pmorg4

No, if you remove the plate there are two screws behind it holding the mount to the bumper. At least that's how it is on mine (2005 model).

Is this one of these types of issues that is actually more prevalent in garage queens, with the part more likely to seize after being unused for some time? Maybe it was going to happen regardless, but I do wonder about this sort of issue in cars parked up for a long time.

I will generally travel anywhere in the UK for the right car, depending on availability and my confidence that the car is actually as good as claimed before making the journey. 5 hours is nothing - I've travelled 7 hours each way several times to buy the right car! In my opinion it's worth it, as I'm not prepared to compromise on buying a car that's not really what I want just because it's conveniently located. Saying that, I am very fussy with my cars

If it does turn out to be brake disc shields, you can just bend them away from the disc until you get a chance to replace them. They're made of very soft metal.

Just get a normal plate cut down to the smallest required size to keep it legal, and stick directly to the bumper with sticky foam. Looks much better than using the plastic mount, and is totally legal as there is no minimum size, just needs a 1cm clear border around the letters. I guess it depends where you live, but in the past I've been stopped pretty quickly for non compliant plates, none of which were far off the requirements.

Re noise it doesn't help that they now rev to only around 10-12,000 RPM, which is always going to sound rather tame after the 18,000 RPM of old. No replacement for displacement and screaming revs

That looks awesome. I've been to the Grand Canyon and it's quite a spectacle, but they didn't have the Skywalk there when I went

What tossers! I feel your pain, had a similar thing happen to me in a different type of car some years back when I was younger (and a lot poorer), someone reversed into my car and cracked the bumper. They clearly must have known they'd done it, as I had a Clifford alarm at the time which alerted you if the alarm had been activated while you were away (which it had), so must have been a fair impact. It's hard to believe that we share our space with such selfish, insular people

Many thanks for the informative posts Some of the units suggested here do actually look OK when installed and with the colour adjusted to match the car's illumination. One thing that does concern me after watching a few demos on YouTube is that some of the units look very laggy (i.e. when you press something there is a noticeable delay before anything happens). I'm one of those people who can't stand interface lag, so I'll need to try and find somewhere with the units on display so that I can have a play and make sure I'm happy with the interface before going any further. Fussy type I know

I just watched the highlights of Bahrain on iplayer. Racing was fantastic, but boy do the new engines sound dull

Zero - racing slicks

Looks lovely mate. Good luck with the sale. Off topic but how did you find the App Radio in terms of usability and quality?

Bizarrely enough, the Nissan touch up pen I have in Kuro Black is actually slightly blue when wet but dries to black. No idea if this is related to the various blends of the paint.

If I went to single DIN I'd just fit my old Becker Grand Prix unit. Looks great, sounds great and is very easy to use with built in iPod control and Bluetooth. Downside is no steering wheel interface, but it's so easy to use that's not much of a hardship. These Beckers are so good they sell for around £4-500 on eBay with the iPod cable, as they're no longer made and there's nothing equivalent on the market. Hmm you've got me thinking now - should I get the single DIN adaptor and fit to the Z?

No, but you'd think that throwing out all the stuff that makes a 3 series practical would save some weight

Thanks for that AliveBoy - I'll look into the current Kenwood offerings, that looks far better than a lot of the other products out there. What model do you have?

This is exactly what I don't want - a bright display that doesn't dim at night which I find quite distracting when driving on unlit country roads. I want to concentrate on the road not the interior of the car I'm all for touch screens, I just wish they'd make one with a single good quality physical volume dial, and everything else can be controlled from the screen. No garish logos, plain black fascia etc, and a simple functional touch screen interface. I'm surprised there aren't more android based head units on the market. They do exist but on the whole the reviews are not great.

Exactly - and unless the buttons are really low quality, the tactile feel of the button press should be a better confirmation than a synthetic beep.

The iPod hack is a great add on to the original unit, it's just a pity there's no way to be able to skip tracks etc from the unit controls. It's a bit fiddly trying to select tracks on an iPod or phone while driving It's a pity that the UK units are not compatible with iPod add-on control boxes.

Wow, good job but perhaps too time consuming for me…

1500Kg is a lot for a two seater, especially considering the lack of significant sound deadening in the interior. It's a similar weight to a BMW 3 series which has 5 seats, a usable boot and is significantly more refined. I'm not really sure where the weight actually goes in the Z, but there you go. For reference it's about 150-200 Kg heavier than an RX8, although that is more than offset by the fact that the engine lasts more than 60k

Looks really cool... pity I don't play games!

lol sorry! No idea why aftermarket head units have a confirmation beep. Was there ever a problem with people reaching out and pressing the unit without realising they'd done so, then complaining that the radio was spontaneously changing station of its own accord? It's one of those "features" that drives me bonkers. Thankfully most units that have this allow you to disable it.

I'd agree that cruise is great, especially in ANPR speed check areas that seem all too common now. Brembos are UK standard as stated. Interesting comment on the seats - I quite like the heated seats, but would argue that the electric seats are pointless. The only time I ever move the seats is to vacuum the carpets behind them, and it's slower moving electric seats than it would be manual seats! I'd guess most of the weight gain of the GT model is in the electric motors for the seats, although as previously mentioned it's hardly relevant in such a heavy car.