My MOT tester came out with a face as long as a fiddle and said "I really don't like to do this, but it's a fail".
Turns out that one of the brackets at the offside end of the (aftermarket) rear exhaust box had fractured and it was therefore unsupported at that end, hence the fail. The entire exhaust, including brackets is stainless and so I was a little concerned about where and how to get it fabricated or replaced. The tester, who runs a local independent garage that is where my Dad bought his first BMW in 1970 then said "no worries, you need to go and speak to Mark in Maids Moreton". So I swing by Mark's little workshop on my way home and it turns out that he is an artist in welding. 20 minutes later I am back at the workshop with the two bits of bracket removed and he spent 5 minutes TIG welding them together correctly and I was back for the retest within the hour and all was well.
It is through little incidents like this that you learn about really good people who live very close to you.
So, by the end of the day we had a pass and had learned a little.
Thinking back, I did hear a strange noise as I pulled out of a turn on the way to the test. I put it down to a stone thrown up by the back wheel, but I think it was the bracket finally letting go. By the look of the dirty and clean parts of the break, it had been going for a while, with the crack tracking across the bit of plate, before a little bump and a "ting' as it finally broke.
All's well that ends well.
