Best Smoker Barges 1-5 large [Vol 7]

[E65Ross]

W124 said:

I'm having an LS. The mad urge is upon me...

Each to their own. I just find them really boring.

[confused_buyer]

BigBen said:

Did you have a pre or post facelift car. Mine was quite a late W140 so had fully digital climate control and proper parking sensors as opposed to the plethora of buttons and pop up antennae on the earlier cars. My only experience of the earlier cars was going in them when new but can imagine they feel a bit more dated now.

Mine was one of the last made. It always felt a very 1980's car (which it was) and well off the pace compared to the 90's A8 D2/LS/E38 etc.

Don't get me wrong it had appeal - just that as a car it wasn't quite as good as it should have been. I've had a S280 (a 97) as well in the past and oddly I preferred it as expectations were lower.

[confused_buyer]

E65Ross said:

What's it need doing?

Those saying LS400's don't require maintenance.....not entirely true. I know of someone who had loads of issues, suspension will require refreshing just like an E38/S class/A8 etc, they are reliable but I don't think they're THAT much better than ze Germans.

They tend to have less niggles, particularly the later ones. They still wear out though as you point out. That said, I have one lying around I bought about 2 years ago which I know for a fact was last serviced in June 2002 at 63000 miles. Since then it has had nothing but MOT's done apart from an oil change 2 years ago when I bought it with about 85k on the clock (I think it has now done about 95k) which I did myself for about £20. No brakes, tyres, nothing. It is still on the original Dunlop Z8's fitted by a Lexus dealer in about 2001.

Absolutely everything works fine on it and it drives the same as a new one would have.

It is getting to the point where it needs 4 new tyres but if I start spending money on it I'll then feel all guilty and start thinking about cambelts and gearbox oil changes etc. so perhaps I shouldn't start.

I'm not sure many other similar cars could take such total lack of any maintenance and still be fine.

[Pulse]

slippery said:

It's not for sale, but if someone was to wave about three grand under my nose, I'd probably part with it and have a go at something else. The sun keeps coming out so I'd just use my TVR as a daily until the next barge came along.
As you'll see from my Readers Rides thread, a local PHer has been asking me to sell it to him for over a year!

£3k! Insane. So very tempting, but would need to flog the MR2 Roadster first!

[W124]

confused_buyer said:

E65Ross said:

What's it need doing?

Those saying LS400's don't require maintenance.....not entirely true. I know of someone who had loads of issues, suspension will require refreshing just like an E38/S class/A8 etc, they are reliable but I don't think they're THAT much better than ze Germans.

They tend to have less niggles, particularly the later ones. They still wear out though as you point out. That said, I have one lying around I bought about 2 years ago which I know for a fact was last serviced in June 2002 at 63000 miles. Since then it has had nothing but MOT's done apart from an oil change 2 years ago when I bought it with about 85k on the clock (I think it has now done about 95k) which I did myself for about £20. No brakes, tyres, nothing. It is still on the original Dunlop Z8's fitted by a Lexus dealer in about 2001.

Absolutely everything works fine on it and it drives the same as a new one would have.

It is getting to the point where it needs 4 new tyres but if I start spending money on it I'll then feel all guilty and start thinking about cambelts and gearbox oil changes etc. so perhaps I shouldn't start.

I'm not sure many other similar cars could take such total lack of any maintenance and still be fine.

Do you want to sell it?

[0a]

95k miles http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[SuperHangOn]

confused_buyer said:

E65Ross said:

What's it need doing?

Those saying LS400's don't require maintenance.....not entirely true. I know of someone who had loads of issues, suspension will require refreshing just like an E38/S class/A8 etc, they are reliable but I don't think they're THAT much better than ze Germans.

They tend to have less niggles, particularly the later ones. They still wear out though as you point out.

They are very strong cars, but still subject to usual wear 'n tear. The water pump went on mine (fairly big job as meant doing a cambelt), leaving me stranded on the motorway. The PS pump and alternator also packed up (second breakdown). Suspension was creaking in numerous places and the leather had somehow turned plastic.

Point is - despite everyone harping on about how reliable they are, you still need to be just as careful buying as with a BMW/Merc/whatever.

A snotter probably makes less sense than with a W124 as they aren't so easy to bodge with cheap bit from Euro and a Halfords socket set.

Edited by SuperHangOn on Monday 21st April 17:27

[E65Ross]

W124 said:

confused_buyer said:

E65Ross said:

What's it need doing?

Those saying LS400's don't require maintenance.....not entirely true. I know of someone who had loads of issues, suspension will require refreshing just like an E38/S class/A8 etc, they are reliable but I don't think they're THAT much better than ze Germans.

They tend to have less niggles, particularly the later ones. They still wear out though as you point out. That said, I have one lying around I bought about 2 years ago which I know for a fact was last serviced in June 2002 at 63000 miles. Since then it has had nothing but MOT's done apart from an oil change 2 years ago when I bought it with about 85k on the clock (I think it has now done about 95k) which I did myself for about £20. No brakes, tyres, nothing. It is still on the original Dunlop Z8's fitted by a Lexus dealer in about 2001.

Absolutely everything works fine on it and it drives the same as a new one would have.

It is getting to the point where it needs 4 new tyres but if I start spending money on it I'll then feel all guilty and start thinking about cambelts and gearbox oil changes etc. so perhaps I shouldn't start.

I'm not sure many other similar cars could take such total lack of any maintenance and still be fine.

Do you want to sell it?

Not having to change brakes or tyres is nothing special, if I drove gently and hardly ever used the car in that many years my car wouldn't need new tyres or brakes either.

Plenty of cars could go 30k miles without a service with just an oil change in between.....OK the time-lapse is very large but I think you're making it sound more impressive than it actually is.

[Motorrad]

Nogaro Blue S6, owner seems to have looked after it.

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


manual 6 speed
6 months tax
10 months test
129000 miles approx

Kumho ecsta tyres allround with plenty of tread left
Cruise control
Heated black leather seats
koni shocks and H an R springs allround
Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB stereo with steering wheel control
Timing belt done less than 2k ago by myself
Nearly new petrol tank fitted last year
And new windscreen fitted about 6 months ago

[confused_buyer]

E65Ross said:

Plenty of cars could go 30k miles without a service with just an oil change in between.....OK the time-lapse is very large but I think you're making it sound more impressive than it actually is.

Apart from your E65. (Sorry, that was a bit below the belt.)

Seriously, they wear out just like any other car, but are good on the basics like electrics, niggly bits and still feeling together after a lot of years. The engines and gearboxes are also very good.

Suspension can get tired at high miles, on the early ones the PAS fluid can leak onto the alternator, but when I think of other barges from the same era I've had and what has gone wrong (A8 4.2 valve seals shot at 70k, another A8 gearbox gone at 85k, E38 gearbox gone at 110k, several Mercedes rusting away as you look at them) I've had about 6 LS400's of various generations and ages/mileages and none have had major failures or expenses. I can only speak as I find. I've never got the whole "but it shares bits with a Corolla thing". A S-Class has switchgear shared with a van and a 750i shared with a 116i so, so what?

(I'd add that the LS430 is no where near as good).

Edited by confused_buyer on Monday 21st April 18:37

[confused_buyer]

W124 said:

Do you want to sell it?

Not at the moment. To be honest, it could do with a bit of tidying up (wheels are corroded, I hit the front bumper in the station car park a couple of months back and the front wing has a terrible paint job) so I'm trying to make up my mind whether to give it a good overhaul or not.

Every time I sell a LS I regret it 6 months later and end up buying another one. There are some real dogs out there now and it is becoming hard to find ones below 100k.

[E65Ross]

confused_buyer said:

E65Ross said:

Plenty of cars could go 30k miles without a service with just an oil change in between.....OK the time-lapse is very large but I think you're making it sound more impressive than it actually is.

Apart from your E65. (Sorry, that was a bit below the belt.)

Seriously, they wear out just like any other car, but are good on the basics like electrics, niggly bits and still feeling together after a lot of years.

So what bork have I had that isn't wear and tear related and was something not age related?

I've had a sensor for the oil pressure go. Something that would have actually been totally fine to drive with. Nothing that has failed has been anything major by any means, most of my work has been remedial (gearbox), boggo servicing or wear and tear related. The only bork I've actually had have been 2 sensors, both were cheap as fk and weren't detrimental to how it drove.

Edited by E65Ross on Monday 21st April 19:05

[0a]

Motorrad said:

Nogaro Blue S6, owner seems to have looked after it.

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

This era of Audi really does look nice to my eyes. I did like the look of my old A8 even if I wasn't a massive fan of the car itself. They look very 'hewn', especially in a bold colour like that. Modern Audis really don't appeal.

I even like the later model - this seems like a cheapish way to 380 bhp and some nice seats, and is very well specced. Only 80k miles. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014... There's probably some bork potential I'm not aware of though.

[bmthnick1981]

Motorrad said:

Nogaro Blue S6, owner seems to have looked after it.

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


manual 6 speed
6 months tax
10 months test
129000 miles approx

Kumho ecsta tyres allround with plenty of tread left
Cruise control
Heated black leather seats
koni shocks and H an R springs allround
Blaupunkt Woodstock DAB stereo with steering wheel control
Timing belt done less than 2k ago by myself
Nearly new petrol tank fitted last year
And new windscreen fitted about 6 months ago

Love that, good find.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

E65Ross said:

So what bork have I had that isn't wear and tear related and was something not age related?

Relax Ross. He's pulling your chain.

It's not a competition - we're a broad church in here.

[0a]

Indeed, so long as it's a six cylinder Mercedes w124 with ambers, leather, and A/C, pretty much anything goes really!

[E65Ross]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

E65Ross said:

So what bork have I had that isn't wear and tear related and was something not age related?

Relax Ross. He's pulling your chain.

It's not a competition - we're a broad church in here.

Just because I don't want to drive around in some rotten shed. I genuinely find it a shame people treat cars which were once so glamorous and prestigious (well, perhaps not the LS) in a way they demise rather badly. I didn't need to get just about the best possible tyres, I didn't need to get the gearbox serviced, I didn't need to get those sensors fixed after I found out what they were but I did anyway.

I just hope he's at least changed the brake fluid since 2001.

[slippery]

0a said:

Indeed, so long as it's a six cylinder Mercedes w124 with ambers, leather, and A/C, pretty much anything goes really!

I actually think that the earlier mention of the X350 Super V8 was an excellent call as far as the spirit of barging goes.

[Mikey_W]

My old man inherited a '95 LS 400 from a fellow director back in 1995.. Beforehand he had as a company car a '89 535i, a '91 735i and a 740iL (think it was a '94), but the Lexi knocked all if them into a cocked hat for refinement and NVH.. It was many moons ago but my word they were good back then..

He ended up doing around 140k miles in it over 2 and a bit years! And nothing went wrong - only servicing and brakes etc..

He was a BMW man at heart and when he retired he ended up with a string of lovely Bimmers and a Mk1 Lotus Cortina

[0a]

slippery said:

0a said:

Indeed, so long as it's a six cylinder Mercedes w124 with ambers, leather, and A/C, pretty much anything goes really!

I actually think that the earlier mention of the X350 Super V8 was an excellent call as far as the spirit of barging goes.

I do like these XJs, I just know very little about them and when I post one it's always the wrong one! I think I will just go quiet and then buy a random one at some point. I have a self imposed restriction to get the W124 fixed up first before buying any more cars. I have a big (and growing pile) of boxes accumulated already and only need a few more items before starting the suspension work.

I saw a citroen C6 yesterday - it looked excellent stopped on one of Edinburgh's pleasant classical streets. That surely is a barge, and one with impressive bork potential. Autotrader only shows a high mile example in budget - have they stopped depreciating or something?