Afternoon all,
So Ive been a member since 2005 when i bought my S14a, she was a totally standard, 2 owner vehicle, with a little over 40,000 on the clock. I was an active user of the forum & got a great deal of knowledge & advice from it.
In 2008 i made my 14 a 'summer only' car due to saving for a house & didn't bother to renew my membership.
In 2009 i laid it up totally due to the purchase of a house & forgot about it. although I always felt great comfort knowing it was sat behind my garage door. Yes, looking and acting a little sorry for its self, it gained seized brakes and a misfire that took many weeks & a post on here to solve. (f'ing boost leak).
TBH, there were times that i thought I'd never get it road legal. There were times when i nearly sold it..... many, many times.....
but before the house purchase I vouched that I'd never sell it, and I didn't.
Over the last 8 months I've been slowly refreshing it with what little money I have spare, replacing rubber hosing under the bonnet, brake pipes & brake caliper rebuilds so i could move the thing. Wheels refurbed, 4 new boots. re-wiring the headlights... properly.
I've done silly things like refitted carpets & interior trim pieces, buying new connectors so things fit & don't rattle.
I've ground back my rear arches so they don't scuff on the wheels anymore. All the underside and arches have been cleaned & waxoiled.
I've had the bumpers off & painted behind, touched up some rough spots under the bonnet.
painted the wiper arms, & many other bits that I'm sure will pop into my head once I post this that I've forgotten.
And all in the aid of future proofing it as best as I can & bringing it back to a standard that I am proud of.
I love this car, me & her have been through a lot, frowning parents who pushed me to sell, relationships where they thought the car goes to make way for house deposits, kids & marriage, who couldn't understand the point of it just sitting there wasting away.
well she hasn't wasted away,
she's done 500 miles in 7 years & 100 of those in the last 8 weeks.
she passed an MOT first time back in March with only the brakes & lines needed attention.
On Monday I did 60 miles in her to Cadwell Park as part of a BMW members track day & managed to put 20 laps down across a few hours. I started real slow, the brakes were shit, juddering and pulling, however, the just wanted using...... I persisted on track & brakes freed themselves up & she just got better & better. Tweaks here & there to the boost controller to iron out some surging issues, over boost & spike control issues. She is so neutrally balanced, that the confidence came quickly.
I was gob smacked at how good she was, & after all this time...... we were pecking of the boot lid of more powerful E46 M3's that came regularly.
Needles to say, I am so chuffed to have her working properly again. I hope to do more events like i used to & bring her to some shows & to be apart of the SXOC community.
I am once again, the proud owner of a Kuro S14a, G20BEN.
Ben