Happy that it helped you @D402!

Got rid of the last persistent bit of lingering cigarette smell, when looking over my shoulder.

It was lingering around the plastic headrest post holes, and I’ve never changed the position of the headrest…I moved it up to discover both metal posts covered in cigarette smoke residue!

Just done a 100 mile trip and no more smell!

Good work, and good tip. Shows just how it gets everywhere!

I've stopped smoking in cars since a million years ago, exactly because of the foul smell.

I've also quit numerous times, but I always get back ... darn ☹️

1 hour ago, travs said:

Good work, and good tip. Shows just how it gets everywhere!

Thanks Buddy!

Once I knew where it was, I went to town on the headrest and stitching around the area with Auto Finesse Total using one of their microfibre soft scrubbing pads.

I hope this helps others!

Edited 30 January30 Jan by CubbyQ

41 minutes ago, leolito said:

I've stopped smoking in cars since a million years ago, exactly because of the foul smell.

I've also quit numerous times, but I always get back ... darn ☹️

I finally kicked the habit after 45 years some 10 years ago. I was never a heavy smoker but a combination of willpower & 0% nicotine vapes got the job done. I'm off the the vapes as well now.

When I was smoking I always had the drivers window open to exhaust the smoke & ash. Not sure if it made a huge difference because smokers can't seem to smell smoke!! Then my company banned us from smoking in company cars so I had to stop smoking in the car which hastened my decision to pack it in & get a private car to avoid company car tax.

Only downside of not smoking was the weight gain, due to an enhanced appetite!! Not sure I could even afford to smoke these days!!

Edited 30 January30 Jan by Colin170CR

New front tyres today. Was getting a bit sketchy on the damp roads.

The best habit about smoking is to never start!

When I was proposed my 1st cirgaret at around 11 yeras old, I immediatly tought to my dad's big hands with his thick fingers 😱 and I just said: No, thanks!

I thank him so much! 😘😁

Good job @CubbyQ!

Edited 30 January30 Jan by Bap33

33 minutes ago, Bap33 said:

The best habit about smoking is to never start!

When I was proposed my 1st cirgaret at around 11 yeras old, I immediatly tought to my dad's big hands with his thick fingers 😱 and I just said: No, thanks!

I thank him so much! 😘😁

Good job @CubbyQ!

Good for you on resisting the temptation to start!

I puked up after my first cigarette at around 14 years old...and was hooked...the perfect drug...

I was trying unsuccessfully to give up, but thankfully I met my wife 26 years ago...she batted her eyelids and told me I didn't have to give up if I didn't want to...and I gave up overnight 😅

Have a great weekend all!

Cheers,

Nick

Edited 30 January30 Jan by CubbyQ

Changed the oil today - thank God there is T25 torx you can unscrew on EA288 Evo engines, to move the lower water pump away of the oil filter draining path. So much easier and less messy compared to previous EA288.

I’ll try to stick with 10k kms or 350 engine hours between oil changes.

I’ve put Ravenol 0w30 VSW this time. Last time dealer used Shell 0w30 AV-L. Both are great oils, no complains.

Fitted some AliExpress special

Mud flaps today. Fitted on with original screws. Just had to add a small Bolt passenger side rear as there isn’t an under tray exhaust side.

Fitment on the rears is very good. Fronts have a little gap. Will look to drill and add another screw to pull it in a bit to close the gap hopefully.

Apologies on the state of the vehicle. I e done over 1000 miles this week in typical British weather. I did clean where the flaps mount though so I wasn’t trapping any dirt against the body.

Have been waiting for a a bit of dry weather to hardwire my dash cam - thanks to an old thread found on here, I can confirm that fuse 47 is switched with ignition/engine running.

53 minutes ago, Binx1310 said:

Fitted some AliExpress special

Mud flaps today. Fitted on with original screws. Just had to add a small Bolt passenger side rear as there isn’t an under tray exhaust side.

Fitment on the rears is very good. Fronts have a little gap. Will look to drill and add another screw to pull it in a bit to close the gap hopefully.

Apologies on the state of the vehicle. I e done over 1000 miles this week in typical British weather. I did clean where the flaps mount though so I wasn’t trapping any dirt against the body.

Pffft, mine's no cleaner buddy! It's the worst time of year to own a white car!

Have you had those wheels refurbished in dark grey? If so, they look a lot better than standard.

Oh, and good job on the mudflaps - the genuine ones are horrendously expensive, so nice to see the AliX fit well.

33 minutes ago, CubbyQ said:

Pffft, mine's no cleaner buddy! It's the worst time of year to own a white car!

Have you had those wheels refurbished in dark grey? If so, they look a lot better than standard.

Oh, and good job on the mudflaps - the genuine ones are horrendously expensive, so nice to see the AliX fit well.

Absolutely. Love it when it’s clean but it does get mucky easily! Especially living in the countryside.

luckily for me the previous owner had them refurbed. One is kerbed a little and you can see the original colour underneath. But they’re a nice dark grey with silver metal flake in. Look really smart. And they’ve painted the calipers red too which I also really Like. I’ll get some pictures close up when it’s clean.

I washed mine this morning - the first wash since the hosepipe ban in Yorkshire and mainly to get rid of any road salt.

The diamond cut surface on my alloys is worse than I thought with one wheel having no lacquer at all around the hub so that'll be a job to get sorted in spring. The car is 10 years old now so I think I'll just get them powder coated in a bright silver for a change (and for better durability).

4 minutes ago, unclerichy said:

I washed mine this morning - the first wash since the hosepipe ban in Yorkshire and mainly to get rid of any road salt.

The diamond cut surface on my alloys is worse than I thought with one wheel having no lacquer at all around the hub so that'll be a job to get sorted in spring. The car is 10 years old now so I think I'll just get them powder coated in a bright silver for a change (and for better durability).

Mine badly need a clean inside & out. I powder coated my 19" Trinity alloys gloss black a couple of years ago. Matches the body colour, easier to clean & hides the brake dust better. They've lasted longer than the original finish which & had refurbished a couple of times over the years. I'm just terrified of kerbing them. That said powder coating worked out cheaper than refurbishing & diamond cutting the originals.

49 minutes ago, Colin170CR said:

Mine badly need a clean inside & out. I powder coated my 19" Trinity alloys gloss black a couple of years ago. Matches the body colour, easier to clean & hides the brake dust better. They've lasted longer than the original finish which & had refurbished a couple of times over the years. I'm just terrified of kerbing them. That said powder coating worked out cheaper than refurbishing & diamond cutting the originals.

If you haven’t got them clear powdered, be careful when you clean them not to use any aggressive wheel cleaners as you can get chemical burn (will look like what water splash marks).

If you have, go nuts!

1 hour ago, travs said:

If you haven’t got them clear powdered, be careful when you clean them not to use any aggressive wheel cleaners as you can get chemical burn (will look like what water splash marks).

If you have, go nuts!

No water marks 🤞. I use non-acid wheel cleaner (Bilt-Hamber Auto Wheel cleaner). Good stuff.

I am also noticing the (positive) effect of the ceramic coating, recommended! 😉

9 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

No water marks 🤞. I use non-acid wheel cleaner (Bilt-Hamber Auto Wheel cleaner). Good stuff.

The Bilt Hamber stuff is very good in general with their wheel cleaner being amazing for really dirty wheels

3 hours ago, tombee said:

The Bilt Hamber stuff is very good in general with their wheel cleaner being amazing for really dirty wheels

Yep they get good ratings for their APC (Surfex HD) and Touchless snowfoam too.

Every company has their better and worse performing products though - even I think Chemical Guys who are generally considered the whipping boy of the detailing product world.

So the 280 is now 10 years old with 56k and everything works at it should. It passed the MOT yesterday. Three advisories; 1. The rear pads are low. Knew they are. 2. Front tyres under inflated; they weren’t - 2.6 bar on both and 3. The Oil level is at minimum: err, nope. It’s just below maximum. Brilliant!

10 hours ago, leolito said:

I am also noticing the (positive) effect of the ceramic coating, recommended! 😉

Been thinking about getting mine pro cleaned, detailed & ceramic coated. Always cleaned my own cars but older age & mobility issues are making it more difficult to get on my hands & knees to get stuff done. Hopefully with a ceramic coating (or similar) it should just need a foam, pressure wash & rinse with pure water to keep it looking it's best.

7 hours ago, numskull said:

So the 280 is now 10 years old with 56k and everything works at it should. It passed the MOT yesterday. Three advisories; 1. The rear pads are low. Knew they are. 2. Front tyres under inflated; they weren’t - 2.6 bar on both and 3. The Oil level is at minimum: err, nope. It’s just below maximum. Brilliant!

Don't go back to that MOT centre!!

My 280 is coming up 10 years as well. 65k & all is well except I've lost my Blind Spot Monitoring - probably something to do with me fiddling around trying to find a suitable fuse to piggy back my Dash Cam onto. Think it may have actually fallen out of the terminals cos the dash cam has packed up as well. If it stops raining I will get out there & drop the glove box to have a look. Might be a while!!

1 hour ago, Colin170CR said:

Been thinking about getting mine pro cleaned, detailed & ceramic coated. Always cleaned my own cars but older age & mobility issues are making it more difficult to get on my hands & knees to get stuff done. Hopefully with a ceramic coating (or similar) it should just need a foam, pressure wash & rinse with pure water to keep it looking it's best.

I have just coated mine in Fusso 12 month Wax, have to say it’s pretty good so far.

I did the whole, wash, iron fall out, clay bar and polish before applying the wax. Doing detailing on the side it’s worth the money over a ceramic but time will tell