Best Smoker Barges 1-5 large [Vol 7]

[anonymous-user]

I'll try and convince the OH that a roadtrip to the South of Poland is a good idea for tomorrow,

There seems to be an abundance of late 80's Early 90's cars here that the locals just dismiss as old and rubbish and prefer to buy leased new cars as they are new and must be better...

Anything in particular to look for? Is the wiring loom still an issue on the LHD models?

Also i've searched but will the w124 420 have a 4 or 5 speed gearbox?

Is the general consensus that the one i posted would be a good buy? (Air intake will need to be replaced as it looks like its made of some sort of leather)

We've emailed to see if they would take our BMW as PX too as i despise the thing.

[Private Pile]

Baryonyx said:

Thank you very much for the kind offer, but I'm at work next Thursday, and this late in the day, there is no such thing as taking time off!

No worries. For the next few weeks I'm all over the country so it wouldn't have been a problem.

Hope you find your car soon.

[r129sl]

phil_cardiff said:

Quickest for you would probably be A48, M4, A465, A40, M50, M5.

I know but I've been going that way for ten years and it is so boring! Also, I worry about getting into trouble on the A465/A40/M50. The M4 likewise. I've started using the Heads of the Valley road recently, that is a bit better. I like the stretch from Merthyr to Swansea.

everyone said:

Polish website...

Some of the cars advertised for sale on that site are remarkable. It is hard not to like the smoke silver 200 D with the four-speed manual box. Keep fit windows, too. It doesn't even have a wireless set! I bet it brings new meaning to the word "leisurely". Good town car, though.

http://www.gieldaklasykow.pl/mercedes-w124-200d-19...

Edited by r129sl on Friday 22 August 14:35

[BGarside]

r129sl said:

Some of the cars advertised for sale on that site are remarkable. It is hard not to like the smoke silver 200 D with the four-speed manual box. Keep fit windows, too. It doesn't even have a wireless set! I bet it brings new meaning to the word "leisurely". Good town car, though.

http://www.gieldaklasykow.pl/mercedes-w124-200d-19...

Edited by r129sl on Friday 22 August 14:35

Crikey. That IS basic! Not even a rev counter.

Must be over 20 seconds 0-60 given that the 200kg-lighter 190D 2.0 is hardly brisk.

[SpeckledJim]

r129sl said:

phil_cardiff said:

Quickest for you would probably be A48, M4, A465, A40, M50, M5.

I know but I've been going that way for ten years and it is so boring! Also, I worry about getting into trouble on the A465/A40/M50. The M4 likewise. I've started using the Heads of the Valley road recently, that is a bit better. I like the stretch from Merthyr to Swansea.

everyone said:

Polish website...

Some of the cars advertised for sale on that site are remarkable. It is hard not to like the smoke silver 200 D with the four-speed manual box. Keep fit windows, too. It doesn't even have a wireless set! I bet it brings new meaning to the word "leisurely". Good town car, though.

http://www.gieldaklasykow.pl/mercedes-w124-200d-19...

Edited by r129sl on Friday 22 August 14:35

I think that's what Robert M. Persig would define as 'quality', and I think he'd enjoy maintaining it.

[Zwolf]

Sanity check and dilemma:

75PS 2014 Ford EcoSport returns me ~55-60mpg and costs a few £ a year in BIK. I pay for my own fuel.

326PS 1996 BMW 750i returns me ~22-26mpg and costs a few buttons in classic insurance and VED.

Will soon be moving to a place I'll only have a single parking space and doing ~25-30k miles pa driving on A roads and motorways to work and back.

The *correct* and only sensible solution is to LPG the 750i, isn't it? Given that th econversion would cost about the same as forking out for a 330/530d with similar miles to the Seven (and I don't trust an aged M57 not to bork, whereas the M73 is unkillable in the sort of use it gets/will be put to).

[SpeckledJim]

If you're moving anyway, can't you move nearer to work?

(or work nearer to home?)

25,000 commuting miles is an awful lot. At 20mpg it's crazy, but even with LPG you'd be lucky to equate to more than about 35mpg.

Still pretty expensive.

[r129sl]

The sensible answer is that it depends how much you're getting paid, whether you can offset any costs against tax and what else you want to spend your money on.

The correct answer is to cut back on food and run the 750i as the good lord intended.

So I guess LPGing it is a sensible compromise.

[SpeckledJim]

£7,500 out of taxed income on petrol.

C.£4,000 if you're on LPG.

Either way, it's an awful lot of dosh to just get to work and back.

[r129sl]

SpeckledJim said:

I think that's what Robert M. Persig would define as 'quality'...

Ho ho.

[jonnydm]

Got any idea of how much it costs to get a permit or rent a garage locally?

[jonnydm]

SpeckledJim said:

£7,500 out of taxed income on petrol.

C.£4,000 if you're on LPG.

Either way, it's an awful lot of dosh to just get to work and back.

My train ticket costs me £2k, plenty pay double, triple that or more so whilst seemingly a lot it's the norm for many.

[Zwolf]

SpeckledJim said:

If you're moving anyway, can't you move nearer to work? (or work nearer to home?)

Nope, very happy working and living in those places.

SpeckledJim said:

25,000 commuting miles is an awful lot. At 20mpg it's crazy, but even with LPG you'd be lucky to equate to more than about 35mpg.

Still pretty expensive.

Man maths:

~2,400 miles.

57mpg = 42 gallons of diesel at £6/gallon = £252pm
24mpg = 100 gallons of petrol at £5.75/gallon = £575pm
22mpg = 110 gallons of LPG at £3/gallon = £330pm

So it'd cost £80pm ~£1k more per year in fuel. Which is less than what I'd no longer be paying in company car tax. And I'd be driving a car very much more suited to the use and actually enjoyable.

jonnydm said:

Got any idea of how much it costs to get a permit or rent a garage locally?

£1.5-2k pa (plus an increase in insurance). I'd rather spend it on fuel and driving than parking and letting her fester and bork.

SpeckledJim said:

Either way, it's an awful lot of dosh to just get to work and back.

Plenty of folk I know spend that (and use up mor etime of their day) and more on the combination of running an old heap as a "station car", parking and a season ticket on the train into town.

The increase in maintenance costs from current 6k mpa to 5x that have been very studiously overlooked, of course. Motorway driving is low impact use on things like suspension and the fuel tank won't sit empty long enough to turn to Swiss cheese, plus old BMWs in my experience bork more, the less they are used - they respond positively to regular use, even into their dotage.

Edited by Zwolf on Friday 22 August 16:34

Edited by Zwolf on Friday 22 August 16:35

[jonnydm]

Len, you've obviously thought this through carefully and actually want to do it. I say go for it - who wouldn't want to commute in a 750 given the choice?!

Question that remains is the conversion itself - I'm sure Google will throw up plenty of results but I'd not have a clue what to look out for or who to go to.

[SpeckledJim]

Zwolf said:

SpeckledJim said:

If you're moving anyway, can't you move nearer to work? (or work nearer to home?)

Nope, very happy working and living in those places.

SpeckledJim said:

25,000 commuting miles is an awful lot. At 20mpg it's crazy, but even with LPG you'd be lucky to equate to more than about 35mpg.

Still pretty expensive.

Man maths:

~2,400 miles.

57mpg = 42 gallons of diesel at £6/gallon = £252pm
24mpg = 100 gallons of petrol at £5.75/gallon = £575pm
22mpg = 110 gallons of LPG at £3/gallon = £330pm

So it'd cost £80pm ~£1k more per year in fuel. Which is less than what I'd no longer be paying in company car tax. And I'd be driving a car very much more suited to the use and actually enjoyable.

jonnydm said:

Got any idea of how much it costs to get a permit or rent a garage locally?

£1.5-2k pa. I'd rather spend it on fuel and driving than parking and letting her fester and bork.

The increase in maintenance costs from current 6k mpa to 5x that have been very studiously overlooked, of course. Motorway driving is low impact use on things like suspension and the fuel tank won't sit empty long enough to turn to Swiss cheese, plus old BMWs in my experience bork more, the less they are used - they respond positively to regular use, even into their dotage.

Fair enough.

I'm a charming combination of poor AND tight, so it all gives me the shiites, but on those figures, 750i LPG it is!

It will at least be enjoyable. (DAB radio well-recommended.)

[Zwolf]

SpeckledJim said:

I'm a charming combination of poor AND tight, so it all gives me the shiites, but on those figures, 750i LPG it is!

I'm poor and tight too, just not tight enough to ever actually buy a diesel if it can be at all avoided. It seems it still can, so I'm happy.

SpeckledJim said:

It will at least be enjoyable. (DAB radio well-recommended.)

I tend to drive with either no radio or R4 on quietly, but in cars with DAB I do tend to venture around music stations a bit more. Not something I'd spend much on TBH.

jonnydm said:

Question that remains is the conversion itself - I'm sure Google will throw up plenty of results but I'd not have a clue what to look out for or who to go to.

A neighbour of mine had his V8 Disco converted by Capital Autogas in New Malden four years ago and has had no problems with the conversion at all since, just regular system servicing which i sinexpensive enough, so I'm into research mode on that front. Not the cheapest around (pretty much the dearest locally), but worth every penny apparently.

I've been anti-LPG until the present situation arose, it was suggested and having given it serious thought, does seem to tick the right boxes for me. When the choice becomes drive a diesel or LPG a petrol and the figures are as significant as here, it's a no-brainer I think.

If not, at least I've tried my hardest to remain true to the central tenets of the barging faith!

[Baryonyx]

confused_buyer said:

It easy easy to pick holes in an X308. Often quite literally with your index finger. But. But. There is something about them. They actually have the best ride/handling setup of any car from that era and possibly since. Way ahead of the German stuff.

The Lexus is frankly way ahead in any rational sense and the better car...yet I can fully understand why someone might choose an X308 instead.

Yes, that is a fair assessment. I'm leaning more towards the Jaguar at the moment. Partly because they are more plentiful on the used market.

[Ace-T]

We are parting with Brunhilda. PM me or judas if you are interested!

Hopefully this wont break the rules!

[Tonberry]

Why anti LPG Zwolf?

Having had two LPG cars I don't see the issue. Helps if you don't convert them yourself mind.

[radiodanno]

r129sl said:

Some of the cars advertised for sale on that site are remarkable. It is hard not to like the smoke silver 200 D with the four-speed manual box. Keep fit windows, too. It doesn't even have a wireless set! I bet it brings new meaning to the word "leisurely". Good town car, though.

http://www.gieldaklasykow.pl/mercedes-w124-200d-19...

Edited by r129sl on Friday 22 August 14:35

Would happily sit on the wrong side for that. Very charming.

£6k is big money, but I think that says more about prices there than here.