First order from Czech Republic

In early February I made an interesting order.

There is a guy in Czech Rep - Alexander. I heard about him from a friend with Skoda Octavia and later found him at Russian forum. He can send whatever you want to anywhere!

Here is how: you contact him via e-mail or his site, send him part codes of what you need, he send you prices back. Now, if you agree with the offer (and you should! - check prices below and at Champion :-), you transfer him money via PayPal. He removes all original packaging (good for customs), makes invoice with prices you desire (again, good for customs) and ships to you.

This is what I got a month ago.

My order was

Part #	Make	Description	Price, NIS
6R0 129 620 A	VAG	Air filter	90
03C 115 561 D	VAG	Oil filter	49
5J1 998 001	VAG	1 set of aerodynamic wiper blades	136
5J6 955 425	VAG	Rear aero-wiper blade	51
1K1 819 653 B	VAG	Pollen filter with odor and harmful substances filtration (for friend's Skoda Octavia)	77
DMA 710 002	VAG	1 set of luggage nets for luggage compartment	153
		Delivery to Israel (by sea)	128

Everything come gently packed, even better than manufactures do. But... no original packaging. That is good thing if you buy for yourself or group of friends. But it could be complicated to sell stuff elsewhere.

About delivery time from Czech Republic.

If you want low delivery cost, it should go by sea and expect it from 2 to 6 months (real stories). My order was sent Feb 10th 2012, at May 21st it was released by customs and I grab it only May 25th - more than 3 month!

For extra €25-30 it can go by plane and I heard from 6 to 30 days of waiting.

My next order already on the way: stowage boxes for both front seats (each for €15) and more oil filters (each €10).

DIY - Diagnostics and repair info

Perfect materials for Do It Yourself guys like me :-)

EricTheCarGuy

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/EricTheCarGuy
Site - http://www.ericthecarguy.com/

ScannerDanner

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/ScannerDanner
Site - http://scannerdanner.com/

Weber State Automotive

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/WeberAuto
Site - https://www.weber.edu/

Real Fixes Real Fast

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/realfixesrealfast
Site - http://realfixesrealfast.com

Brian

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/briansmobile1

BavAuto BMW & MINI DIY Videos

YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/BavarianAuto

Site - http://www.bavauto.com/


Also, some great resources in Russian
- Записки диагноста... о BMW и не только - (lot about oil, engines and more)
- Оборудование для диагностики и ремонта систем управления двигателем

P.S. I've ordered new Multitronics VC731 with oscilloscope feature after watching few ScannerDanner videos :-)

Rear Weights

A friend of mine sent me interesting link - I didn't know that.

Removing Rear Weights - MK2 Fabia vRS TSi Hatch **GUIDE**

I don't know if all Fabias got that (I gonna check mine soon), but that's good to know. You can use this as guide to disassemble bumper.

UPDATE (2012-06-08)
I took a picture

As you can see no wieghts looks not so cool like above :-)

Engine washing

A week ago I washed the engine.

Washing result

It wasn't dirty too much but I got all tools and fluids already so I wanted to try.

Stuff I used (from Shinerama and Autogeek shopping):
- Auto Detailing Guide - Engine Bay and more articles from related post at bottom there
- P21S Total Auto Wash

- Mini E-Z Detail Brush

- Mothers Wheel Brush

- 303 Aerospace Protectant

- Water sprayer - 5 liters even too much for that

- Microfiber towel

The procedure is easy, just read and follow instructions. Make sure to cover sensitive parts and do not use hard stream of water, sprayer is best for that.

Here are before and after pictures.

 And a small video

Perfectly started after washing, no problems so far. Looks like a new ;-)
I will repeat it every year.

25 500 km | 1Y 5M

Air Conditioning Disinfectant

Recently (month or so) I felt bad smell when I turning A/C on.
The problem is known: germs and bacterias on evaporator make their job.

It happened that I saw Wurth products at Alon Halafim when buying oil, but on that moment he haven't A/C cleaner. When I came back to change oil, he brought Wurth QuickFresh (part no. 893 764 51) - don't buy this for cleaning, it's just add some fresh smell inside a car and cleans nothing. Cost around 50 NIS.

You need Wurth Air Conditioning Disinfectant Spray (0893 764 10) with spray hose (0891 764 12). I ordered directly at Wurth Israel, cost 116 NIS (delivery is 30 NIS to your house). One bottle enough for 2 applications.

You can check full working instructions at the bottom, but in few words:
1. Switch off A/C and ventilation.
2. Insert spray probe into filter housing and get to the evaporator.
3. Spray for about 30 sec.
4. Allow to take effect for 10 min.
5. Turn on ventilation and let it work for 5-10 min.

This is how I did this

Some tips for the future:
1. Do this once a year with filter change.
2. Dry evaporator surface as described in Luqui Moly doc before and after.
3. Better to use some air mask I guess.
4. When driving with A/C on, turn it off 1-2 minutes before you came to destination. This will dry evaporator and delay smell coming.

Working instructions from cleaner makes
Wurth - Air Conditioning Disinfectant Spray (PDF)
Liqui Moly - Air Condition Cleaning - Work instructions (PDF) - also can be useful

Another video from Liqui Moly

With this order I also wanted to buy Wurth High-concentrate windshield washer fluid (0892 333) - 3 little bottles that you can mix with tap water. But instead I got same 2 liters cans as I bought before.
Interesting, that at Alon Halafim it looks different. Cost around 10 NIS, great peach smell ;-)

Left - from Alon Halafim, right - Wurth Israel