Category: Our Cars

At the moment of writing we are spending our holiday as usual in a village in the French Massif Central, which is now luckily rather “Corona Safe” simply because it is not densely populated. This means of course that everybody has go remain very careful as even – as we have seen in the earlier stages of the pandemic – mountain villages can be hotspots spreading the disease.

As our holiday car to make the 1,000 km trip to the south we picked this time our faithful and oh so frugal Lexus CT200h, which just had its service done only a month before. Besides the usual checks and a filter and oil change nothing else was needed.

It proved a very comfortable trip in the true Lexus style, and with the drive mode selector in “ECO” and good use of the cruise control, we managed a fuel consumption of 4,3 litres/100 km over the trip, which equals some 54 miles per US Gallon or 65,6 miles (!) per Imperial gallon.

Digital airco and excellent sound deadening in combination with the good sound system made it a very enjoyable and relaxing affair.

In our holiday home we found back our Mercedes A Class and the VW New Beetle 1.4i, and last but not least our Suzuki Samurai, which we will endeavour this year’s holiday to register it as a “Voiture de Collection”.

At the moment of writing, we have used so far the compact Mercedes, so ideal for the necessary supermarket/grocery errands, and the New Beetle for the scenic mountain trips in the surroundings. Both cars fired up without any hesitation, and drive as smoothly as ever.

Whilst we took our Beetle on a very scenic route over Antraigues, Genestelle and Mézilhac, the right rear side window cable snapped, leaving the side rear window in half open position. This means for us getting a new cable set and doing the extensive repair, rather time consuming as the complete rear upholstery, seats and coverings have to come off.

A nice project to tackle next year, as we decide to use the car for our touristic trips this year anyway with the right rear side window half open. It is summer time and the car can be locked up safely also inside the cabin with glove box lock. As it is a convertible, access to the boot lid and fuel filler cap can be locked off too, by locking the commands in the driver’s door. It spends the rest of the year in a closed garage, so there is no problem there either….

The coming days we will start up the Samurai, and we will make also some nice (offroad) mountain tours with it. Stay tuned!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Our BMW is happily running again. When we found out that the rubber backstop which held the hook into the hole of the lever commanded by the throttle pedal was missing, we contacted our local dealer BMW Jorssen to order the part. Of course, in Corona times the dealer was not open to the public at the time, but they were fully prepared to order for us the rubber circular stop.

First Jorssen sent us a mail with an exploded technical drawing to make sure this was the missing part we wanted. It appeared to be part number 35 41 1 152 331 “Rubber tule”, and a few days later it arrived neatly in our mailbox at home.

The service was excellent and punctual. We soon went to our BMW Z3 to install it, which proved to be a breeze. Just push it over the end of the hook. We re-installed the dashboard cover above the pedals, and presto, we were ready for another (test) drive.

But before we started the engine, we took another inspection in the foot-well area and around the throttle pedal whether we wouldn’t find somewhere (a piece) of the old backstop? You would never know! Indeed, after some good and meticulous cleaning around the throttle it appeared: indeed, we found a completely broken half of the original backstop…  

 

So after all, we were completely correct in our diagnosis, and went for a happy, smooth short drive.

Our BMW Z3 is again in top form, but alas, in Corona times, it still has to wait a bit to make these beautiful trips we all dream of now…

Stay posted for more BMW Z3 stories!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

In Corona times, one meets many challenges. Such as repairing a quality car like the BMW at home. Something we would never envision to do in normal times. But as our beloved Z3 was standing in our home garage with a loose throttle pedal connection, and as garages are still on lockdown at the moment of writing, the only thing to do was to tackle the repair ourselves. Moreover, as we have to move up a gentle upward slope when driving our of the garage, we need more than just idling power, so we had no alternative than to get the throttle connected again.   

So we took all our courage and screwdriver in our hands, and first removed the cover beneath the dashboard on the driver’s seat, shielding the throttle linkage. This proved rather straightforward, with only two plastic screws to be loosened. Then we gently took the cover off, and looked at the throttle mechanism, more especially the lever where it takes up the hook at the end of the throttle cable. We just hoped and prayed that this hook just had snapped off the lever commanded by the throttle, and that the throttle cable itself was not broken.

We fixed again the hook end of the throttle cable into the hole of lever commanded by the throttle pedal…

We remember when we abruptly went of the throttle when we saw the female jogger almost jump in front of our car, we didn’t hear any noise of a popping or snapping cable, so a loose hook was probably it. The cable hadn’t been sticky either, as throttle operation was always very smooth and progressive, so again it was unlikely that it had snapped.

And hurray, the throttle cable was not broken, and indeed only the hook had come off its hole in the lever. The reason was also soon found, why this has happened. The rubber stop to prevent the hook from sliding out of the hole in the lever was just missing. So the thin hook was just gingerly lodged in the hole of the lever, as the photo here below clearly shows.

As the throttle lever has two holes, we did have to check whether we had chosen the right one when we reconnected the hook, and we had to check that the engine was responding well to the throttle movements and still idling well properly when we did not touch the throttle pedal.

So yes, we took our beloved BMW Z3 for a brief spin, and were delighted that throttle movements where as smooth as ever, and that the engine responded beautifully.

Now we just have to order the right rubber backstop preventing the hook from (again) sliding out of its hole, and we will try our luck with our local dealer BMW Jorssen in Aartselaar. Then we can re-assemble the cover again neatly, and everything is again forgotten, hopefully.

To be continued!

Hans Knol ten Bensel  

As some readers will remember, the stable of cars at our French holiday house also includes a 1988 Suzuki Samurai, which has now reached the venerable age of more than 30 years, and is therefore now elegible to become a “collectors’ car”. It hasn’t been running last year, but that didn’t prevent it for starting right away after 2 years, after an initial 7 second burst on the starter motor to get the fuel up. After this first burst we waited for about 20 seconds or so, and then turned the key again: tchch-vrooom it shot into life right away, settling immediately in a smooth 1300 rpm on the automatic choke, without any hiccup or misfiring. Soon, after a minute or so, it ran at the 800 rpm normal tickover, and that was that. After this first start, it fires up immediately every time.

We depressed the clutch, which was free moving, and we cautiously moved it slowly in first and reverse, to loosen things up further. Clutch and brakes seemed OK. So we took it out of its garage and went for a first 10 kilometer mountain drive, only to notice that the left front brake must be not completely loose as after a 4 kilometers or so, the Samurai started pulling a bit to the left and indeed the left front wheel rim was running warmer, and this could be felt by hand. Luckily the rear drum brakes were fine, as the wheels stayed cold. We stopped and luckily noticed that even the slightest descent got the car rolling, so the friction could not be that much. We will drive it quietly tomorrow to the service station “Point S” to get the brakes checked and the oil and filter changed, and the day after it will be a visit to the “contrôle technique”.

To be continued, we will keep you posted!

Hans Knol ten Bensel

In our stable we also have some “French” cars, which live in our French country house, where they serve as holiday transport when we enjoy “time out” in la Douce France. One of these is a 1998 A Class 160 with a five speed automatic which we bought used now more than 14 years ago and which has seen intensive (professional) daily use by my wife for more than a decade; it has since 3 years found a new home in France. It is an ideal fit for the winding roads in the French Midi, its zesty 1,6 litre petrol engine is well mated to the auto box, and it is our favoured transport for outings and shopping.

In France, older cars have to pass a “contrôle technique” every two years, and they are checked for brakes, steering, windows/wipers, lights, suspension, chassis corrosion, seats and seat belts, interior, all commands, door locks, etc. With of course last but not least brake efficiency and emissions testing included. The multinational SGS actually is the company organising technical car controls under its “securitest” label in France and the test items and procedures can be found on their website securitest.fr.

Our trusted A Class passed the test with flying colours, not very surprising as the car is properly maintained. The “contrôle technique” is done by appointment, so you don’t waste any time, and is concluded by a very kind and detailed personal comment about the points which need attention on the car in the coming two years. On our A Class, it was the condition of the last muffler and of course brake pads, although not critical, the latter which indeed are due for renewal within the coming months. 

So our A Class, with now 248.000 km on the clock, is soldiering on still further!

Hans Knol ten Bensel