dancingbear84

The only car I have driven other than this for size was a bmw 3 series estate, but there was no rear leg room for the others, plus it’s a bmw and I like having an indicator stalk 🤣 the fact that a few of you are saying 30 odd is about right makes me feel a lot better about what I’m getting. BigJohn, the simple answer is to do all of the driving yourself 🤣 mine is the 1.4Tsi saloon/hatch it’s great, just hate the lack of rear visibility, I really wish the s model had parking sensors… it’s on the hit list

That’s probably alright then, I live in Devon, some days my commute is about 3 or 4 miles other days it is 20 odd, but Devon miles so hilly. I appreciate that the superb is a big old barge, but at about 6’6 I need a car that I can drive comfortably. I was just surprised to see the FE so much lower than the fabia was despite the size and weight differences. I know I have a very frugal driving style so didn’t want to go trying to chase down problems that don’t exist. I have no idea about when the spark plugs were changed, that may well be a good shout. It was “serviced” by the dealer when I bought it, I doubt the sparks were done but would assume the air filter was? A while back I had a Peugeot 1.5 diesel (no turbo) that thing was amazing it took an age to get to speed, but I could hit 60+ mpg with it round Devon. Shame the rest of the car fell apart, because the engine was rock solid

Hi all, I know this is a difficult to answer question because it depends on a whole raft of external factors - driving style, terrain, length of journey etc Back in August I bought a 63 plate Superb II 1.4 s on a long motorway journey I can get about 49mpg however on the more local stuff I am struggling to get much above 30 For comparison all other things being the same, commute, driving style etc my previous 1.2 Fabia SE estate was doing late 30s early 40s on shorter journeys. (Never did any longer trips in that) I wondered if that was normal, my El Cheapo OBD error reader from Aldi didn’t pull any error codes, wondering whether to get OBD Eleven to probe further, book it into a garage or do nothing. It’s costing me about £150 to do 750 miles at the minute, just wondered if anyone else was able to report their usage or suggest some things. Most others on Fuelly are diesel and as the car has always been this way since I have had it I can’t go off historical numbers

Test it when you pick it up, my S trim doesn’t have them, but on my wife’s roomster the white monochrome lines appear as you get closer to the obstacle, I think they appear from maybe 50cm and beep solidly when you get to around 5-10cm I think. She has the swing radio not the bolero though. Make sure you test them and mention it to the dealer if they’re not working, if you had a picture that may help too

On my MY13 FL there on options on the Display to open either one door, one side or all doors with the key. I currently open one door, then a double press of the unlock button opens all doors. I appreciate that isn’t quite why you’re after, but I think it may be the closest you’ll get, that said I’ve only had mine less than a week so I may well be wrong

Thanks, I did give it a try and it sort of worked, although clunky, like you say. I also discovered that I can pair a different phone to the Handsfree than the audio. This will please my kids no end who always nag me to play their “choons”

That’s all you really need I reckon, as I don’t tend to go too far too often I’d probably use my mobile for GPS. If I get a reverse camera I’ll likely fit that where you have put your phone. Just went for a spin, wasn’t able to get the steering controls working with BT 🤷 tried with hands free and premium options. I assume that is one of those things I’ll have to live with.

That's good to know, they're all words I'd heard before, but if I'm honest I've never really motivated my self to look up about them. I like things that are cost effective to fix and don't require an f1 pit crew

It looks like it has previously had variable servicing, but only has about 70k on it, It'll be done annually from now on. I was only getting around 43-45 from the 1.2 Fabia so that would be an improvement to be honest. There is a lot of things I like, the "ambient" footwell and "cats eye lights" for a start, the boot is unbelievable in terms of space as is the rear leg room. It's a 63 plate FL 1.4 as well so probably very similar. My level of knowledge on mechanics is not that good to be honest, I know a DMF is a dual mass flywheel but couldn't tell you why that is or isn't good, the same goes for the external clutch slave cylinder 🤣

Hey bigjohn, thanks for the reply, I was looking at the difference between hf and premium was to do with rsap, iOS doesn’t support that apparently. I have a mount thing that does wireless charging, but I’m not sure I want to hang it off the air vents like I did in the fabia, so I’ll take a look. I think the S spec is surprisingly good for the base trim, although I am finding the lack of parking sensors a pain, I’m considering either upgrading the Head Unit and then wiring in a camera, or just getting a wireless camera and seeing how that goes. In an ideal world I’d do all three but that’s not really an option

That is a good question, I was only messing about whilst stationary with the engine off, but ignition on. I’ll give it a go tomorrow and see if that makes a difference. It’s the sort of obvious thing I’ve been missing all day today, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it sorted it. Thanks for the suggestion

Hi, I have just acquired a 63 plate Superb, which is a bit of an upgrade from the fabia I previously had. It is a the “poverty spec 😉” S trim, I have paired my phone (iPhone xs) and that works great, however in order to get Bluetooth to play audio I have to initiate it from the phone first, which is no huge issue, (the fabia used a BT adaptor connected to the aux) but I can’t seem to skip to next track or anything using the steering wheel controls or the Swing radio. I have deleted the pairing on the phone and the bt kit in the MFD. It’s bugging me as it should be simple, if it just doesn’t work then that’s fine too, I even resorted to reading the manual and that suggested it should work. If it helps I’m using the Apple Music app.

I did take a few pictures, but then mrs bear came to help, she borrowed my phone as she’d left hers in the house and that was the last I saw of it. I decided that I’d give it a go with the bumper off, having never seen what was behind the bumper I was concerned (unnecessarily) I’d go through something I shouldn’t. From looking at the roomster it seems like the reverse sensors may have changed in spec at some point from the 26mm to 16mm and they have both markings stamped on the inside, they are only a few cm off from each other so I don’t think it’ll matter all that much to be honest, it threw me for a bit though, but we’ll see. I didn’t test it in the end, opting to fit the sensors anyway as I knew I had to do that but. Then I figured I would test before I tapped into the loom. The speaker is really loud. As for point 6 you have to remove both lights if removing the bumper in order to access the T30 bolts hidden beneath them. Thanks for the feedback about tapping into the loom, it was about 9.30 last night when I’d got that far and I couldn’t really be bothered to go any further, I figured being tired I’d make mistakes.

With regards to a guide, this is as far as I have got so far: 1. Get yourself a t25 bit and also a t25 Allen key type thing. 2. remove the 3 t25 screws from the inside of the wheel arch, I found it easier to jack the car up slightly to give myself more room to manoeuvre (I didn’t have the aforementioned Allen key t25 thingy) 3. Forcibly, but not too forcibly, pull the wheel arch liner toward the wheel, then you will see another t25 screw, pointing down into the bumper, using the t25 Allen key type thing will make this easy I had to battle with a socket and spanner and all sorts as there is not the room to manoeuvre. Much swearing ensued. 4. Move to the other side and do the same thing 5. Under the bumper are 3 plastic rivets, these thoroughly confused me for a while, but there is a knack, there is again a tool for the job, but if you don’t have one, and I don’t, a small flat head screwdriver under the center pin and wiggle it a bit, then use needle nose pliers to remove the pin, then use the same pliers to remove the out part. Don’t try to remove both bits at the same time, trust me it won’t work! 6. Remove the lights, this is done by unscrewing the big black bolt thing in the boot, if you’ve ever changed a bulb you’ll know what I mean. Then gently pull the light from the fittings, this is done by gently pulling the light cluster from the rear of the vehicle until the retaining pin things release. 7.There are 2 more t30 (I think) screws holding the bumper on under the light cluster. Undo them. 8. Gently pull the bumper from the wheel arch outward from the car, the plastic fitting will pop away, then repeat the other side. Then gently lift away from the rear of the vehicle. 9. Have a brew 10. On the inside of the bumper are 2 sets of markings, one had 26mm holes in the middle of a rectangle sort of thing. The other had much smaller 16mm hole markings. Both are there. I chose the 26mm size hole, I’m not sure if it was right or wrong. 11. Drill a pilot hole from the centre of the circle to the outside of the bumper 12. Apply tape to the front of the bumper, then use tape over the front to make sure no damage to the bumper when you drill the holes 13. drill from the outside of the bumper to the inside using the file cutter that came in the box 14. fit the sensors and the cables 15. find a way to secure the cable to the rear of the bumper, adhesive mounts, duct tape, I used hot glue. 16. There were 2 plastic grommets leading into the spare wheel well, I drilled a small 6mm hole in one and pushed all the cables through it into the boot. Then reattached the grommet 17. Refit the bumper in the reverse way you removed it. 18. You then need to route the cabling and remove the plastic side panel to access the electrics and stuff. - pop the rivets in the “boot lip” over the boot catch, then unscrew the nuts at the base of the boot lip, then pop it off, it is held in place with metal spring clips, I thought id broken something when I got it free, but it was ok. - unscrew the bolt that should be visible now under the plastic you removed, this is being done on the passenger side. - unscrew the luggage hook and the tie down peg thing - remove the plastic trim leading to the roof - unscrew another screw hidden by the plastic, and another one near the vent near the rear seat. Now gently pull the plastic trim towards the opposite side of the boot. that’s as far as I have got for now

So I’ve got the bumper off and fitted the sensors, I’ve identified the correct cables for the reverse light, what’s the best way to tap into them? Should I earth to the chassis or the negative cable on the loom?

Good plan, I hadn’t thought of connecting it in advance to test. I’ll definitely do that. I’m planning on removing the bumper, then drilling a small pilot hole from the inside to the out, using the factory markings, then drilling the hole from the outside in. I hadn’t considered tape though, that’s another good shout.

Just out of interest, a. why did you not remove the bumper b. Did you need a relay to connect to the reverse, or was it on a 12v feed

Funnily enough, I bought these sensors and plan to fit them over the next few weeks, I don't have existing sensors, I suppose I could put together a how to guide if I remember, if other people may find it useful. We also have a roomster with factory sensors so I can double check the positions

I know what you mean, it’s the digital fuel gauge that I don’t like! I also like anything with a screen.

Sorry I’ve only just seen this myself, I could have been a lot of help. We have both a 1.2 petrol fabia estate and a 1.6 roomster. I was dreading the fabia, having come from a 1.8 Octavia (long story involving oil consumption) but I find the 1.2 surprisingly nimble. There are things I’d like to change in time though. Like mud flaps, spare tyre, fog lights etc. is the maxidot something that can be retro fitted, I’d really like to do that if it were possible, but perhaps beyond my abilities.:

The mk one was a real pig! I did it though on my mk 1 and aside from being a time vampire it wasn’t too bad. Took me about 3 hours on and off, going slowly. it is nice to see the the mk2 is going to be an easier fix, when, and it will be a when, the same issue happens to me. It looks like it will be a lot easier. I’m hoping the roomster will be similar setup

Yeah, I am thinking of getting a remap, but first I need to save a bit of cash, we’re in the middle of a house renovation as well so I’m kind of funnelling finds into that for the next few months. I definitely need to change the mats, the ones that are in it are rubbish, they’re a cheapo generic set, they don’t fit at all well. The storage boxes under the seat is a good shout, not sure how useful they’d be but I want to have all the things, and it would make it easier to store chargers and stuff I guess. I’ll add it to the list. I went to the scrapyard to fit fog lights and a spare, but somebody had got there before be and ripped off the front bumpers from the cars that would have been suitable. still keeping an eye out for the parking sensors too 😀

The guys at ECP had sold my Philips bulbs to another customer despite me reserving them, they gave me osram night breakers lasers instead. i have attached a before and after of the bulbs. Taken at almost the same place at almost the same time, if I get a minute I’ll take a comparison of the roomster oem bulbs against the fabia osram night breakers

I will be picking up a set of Philips extreme bulbs tomorrow, I’ll let you know what the difference is like

We too have a Roomster, 20 running hours makes a lot more sense! I don’t know why that didn’t cross my mind before. Thanks for clarifying. I’m envious of the maxidot by the way