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Once again my 56 plate SL 350 has technologically challenged me - and won ! I've looked at several threads about phones, but having read them, I'm no wiser. I've used a Nokia 6310i for many years, and the dealer I bought the car from gave me a cradle for it. It still works but is decidedly...

the art of the possible At the risk of taking another tongue lashing from Howard and the rest of Alfie's fan club, I'd like to offer the following clarification. Some of us - and it looks like Crockers agrees - think that a simple summary of possible Star mods would be a good thing. At...

Are you sure of the cause ? Wear and tear on the main lighting switch contacts gives the same effect, and can often be temporarily cured by 'fiddling' with the rotary switch. A pointer to this fault is that the indicators don't work while the bulb failure lamp is on and/or switching the...

And, I see we now have 'first year tax rates : From 1 April 2010, anyone buying a new car will pay a different rate of vehicle tax for the first tax disc. These are known as 'first year rates'. From the second tax disc onwards, the standard rate of vehicle tax will apply. This will send a...

Doesn't LTD mean that his is fixed inside the cubby by glue or screws or whatever. That way it can't fly about and it could even be an advantage if the cubby came open during the roll. I've never been too impressed with the spikes through the carpet either - I agree you can't get them tight...

Chris Spot on as usual. Ronal claim not to know what the z factor means, and that they don't have any measurement of the spoke to mounting plane dimension. They referred me to MB. I'm not even going to bother asking. Test fitting is fine if I'm buying new rims, but I was thinking more in...

Nice try ! Nice wheels too. Probably too nice to use just for winter tyres. And...(a) they're 12 mm bolts and (b) 7.5J is probably a bit narrow for an SL - won't stick out of the arch far enough without a spacer which I'm not keen on. Now if all four were 8.5J, and/or I could get to the...

Chris Thank you for the info about the hub to spoke clearance. At least I now know what question to ask - even if I can't get an answer. Presumably since all Mercedes wheels I've ever seen are Ronal, I could ask them, if not what the clearance is, whether the Z factor is the same or...

Ah yes, but what about the width ? Of the caliper that is. I can see that higher performance/bigger brakes might need a bigger diameter rim, but does bigger calipers also mean that they are wider ? For example does a performance model have thicker discs ? Or thicker pads ? Or both ? Meaning...

I understand the relationship between rim width and offset, and can calculate what offset will be needed for a different width. But...how do you know or judge whether a given rim with an acceptable offset will or will not foul the brake caliper ? Indeed, how do you know that another style of rim...

nitrogen - Oh no, not again ! The word nitrogen should be banned from this forum. There is far too much urban myth about this substance. Air is four fifths nitrogen. Nitrogen does not expand more or less than air for a given change in temperature. And nor do any other (dry) gases. The only...

Don't even consider a manual SLK R170. Agricultural doesn't even begin to describe the manual box. And the clutch...horrid. And if you're thinking of buying one make sure it's metallic paint, has heated leather and air con. And check in the bottom of the boot for any trace of water - and if...

1981 Mini Clubman Estate. 1100cc. Blue with beige cloth interior. 74000 miles – none recently. Last on road about 1993 when it failed its MOT for rust in the floor and dry stored since. It’s on the DVLA computer and I have a new style V5C for it. Used as my daily driver in the late 80s/early...

just another twist What an interesting thread. Thank you for the engineering and trade insights. Truly educational. But... How many of us use a torque wrench on wheel bolts ? And how many of us check bolt torque after other people have meddled with our wheels ? Is this more or less likely...

displays - no sir, no way, no how and no hope I'll take that as no, there is no summary, no no one can/would like to do one and no, we don't want a sticky. Maybe I'll buy a STAR and learn and become the north's equivalent of Richard. Geoff

display permutations I've followed a few of these threads describing alterations to displays using STAR. All good stuff but...apart from perhaps a STAR manual, is there anything out there that summarises what display options are possible on the various models ? If not would it be possible...

odd V5C Channel islands ?

winter tyre offer It was apparently on the AutoTrader blog a couple of weeks ago and said : We can only assume the top bods at Mercedes UK have seen just as many stranded cars littering the nation’s roads as we have. Flailing around in the snow, wheels spinning to oblivion, cars on summer...

18" AMGs in place of 16" Doesn't the E class use 14 mm bolts ? And the C class 12 mm ? I suppose you *could* use 12 mm bolts in wheels drilled for 14 mm - but I wouldn't. Also since both E class AMGs and most 7 or 8 inch C class wheels are about ET 30 ish, these 8 or 9 inch rims will project...

Anyone asked for a quote about the above ? Allegedly, according to a report on AutoTrader website, Merc were 'promoting the use of winter tyres' - presumably in response to the bad reports about RWD and Merc in particular performance in the recent snow. Also, allegedly, wheel/tyre...