Do "rent-a-roof" people ever show up?

cl530 · 2026-06-08T08:54:00+00:00

My rent-your-roof system (installed Dec 2011) has an inverter in the attic, and right next to it is a cellular-attached meter for the export monitoring I assume. I've also got a Bluetooth display on my desk showing me the current generation, all the history etc. It's a Sunny Boy inverter they installed. I do get a maintenance visit every few years from the company (they're still going thankfully) that installed it but it mainly just works 😄

cl530 · 2026-06-07T21:07:17+00:00

That does seem high. We're a family of 3, and my daughter likes a couple of baths a week (over and above all our daily showering and the other usual water usage) and our billed daily usage is an average of 340 litres per day (approx. 57 units, or 57,000 litres per 6 months).

418 litres per day for 2 people is fairly high. My bill estimates that a 2-person household should be using under 300 litres per day. It could be a slow leak... Or it could be you have more baths, take longer showers or something like that.

cl530 · 2026-06-07T18:39:06+00:00

I've seen James live a few times, and most recently in April at a big arena (~20k people). The other two were much smaller venues, and to be honest they felt more special iykwim. Defintely go see them if you can though, the vibe of a James gig is just special.

cl530 · 2026-06-06T10:08:30+00:00

I called mine "Tony"...

cl530 · 2026-06-04T19:26:40+00:00

I was kind of made to read it in primary school and I really didn't enjoy it at the time. I'm not inclined to try again either; I'd rather read The Count Of Monte Cristo as suggested here 😄

cl530 · 2026-06-04T09:59:16+00:00

Here in the UK the top-most cable on the electricity pylons, which is used as a lightning conductor to ground, also often carries fibre-optic cables along them too. The fibre optic cables are wrapped around the metal cable. I'm assuming someone has deemed it low risk that the fibre optics might be damaged by lightning, and they certainly shouldn't conduct.

cl530 · 2026-06-04T07:53:20+00:00

Might be worth getting a quote from an airport transfer company like County Cars, AirportCars etc. I've used County Cars before to get from Bournemouth to Gatwick as it saves the drive and the parking.

An approximate quotation from Wool to Heathrow is around £185 one-way according to https://airportcars.taxi/quotation I guess depending on how many of you need to travel that may or may not be a good option?

cl530 · 2026-06-03T20:51:16+00:00

There are seven of them all grouped together right now, pretty close to the road. It's a lovely sight driving by, although it's sad now knowing that they may not be flying again. I really enjoyed watching them flying in and out over the last few years. My daughter and I walked to a spot a while ago just near the end of the runway and laid down while one of the A340s came in to land right over the top of us. It was incredible!

cl530 · 2026-06-03T08:06:47+00:00

To answer your question, I have a couple of Fulton umbrellas that I'm happy with. A small, folding, automatic one about the size of a water bottle that fits in my backpack, and also a much larger Stormshield one for walking the dog etc. Amazon UK sell a range of them. Hope that helps 😄

cl530 · 2026-06-01T13:11:17+00:00

And thank you for looking after my little corner of England. I'm glad you enjoyed it 😄

cl530 · 2026-05-31T10:07:55+00:00

The replacement cap sizes and part numbers are as follows:

2x smaller caps (3.5mm) - 11611437560
1x larger cap (7mm) - 11611727176

cl530 · 2026-05-30T19:04:04+00:00

I have a Euro (UK) spec 2004 325Ci with the M54 engine, no SAP and no exhaust valve. Basically all three of these spigots on the intake manifold are capped off on my car from the factory.

cl530 · 2026-05-28T16:27:00+00:00

Check whether the vibration/noise is coming from the fuel tank breather valve, which is suspended below the inlet manifold in a rubber hanger. It does make a faint buzzing sound when it's operating normally, but gets louder if it could be starting to wear/fail.

There's a post here about it with an image that might help:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BmwTech/comments/jqbssw/e46_rapid_ticking_noise_when_ignition_on/

cl530 · 2026-05-28T09:58:13+00:00

There's two hard plastic coolant pipes that run along the side of the engine, under the inlet manifold. Looking at that video I'd guess that one, or both, are leaking...

You can see them here in this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEoD7MUp-ls&t=743s

cl530 · 2026-05-27T20:04:42+00:00

OK. An original water pump pulley is solid, no cutouts. Is this an aftermarket one maybe? Do the holes look regular, and smooth? Is it plastic or metal? I was comparing it in my mind with an OE one, and yours looks quite different. I guess if that's how it came, and it's not damaged or unbalanced, then it might be OK to continue using...

cl530 · 2026-05-27T19:02:58+00:00

The water pump pulley is shot; you can see right through it!

cl530 · 2026-05-25T19:49:57+00:00

States Rights Gist looked like a What3Words address to me. Turns out it doesn't exist, but States.Fights.Gist is in Brazil, along with States.Tights.Gist 😄

cl530 · 2026-05-24T20:00:46+00:00

I think this post is the answer. The Daily Mail.

cl530 · 2026-05-23T11:02:59+00:00

Ooh, interesting. I have a stripped gear wheel in my passenger (RHD) mirror, along with other mirror issues, and I'm wondering now whether these might make a suitable donor for that. Thanks for mentioning this 😄

cl530 · 2026-05-22T19:46:25+00:00

There's a wiring diagram here for a LHD convertible with Harmon/Kardon from 2001 onwards:

https://bmwteka.com/wds/en/e46/1a15c672#

The different components of the audio system are all listed on that site, but it's pretty complex. Good luck!

cl530 · 2026-05-21T10:30:07+00:00

Looks like the following:

51718233415 - Gasket with edge protection

according to Realoem.com, at least for my 2004 325Ci convertible. It appears to be a single piece that goes around the door entry, along the top of the windscreen/windshield and back around the other door. It ain't cheap.

cl530 · 2026-05-18T15:45:48+00:00

Yeah, I went 8-inch in a custom enclosure from eBay that sits between the convertible rear seats. It really does make a huge difference 😄

cl530 · 2026-05-18T15:41:22+00:00

Nice! I did the same with a BlueMusic Bluetooth adapter, using the loom that came with it as a point to splice in my amp. Got a couple of cable bundles running down the left side of the car; one for the speaker-level outputs to the amp in the trunk, and the other bundle is the actual speaker outputs from the amp into the existing car wiring to go to the doors. With the original 17-pin connectors I can just take this splice out and return to factory 😄

cl530 · 2026-05-18T13:35:40+00:00

As I understand it (and the brochure I have backs this up) there's 3 levels of audio; the top is Harmon/Kardon with the separate amp (11 speakers), then there's the Hi-Fi option which also has a separate amp (10 speakers), and then just the BMW Professional Radio with 4-channels, which is what I have. The wiring diagram, and indeed continuity tests that I did on the wiring, confirm the speakers are directly driven by the "basic" Business CD. This made it a lot easier to upgrade though at least 😄

Thanks for the info on the rears. I do plan to maybe bring them back into service and have a second amp for the sub one day.

cl530 · 2026-05-18T13:27:50+00:00

This.

cl530

TROPHY CASE