charge, it seems like ICE BMW have this a bit. We're off to Normandy on Sunday on a ferry, so it looks like the Alfa will be taking the trip not the BMW! Slightly annoying as I bought a set of new tyres for the BMW from work in time for this trip. The prices (at RRP) were really high, and the choice poor (if staying runflat, which for a woman's car with kids often in it, and no spare, seems fair). The 225/18 fronts on her "lightweight" M sport pro wheels must be a weird size as hardly anything comes up and on black circles they are £220 each supply only for premium marques. I wanted the newer Turanza's but S001's - not a new model - were all that were available. Happily they were half the online prices through work, and I can also always get the BMW marked ones for no more, and they will be from fresh stock too, not sat on the shelf for 6 months... Maybe now it won't randomy snap sideways like bambi on ice on wet bends at 15mph.... The Alfa had better behave. I'm still debating a)changing the one knocking rear shock at £1k plus fitting, b)doing the pair of rears with the newer "GTA" ECU settings and lower 2017 springs as mine sits very high on the 2018 springs Alfa introduced as a short term knee-jerk to too many expensive active splitter claims, or c) going the whole hog and fitting KW's all round, which are £4k parts only but height adjustable, rebuildable (unlike the Alfa ones), work with the adaptive settings, and are just plain better. I could also just ignore it as on 99% of roads there is no issue. The 1% includes this estate annoyingly where it sounds like there's a spanner loose in a toolbox in the boot. In fact I just boked the Porsche in with the specialist as the noisy NSF suspension has become intolerable (its way louder than the Alfa's, much more often). So actually its issues with all three and I'd best see what that is before thinking of the Alfa so its option d. At least I look back at both of mine every time I park them. Hers, is a modern BMW.......... Pic below. Anyone who knows me even slightly will know this was not taken by me so no wisecracks about "if only cameras could be turned though 90 degrees"..............  |
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Post by Tim on Aug 20, 2024 15:00:17 GMT
That's a pain in the ass.
The more typical front tyre size for BMWs seems to be 225/19, maybe you need to upgrade the wheels?
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Post by alf on Aug 20, 2024 15:09:32 GMT
Hmm yes I'm talking bollocks actually, it is a 19! Its the RFT and the load (93) that takes a big choice at OK prices, to a handful of options. Weird when (on the open market) your 255 rears are £45 cheaper than your 225 fronts!
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Post by Tim on Aug 20, 2024 15:42:12 GMT
Yeah the more expensive rears is strange. I ditched the runflats at replacement time for Michelin PS4s (not the S sadly even though they were approx the same price). Just buy a couple of the big cans of tyre foam  |
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Post by bryan on Aug 20, 2024 16:19:00 GMT
There is a full set of Bridgestone rfts on the car I'm looking at, staggered 7mm tread all round, least he hasn't been doing burnouts for the last 5k 😂
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Post by Tim on Aug 21, 2024 7:22:36 GMT
There is a full set of Bridgestone rfts on the car I'm looking at, staggered 7mm tread all round, least he hasn't been doing burnouts for the last 5k 😂 You hope! I reckon the RFTs have a harder compound that normal tyres....... |
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Post by Martin on Aug 21, 2024 8:10:05 GMT
Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, I know which car I’d rather take on a road trip! Hopefully the Alfa will enjoy the trip and behave.
I had S001’s on the 750. It was a decent enough tyre, but I had very little choice anyway as it was either that or the Goodyear Excellence (which I’d had in the 535d and not really liked), they were the only RFT available in the right size at the time.
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Post by alf on Aug 22, 2024 8:21:01 GMT
Its a shame there is so little driving this time - we chose to take the ferry Portsmouth to Caen, cutting out another two hours of driving here then 3.5 the other side. We're almost there when we get off the ferry!
The BMW came back from a short electric-only commute 2 days ago with the engine fan screaming. The engine hadn't been on. A couple of hours later we tried charging it, the fan came on again and it stopped charging and would not allow any charge in until the next morning. It's not a happy bunny... Weirdly, like my fuel pump issue, this all started on a very hot day. If the engine fan is trying to cool the battery, it'll have a tough time as I think the battery is under the boot...
I will add pics, but from the iPad it’s not working….
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Post by alf on Aug 31, 2024 17:20:44 GMT
It has gone well! There has been little fast action - though some of the roads are wonderfully bendy. I’ve been pleased to have the highest of the different springs Alfa used on the QF (the ones with “SUV arch gaps” that the gap obsessed of the owners clubs moan about). Normandy seems littered with speed humps and bumps to a quite ridiculous degree. All the villages are rife with them, some huge, and many lanes single track and very bumpy too. It has dealt very well with it all, and it’s a very relaxing car to drive in normal mode - with more economy of effort needed than anything else I’ve driven, yet it’s still always fun and engaging.
edited to add… photos not working from iPad 🙄
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Post by racingteatray on Sept 2, 2024 16:05:30 GMT
Excellent - I regret that having the Mini means I haven't got to romp through Yoorope in the Macan.
Surely far more fun than the 330e would have been.
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Post by alf on Sept 3, 2024 9:16:08 GMT
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Post by Martin on Sept 3, 2024 9:25:33 GMT
Looks good, I hope the kids are behaving themselves in the back!
I couldn’t bring myself to put a UK sticker on the paintwork and don’t like the look of UK plates, so had one inside the rear window. It wasn’t quite as visible as it probably should have been, but I didn’t have any issues.
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Post by Roadrunner on Sept 3, 2024 10:08:25 GMT
The Alfa looks good.
My UK sticker went on the outside of the rear window. Was removed during the major car clean the day after we returned.
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Post by Roadrunner on Sept 3, 2024 10:08:59 GMT
The Alfa looks good.
My UK sticker went on the outside of the rear window. Was removed during the major car clean the day after we returned.
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Post by racingteatray on Sept 3, 2024 10:10:45 GMT
We don't have a UK sticker on the Mini because Mrs M hates them for some unfathomable reason. So I just keep a magnetic one in the boot in case any euro-rozzer gets antsy about it. But so far, we've never been picked up on it.
I do tend to put it on when crossing France though, as les flics are probably the most likely to get stroppy about it.
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Post by Martin on Sept 3, 2024 10:39:32 GMT
I used to have a magnetic GB sticker which was a good solution, but there isn’t any steel on the rear of the Panamera. The window solution was fine, worked well from above anyway…. |
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Post by alf on Sept 3, 2024 10:53:00 GMT
This one was a magnet (robbed from the back of the 330e) and went on a clean car - so was no problem I think to the paint. I prefer it being smaller as well... When I moved my kit from the Jag to the Alfa I threw away the magnetic GB ones. As Racing suggested, if anyone is going to pointlessly fine you, its going to be the French!
And yes the interior has now been cleaned to within an inch of its life. It was very dusty/sandy there, so there were plenty of scuffs on insides of the doors (not sure how people do that but even Tina manages...), the sills - as kids walk over them to get to the footwell for some reason - and so on. Luckily all these areas, and the backs of the seats, are quite a hard plastic on the Alfa, and the soft leather seems to wear well so it all comes off soon enough. Tinas cars get fairly trashed inside over many years, kids rarely go in mine and I'm a lot stricter. There is no eating in my cars for example......
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Post by Boxer6 on Sept 3, 2024 11:01:09 GMT
Looks great James! I think Tim has commented in the past, that it wouldn't last long up here wearing that Cloverleaf badge .. ..
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Post by Tim on Sept 3, 2024 11:25:24 GMT
I think that applies to all modern Alfas with the access thing at the front!
The car looks absolutely fantastic, it's in my favourite colour.
I'm just away to Autotrader.......
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 3, 2024 12:08:59 GMT
I think that applies to all modern Alfas with the access thing at the front! Mine has the fix for that fortunately. |
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Post by alf on Sept 3, 2024 13:10:32 GMT
There are multiple ways to access the CAN in a vehicle unfortunately. Various other cars including many VAG ones have a similar front radar device that can be used for a quick steal, if you secure things like that, you can smash the window and access the OBD port - unless that has been moved. That was the way BMW's were being stolen for many years, but it can't just have been them as its not unique to them... There is no fix to make a car impossible to steal, you can make it harder and noiser work for them, and hope they pick someone else's! Even then anything can be vandalised in seconds and that's pretty much as bad to sort out.
In France, it got very little attention at all. Whereas when I picked up an Asian friend in Birmingham once, pretty much every youngish male of any colour in the vicinity couldn't take their eyes off it and I kept it in sight!
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Post by Boxer6 on Sept 3, 2024 21:02:44 GMT
I think that applies to all modern Alfas with the access thing at the front! The car looks absolutely fantastic, it's in my favourite colour. I'm just away to Autotrader....... I was thinking more of the vindictiveness of a certain denomination of football 'fan', especially over here in the West!  |
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Post by Tim on Sept 4, 2024 7:50:43 GMT
Ah yes. One of my mates mentioned it years ago as he was seeing a Weegie girl at the time and had something like a Sprint Cloverleaf (or it might've been one of his Suds).. It's not something those of us in the Far East ( ) have to worry about. |
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Post by PG on Sept 5, 2024 13:26:31 GMT
Looking good. I've never noticed before the little Italian tri-colour on the rear diffuser. It just adds something.
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Post by Martin on Sept 5, 2024 13:45:46 GMT
Looking good. I've never noticed before the little Italian tri-colour on the rear diffuser. It just adds something. I've never seen it before either, so must have been a 'mod' by the previous owner. |
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Post by alf on Sept 6, 2024 10:30:59 GMT
I bought the Tricolore as a bigger sticker for the splitter and cut it down and put it on.... I like the (£300) tricolore in the (£2000 not fitted) Koshi carbon diffuser and this was a £5 way of copying it  A lot of Quads end up with all sorts of extra carbon, tricolore, and cloverleaf extras of sometimes dubious taste, I'm leaving it at this. It's had a lot of mentions and none negative so far... |
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 6, 2024 12:45:07 GMT
Mine has additional Autodelta stickers on the flanks. It is true that personalisation does seem to be rather popular in Giulia circles and most seems rather unsuccessful. a small tricolore is a nice addition however.
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Post by Boxer6 on Sept 6, 2024 12:48:12 GMT
Mine has additional Autodelta stickers on the flanks. It is true that personalisation does seem to be rather popular in Giulia circles and most seems rather unsuccessful. a small tricolore is a nice addition however. It wouldn't have the same impact on yours though I suspect! |
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Post by alf on Sept 6, 2024 14:46:28 GMT
Mine has additional Autodelta stickers on the flanks. It is true that personalisation does seem to be rather popular in Giulia circles and most seems rather unsuccessful. a small tricolore is a nice addition however. Has it had any Autodelta stuff done to it? They were of course famous for boring out the 3.2 Busso engines to 3.7 litres and adding superchargers and heaven knows what - an Autodelta badge is usually to be respected They seem pretty small and I've not come across them since my Busso days... I'd love a remap that could just do the following with no power added, but only Squadra in the NL seem to be able to do some of this and I don't want more power with the insurance and warranty implications (it would also be pointless): a) open the exhaust flaps in D mode all the time rather than just over 4k revs, so I don't need to go to hyperactive race mode for noise b) reduce throttle sensitivity in Race mode (where it hits 100% throttle at 50% travel) and D mode. Race mode being so sensitive but lacking any driver aids is asking for trouble c) remove cylinder deactivation all the time. I suspect it does bugger all but make a dronby noise, driving back from Scotland with the engine warning light on and deactivation disabled it felt much better and still did >35mpg at 75-80. |
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A lot of Quads end up with all sorts of extra carbon, tricolore, and cloverleaf extras of sometimes dubious taste, I'm leaving it at this. It's had a lot of mentions and none negative so far...