I got stuck in the M5 last weekend. Pulling the interior door handle didn’t open the door, the action was a bit sloppy, and the handle didn’t return when released – something certainly wasn’t right.

So I popped the screw cover off, and then paused to take the photo above. Once that screw was removed I could open the door by pulling the entire handle assembly forwards. From here I deduced that the door mechanism was okay, but the handle assembly had just failed with use over time.

A quick bit of correspondence with BMW saw a replacement part (B51.21.8.226.050) ordered for £28.  I hoped I would be able to perform the replacement without dismantling the door, so I used a pair of mole grips to hold the mechanism in place while I removed the old handle.

A comparison of the old and new handles:

I then noticed that there’s a little black arm on the back of the handles into which the door mechanism slots, so that the handle can tension the release cable correctly. This meant that there was no way of replacing the handle without dismantling the door. Fortunately this isn’t difficult: with the exception of a single screw in the air vent inlet, the rest of the door is (alarmingly French-like) snap fit. I worked my way around the edge of the door with a large flat head screwdriver and was soon able to get moving again.

I fitted the handle to the mechanism behind the door card, as shown below.

Here’s a close up – you can see the little black arm that tensions the cable – it works much like a bike brake lever.

Fortunately I had a few replacement clips for the snap-fitting door card, as some were inevitably broken. I have now run out though – I must re-stock but I’m unlikely to remember. Refitting was then of course the reverse of removal, and I’m now pleased to not only to once again have a fully functioning door release, but for it to be nice and new and shiny.

There has been a fair bit of “concern” in the media now that Facebook have launched their new Places feature in the UK. Some of these concerns relate to privacy, some escalate that to safety. “Facebook has gone too far” they cry, “now everyone knows where you are”. Hmm.

I would suggest that Places hasn’t really changed anything at all. The risks associated with notifying internet users of your location haven’t worsened. As social media becomes more and more mobile and media rich it’s not at all uncommon for a person’s location to be deduced from the content they produce.

Facebook wall updates along the lines of “Enjoying a meal at Prezzo with the girlfriend” have been commonplace for years. Yep, you’re out, and your house is empty.

Twitter is significantly more concerning in my view. A geotagged Twitpic around the home? That’s where you live. Tweeting that you’re about to enjoy a week-long holiday abroad? Bingo.

So here’s the thing. Facebook’s Places hasn’t made anything any worse. Facebook’s privacy controls ensure (by default) that only your Facebook friends will see your Places updates. If you’ve got any sense you’ll keep it that way, and you’ll do the same for all the other content you push to that site, including photos and wall posts.

It’s all too easy to complain. Facebook helps me stay in touch with people who have moved away. Facebook’s Places will help me feel more a part of their lives, and its ‘nearby’ feature might just help me catch up face-to-face more often with those more local friends. There are of course risks with publishing your movements on the internet, but we’ve got controls to minimise that risk should we choose to use it.

We’ve been mulling over whether to change a car before winter. I’ve got quite a hankering for a four wheel drive, but for a variety of reasons (not least that we really like both of the current cars!) we’ve decided to stick with what we’ve got. The real issue we faced last winter was the snow and ice – we couldn’t get either car off the drive, let alone navigate safely. I’ve read many good things about winter tyres, most notably the fact that they out perform normal tyres when the temperature is 7 degrees or lower regardless of the presence of snow or ice – and that kind of temperature can usually be found in December, January and February. So I’ve decided to source another set of wheels for the 330d, and fit them with winter tyres.

The 330d’s large front brakes mean that the smallest wheels that can be fitted are 17 inches, and these come as standard with 225/45 R17s. 17 inch wheels are less desirable than the “sport” 18s, and are therefore easier to come by. Winter tyres are also more readily available in smaller sizes, so it made sense to start hunting for E46 17 rims. Ebay of course came up with a variety of options, and last weekend I managed to pick up a set of my preferred style 44 E46 17s from a nice chap in Salisbury. As is so often the case, the 330d wasn’t available when I needed it, so the M5′s passenger space ensured the new rims had a comfortable journey home.

This morning I was up bright and early to take the wheels to my preferred tyre centre.

Wheels in the garage. The tyres aren’t up to much, but they have now been disposed of.

Today the 330d was available, and it made short work of swallowing its spare wheels.

I was a bit taken aback by the tyre centre’s reaction when I asked to talk to someone about winter tyres. “Are you going abroad?” No, but England is having a winter. In any case, I was instructed that I’d have to call back during the week to get them to let me know the options. A little disappointing really – mytyres.co.uk offer a good range with decent brands starting at £105 a corner. In any case, I will call them in the week, and they did at least pop the tyres off the rims and dispose of them for me.

I gave them a clean and considered their rather dubious state of repair – they’ve received some fairly heavy kerbing in their time.

Here’s a close up – three of the wheels were like this most of the way round – the best wheel just had about 60 degrees of this kind of damage. It looks like someone has tried to touch them up – I thought I’d try to improve on their attempt.

Here’s the same wheel after I’d had a go at it with a power detail sander.

Still looks a bit wrong but it was smooth to the touch. I did the same to all of the wheels.

Then it was time for another wash before I painted them. In the garage ready for a paint:

And here’s the same wheel painted:

Final photo: the full set, painted and lacquered.

The photo actually makes them look better than there are. If you look closely it’s pretty obvious they’ve been touched up rather than professionally refurbished, but I’m satisfied with the result given just a few hours work. The next step is to source and fit some winter tyres – then wait for winter!

The car is currently on 225/40 R18s (and 255/35 R18s at the back), so these 17s won’t look as bling, and even with summer tyres wouldn’t provide the same grip in the warm and dry. However, it won’t be warm and dry in mid-winter! Also, the old man in me is looking forward to the higher tyre profile – it’ll be interesting to see if the ride quality improves noticably.

On the 16th July we marked a year since we moved house. I had meant to blog about that at the time, but as I like to say, better late than never. Upstairs, we’ve finally finished the main bedroom; here’s a before, during, and after.

I’m really pleased with the ceiling fan and downlighters – although they were horrific to install (the loft is extremely unpleasant). We bought that tiger picture on our first trip to India. We’ve also replaced the carpet in the other (rather lively yellow) front room, and I’ve turned one of the back bedrooms into a little office; the final bedroom is simply still repugnant.

Downstairs we’ve just had the dining room wall plastered – it was incredibly warped. This photo of the drying plaster nicely illustrates the previous shape: the dark patches are wet; the plaster here is a lot thicker, the result is now smooth. This photo was taken 48 hours after work was completed.

Now it’s still a bit of a mess, but the majority of the decorating is complete.

In the living room, remember this?

Mid way:

And today with carpet and sofas – it’s great to finally have this room finished!

Di’s office ready for carpets:

I spent much of a Saturday chiselling channels for the AV cables around that doorway:

And today:

All in all, my plan is finally coming together! :)