J30 Heat Shield Raises the Dead

[VimyJ]

My J30t has ~97,000 miles on it. Tonight the antenna stopped working, a light went out in the NW area of the stereo/radio controls and 3 blocks from home a portion of the heat shielding on the left exhaust pipe suddenly fell off. It made a colossal racket as it was still attached by a wire cable bolted to the frame. This is no cheap piece of BMW aluminum foil either but a solid chunk of metal. Thankfully, this happened close to home at the end of an 80 mile commute. I totally lucked out on that one. Looks like some labour ahead of me on Labour day.

[Q45tech]

You chose to live in an area with Salt, it amazes me the underbody differences in the Northern cars vs the non salt areas even Florida costal cars are pretty immune unless you drive on the beach.

In Japan/Europe they make owners buy snow/ice tires and save the enviroment.....to me salting the roads lets owners escape responsibility.....same with plowing.

[QShip]

I agree with you Dennis. My car came from the Boston area and now it's in CT. It don't like to look underneath the car. It looks horrible!

I would much rather buy snow tires.

[VimyJ]

You chose to live in an area with Salt, it amazes me the underbody differences in the Northern cars vs the non salt areas even Florida costal cars are pretty immune unless you drive on the beach.

In Japan/Europe they make owners buy snow/ice tires and save the enviroment.....to me salting the roads lets owners escape responsibility.....same with plowing.

Commerce in the US would grind to a screeching halt if the roads weren't salted. The US is also in a climate where the winters even in the "cold" states really aren't that bad. I say this because salt use is effective at keeping the roads clear down to about 25F. In the western provinces of Canada they might not salt the roads for weeks at a time because the climate is generally drier and colder. Snowy/icy interstates driven on by people who can't even use their turn signals with cars on bald tires? It's bad enough already.

In Europe and Japan there are very strict regulations about atoumobile roadworthiness. Similar regulations would keep half the cars off the roads in the US. Cars in those countries are generally operated by a more educated and affluent motorists. That's why some countries can even try having unlimited speed highway systems. The cars are in better shape and the drivers more educated.

BTW, I could probably lighten the J by 20 lbs if I removed all the heat shielding. Looks like mine will have to be welded back into place.