Best Smoker Barges 1-5 large [Vol 7]

[BGarside]

0a said:

63k miles, absolutely lovely. It belongs on this thread in my opinion as a mini barge - 6 cylinders, smallish wheels, far more comfortable than some run-flat M-sport nonsense. A far better engine than most modern barges (ie a BMW NA petrol straight 6, not a diesel or turbo). Congratulations!

Edited by 0a on Tuesday 23 September 22:50

Cheers. It's actually got M-Sport suspension but it's pretty plush by today's standards and easily the comfiest car I've yet owned. The 60-profile tyres look balloon-like by modern standards. Engine is smooth but not very 'barge-y' and needs revving to perform...

[BGarside]

cornershop said:

Looked lovely that, but surprised you have had to get anything done yourself - what sort of work des it need?

Precautionary maintenance - water pump / belt / stat and housing / expansion tank.

Also new rear shocks and top mounts, front wishbone bushes and new brakes all round, plus rustproofing the underside.

The only work the car really needed was new front brakes, as the disc/s were warped. The rest is just precautionary maintenance to address E36 weaknesses.

Bill was about £910 in total. I sourced most of the parts myself.

If it's a keeper I'll probably get a new rad, hoses and viscous fan coupling and maybe some new front shocks, top mounts and Eibach springs all round....

[BGarside]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Agreed, definitely belongs here. Looks a cracker - well done. The wait for it over the next 2 weeks will seem interminably slow.

Thanks. I've been waiting about a month already so am getting used to not having the car. Once I get it up here no doubt the snow/ice/salt will have started and it'll not get used much!

[BGarside]

r129sl said:

M113 unburstable. In theory the crankshaft damper can disintegrate and take timing case with it but this doesn't seem to happen any more. They weep oil from the left bank rocker cover but it's nothing to worry about. Crankshaft position sensors fail, causing it to stall and refuse to restart when hot. That's it. These are probably the most reliable engines Merc has ever made, better even than the M119. They also make good torque at all speeds, with a big fat plateau from 2,750 to 4,000rpm. Remember they extracted 640bhp and 600lbft from this engine and fed it through the same transmission in the SLR, so it's not exactly stressed in the S500.

A couple of nice 190Es. This low mileage green one is plain but appealing (is it me or are the wheels a bit odd):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-190E-AUTO-54k-m...


We may have had this 2.6 before. Nice, though:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-190e-2-6-A...

Edited by r129sl on Wednesday 24th September 14:53

Nice 190s! The offset of the wheels does look wrong on the green one - the faces are too flat without the usual positive offset / curvature.

That 2.6 has been here before but looks gorgeous.

[E65Ross]

BGarside said:

0a said:

63k miles, absolutely lovely. It belongs on this thread in my opinion as a mini barge - 6 cylinders, smallish wheels, far more comfortable than some run-flat M-sport nonsense. A far better engine than most modern barges (ie a BMW NA petrol straight 6, not a diesel or turbo). Congratulations!

Edited by 0a on Tuesday 23 September 22:50

Cheers. It's actually got M-Sport suspension but it's pretty plush by today's standards and easily the comfiest car I've yet owned. The 60-profile tyres look balloon-like by modern standards. Engine is smooth but not very 'barge-y' and needs revving to perform...

Engines certainly more barge suited than a 2.0 190e. That's a good mini barge but the engine is a big let down imo.

[Strawman]

bmthnick1981 said:

It's an early one so somewhere around £2k depending on MOT, Tax, service history, state of consumables such as tyres and brakes?

Here's a 2000MY with sub 100k and 12 months MOT for £1800;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-s-class-500-/11...

Lot of car for the money but I think many would prefer the S320 CDI you already have!

Not arguing with your valuation but that one is broken

seller said:

Car start and drives but not react on the gas pedal. A little rust on the wings

[phil_cardiff]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's an E91 325i SE so a bit bargey. Loses barge points for being Spanish but gains big Phil points.

I'm not sure it needs 255/40 R17s on the rear though, it's not particularly grunty but it does sound nice and goes well enough.

I'll miss the torque, seats and stereo of my 9-5 aero but the BMW is in a different league in every other respect.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

bmthnick1981 said:

Quite a few classic mercs at next months classic auction in Poole;

http://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car-auction/classic-...

Anyone here planning on attending? I should be there.

I'm feeling a lot of love for the Opel Monza.
Velour-tastic!

[0a]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

bmthnick1981 said:

Quite a few classic mercs at next months classic auction in Poole;

http://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car-auction/classic-...

Anyone here planning on attending? I should be there.

I'm feeling a lot of love for the Opel Monza.
Velour-tastic!

My eye was drawn to that one as well!

I took this picture last night, the W124 isn't a big car but it looks like a giant in comparison to the mini. I have a massive desire for one...

[PlayersNo6]

r129sl said:

A couple of nice 190Es. This low mileage green one is plain but appealing (is it me or are the wheels a bit odd):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-190E-AUTO-54k-m...

Edited by r129sl on Wednesday 24th September 14:53

Pretty sure those wheels are correct. An old colleague of mine had them on a 'last of the line' K plate LE back in the day.

[bmthnick1981]

Strawman said:

bmthnick1981 said:

It's an early one so somewhere around £2k depending on MOT, Tax, service history, state of consumables such as tyres and brakes?

Here's a 2000MY with sub 100k and 12 months MOT for £1800;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-s-class-500-/11...

Lot of car for the money but I think many would prefer the S320 CDI you already have!

Not arguing with your valuation but that one is broken

seller said:

Car start and drives but not react on the gas pedal. A little rust on the wings

Ah, well spotted I missed that.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

0a said:

I took this picture last night, the W124 isn't a big car but it looks like a giant in comparison to the mini. I have a massive desire for one...

Great pic - a modern car next to those would readily demonstrate the expansion in girth that comes to us all!

Charming though it is, I find the original mini rather lacking on today's roads. I realise that I am probably out of step with most classic-lovers, but they were never brilliant at providing comfortable and safe transport in their day, so there's really not much hope for them nowadays.

[E65Ross]

I personally fecking hate the original mini

[slippery]

I always had massive want for a late Monza GSE. They were a fabulous looking car. The closest I got was a Vauxhall Royale, a Vauxhall Senator and a Carlton GSI, but they were no Monza.
Still bloody good motors though.

[cat220]

E65Ross said:

I personally fecking hate the original mini

Yellow card! I'll excuse it on the basis of youth

[0a]

E65Ross said:

I personally fecking hate the original mini

It's a car designed in the 50s - hate seems rather strong! Look how 'cute' the one above is! Anyway it's not a barge even by my definition...

e38 728 sport in an interesting colour... £2k with negotiation and "Needs to be seen to be appreciated" http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C536834#

[0a]

Why the images are so small in the post I don't know - click on them or the original ad!

[Baryonyx]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I realise that I am probably out of step with most classic-lovers, but they were never brilliant at providing comfortable and safe transport in their day, so there's really not much hope for them nowadays.

As modern transport? fk that. They are still a hoot though they need to be modified into something special. Bucket seats, smaller steering wheel, bigger wheels, sticky tyres, straight through exhaust, throttle bodies, straight cut gears - that makes them a proper little firecracker and outrageously good fun!

My mate who previously ran a V12 XJS now uses a motorbike for day to day use and keeps a sporty Mini for fun.

[E65Ross]

0a said:

E65Ross said:

I personally fecking hate the original mini

It's a car designed in the 50s - hate seems rather strong! Look how 'cute' the one above is! Anyway it's not a barge even by my definition...

e38 728 sport in an interesting colour... £2k with negotiation and "Needs to be seen to be appreciated" http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C536834#

Yes, I was being a bit harsh perhaps....but I really don't like them.

Far too small, cramped, noisy and they have an absurdly small fuel tank, meaning you can't go a decent distance without refuelling.

E38 looks nice. Not toooo sure on the colour, I think Imola suits the E39 better. Looks like a pretty decent price but maybe spec isn't so high - no nav screen for starters.

[cat220]

0a said:

I took this picture last night, the W124 isn't a big car but it looks like a giant in comparison to the mini. I have a massive desire for one...

When I bought my mini I drove it up from Cheltenham to Glasgow, have to admit it was pretty scary passing some HGV's on the M6 with their wheels dwarfing the car. Great little cars though, fantastic fun. Belting round a roundabout in a classic mini is something every petrolhead should experience. However I'd never drive one as a daily now as even the smallest of modern cars dwarf it and well there is the safety aspect.