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I thought that there was the beginning of an industry trend that touch screens have been a little overdone and a return to essential driving controls as physical buttons was needed. It seems Mercedes doesn't agree and instead "will go to seamless screens from left to right.in order to"...

I've been getting an intermittent error for a rear light bulb failure but the bulb still works. On inspecting the bulb, it's somewhat blackened so I will replace it with a new one, in fact I'll replace all the bulbs with signs of blackening as they are no doubt the originals from 2009. My...

I'm replacing the rear pads today which is straightforward enough except that MB struck again with a non-preferred tool size. I have several allen key sets including a set of bits for a ratchet and they all jump from 6mm to 8mm. The caliper slider pins are 7mm. It would have been another trip...

Just fitted new discs which should be a straightforward and relatively quick job with the right tools. First issue is identifying the correct discs. Some web sites identified 295 mm discs and others 288 mm and some listed both sizes. So I measured mine carefully and they were 288 mm. I then...

I'm thinking about gifting share certificates to my grandchildren. Has anyone done this using the usual stock transfer forms sent to the registrar and were there any problems. I'm aware of capital gains tax and inheritance tax considerations but the amounts will be less than my annual...

VAG reduced their fleet emissions by 20% in 2020 but have missed the 95g/km target by 0.5g/km and are therefore facing fines on every car sold. Does anyone think it's sensible to punish a business in the current climate for missing a target by such a small margin when the cause i.e. covid 19...

Petrol engines this time that mysteriously reduce emissions under certain conditions. From German magazine

The reduced traffic levels during lock down lead to knee jerk decisions to close roads or reduce traffic lanes for motor vehicles in favour of cyclists. It was always going to end in tears when things got back to normal as reported below. Such a shame the money has been wasted when it could...

My car is normally used just 3 days a week so I have a routine of putting the battery on a quick top up charge at the weekend. I have an old Gunson automatic charger with an ammeter. With doing this on a regular basis you get to know the battery by observing how the the charge current falls as...

My every day watch packed in and was so old a battered I decided to buy a new one. Now I'd be the first to admit I'm never up to date with the latest fashion which can make me naive and so it turned out. My criteria was simple I wanted a reasonable quality stainless watch and bracelet that...

While you are whizzing through this slide show take a guess where MB is going to come in the rankings. Revealed: The most recalled cars in Europe | Autocar

It was never going to be limited to VW. Only surprised it's taken so long. Mercedes-Benz facing €1bn fine over emissions software | Autocar

I hope the power failure yesterday didn't impact on too many of you but I feel the need to comment on what we were fed by the news media. They are more interested in creating a sensation than reporting the facts. From the media coverage you would believe it's all National Grids fault when all we...

Ever had a schrader valve fail ? In 50 years I hadn't until today. I've got an MOT booked for Wednesday and being a conscientious I checked the tyre pressures this morning and had to add some air to one of the rears. When I removed the pump, air kept hissing out of the valve at a fair old rate...

My broad band download speed has taken a huge hit. As Type this I'm at 239 Kbps. Bizarrely upload is a lot higher at 1216 Kbps. I'm on a nominal 8Mbps line and usually manage 5Mbps download with up load pretty much where it is now. My guess is that I've been incurring errors and the line speed...

I'm in the process of installing a new kitchen and as we have had excellent service from Bosch appliances in the past we decided to go for German quality again and buy everything Bosch. The various items have been delivered and: The oven was made in Poland The microwave - China (this was by...

I'm not instinctively a fan of start stop due to the extra wear and tear on starter motors and the implications for battery size and number. It strikes me as stop gap clumsy engineering. Mazda have come up with an ingenious but simple way of way of engineering start stop that I have to admire...

I received my 20L of oil from Mercedes Newcastle at the fantastic price of £11 per 5L including the 20% discount ebay were running. Only odd thing is nowhere on the container does it specify the grade i.e. 5W40. Every oil manufacturer in the world lists the SAE grade on the container. It's...

The one thing I hate about Christmas is the madness of everyone buying enough food and drink to last a month when the supermarkets are only shut for two days at the most. This morning cars were queuing to get into a full supermarket carpark at 8.05am. I was on the way out by then and home by...

Replacing my headlight bulbs with Osram silverstar H7's Dipped beams have simple wire retaining clips so no problem. Main beam H7's have a different method of retention. The manual says Push down the lamp on the connector until it is released. Does that mean push inwards towards the...