Q: Can you please advise me of manufacturers or importers of distance detectors to enable reversing to be carried out easily and with no damage to other cars.
GR, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire
A: The popularity of the reversing aid as standard equipment has led to a large selection of aftermarket options. It makes sense when you consider the replacement cost of a modern bumper, which can be more than £500.
The two main types of detector use small sensors fitted either on or in the bumper. The on-bumper sensors are stuck in place, which makes them fairly easy to fit, but they stand proud and leave the cables in view. In-bumper sensors look more professional but few would attempt to do the job as a DIY project. Two sensors is the norm, but some products are available with three or four sensors, wider bumpers usually needing more.
Brigade Electronics (0870 774 1500, www.brigade-electronics.co.uk) is a company entirely dedicated to this subject and can handle everything from Micras to Mack trucks, including video reversing systems. We recommend its BF200CT system costing about £65. We’ve also been impressed by the Quanan product Q2030S (0870 729 3949, www.cleargate.co.uk), which costs £125 and includes a dash-mounted display counting down to an obstruction in metres. The MetaSystem SR2 Targa (01905 791 700, www.metasystem.co.uk) is an unobtrusive system, where the vehicle’s oblong numberplate slots into a bracket that houses a sensor at each end. It costs £199.
Some systems can be fitted to the front bumper, for all-round protection. But remember that, clever though the electronics are, they’re only an aid to basic human common sense.
Q: I recently bought my husband an S3 E-type Jaguar for his birthday — boy’s toys and all that! It is undergoing restoration, and so far so good. One slight problem is that we need to find a radio that, while matching up to today’s quality, will actually look a little less high-tech than the average modern fitting. Do you know if any manufacturers produce a retro-style fitting?
LS via e-mail
A: The V12, series 3 E-type is the youngest of the E-types, produced from 1971 to 1975, but it’s still basically the same design that made it the hit of the 1961 Geneva motor show. Back then, fitting in-car sound to any car was the exception rather than the rule and manufacturers had no idea about the ergonomics of its positioning — you’ll find that the gear lever — manual or auto — is a distinct hindrance to pressing buttons on the radio.
Another point to consider is that the aperture into which the radio slots will be the old British spec of 7in x 2in, rather than the modern and slightly different size of 178mm x 50mm. So, though many modern units are made in a trendy retro style, they won’t fit without much adaptation.
A much better solution comes from the Vintage Wireless Company (0161 973 0438, www.vintagewireless.co.uk). For £340.75 it can supply a Radiomobile push-button radio of the type fitted when the car was new. But despite the accurate external appearance, the innards are modified to upgrade the amplifier from a weedy 7W to a more interesting 22W, and to include the FM waveband, so you can listen to stereo broadcasts. There is also another optional internal modification, which enables it to control a six-disc Kenwood CD changer mounted in the boot — priced at around £230.
This solution would look exactly right for the period while giving excellent up-to-the-minute sound and with the definite bonus that it wouldn’t be an obvious temptation for the car thief.
Q: I have a 1999 C-class Mercedes diesel. The rear door window is electrically operated. It works all right going down, but coming up it moves only about 6mm every time I press the button. I have sprayed polish on the slides but this does not seem to make any difference. Could you please help.
KP via e-mail
A: Look first for a fault in either the switch itself or the motor. Most likely is an electrical resistance problem: when lowering the window, little effort is required and so it works okay. When raising the window, electrical resistance builds up and cuts the power when it overloads, giving the symptoms you describe.
A good auto electrician will be able to check both the switch and the motor relatively simply. However, it’s unlikely either could be repaired cost-effectively so replacement would be the only option.
E-mail your questions for our experts on any aspect of motoring to carclinic@sunday-times.co.uk or write to Car Clinic, Driving, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST. Please give a daytime telephone number. We cannot send personal replies or deal with every letter. Please do not send original documents or SAEs. Advice is offered without legal responsibility.
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