Dicky

Can you feel any vibration through the steering wheel or elsewhere. I'm no expert but I would be thinking about either wheel bearings, altiantor bearings, front pulley belt bearings etc. I would have thought they may well grumble more when under acceleration load?

You've obviously got lots more money than me! Anyway when you get to my age the only pleasures your left with I life is A. To moan a lot B. To drink a lot C. Write letters of complaint D. Pee the wife off with all of the above Don't worry you've got it all to look forward to ha ha

Now that I've sobered up I've been searching the net from top to bottom and can't find any info/specification on Bridgestone tyres relating to the tread pattern or depth. I would have thought this info would be quite important to buyers. I've never measured my new tyres before and am only doing it now to keep an eye on the tracking which has been check as ok but appears to me to be still out. I was going to measure them every so often to try and detect when and if they begin to wear unevenly (I don't have a lot of confidence in these garages who have the right equipment but don't seem to know how to use it correctly) As I said earlier they have the tyre markings you'd expect to see on new tyres and those little rubber hair remnants still visible so they have to be new, so it would appear the tread depth measurements must be standard.

Having thought a little around this problem I'm getting more convinced it's a conspiracy. Let's face it, who checks tread depth on new tyres. So if say they sell 1 million tyres a year then that's (phi x D)x2mm depth x say 2mm thickness = a lot of rubber x 10 to the power of 6 = even more rubber. So in a year they've pinched enough spare rubber to make at least 10 million rubber bands which is enough for North Koria to make 500 propeller driven cruise missiles to attack the Western Powers. Sorry I'm getting carried away cos I've just drank two bottles of Merlot and seem to have developed verbal diarrhoea!!

Well there you go! But I will call Bridgestone UK on Monday to see what they have to say. Tyres are expensive enough without nicking a bit of my rubber, but then again if the treads are different depths it may have something to do with water removal rates. Who knows? But I'm gona be so much more intelligent on Monday!

Yep, or in other words the extreme RHS groove is 6mm. Why do I feel your going to suprise me!

The tyres are Bridgestone REO 50A and I got the them from someone other than National Tyres. However I rang NT to check the new tread depth before I challenged the supplier and they confirmed they should be 8mm when new. I agree with Mr ilogikal 1(who by the way has been extremely helpful with my detailing woes) that they may come from a dodgy batch. As for not worying about 2 mm, it's as important to me as loosing 2mm off my old man (apologies if ladies present) You realise that Geordies just live a few miles away from the Scots and like them we take care of the pennies. So 2mm represents a 1/4 ie £60 of the price of two new tyre and probably a couple of years running on a front tyre wear rate (the frequency and way I drive) so I considder it a big deal. I WANT MY RUBBER BACK! Rang the supplier and I've to take the car back Monday so we'll see what happens then but it would be nice to know a definite quoted depth just in case it develops into a slanging match.

A little update:- Just been out to check them again and noticed that both tyres still have the red and blue dye lines on the trade and those little rubber nodules you get on new tyres are still very evident. Rang National Tyres who confirmed tread depth should be 8mm Can't understand it

Had two new Bridgestone tyres fitted yesterday and ran about 10 miles home on them. Measured their tread depth this morning and noticed the inboard depth is 7mm middle is 8mm and the outside is 6mm. The garage had inflated the tyres to around 31psi which I corrected to 35 psi when I got home. My understanding is that new tyres are 8mm tread depth. What do you think?

Tell me about it David!

Thanks again guys. I've just got in and am have started reading the info provided above. You do realise I'm soon going to be a cleaver as you lot don't you. I'll look into those products you mention Tineyflier Edit: How often do you do detailing. As I mentioned earlier gun metal doesn't seem to show swirl marks so don't have a visual indication of when it needs doing. Also there must be a point when you have to stop before you break through the clear coat (see already using the right terminology) ha ha

Cheers young man, I'll give it a read

Thanks Mr ilogikal1 once again for your help, and I'll take your advice. No I haven't read the guide above Ive been reading lots of bits nd pieces about which pad does what, what the provided polishes do and polishing techniques (all of which have variations in how to approach the job). Unfortunately the link doesn't seem to work on my iPad. If you wouldn't mind having another go I'd appreciate it. One more question if you don't mind....having been over the car with say PF2400 (203s) are you supposed to then wax the car (to give it some protection)with the 85RE or do you use ordinary wax polish. I've seen a YouTube vid showing the guy spraying on what appeared to be a wax finish coat then polishing it with a microfibre cloth?

It's getting a bit confusing, what with the PF 2400 also called PO203 and SF 4000 also know as PO 106. My brain hurts. Is 85RE the same as SF 4000? If so I'll try applying that tomorrow to see if the shine improves. Don't get me wrong the shine is there but when your not seeing swirls disappearing before your very eyes, your level of excitement wanes a bit The water primiming seems to be a good idea as the main reason for doing it seems to be to prevent burning, so why waste polish I tried the brush cleaning method on the pad I used and it did seem to cause a lot of dust to fly off (dusting my nice clean car I should add) also tried the towel clean but the pad had stood a while and it may be more effective during detailing. Anyway ONWARD AND DOWNWARD I always say!

So that's what the little brush I got in the kit is used for. I thought the company I bought the kit from knew I was loosing my hair and put it in the box to use instead of a comb.

Thanks David. I did get a decent shine (not quite as good as your pics) but was probably expecting a black car type result. Your right I didn't put much pressure on nor did I polish for two long (2 passes) because I wasn't taking any chances of doing damage. Next time I'll polish for longer as my confidence grows. I used the a Tangerine pad and the PF 2400 so not much Polishin power for the time I spent....you live and learn! How about cleaning the pads do you wash them in soapy water or use some special cleaning fluid?

Can't help to much with the technical stuff other than if the cam positions are out this could be bad news. Seems strange though that the cars still driving well as I'd expect performance to drop off if the inlet and exhaust valves were mis timed. If it were my car I certainly wouldn't run it until I got that checked out. I usually call the RAC guy if I get a fault light and he usually explains what any code means as well as turning the lights off. He might give you a good insight into what to do next. Good luck

Well got my new DAS6 Pro plus and PolishedBliss soft paint kit and had my first go. Bit disappointed as there didn't appear much differance after I'd finished. It did look a little shinyer but I supposed Gunmetal doesn't show the same level of improvement as Black. Anyway I've got a couple of questions for you seasoned guys. 1) I seasoned the Tangerine pad with polish before I started. Is this necessary or can you spray a little water on it instead ( as seen on YouTube vids) 2) having put the three spots of polish on the pad how far will that go ie should it do a full bonnet (I applied it three times and did the bonnet in three sections) 3)Can the sponge pads be washed in soapy water ie a bucket of water and a little washing up liquid)

You win, new tyres it is. I suppose the moths will be glad to see a little sunlight when I get my wallet out.

Yeah, was thinking of doing that but the rears have still got over 4mm and if I change just two at a time I'd never be running on a full set of new tyres. The car never goes out in snow so I don't need winter tyres. I might just put them on and turn the radio up!

My two front tyres have uneavan wear due to tracking issues I didn't spot quick enough while the rears still have plenty of tread. I decided to buy a couple of winter tyres off the forum last winter to fit when mine wore down a bit more. Well they need changing now and I was wondering if a) the winter tyres will be much noisier and b)are there any safety issues in doing this.

On the booze last night and my eyes have now changed colour....... there more a rusty red now. Can't understand it !

As Ogman says, Nissan paint is very soft - which is a bit of an advantage when it comes to correction as it requires less effort. The Polished Bliss kit is ideal for the Z's paint IMO, it's the kit I started out with (and the pads I still prefer now) so I would always recommend this kit for the Z as it comes with everything needed, which then just leaves the choice of machine. The standard DAS6 is perfectly adequate for correcting Nissan paint, however the Pro is just that little bit better all round. The additional throw on the Pro over the standard doesn't really cause too many issues with the Z's curves, but there are areas that even the standard struggles to get to (around the rear spoiler/boot lid/badge area for example). Personally, given the choice, I'd opt for the Pro (or rather the Power Plus with the PB kit) if it fits into your budget, but the standard machine is still a very good "budget" option. I'm gona take your advice and buy the Pro and Bliss Kit. It's a good starting point if nothing else and as experience grows I can adapt to suite. Thanks for your help and that of everyone else..................just joking about matching the colour of my eyes you know! Edit: Pro Plus ordered, now for the Bliss Kit!

Quick update just to give you an idea if cost. Just been quoted £810, fitted, by a local company for a Webasto 300 Delux (apparently the only one that will fit) electronically controlled sunroof.

The Pro has a similar motor to the Plus - from memory I think it's ~830w. Pro has the 8mm throw, the DAS6 is 6mm. They can all fit different backing plates so you can get the spot pads for each of them, but there's areas on the Z (350 at least) that are difficult to access well with the larger throw - the angles on the arches, for example, are more difficult to polish with the Plus than the standard DAS6 even with spot pads. The advantage is that the larger panels like the bonnet are quicker to tackle with the Plus because of the extended throw. If it's mainly for use on the Z, I'd suggest at least considering the Pro unless you already have a standard DAS6 or there's a particular reason you were after the Plus. WOW....STANDS BACK IN AMAZEMENT...I'm a total novice and you've just thrown me a big curve. The only polishing assistance I've used is ELBOW GREASE. Hadn't thought of panel contours, nor did I know about different backing plates nor spot pads. My heads begining to hurt now. A little more research is needed me thinks! Edit: by the way is that right the Z is considered to have a Soft paint?