Sign of the times...

[ST1100]

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yeah... not enough power to spin the rear, not enough brake to lock... 

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Even worse with modern cars, what with fancy projected digital dashboard displays.

[Bryanj]

How about the Ford ranger that needs an internet connected 3 grand computer when a headlamp bulb blows

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

If you change your battery on a later 3 series Beamer for anything other than the original OEM (Ah,cca etc) unit it's a OBD plug & computer to re-code the alternator.

[Johnny4428]

I had a Ford Mondeo ST220 that had a sensor fault that prevented the heater from working (if I remember correctly) it had to be picked up from my house taken to hatston, put on the ferry to Aberdeen then taken to a dealer to have the contacts cleaned and reset, taken back to the ferry then taken from the ferry and delivered back to our house. Thankfully under warranty. The local ford dealer said he didn’t have the expensive equipment necessary to sort it.😡

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

When Mercedes first introduced Add Blue for their diesel range of engines when the add blue was empty you had a range of 100 or so miles before the engine management system shut down the engine.

Even worse was if you topped up the Add Blue yourself it still would not re-start as a dealer  had to reset the level switch. A later software update allowed you to top up your own Add Blue.

[Spitfire]

Just had some fun with my 2020 Ford Focus Active, it stopped responding to the fob to unlock itself at random times, I could get in using the skeleton key but it was still dead.
Left it for a while and and magically all was normal.
Then in a rush to get to an appointment I got to the end of the road and realised that I had no instrument cluster.
Got the AA out and he checked everything, battery, connections in the passenger footwell which can be a problem, used his diagnostic ipad, nothing showing, disconnected the battery, reconnected it and reset it, checked some meaty looking connections under the bonnet.
Still nothing obvious, he recommended me to charge the battery, this required a new posh charger, and recommended me to get the system reset but this could only be done at a main Ford dealership.
So off to the Ford Dealer, new battery and reset the BMS and all is well.
The BMS is the Battery Management System which I had never heard of.

Cheers

Dennis

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Love it a BMS !

Mercs & old model Smart Cars have a SAM unit, Signal Aquisition Module or as us oldies know it a fuse box!

Due to poor internal connections sometimes due to water ingress in Smart Cars and the SL models with the metal folding roof where the SAM unit is in the boot. Seals dry out allowing water to enter the SAM unit. They used to be around £1k a throw to supply & fit.

[ST1100]

The current marketing scheme... features & gimmicks & technology for technology's sake...
And (too) many jump blindly on that bandwagon... or getting them force fed by lobbyists manage "accessories" being mandatory now...

From money we don't have, we buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like...

In my small world life is too short to ride bad, over-complicated motorcycles... 
 

[Laverdaroo]

Here, here!

[Rozabikes Tim]

From money we don't have, we buy things we don't need, to impress people we don't like..

Spot on 👍👍

[Laverda Dave]

If you have a Netflix subsciption watch a documentry called 'Buy it Now' a real eye opener to how the corporate consumer market works with the likes of Addidas, Apple and the worst case....Amazon. The waste is beyond belief and 99% of it goes to landfill, no such thing as recycling despite what we are told.