Absolutely staggering that result in Blyth

I got my license in 2002.. not sure if that’s good or bad? I suspect the latter.. Interesting point on the car – it already has a towbar for my bikes! although think it may only be 7pin electrics..

It’s the “sensible” bit I normally get carried away with… The 3 series is my wifes car, mine is an M135i but that’s not rated for towing anything at all.. Looks like we specced the wrong engine in the wrong car.. doh!

Looks like there is a silver rated place 1.5 miles away (opposite Costco and about 200 yds from the A1 for North/South trips) and two Gold ones about 5 miles away each..

Caravan ticks a lot of boxes but I just couldn’t be chewed towing one abroad for trips down through France.. As for staying on/near site that would generally be the plan and for us to walk/bike everywhere. Could get a lot for my money with a van though.. but may necessitate a change in car as the 320i would no doubt struggle..

Thank you very much for all of the responses everyone. Certainly lots of food for thought! Depending on the size of van I could potentially just about get it on the drive the night before to load etc. and displace the cars as noted above. My chief concern was about the convenience of just heading off at the drop of a hat but realistically with a very small child and a wife who likes to plan things well in advance this probably wouldn’t be an issue – and we would definitely be staying predominantly on sites rather than off grid.

I hadn’t really considered the security aspect too much from either angle.. but living on a main road it certainly is an advantage not having it stored here. Hmmm.. lots to go at here!

Thanks again
Nick

Bigblackshed – my 2015 1 series is a button next to the dial, not a toggle/rocker type but a push-button type. Once you turn ignition off and on again it’ll reset and fogs will be off next time you drive (you can still leave headlights in the ‘auto’ or ‘on’ position for next time without any warnings).

Aye, that’s what we do with both our cars. Both have an ‘auto’ setting but they’re permanently in the ‘on’ position year round. You only get a beep/warning when turning off ignition when you leave them in sidelight mode.

LOL @ the Astra Van bulb replacement procedure! Madness isn’t it? I think it was the Renault Megane where you had to remove the front wheel first to gain access.. FFS, not exactly built for maintenance when step 1 of replacing headlight bulb reads “remove wheel”.

Aye, sounds like tinnitus. I’ve had it in both ears since I was about 23 years old (34 now). It can get you down and for years I struggled with it. Nowadays I’ve managed to just tune it out and rarely think about it. It’s definitely still there.. and just typing this in a quiet room I can hear it if I listen. I also have hyper-acusis as noted above. If I’m in a busy bar trying to follow a line of conversation with all that background noise is horrendous.. I tend to just avoid such places TBH!

I didn’t ‘do’ anything as such to tune it out.. I just made sure I was always busy with something and using my mind for constructive projects (family/work/hobbies/DIY/etc.) and always planning the next thing.

Aye the DRL regs are stupid. I had a 2009 car that pre-dated them and it (quite sensibly) lit up front and rear. As above, the speedo/rev-counter always being back lit is an issue also because that’s one further indicator removed for people.

Thing is though, people just don’t give a shit about their cars and how they actually function. Take people parking on the wrong side against oncoming traffic with their headlights on. I’d hazard that a good chunk of people wouldn’t even recognise why this is an issue.

I’m not even going to get started on the absolute shower of prats that put Xenon/LED style bulbs into halogen units.. or the pops and bangs remap dickhead brigade who go past my house at 50 (in a 20 zone) every. ****. night.

As above, check brake callipers. If it has M Sport braking system with the nice blue callipers you’ll likely not be able to downsize. 275 section on the rear is gonna be very spendy if you just get some tyres.. especially as they’ll be run flats? Only advice re. the actual tyres is (IMO) the difference between mid range and premium rubber. I’ve had both on different 3 series and the difference is night and day. The cheaper ones were dreadful in the wet (regardless of temp). They got me about in the snow but we’re generally shite everywhere else

Thank you for the offer DrP – I’ll decline for the moment while I try and get sorted without the need for an antenna, drilling holes, climbing on the roof etc. Mind you I am about the go up there to put the Xmas lights up….

Thank you for the continued responses all. Some really interesting and detailed points above. I totally agree that gouging existing customers to get new ones is a load of shit.

For ~£20/month and no up front costs, I think I may just order one of the Three/EE/etc boxes and see what it’s like. If the speeds are crap I’ll just wing it back to them in the 1st 30 days and get traditional broadband through the phone line (once I fix the dogs dinner I have created above!)

I would echo the above re. a good independent too. I’ve just had a major(ish) service on my 135i and it was £259 for oil, filters and spark plugs.. probs £500 quids worth in dealer money.

I’ve just had a look at stated figures on fuel economy for a combined run and there is less in it than I thought.. The 335bhp 540i does 37.6mpg and the 181bhp 520i does 39.2mpg. Both figures for autos. In fact I know the 540i only comes in auto and Xdrive flavour. Not sure on the 520i.

Obviously there are other costs to consider, the vehicle itself, VED, maintenance of 6 cyls vs 4, etc. but for a few more spondoolies you get a LOT more power. I’ve got an older version of the 6 pot turbo in my 1 series (the N55 engine) and it is a joy – perfectly matched to the ZF8. You can just waft about on a wave of torque and the acceleration is just as impressive at 70mph as it is at 20mph.

I would really like a 540i but not ready to give up my little 1er yet and in all honesty once I do get shot (not for a while as only 38k on clock) I’ll probably get a leccy car.

Also – we don’t have a landline as such (just that mess pictured above). Got rid of the house phone years ago.

Hmmm.. seems mixed at the moment. Thank you for the responses all. I’ve also uncovered another problem with standard broadband. It seems I may have been a bit keen pulling out the old phone line and now I’m left with this mess.. bollocks.

We’ve got a 2015 320i which we’re planning on keeping for at least another 5-6 years. We’ve had it about 1.5 years and has been reliable in that time (touch wood..). 184bhp I think which is enough in the 3 saloon. Mind the fuel economy is pretty poor.. 25-30 round the doors. 40-45 on a run. Keeping a lid on it at 70. It is the manual though and I think the 5 would probs come with the (rather excellent) 8ZF auto. Depending on what your priorities are it may be worth looking at the 6cyl petrol (540i I think at that age). Lovely motors and the fuel economy is not that much worse. Just my two penneth

I’ve got the MT500 and it’s a cracking jacket BUT it comes up short at the front. Too short for the size. I’ve got a large and at a smidge under 6ft it should be at least a couple inches longer at the front.

Kryton – need to make sure the wheels will fit over callipers. If you have M-Sport braking system with the nice blue callipers think it 18” minimum and even then some non OEM 18” wheels foul.

We have staggered on the 3 series and black circles had nowt.. ended up ordering tyres from Camskill. Mind you a set of 19 inch staggered Pirelli Run flats with 255 section on the rear were eye wateringly expensive!

Never had 5.10s before.. what’s the sizing like? I’m bang on 10 for Nike and New Balance which is pretty much all I wear if that helps.

Thanks

My dad did this with his telly as the wall just went into the garage. Unfortunately in my case there is about a 1 foot void behind the wall then the stairs/cupboard.. It’s the old chimney that we don’t use and is masonry either side of the 1 foot void, and to add further complexity all of the central heating pipes go to the upstairs of the house in the far right of the void.

It’s ok – I’m going to tell my wife that my “little bike friends” (in her words) told me to spend £1250 on some new B&Ws :o)

Ha! It certainly did escalate quickly! Boys and their toys..

It’s not a dot and dab wall unfortunately, it’s plaster over bricks – we had the house plastered about 5 years top to bottom after re-wire and new central heating. The dust was EPIC when all that was getting done!

Those chasing tools look fab, I didn’t even know such a thing existed! Although I would normally jump at the chance to buy a new powertool it looks like it would make a reet mess.

Good point re. drilling holes in speakers and bracing them. They have quite a lot of sentimental value as I got them new when I was 15-16 years old. Maybe I should order a new tweeter.

D Morts – what about some sort of non-rigid anti-tip device, like you have at the top of a wardrobe? Would that work?

Mind you – I’m now thinking of binning off the project and just buying some brand new floorstanding B&Ws.. slippery slope this.. The AV amp needs upgrading too as won’t pass through 4K to new telly.. Dolby Atmos I think is what I need?

Thank you very much for the responses everyone – certainly lots to go at there!

In terms of the height and placement of the telly, I’m absolutely set on that. I wanted it to be the exact same height it would have been at if it was on a cabinet so as not to be craning my neck. It’s been there about 5 years now.

The wall itself it where the chimney is. There was a really old back boiler in there when we bought the house and we just bricked it up. So although there is a cavity in, it’s about a foot thick and not easily accessible from the other side. It is a shame though as this would remove the need for chasing cables. I assume the spark would have used this option if viable when he did the HDMI.. although he didn’t put a conduit in (which sounds like it should have been possible).

Good point re. going all in and re-doing the HDMI run as well given the upheaval and cost of chasing the speaker cables.. I can just see the HDMI cable giving up the ghost as soon as I get everything put back together!

Although, having written and read all of that ^^^ I’m starting to lose a bit of motivation for the job altogether.. For the price of the KEF speakers and the cost/time of doing all the other associated stuff I could buy a nice pair of floor standers and just put a brace on the back/top. Or I could just secure what I already have. Seems a shame to drill through the metal stand into the bottom of the wooden case on the speakers though.. but they’ve had a good innings and one of the tweeters has already taken a knock.. Those KEF ones although they get good reviews may indeed be a bit flat..

Decisions decisions!

Could do FB but the cables are already under the floorboards and into the amp as is (it’s just the stands hide it a bit). Unless I’m not following?

https://www.richersounds.com/kef-t301-black.html

This is a good point. The B&Ws are about 18 years old but still going strong.. However, we have a 7 month old baby who gets more mobile by the day! Don’t want her banging into the metal stands or pulling them off.. the KEF T301 slimline speakers look really slick but yea maybe I will be disappointed..

How much is a decent set of floorstanders? 😂

Loads of valuable stuff when renovating our house. Everything from tiling to kitchen fitting. Amazing place.

Oh, and Bombers.. not so much something I’ve learned but something I can never get rid of.. I have had a set of Bombers off a Kona Pahoehoe that I am incapable of getting rid of.. They have sat in my garage for over 10 years just in case I need to own someone with them.

Aye as above. We ordered ours from the local Buildbase when we did our house, was reasonable priced from memory. Looks like one near you. Get it delivered in nice long lengths to your door.

Surprised at that penalty for Hamilton.

I don’t think Hamilton deserves a penalty for that. Door was wide open – every racing car driver would have went for that.

As for Seb.. silly boy. Should have kept right a moment longer and would have been fine. He’s broken rule 1 of racing cars in a team. Still, I’m shocked at the damage form a shunt I didn’t even notice 1st time round!

Pondering this myself.. not tooled up yet but probs switch over in the next week or so. Got a set of Pirelli Sottozeros in the garage to go on that were superb last winter.

Haha, some great tales in this thread! I can definitely relate to the inappropriate vehicle one. When we renovated our house there was a big solid wood cabinet in the kitchen that was old but in great nick and seemed good quality. I put it on gumtree for free explaining “van and tools required” etc. Lad was late and I had to pop out so my dad was in doing some decorating.. he was raging when I got back.. lad turned up in an old Rover Metro and no tools 😂

Aye that’s really close. What an absolute dick head. Shame about the plates

If your work is just to the North of the city I agree with wanting to live on that side. I live on the South of the river in a small town/large village called Whickham. I also used to work just North of the city meaning you would have to get across the busiest routes (e.g. central motorway). I now work on the Southern most tip of the City (basically at the end of the Redheugh Bridge) and even then the traffic can be a pain. The difference between leaving at 0720 and 0740 is massive. I think if you’re wanting to reduce a 45 minute commute I wouldn’t go South of the River.. It all depends on how you’ll be commuting mind – I cycled in to the office this morning in about 20mins mainly off roads. As others have said, Chopwell is good if you’re just wanting a quick blast on the MTB. I really like Thrunton and Hamsterley too and not that far.

Thank you tthew. Panic owa

I’m a bit confused (and now worried) having read this thread.. We had a baby 7 months ago but due to my income we know that we aren’t due any child benefit as above the threshold. However, are people saying my wife may have inadvertently been receiving some benefit automatically? I have not completed any claim forms, SA, etc. and I am PAYE.

I did our main bathroom myself. It took an AGE! I’m really happy with the results and as mentioned by DT78 constantly find myself looking at tiling jobs when taking a pee and comparing it to my own work.. If you’re going to do the whole lot yourself just go in with your eyes open – I had to watch a shitload of Youtube vids, read up on technique, buy tools, re-buy tools, trips to the shop x lots, etc. etc. I learned some valuable skills but would probably never do it again – tiling is okay but as a DIY’er you can either do it well or fast.. not both.. I was EXTREMELY slow but got a lovely finish in the end with only a couple of minor errors that only I really see..

If you’re doing the rip out, make sure you get a good SDS chisel drill.. I went back to masonry on all 4 walls and can confirm that drywall adhesive is like bell metal. I did it the old fashioned way with a chisel and hammer.. never again.

If you decide to tile just remember that 1st tile on a wall decides the fate of every bit of tiling on that surface! As above the amount of time in pub/restaurant bathrooms I see a tiny little slither of tiles at one end is unbelievable.. just because someone didn’t place that 1st tile to avoid it. Blazzin Saddles off here give me some excellent advice re. tiling when we did our bathroom.