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I just realised that I've been throwing all my words onto a different site recently which is why it's been a bit quiet around here.

As my car related ramblings had started to take over this site I thought it best to give them a home of their own. And then I thought others might want to do the same thing, and so Owners Diary was born

http://www.ownersdiary.co.uk

Whilst the entries at the moment are car related, there's no reason why other vehicles can't be included. The idea is to also have it remind you when things like MOT and insurance are due, once I get the basics sorted.

It's in closed beta at the moment, but please drop me a mail/tweet/comment/facebook post if you'd like an account to play with.

This isn't a snobby rant, much, but is based on my genuine confusion.

I'm confused as to why people stick badges on their cars which lie. In particular, the BMW 'M' badge. Now, if you don't know what that is, it signifies that the BMW it's stuck to is the 'Motorsport' model of the range. Which in turn means that it's significantly different under the skin with uprated suspension, brakes, differential and engine. At least.

Mmmm

Now the key point is my qualifier 'if you don't know what that means'. The 'M' badge itself doesn't explain anything in the same way that 'turbo', 'V8' or '3.0 litre' do. It's just a letter, and if you don't already know what it means it doesn't really explain itself.

Conversely, if you do know what it means, you'll immediately be able to tell if the car it's stuck to is really the Motorsport model by virtue of it's extra exhaust pipes, flared arches, side grills, and (for the extra nerdy types) red needles in the dash dials.

So if you stick an M badge on a non-M BMW, the only people who will know what that means (and therefore the only people who could technically be impressed) will be exactly the people who know you're lying.

It's well known that looking up medical symptoms on the web is generally not a good idea as you inevitably discover that your symptoms are in fact signs of imminent death rather than the more likely minor condition.

For self confessed worriers like myself, I'd say this phenomena is even worse when looking up car issues to the extent that I seem to convince myself that I've got issues for which I've had no tangible symptoms!

For example; when having the alignment sorted out a few weeks back it was pointed out that the rubber bush at the outer end of the camber control arm needs replacing. I'm not entirely sure if that's the right name for it as the alignment guy didn't seem too sure. So I went online to see if I could find out what it was called and get a price for the bits.

In case any experts are reading this and are feeling kind enough to drop me a line to tell me, it's this bit:

What's this called?

After a surfing session I ended up convincing myself that I needed all manner of suspension bushes changing, some of which where a nightmare to to. ('Bushes' are the rubber bits that sit between a number of metal suspension bits to absorb movement.)

Having said that, it seems that upgrading from the standard rubber bushes to performance polyurethane ones can improve handling quite a bit. http://www.powerflex.co.uk/why_pu.php

So that's something else to add to the Christmas list whilst I continue my search for a name and price for the current issue-ette.

Update, a few weeks later..
Turns out it's called the 'lower control arm bush'. But it's still a confusing part as the local garage had trouble identifying it as they initially got sent the wrong parts.

Still, it's all replaced now and whilst the car was up on the ramp I thought it made sense to have both sides done, and to replace the eccentric bolts too.
Shiny shiny.. new bolts and bushes.
And being the worrier that I am, I asked the guys to check for anything else under there that might need doing, seeing as the other bushes are in theory the same age, but they report everything is sorted and nothing else needs doing. Result!