BMWLand

On the way home I hit the first milestone in my car.

I bought it on 79k miles 14 months ago and in that time it hasn't had a single thing go wrong. The only consumable has been that it needed a new battery. It was also subject to the EGR recall but after an inspection no work was required. I've basically just serviced it myself and put diesel in the tank.

In it's previous life it did on average 20k miles a year which is even more than my average. There are one or two little niggles that I need to sort. There's a rust spot on the roof from a stone chip, the bolster on the driver's seat could do with freshening up as it looks a bit worn, same for the leather in front of the window switches on the door. The front bumper has a nasty rash from the numerous stones it's encountered in it's life - ideally it needs to be re-sprayed.

Obligatory pic - (note the gear indicator )

On Monday morning, bright and early, the car went in for an oil-change plus an MOT at my local BMW main dealership in Aberdeen.

The service was not a problem especially as I had switched off both dash-cams so as not to observe the workshop procedures.

Apparently filming them somehow contravenes 'health & safety' and 'data protection' - Hmmmm?

I supplied Mahle filters bought on-line for £38 from autopartspro.co.uk and sent from Germany within 48 hours.

I also supplied genuine BMW oil bought online from Lloyds BMW at £11 a litre. (Sorry Cotswold)

I was charged £84.30 for labour.

So providing one's own parts saves a fair bit - approx £90 in this case.

The service dept. was happy to do this as the alternative would be that I go to an indy garage and the dealership get no work from me at all.

After two cappuccinos and an espresso (no croissant were in sight on Monday) I was presented with the MOT result - a resounding fail - and a few advisories.

The advisories were the usual -...

I love the Highlands, as a “regular” visitor over the last ten years due to family living between Oban and Fort William, I have been used to driving up and down from Essex / Cambs border. But it’s since my first motorhoming trip in March 2017 that I fell in love with the freedom that motorhoming in the area affords you and quite how relaxing and restorative time spent in the great outdoors and wilderness is. My last trip was in October 2017 together with my Partner, M. We’d been dating for 2.5months when we planned the trip and although it was one of the most wonderful holidays of my life, being limited to the southern Highlands was my only regret given that six months earlier I had covered the NW up to Durness and really discovered my spiritual home.

Now, with a little under two weeks between leaving my old job and embarking on a new one and various family commitments constraining the time available, I decided with the usual unwavering support from M that the best way to rid my...