HassanZ

A group of us went to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam (and a few other places) a few years ago. We were quiet young then and had no clue what the laws were with regards to driving in Europe. We took my friend's Toyota Corolla as it was very economical and he did all the driving. We literally drove through those countries without following any applicable laws, including driving without European car insurance. We didn't even know we needed a special insurance for traveling through Europe! (I know this is VERY bad ). The first aid kit, headlights and 'GB' sticker etc laws were not followed also for the same reason. My friend pulled a U-turn next to one of the exits of the 'Arc De Triomphe' in Paris. A police officer spotted us and pulled us over. He seemed very angry and was on the verge of giving us a fine. My friend explained how he was unaware that maneuver was illegal in that specific area and asked him how he would feel if he was stopped in England for the same reason (I didn't agree with him saying that as I thought it would anger the officer more) but he decided to let us go! Till this day I don't understand how we got away with it, we didn't have European insurance or anything!

You have back seats!??

I can't be bothered to go out and have a look to see how it looks at night. Not that I've got my OEM LED rear tailights and LED number plate lights, it should look much more modern than before. The previous tailights just looked so dated and clouded, the LEDs completely transformed the car at night. I'll take a pic of the car at night with the LED tailights and number plate lights on. It's funny how much difference a £5 mod can make but no one tends to change their number plate lights

Glad you like them mate. Yes they look great Beau! Thank you for recommending these. They were cheap and look the part too! Let's hope they last...

Didn't succeed...the screws are corroded so it'll take a while to remove and it started raining Thanks Neil for your help! Anyway these are the pics:

Now onto front lights. Wheels on full lock. Ain't going to jack her up, hope it's possible!

Done number plate lights! Look magnificent!! Just outside, will attach pics in a bit

Oh no. I don't like jacking the car up and taking the wheels off What about the number plate lights?

Right I'm just going to get cracking with this side light replacement. Can I carry this out without removing the wheel and jacking the car up? I noticed there are screws at th bottom connecting to the arch liner, where are the rest of the screws/caps? Thanks, Hassan

Dont hit him with the torque wrench, you will throw off the callibration! Hit him with a normal wrench Torque should be the same for any nut, just more important with alu to get it bob on. Its the studs that will be more at risk when over torqued I think. Any decent callibrated wrench will do - dont see why Laser wouldnt be alright That's a good one! I think the retail on the Laser one is £40, but I can get it for £18. Might just invest in one...

I have no idea, they just say D1 spec on them Comes in a Japanese box...

Admiral

I'm 23, paying £900 with Admiral with 3 years NCB. I think Birmingham is deemed as a 'high risk' area, hence your high insurance quotes. Leicester is also deemed as a 'high risk' area, in fact all of the Midlands is

I was on the verge of buying an Azure Blue GT which has 164k miles on the clock IIRC. The salesman offered it to me for £5,500. I ended up buying mine which had 43k miles on the clock at the time.

Yes you got it right

I can get a Laser torque wrench for £18 through work. Are Laser tools good? Will I even need one other than just for wheel nuts? Don't want to end up buying one and end up never using the thing. What else do they come handy for (as you can see I'm not a handy man ) I was shocked this wheel place didnt have a torque wrench! They're a well known tyre place that's been operating for years!!!

I know that ruins it! My aim was to get something as close to my Brembos as possible, sticking to the grey and orange/gold theme throughout the car. I hear all sorts of stories about aftermarket nuts that I don't know if I should stick to them or get rid! I heard I could get a locking wheel nut cap? Anybody shed some light on this? If not, I'll get my friend at the body shop to match up the colour and spray the locking nuts (if it won't ruin them!)

I would get a proper job done or a carbon fibre cover. Don't do a bodge job, will ruin the look of your otherwise perfect car. I agree, carbon wouldn't suit a blade Zed...

Photos of the nuts are as follows, what do you guys think. Do they look odd or is it because I ain't used to them? The car has not been cleaned in 3 weeks so it's very dirty, I apologise

Thanks mate, yes they are aluminium. Does that make a difference? Or 85 ft lbs for those of us who dont work in NM I was would have asked that as well! Thanks The guy at the wheel place didn't have a torque wrench e just tightened it enough using a normal hand tool. I was scared the wheels may drop off when I was driving lol! Do you recommend me to purchase a torque wrench to make sure it is properly secured or do I just trust the wheel place as they are 'professionals' who do it for a living and leave it?

Hi all, I just received my aftermarket gold D1 sec wheel nuts (long ones) today. What do I torque them up to? What's the standard nut torque specs? I'm going to visit a tyre place who have offered to do them free for me Just need to find out what to torque them up to I appreciate your help guys + girls! Regards, Hassan

A lot of people tend to hid their number plates due to insurance purposes. I.e. someone mentions doing 130mph down XYZ road, or modding their car which is now running 400+ bhp without informing their insurance provider. Even though I'm not saying this is okay, but a lot of people tend to mod their cars without their insurance company knowing, then strip the bits if they got into an accident. Apparently there are a few insurance 'spy's' on this forum also, better to be safe then to be sorry....

All cars will more or less depreciate proportionately anyway, there will still be a gap in value between 'good' and 'bad' examples. Yes over time the gap in value between these cars does become smaller, but you would have used it for 2 years and it won't affect you that much. I can't see 350's depreciating rapidly any more, they have already gone through that stage. Depreciation should slow down now. It's like my 53 plate BMW 330ci M sport facelift, I only lost a few hundred over 2 years of ownership compared to potentially losing around 3k if I bought it 2/3 years earlier. I would definitely recommend you get a non-GT over a accident damaged GT. People would disagree with me on this though... You got to think about residual value in a couple of years time also.

If the car's structure/chassis was undamaged and only cosmetic items were replaced, then maybe it would be okay. But sometimes you just never know unless you work within the vehicle repair industry and have the knowledge to identify flaws, as externally the car may look immaculate again. My opinion is to just avoid it and either get a higher mileage one (I understand some of you may disagree), get a lower spec'd one to compensate for the price difference or get a JDM version as they tend to be cheaper. Just to add: Were genuine parts even used to get it back to it's original condition? Were corners cut to reduce the cost of repair? There is a possibility someone repairs it to sell on and make a profit rather than repair it to use personally, which would be done to a greater standard.