Best of the Bargain Basement Vol. 2

[funkyrobot]

I've found an r reg BMW 728 with 155k miles on the clock. It's currently on sale for 749, has 11 months MOT and offers wil be accepted. Worth a look?

[schmalex]

For sure! Offer £700, drive it for 10 months & 2 weeks, take it to the scrappy and weigh it in for somewhere near the price you paid for it

[funkyrobot]

schmalex said:

For sure! Offer £700, drive it for 10 months & 2 weeks, take it to the scrappy and weigh it in for somewhere near the price you paid for it

Severely tempted.

Only problem is its on EBay about a hundred miles away and I haven't seen it or driven it yet.

May contact the seller and see if he or she is around this weekend.

Are these good cars to learn spannering on? I would want it as a project.

[funkyrobot]

schmalex said:

For sure! Offer £700, drive it for 10 months & 2 weeks, take it to the scrappy and weigh it in for somewhere near the price you paid for it

Severely tempted.

Only problem is its on EBay about a hundred miles away and I haven't seen it or driven it yet.

May contact the seller and see if he or she is around this weekend.

Are these good cars to learn spannering on? I would want it as a project.

[Bluejmc2005]

funkyrobot said:

Severely tempted.

Only problem is its on EBay about a hundred miles away and I haven't seen it or driven it yet.

May contact the seller and see if he or she is around this weekend.

Are these good cars to learn spannering on? I would want it as a project.

I think they are great cars. I am a novice mechanically speaking but I managed to change a water pump, thermostat and radiator in one (over course of bra few days taking my time) so I'd say good project car

[radiodanno]

Anyone here with experiences of the early W202 Mercs?

Have been looking at 190E's but finding something in good condition around thread budget is proving difficult.

It's an early 202 - C180 variant.

[funkyrobot]

Bluejmc2005 said:

I think they are great cars. I am a novice mechanically speaking but I managed to change a water pump, thermostat and radiator in one (over course of bra few days taking my time) so I'd say good project car

Sounds like my level of mechanical skill. Promising.

[phil_cardiff]

funkyrobot said:

I've found an r reg BMW 728 with 155k miles on the clock. It's currently on sale for 749, has 11 months MOT and offers wil be accepted. Worth a look?

Check the fuel tank. It might be pourous.

Other than that I know very little about 7 series. If you post on THE smoker barge thread you'll find a number of experts.

[funkyrobot]

phil_cardiff said:

Check the fuel tank. It might be pourous.

Other than that I know very little about 7 series. If you post on THE smoker barge thread you'll find a number of experts.

Yes, will do. Thanks.

[Emeye]

radiodanno said:

Anyone here with experiences of the early W202 Mercs?

Have been looking at 190E's but finding something in good condition around thread budget is proving difficult.

It's an early 202 - C180 variant.

I've had one until recently - a C230k Sport, and there are a couple more in the family.

Rust is the biggy, but the earlier ones tend to do better due to oil based paint - have a good poke-around everywhere - a bit of surface rust isn't the end of the world, but check inner wings.

Manual gearboxes are not great but they tend to be cheaper as unwanted.

The single wipers can seize up if you don't regularly lift the turtle shell cover and grease. They shread their nylon cog and it's a bit of a hassle to replace - the recomendation is to use a E-class wiper mech as these are much stronger but a direct replacement (check you have the correct connector) - Dronsfield breakers near Oldham won't supply you with a C-class mech as a replacement and insist on giving you a E-class one!

And breaklight switches can cause all sorts of weird errors and stop the cruise working, but they are £11 from Merc (don't bother with cheap replacements) and are easy to swap but awkward to get to behind the pedals.

Search W202 on Youtube - there is a guy on there who has done and filmed most common job.

Cloth trim cars are also unwanted, but a secondhand set of leather seats is very easy to swap in, if you can find a relatively unworn set.

I can't see many W202s being worth more than £1k - they are pretty reliable but getting on a bit - a well looked after one should serve you well.

[TheJimi]

I'd be willing to bet that thing is a dog.

My general rule is: If a dealer is punting a c£1k car = rough as a badgers arse.

I've yet to be proved wrong.

[BorkFactor]

I have always liked the S70, what are the automatic gearboxes like in these?

[anonymous-user]

TheJimi said:

I'd be willing to bet that thing is a dog.

My general rule is: If a dealer is punting a c£1k car = rough as a badgers arse.

I've yet to be proved wrong.

I would bet the same but due to the hammerite on the wheels. Call it gut instinct but I think anyone who would do that do an S70 is likely to be an idiot and bodger.

[radiodanno]

Emeye said:

I've had one until recently - a C230k Sport, and there are a couple more in the family.

Rust is the biggy, but the earlier ones tend to do better due to oil based paint - have a good poke-around everywhere - a bit of surface rust isn't the end of the world, but check inner wings.

Manual gearboxes are not great but they tend to be cheaper as unwanted.

The single wipers can seize up if you don't regularly lift the turtle shell cover and grease. They shread their nylon cog and it's a bit of a hassle to replace - the recomendation is to use a E-class wiper mech as these are much stronger but a direct replacement (check you have the correct connector) - Dronsfield breakers near Oldham won't supply you with a C-class mech as a replacement and insist on giving you a E-class one!

And breaklight switches can cause all sorts of weird errors and stop the cruise working, but they are £11 from Merc (don't bother with cheap replacements) and are easy to swap but awkward to get to behind the pedals.

Search W202 on Youtube - there is a guy on there who has done and filmed most common job.

Cloth trim cars are also unwanted, but a secondhand set of leather seats is very easy to swap in, if you can find a relatively unworn set.

I can't see many W202s being worth more than £1k - they are pretty reliable but getting on a bit - a well looked after one should serve you well.

Thanks for such a detailed and complete post.

Sadly, I don't think this one is for me. On the plus side it's black and has the amber lights, but is poverty spec and toppy on price.

[RobinBanks]

dme123 said:

I would bet the same but due to the hammerite on the wheels. Call it gut instinct but I think anyone who would do that do an S70 is likely to be an idiot and bodger.

That was my first thought too. If nothing else it looks naff too.

[anonymous-user]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-SAAB-9-5-SE-SILVER-...

looked so nice but 'BUT IF THE CAR IS LEFT STANDING FOR A FEW DAY MOISTURE COLLECTS IN THE EXHAUST AND BLOWS WHITE FOR AROUND A MINUTE AND CLEARS, IF I USE THE CAR DAILY IT NEVER HAPPENS.' big lol

[BorkFactor]

The Spruce goose said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-SAAB-9-5-SE-SILVER-...

looked so nice but 'BUT IF THE CAR IS LEFT STANDING FOR A FEW DAY MOISTURE COLLECTS IN THE EXHAUST AND BLOWS WHITE FOR AROUND A MINUTE AND CLEARS, IF I USE THE CAR DAILY IT NEVER HAPPENS.' big lol

That could be legit, BMWs are known for that and my old ST24 did it as well. No issues in either car, just condensation which is especially noticeable on cold mornings / winter.

Or, its fked

[KTF]

A bit retro. 900cc and 27k: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[AA88]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/bmw-e39-5-series-523i...

[Geekman]

Terrible ad, but this could be fantastic for the money

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/w126-/251778205264?pt=Au...