The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T (Vol XVII)

[olly755]

Off the scale.

[Justayellowbadge]

L100NYY said:

^^^^^ Yep, that works.

============

This sounds intriguing....

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C615531

Tuned 6L and a manual box in a Jaguar saloon.

How deliciously unseemly.

[braddo]

dom9 said:

Found your thread and emailed them yesterday, Braddo... Waiting to hear back!

Some outstanding looking Jags being posted.

[Blueprint]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's worse in the US where just finding a Wagon is tricky, whatever the Saloon counterpart is.

I was looking for a new car and almost conceded defeat and got an SUV of some iteration or other once realizing the Legacy/Outback uses a CVT box.

Trawling the local BMW lot revealed a 3-series option so I took that. It's ruddy fantastic, I hadn't cared much for moderns, especially BMW's but I'm utterly delighted with the ride/handling/space/comfort/toys combo that the car offers. It's weird to say but it feels like BMWs best kept secret in this market. It is rare to see wagons here from any era, but especially current wagons.

Unfortunately it is only available with 328i or 328d engines but with Xdrive, it's a compelling and all around excellent daily drive - I wonder why more aren't sold. I asked the dealership what their biggest seller is? Answer, the 3 series. They sell between 170-190 cars per month but only 9 or 10 per year, will be wagons.

[L100NYY]

braddo said:

Some outstanding looking Jags being posted.

It's dangerous isn't it

[shirt]

talking of cheap jags. bit marmite this but i reckon could be just the thing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-Other-/221821078310...

[CharlesdeGaulle]

shirt said:

talking of cheap jags. bit marmite this but i reckon could be just the thing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-Other-/221821078310...

Rather lovely, that.

[GDub44]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

This seems cheap? Too cheap maybe?

[ATM]

ATM said:

Ah ha. So you want to build a B5. I'm back on the page now.

A B5 is what - £15 - £20k.

What I do know is my v8 has dual 2 inch pipes and apparently it is restrictive and it needs dual 2.5 inch really. I could ask Dyno Torque for a price but I bet it will be a lot less than the 4 grand you've been quoted. Shirley someone can throw one together for less than that.

Have you tried to buy a straight forward Alpina B5 or B5S system - there must be part numbers for it somewhere. Should fit straight onto your car too.

80 quid


http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/index.php?/topic/112034-e6...

[Crook]

L100NYY said:

This sounds intriguing....

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C615531

Well that's rather very splendid.

[Cheburator mk2]

Gents,

It appears that I have bought a detachable towbar made by Thule.

To my surprise, despite being detachable, the towbar was actually attached to something. At the slightly pointier end I found a Bavarian V8 putting out 360bhp and 500Nm of torque. Mated to a 6-spd ZF unit and BBS' finest 20" wheels. She is blick on blick, panoramic roof, comfort and heated seats,TV, Bluetooth, air suspension (Lord Bork, no sniggering in the back!) and a few other things. Full BMWSH and she has done 72k since early 2005. Generally I would say a 9/10. All this for 8 bags of sand with 3mth dealer warranty from the kind of garage I would like to run when I retire. Picking it up when I come back from the US next Sat. Cannot wait...

Thought about a Cayenne, but the thought of it being dinged and scraped to smithereens by the moms of Bromley put me right off. A GTS at 2x the money is not 2x Thule+car Wish me luck I have to say though, the 540iT that is being replaced has been utterly reliable in 6yrs - it has always started and and run. What could possibly go wrong with its bigger brother.

P.S. The noise the 4.8iS makes is pure comedy. You need a Cayenne GTS with the PSE on to get close to it, and I still think cudos to BMW for making it sound like this as standard.

[ATM]

Cheburator mk2 said:

Gents,

It appears that I have bought a detachable towbar made by Thule.

To my surprise, despite being detachable, the towbar was actually attached to something. At the slightly pointier end I found a Bavarian V8 putting out 360bhp and 500Nm of torque. Mated to a 6-spd ZF unit and BBS' finest 20" wheels. She is blick on blick, panoramic roof, comfort and heated seats,TV, Bluetooth, air suspension (Lord Bork, no sniggering in the back!) and a few other things. Full BMWSH and she has done 72k since early 2005. Generally I would say a 9/10. All this for 8 bags of sand with 3mth dealer warranty from the kind of garage I would like to run when I retire. Picking it up when I come back from the US next Sat. Cannot wait...

Thought about a Cayenne, but the thought of it being dinged and scraped to smithereens by the moms of Bromley put me right off. A GTS at 2x the money is not 2x Thule+car Wish me luck I have to say though, the 540iT that is being replaced has been utterly reliable in 6yrs - it has always started and and run. What could possibly go wrong with its bigger brother.

P.S. The noise the 4.8iS makes is pure comedy. You need a Cayenne GTS with the PSE on to get close to it, and I still think cudos to BMW for making it sound like this as standard.

2 things:

1. Pics?
2. What has happened to this 540iT - is it going to be for sale somewhere?

[Cheburator mk2]

ATM said:

2 things:

1. Pics?
2. What has happened to this 540iT - is it going to be for sale somewhere?

No pics as it is still with the dealer getting it valetted and MOT-ed for a year. Advert is still on the 'Trader though.

The 540iT will be stuck on eBay I think - it is R reg - virtually worthless despite being a very good car with a nice spec and some money thrown at it like Bilstein B8 kit in 2014, subframe bushes 20k ago, working aircon, sunroof and mobile phone If you are interested - drop me a pm - don't want to pollute the thread

[ATM]

Cheburator mk2 said:

ATM said:

2 things:

1. Pics?
2. What has happened to this 540iT - is it going to be for sale somewhere?

No pics as it is still with the dealer getting it valetted and MOT-ed for a year. Advert is still on the 'Trader though.

The 540iT will be stuck on eBay I think - it is R reg - virtually worthless despite being a very good car with a nice spec and some money thrown at it like Bilstein B8 kit in 2014, subframe bushes 20k ago, working aircon, sunroof and mobile phone If you are interested - drop me a pm - don't want to pollute the thread

Done

[rejn]

It's a bit quiet in here at the moment, so maybe you can help with my latest car challenge.

I'm looking for a cheap car for our holiday home in Northern Ireland. Something that'll be big enough to cart the rejn family around, but cheap and reliable enough that I can leave it sitting around for 6 weeks at a time, and it'll start first time whenever we arrive with the kids and not be stranded.

My immediate thought was a W124 estate, and I've found this one for £1340:


I thought that was problem solved, but it turns out the guy selling it is still fixing it, so it's not yet for sale.

I then found this one:


This is clearly a much nicer car than the other one - it's a much newer E320 (versus 200TE). He's spent around £7k on it (including routine maintenance by the sound of things), and he's looking for £4,500 (although even after a quick e-mail exchange, he's suggesting there's some flexibility in the pricing).

What's the general wisdom - if I could get that for £3500, is that likely to be reliable in the way I've described.

Alternatively, I've had a quick look and there are various Passat estates for £2k. All the cheaper options seem pretty unreliable.

I also found myself being briefly drawn to this Subaru for £2,650


What do we think? £3500 on the Merc? Or 2k on an old Passat? Or search harder to find another cheaper W124/settle for a non-estate version?

[CharlesdeGaulle]

rejn - suggest you post that in the 1-5 Barge thread. Lots of MB love and expertise there, and a few active posters from NI who are MB experts as well as able to provide the int on local sellers and cars.

[rejn]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

rejn - suggest you post that in the 1-5 Barge thread. Lots of MB love and expertise there, and a few active posters from NI who are MB experts as well as able to provide the int on local sellers and cars.

Brilliant - thanks CdG - will do.

[ATM]

rejn said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

rejn - suggest you post that in the 1-5 Barge thread. Lots of MB love and expertise there, and a few active posters from NI who are MB experts as well as able to provide the int on local sellers and cars.

Brilliant - thanks CdG - will do.

Possibly worth warning you that the amount of activity in there used to be a factor of 5 or 10 times what it is in here. So potentially it is a large investment in terms of your time. I'll throw in my suggestion right now - an e39.

[rejn]

ATM said:

rejn said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

rejn - suggest you post that in the 1-5 Barge thread. Lots of MB love and expertise there, and a few active posters from NI who are MB experts as well as able to provide the int on local sellers and cars.

Brilliant - thanks CdG - will do.

Possibly worth warning you that the amount of activity in there used to be a factor of 5 or 10 times what it is in here. So potentially it is a large investment in terms of your time. I'll throw in my suggestion right now - an e39.

E39 - good suggestion - but finding an estate version in the right bit of Northern Ireland at a reasonable price (regardless of fuel type/engine size/gearbox) seems challenging!

[ATM]

rejn said:

ATM said:

rejn said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

rejn - suggest you post that in the 1-5 Barge thread. Lots of MB love and expertise there, and a few active posters from NI who are MB experts as well as able to provide the int on local sellers and cars.

Brilliant - thanks CdG - will do.

Possibly worth warning you that the amount of activity in there used to be a factor of 5 or 10 times what it is in here. So potentially it is a large investment in terms of your time. I'll throw in my suggestion right now - an e39.

E39 - good suggestion - but finding an estate version in the right bit of Northern Ireland at a reasonable price (regardless of fuel type/engine size/gearbox) seems challenging!

Prices are all over the place. I paid £600 for mine and still can't believe it. I never get bored of reminding people about that even though most are now bored of hearing it. At that price there is almost no point selling.