mrmike

The Distilled water/Antifreeze was just to get him to the service date and subsequent replacement of the rad. M

I would not use radweld or anything similar, Carry a 2 ltr bottle of distilled water or better still 50% antifreeze. However it is your car! M

I would not change to Zenon because It requires the self levelling setup/relative sensors/wiring and software changes to your system. M

I don't know where you are in Europe but a local breaker would be able to fix you up probably off the shelf these days. Make sure it is the same type and that hopefully the adjustment system is OK. Repair kits for this are readily available for about 60 quid. By the way the way you need to remove the front to do the job. M

Check Clauses guide. your problem is the 1 The DCCV valve, ( supposedly terribly unreliable, I bought a new one immediately, but it was not the problem) 2 The Control Computer 3 The wiring to the DCCV. On LHD cars the connections go through the LHS end of the Dashboard, Cover is removable with door open. From the car Cct diagram you can see the relevant contacts. You can control both sides of the DCCV from here. Using a tester (preferably analogue) and / or a small 12V bulb and a ptece of wire and croc clips etc. It is a PWM system If you do not understand please go through the procedure I mentioned in a previous post from the american Jaguar forum. It is excellent...... The whole system is complicated but your problem is most probably quite simple. Good luck. M

OK

The last 5 numbers ie 45594 in your case. it is part of the VIN for Barratt and many other suppliers. You can find a definition of the VIN on the net. Check it out. M

lift the wheel up, rotate it by hand and have a listen. M

Check the OEM number on it. From the Barratt catalogue, 3.0L I have for up to VIN M45254 RHD XR816503 and from VIN M45255 C2Z13764 But they don't quote LHD or RHD. However yours should be in the earlier group. There are no pics or diagrams to help. Hope this might be of some help. RHD breakers might be a bit thin on the ground, SA, AU,JP, and Cyprus. BTW have you tried Barratts? M

Last year when my header tank went, I looked on EU Ebay sites , New ones for 100 E plus. Lithuania is often a good source. But found mine in a local breaker. M

Try Barratt SNG, www.sngbarratt.com, part number varies according to VIN/LHD/RHD. Btw the catalogue for the S-Type is free. Excellent just as a guide. Very good comms. M

I had all these probs with my 2005 Diesel after about a year, Bought a new battery and Soldered the wires onto the all connectors, cleaned the battery terminals (New Battery) and cleaned the now soldered connector to the bodywork and the body work itself. No Probs at all after 3 years. I did measure the current drawn from the battery when everything is off but I don't remember what it was. I rember thinking though that after a couple of weeks of non use there could be a problem. I never leave the car for more than a week without driving at least 30Kms. I remember my 200Kompressor took about 100mA for the first half hour after everything was off and then about 50mA thereafter. A quick calc with a NEW 100AH battery means half discharged after 3 to 4 weeks. M

Fairly cheap to get a new set of solenoids and get them fitted. If you have good access you could do it yourself. One other thing, there is a multicore cable connecting to the GB. Clean the connectors. You could probably do a complete fluid change ataa competent garage too. This GB is vrtually bulletproof..... There are many threads on this box, check on the BMW site for more info. M

Is it in Sport mode?

Read the OEM part number and go to a good breaker. ( 20 Euros in Spain) When you find one check inside that it doesn't have any signs of Radweld etc having been used. Mine had it, I foolishly looked on the web and put a load of rice into it and shook it around. Fairly Useless, It took me a day to get all the rice out. In the end I used Petrol. Took me an entire day to finally get it clean.