what in the world was your previous owner thinking?! - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

redl1nerpm · 13th November 2005, 21:59

In a recent post, Cyrus stated:

1) Remove perfectly good Airbox and cut it up and replace filter with biggest maxpower one you can fit under bonnet - Now reversed

2) Remove mesh from both side of MAF because it was thought to obstruct airflow - will find out if MAF is also damaged

3) Weichers strut brace- look ok so might leave it there

4) Red stuff ceramic pads - crap - need to reverse

5) AVO rear springs.....

need i say more. Replacing with eithr stock a set of H&R

6) Drilled front light surround to aid airflow........i just wont say anything

7) Hayward & Scott Spitfire aeroplane noise making exhaust - reversed and awaiting pickup.

This car has been truly saved!

At least he kept it very very clean!

So I figured, maybe we should start a thread about what the previous owner of our cars did, thats just not right.. Ill start

1) removed front half of airbox so just the filter straped on by a coat hanger is sucking in air....reversed with a big K&N cone (hey its much better than it was) until I get the proper airbox

2) hose from airbox to engine with large cracks causing the car to run very lean, can you say dangerous?....reversed with new tube.

3) chrome replica M3 wheels (bling bling?) chipped, incorrect offset, and tires down to the metal straps...reversed with some 18 inch beautifully fitted wheels similar to M parallels with bfg tires

4) chrome shift knob...reversed with oem knob

5) racing dynamics polished strut brace...reversed because I honestly couldnt tell a difference with it off, and it looks like something that belongs on a honda civic

6) cheap aftermarket sony cd deck with such poor wiring, you would think a child did it...reversed with proper wiring and a high quality alpine unit.

7) high flow cat, no resonator, and eisenmann race exhaust, my ears still hurt...reversed with added resonators and a muffler on the way

8) Cheap black racing seat in place of driver seat...reversed with proper stock seat

9) eye brows or eye lids...reversed by being removed.

10) german concepts licence plate frame...removed

11) Spare tire flat...in the process of being reversed

12) M badges in place of BMW roundel...reversed

Like cyrus, atleast my previous owner also kept a very clean car.

Steve Mac · 13th November 2005, 23:48

The previous owner of mine made one mistake

He sold the car

BURTON · 14th November 2005, 00:44

Mines come from a Doctor as one of the owners, the only thing that I am unhappy with that an owner has done is to fit DTM style tips to the standard Exhaust. Also the Smoked headlights from Hella are fitted.. But I like them!

BenS · 14th November 2005, 00:51

My car came with throwing star alloys on the wrong way round!!!! I am enough of an anorack to know that they are back to front but not enough to change them!

Gerg · 14th November 2005, 01:10

Two things with my car.

1. One of my fog lights went out. I bought a new bulb and proceeded to change it. I couldn't get the fog light out. One of the screws was broken and the other came out fine. I pried it out to find the PO had filled in the area behind the light with spray foam insulation. The type you spray in a crack and it expands and hardens.

2. The ash tray cover was loose so I tried to investigate. The PO had used a couple of sheet metal screws to hold the ash tray cover on. They were screwed into the plastic. The plastic eventually broke and I had a hole in my center console where the cover was. I filed the area flat where the original screws used to go. I then used some gorilla glue and glued a couple of bolts so they lined up perfectly with the holes on the ash tray. I slid the cover on the ash tray and used a couple of nuts and bolted the whole thing back together.

Greg S.

illjah · 14th November 2005, 05:06

nothing too bad was done to mine other than;

1. Beesting aerial on roof - removed aerial part (i don't use the radio) awaiting removal of 'stub' (which everyone thinks is GPS shark fin thing...) when i get round to tidying the bodywork.

2. Not nice interior spec (altho clean and prett good nick) 80's grey leather with m cloth centres - being replaced with lovely full leather silver interior very soon.

3. Mixed tyres, wrong size on rears - relaced with Good Year eagle f1's all round correct sizes

4. Rear throwing stars on wrong way - corrected when tyres replaced

5. Clutch seizing on splines - replaced

6. Synchromesh knacked on 3rd gear - replaced 5sp box with 6sp one in better nick.

But luckily no butchering really to complain about. Cyrus' car has to be seen to be believed - immaculate condition (particularly the seats, the leather looks brand new, still matt and tought looking), but the dremmel/drill work on the front grille reallly is something else...

farrell · 14th November 2005, 09:31

My car was bought 5 yrs ago from a Java script software engineer.
The cars bumper bars where scuffed front & rear from badly judged parking.

He did not know anything about the car & like the previous owner ,it was all BWM serviced.

The faults with the car when I purchased were generic. One of the dampers was leaking. Nothing tampered with.

I missed the oil pan gasket that was already on its way out.
Munich Legends missed it too. They did more damage to my car than any other bunch of w**kers did previously.

I went back to doing most of my own work on the car after that & all Hoist work during the Winter went to PMW.

Lucky me...seriously..!

Ive had loads of parts failures but would appear to be due to 85k of my own everyday use.

Farrell

lagoonM5 · 14th November 2005, 13:25

Only had mine a couple of weeks and ive done the following already....
1.Removed Pentagon window tints with the aid of a steamer - not my cup of tea im affraid and i really dont think they suit a light'ish coloured car.
2.Steam cleaned interior - it was filthy - i have the half Alcantara and half Motorsport cloth - i really like the seats as the hold you tight in all the right places.
3.Changed the scabby numberplates - its only a small thing but the car looks so much better for it - why is it the new laminated plates last about a year before water penetrates the layers and they look crap - not to mention being an MOT failure - bring back the Metal plates thats what i say

4.Completely Mopped and polished the car - it looks like something resembling a shiny thing now!

5.Removed front grille surround metal trim - mine was horrendously stone chipped,pitted and rusty - ground back all the crap and high build primer'd,painted and re-lacquered and wet flatted and it looks presentable now.
6.Changed osf main beam headlight due to stone hole and water ingress which had damaged the coating on the reflector.
7.Touched in the kerbing on the Hartge wheels - will get them refurbished after Christmas i think.
8.Cleaned Crank sensor
9.Balanced up the throttle bodies - one pair of throttle bodies was slightly out of balance - also measured and reset the full throttle stop tab and cleaned all bodies and butterflys whilst i was there.
10.Cleaned out windscreen washer jets - dont know if its just my bad luck with BM's but my old E30 325i suffered with this and looking at the service invoices its not the first time its had to be done on this particular car.....
11.New set of P-Zero Assimetrico's on Saturday

- my wallet is feeling the pinch this weekend - 280 quid for tyres, 93 quid for road tax for the Mk2 16v,stuck 115 quid petrol in the BMW and Golf on Sunday - thats 500 quid gone already

Next job is the NSF anti roll bar drop link

Pete.

Jahangeer · 14th November 2005, 15:34

mine had lots of dry twigs inside - very messy. and it also had like small Persian rug carpets front and back!! yukk. previous owner was a hunter (a slightly older gent - and might I say a little bit barking).

ride154 · 14th November 2005, 16:42

can people who smoke in cars please be shot?
burn marks every where in my creme leather interior!