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This is a perfect example of how to recover side stuck in sand dunes with utmost safety and precision. Everyone is clear from the stuck vicinity and recording or taking the pictures away from the rope radius so that if tow point or shackles fail it won't hit anyone and injure/kill them. In a hard tug situation, one should use dampers or additional rope assist to absorb the shock if any tow point fails. Positioned the car right behind the way of the stuck car And not diagonally that can result in a flip with a sudden jerk Clear communication and repeat message before giving the tug Both the driver should be ready than an unexpected tug that may break bones Stretch the rope fully and always give a gentle tug "first" on side stuck Gentle tug "first" will always tell you how hard you can go next time than giving the hard tug first. This precision comes with experience and maturity than just giving the full throttle tug Repeat the message again for the second tug to prepare the driver Perfect safety message for the stuck driver, to update the recovery status so he can be ready for second tug Repeated second tug by changing the path slightly to get better traction Many offroaders will dig themselves on the second tug due to not changing the path. This slight change in path helps to get the firm sand to have better traction. Well done @Emmanuel for recovering @Julien V in the best and safest possible way.

Sorry for the last minute drop out everyone. Had 2 emergencies during the weekend I had to attend. Insha Allah will make up for it in the coming weeks.

Some of the pics i managed to capture when @Gaurav@Emmanuel were battling it out in the rough weather.

Perfectly managed. Love to see @Emmanuel grow as an off-roader. @Gaurav bhai very well written post, thanks for sharing.

Lovely dunes ! Good thing my desert dogs are keeping me busy cause I really want to hit the dunes again soon ! Will post an update soon on the Pajero !

Sweihan always comes with lasting memories and yesterday drive was no different. First of all, started with a major setback that out of 10 signups - 5 dropped off due to some of the other reason. Pretty strange and have never seen such major drop off in any drive. The second shock was seeing the wind speed picking up drastically since morning and as per weather forecast, we could get the wind at 50kmph speed inside the desert - not good for visibility. Keep all odds aside 5 cars still made in with several warnings, safety advises and high spirit to keep driving close to each other and not to attempt any new stunt due to low visibility. We started driving almost on time and @Javier M was my second lead and @Emmanuel was in sweep keeping an eye on @Brette and @Julien V to keep convoy moving at all times. After initial refusals and stucks, fewbie picked up the pace and we started moving with good speed. Although the wind was very high but visibility has not been compromised to a stage where we should halt or abort the drive. We stopped at our few playgrounds to take turns to reach on top and try the sideys attempt to our heart desire. Everyone had a good fun andkeep trying the scale those monster dunes from different angles, speed, and techniques. I guess @Javier M must have tried the stair dune almost 20-30 times while @Julien V was attempting to remove his Pajero back bumper. Good fun. Our drive pace was so nice that we almost reach the end of the drive before it gets dark and then we decided to backtrack to meeting point through dunes, instead of track. While backtracking through dune I literally pushed the level up to an intermediate level as we were close to the track and also done with our planned drive. Almost everyone kept a good pace and impressed with the fast-paced intermediate level upgrade. Due to the heavy wind and endless flies (due to wind), we decided to exit on road and then have our food session next to the restaurant having some close area. We exited by 7 PM and had our late lunch / early dinner by 8 PM and then start inflating the tires to say goodbye to everyone. Brette and his friend Brian has clicked and shared some nice videos of our yesterday's drive in Sweihan

Engine oil level Transmission oil level Tyre pressure Tyre tread depth and condition Coolant level Windscreen washer fluid Brake fluid

Thx @Gaurav for these very clear and important explanations. If I may add another point regarding safety : before pulling the car, please check that nobody stands or goes around (always keep in mind that a rope, a shackle or a recovery hook can break).

A Must Refuelling Can in all off roading cars.

I make sure I check everything twice daily. Sort of a fobia I got driving my POS in reality my 2003 is more perfect than many new Cars but still I keep check on it.

It's very good thinking to get the wiring checked from a professional garage as you never know what that little creature must have chewed and might cause a spark or short circuit.

Check your idle control valve as a first step. It might need either cleaning or replacement.

What are the options available for car under body rust protection for critical components and chassis frame? I just spotted some very minor rust formation in few areas under my Pajero today, so looking for some good quality solution to protect.

Hi guys, my car has a very strange issue. My car shutsdown when at a traffic light or not driving. It then struggles to start but starts. Sometimes even while driving and the car hits low rpm, it shuts down even in motion. I got it checked by extreme performance garage and they told me that all is good but the ECU. I got Munich motor works to check it and they’re saying that the gearbox has intermittent problem and that needs to be changed. I am confused. It’s a 2009 convertible 330i in mint condition inside out. Any suggestions... dhav

Hi guys the upper glove box console lid has got locked and isn't opening does anyone have any idea on how to open that. It's only a press button lock which has got stuck I guess. Did any of you have the same issue in their Pajero before.

So it all started on one fine morning. As a normal day started of with unlocking our Pajero and found some water drops on the seat. No rain that day, but still checked for roof leaks and found none. Maybe the leather sweating? But have not seen drops, if something spills it would cover much larger area. So we cleaned the water drops and continued on pur way. The next morning again we were surprised by the same water drops, but this time there were a few over the dash as well. The suspect was the roof again. But verily roof was dry. Still unsuspecting we cleaned the water drops and headed to our office. In the evening when my wife came to pick me up she was looking pale and scared. She explained as she opened the car she saw something white very quickly move from the passenger seat down and disappeared. She suggested we quickly go to a car wash and get the car cleaned out inside and out. Throughout the way we kept really silent and concentrated on any sounds inside the car. It was completely quiet and our hearts were racing throughout, even a breeze or our own movement would scare the he'll out of us. The strangest hour ever spent in a car in my whole life. There was a strange feeling of something or someone being in our car with us. I kept on thinking we would need an exorsist for our car instead of just a good wash. Finally we made it to the car wash and started emptying the car to have a good vacuum inside. As we were removing the items from our car we saw what once again proved the wife is always right. We needed a good wash and no exorcism was required. A grey mouse jumping in and around our car. What a relief. Tried chasing it out, but not quite sure if that little rodent was still there or gone. As the car was finished and we headed home, we decided to make sure and got some rat glue with mat. My wife could not take the suspense and headed back down to the car just before going to sleep. No surprise there it was the trouble maker, stuck in one of the mats we had placed. She took help of one of the supermarket guys and released the little rodent back in the open. With a few mats still in the car just to make sure, in 2 more days we were relieved and now pondering how he got in. Two days it was in there without making a noise. We recalled going to the tire shop to get a tire checked which kept looking the pressure. We had switched off the car, and since the car was getting suffocating, she opened the rear door for ventilation. The tire just had a bad valve which was replaced, easy and cheap fix, but it must have given the mouse to get into the car in those 15 minutes. My advise, please do not leave your cars open and unattended open the window a crack if required. Thinking of getting all the wirings and electrics checked as mice like to chew on stuff. Please recommend any other advise you deem right in such a situation, or simply share your strange stories here.

... even a bumper :

Had a similar problem with my Pajero. And it turned to be a faulty MAF sensor.

Isn't Munich is saying gearbox and Extreme is saying ECU as per your first post......? Once you get the printed trouble codes, please post it here

How much Munich Motor is charging to fix and are they giving any guarantee? What all stuff replacement Munich suggested? Secondly, just hand type the "ACTUAL" trouble codes as this estimation is filled with 1+100 leaks, observation, and protection procedures that may or may not require immediately to solve your main problem. I remember getting 3000 dhs quote from a reputed garage (30 years exp) for fixing a slight missing (without guarantee), that got cured with replacing ICV for 600 dhs. I can only read 2C7B (O2 sensor) and 5E18 (DSC/ABS related). If you paid for this diagnostic then ask them to give you a printed copy of all fault codes without their suggestions or observations, because many times due to one or two sensor failure you get 5-10 error codes which are affected with them. In my older Range, I got a gearbox failure when it was low battery - changed the battery and car was fine.

I was thinking about getting some hammerite paint and applying over the most affected areas. First the surface needs to be cleaned with wire brush, but after that you can either spray paint it or apply with soft brush. If you have a friend with a lifting bridge it would take you maybe a half day to do it yourselves and wouldn’t cost too much. Getting it done would cost around 1200 if I remember correctly.

Renault Duster, Suzuki Jimny, and likes are underpowered and not really good in a stock state unless you do some serious engine modification or swap. @sertac it's a different world of offroading in UAE. In sand most 4x4 by far fails by far, so can't swear on world best defender true offroader to cough up on halfway to Iftar bowl, let alone Faya.

German cars are delicate for every week dune bashing unless you can use and throw them in 6 months. European cars, hardly any contender for 4x4 category. I appreciate if you and others can pinpoint specific 4x4 based on your "REAL LIFE" experience or knowledge and not just a marketing video or images you see in an advertisement.

Something quite similar happened to my Xterra three months ago. In my case, it was the crankshaft and camshaft position sensors (I got a engine code).

When two different garages giving different reasoning means something is definitely fishy - ECU vs Gearbox I suggest get the car OBD II diagnostic first and share the trouble codes here so we can advise further. For such problem like yours, there are many things to doubt, to be honest: Clogged air filter ICV as Sri mentioned Clogged fuel injectors Bad spark plugs or coil When you hit full gas, is there any hesitation, then it could be clogged fuel filter Guesswork is endless, better get the codes as 2009 Bimmer must be having good computer management.

I tried almost all the offline offroad maps for offroad, but nothing beats Motion X or come close by 50% - trust me. Like Rahimdad mentioned Ardhi Land Rover App always used to throw the error and keep searching satellites For the rescue option, I will share the UAE rescue group that has a collective network of offroaders. https://www.instagram.com/uaerescue/

For the 10 people that check theirs regularly the answer will be Yes !!, for the 90 others that hardly know which car they drive their answer will be How ?? 😂

Those buttons mechanisms are notorious for getting stuck. What helps sometimes is to hit it from the front with a rubber mallet or something soft. Once it’s open some WD40 will do the trick.

Could be a faulty pressure sensor. After a while the moving parts start to break down and fill the system with dirt which blocks things up.

You’ll just have to get ignorant with a big screwdriver and pry it open. As long as you don’t damage the dashboard, you can get a new glovebox lid from scrap.

Lovely write-up ! I can imagine these little ones are hard to find ! All’s well ends well and you didn’t have to kill the little creature ❤️

Sweihan drive pics

I heard from a friend that Ziebart offers good rust proofing product and also offer annual maintenance package. Galadari is their main dealer her, hope it helps.

Waxoyl is a good rust preventative but I'm not sure how it would cope in the gulf climate. It stays semi liquid and could easily be rubbed off driving in sand which means it would need regular maintenance. It is however very good at coating the insides of the chassis and gets into all the nooks and crannies. For off-road applications, Id recommend looking at 3M Body Schutz. It forms a thick rubberized coating similar to what you find factory coated on the bottom of modern cars. It is extremely tough and hard wearing, one time application that will last the life of the car. But as with the waxoyl, you will need special application equipment. One of the downsides of using these applications is that it can make working on the underside of a car more difficult as it tends to get into the threads of bolts and jam things up so if you need to carry out any work on the downside, it's probably better to make sure everything is completed first.