Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol11]

[CharlesdeGaulle]

0a said:

Jimmy Recard said:

JF87 said:

Big-spec early E500 for £3,250 on the mbclub site. This is the kind of chap you want to buy a car off:

Vendor said:

There are 3 mat buttons missing but they are only available from the USA but I am going there at the end of April so I will buy some and forward on to the buyer.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/classifieds-cars-sa...

Yep, I like the look of this car and the sound of the seller

Wow this looks like solid 1-5 thread material: big engine, loads of work done and a great ad, good miles so the car will be sufficiently tested by now.

Agreed, great spot. All that car really needs is to be an estate.

[callahan]

0a said:

callahan said:

Oh dear. I made the mistake of finally getting the 'Barge Swap Shop' C32 serviced and coolant issue looked at and just got some scary figures back from the Mercedes specialist.

According to internet lore the C32 has an almost unburstable cylinder head, but my specialist thinks therein lies the problem, so a re-skim is needed. £1400 labour. Plus VAT.

Plus the cost of the service, so about £2k all in.

I'm sure that a newish car would have depreciated by more than that in the year I've had it. I am trying very hard to convince myself of that.

Just paid the bill for the w124 - MOT, 2 new tyres, a bulb, proper tracking to get rid of the annoying vibration at 70 - £143.

Thanks. I'll go older Merc next time!

Man maths is definitely being used, although Mrs C is remarkably relaxed about the holiday money being spent on the car!

[tobinen]

golfer19 said:

callahan said:

Oh dear. I made the mistake of finally getting the 'Barge Swap Shop' C32 serviced and coolant issue looked at and just got some scary figures back from the Mercedes specialist.

According to internet lore the C32 has an almost unburstable cylinder head, but my specialist thinks therein lies the problem, so a re-skim is needed. £1400 labour. Plus VAT.

Plus the cost of the service, so about £2k all in.

I'm sure that a newish car would have depreciated by more than that in the year I've had it. I am trying very hard to convince myself of that.

Some man maths required.

I don't know what relationship you have with your specialist , but I'd want more than just 'thinks' before parting with that sort of money

[BrabusMog]

0a said:

I also have to confirm that I have gone with the flying approach to the holiday. All booked... Edinburgh - Krakow - Rome - Berlin - Edinburgh for less than the fuel to mid way through France. The economics and time approach didn't work for me this time.

At some point in the future I will have an epic European driving trip but not this time. I will do it when I own a v12

I fly at least 6 times a month, if driving was remotely viable it'd be the option I take.

[golfer19]

Moving on from aeroplanes have any of you guys any experience of the 628 6 Series as opposed to the more common 635.
Doesn't seem to be that many about.
Are they that much down on power.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Lowtimer said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

If that was in the 0-5 Retro thread it might be vaguely interesting. Here, it's a shocker.

A bit harsh I think. It's as bargey as a barge can be, and has never been anything else but a barge, a proper mobile sofa of a thing.

A shocker here not because it isn't a barge, but because it's awful.

[mondayo]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

0a said:

Jimmy Recard said:

JF87 said:

Big-spec early E500 for £3,250 on the mbclub site. This is the kind of chap you want to buy a car off:

Vendor said:

There are 3 mat buttons missing but they are only available from the USA but I am going there at the end of April so I will buy some and forward on to the buyer.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/classifieds-cars-sa...

Yep, I like the look of this car and the sound of the seller

Wow this looks like solid 1-5 thread material: big engine, loads of work done and a great ad, good miles so the car will be sufficiently tested by now.

Agreed, great spot. All that car really needs is to be an estate.

Seek and ye shall find
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-E500-AUTO-...
You can probably guess the seller from the picture and the description "rare car, one female owner"

Edited by mondayo on Monday 27th February 22:30

[derin100]

mondayo said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

0a said:

Jimmy Recard said:

JF87 said:

Big-spec early E500 for £3,250 on the mbclub site. This is the kind of chap you want to buy a car off:

Vendor said:

There are 3 mat buttons missing but they are only available from the USA but I am going there at the end of April so I will buy some and forward on to the buyer.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/classifieds-cars-sa...

Yep, I like the look of this car and the sound of the seller

Wow this looks like solid 1-5 thread material: big engine, loads of work done and a great ad, good miles so the car will be sufficiently tested by now.

Agreed, great spot. All that car really needs is to be an estate.

Seek and ye shall find
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-E500-AUTO-...
You can probably guess the seller from the picture and the description "rare car, one female owner"

Edited by mondayo on Monday 27th February 22:30

Given the quality of his camera...and I'm not saying his method doesn't work...I mean the Palmier 'brand' is now well established so "if it ain't broke ; don't fix it"...but couldn't he find a better back-drop to his pictures than parked kerbside in some non-descript North London suburb?

[jke11y]

That just shows what decent pictures will do; not even a single line in the description and it's up to £3600. Either that or shill bidding

[E24man]

golfer19 said:

Moving on from aeroplanes have any of you guys any experience of the 628 6 Series as opposed to the more common 635.
Doesn't seem to be that many about.
Are they that much down on power.

There's not many about as they were not as popular as the 635CSi back when they were new. The 6 Series was quite a price hike over the similar 5 Series even back then and also slightly more than the 7 Series until the E32 popped up so if you had the money to buy a 6 Series, relatively speaking the 635 wasn't much more than the 628. The M635 was a lot more expensive through all its years.

IIRC they were 182bhp vs 218bhp so not much on paper these days but the power is lost across the range as neither engine is a peaky rev-hungry multi-valver and there is a slighter larger loss on torque. If you haven't driven a 3.5 engined M30 car you probably won't know any different but the moment you drive the larger engine you'll notice.

They are lower spec cars so rarely have AC, the '80's trip computer, leccy seats and if its an auto it will probably be non-switchable gearbox. There are also quite a lot of mechanical differences under the skin so brakes are smaller, perhaps no ABS (?), different engine management and a different rear diff.

That said, they have just the same shark-nosed looks of the rest of the E24 range and IMHO are the best looking of the shark-nosed era of BMW's. It will whistle along quite nicely and as long as you are a welder (or best mates with one) shouldn't give you too many restless nights of the broken-barge variety.

I use a 635 as a daily and I always get complimented on it or have people let me out or slow as they pass by to take in the lines, but the M635 takes the plaudits as the real attention grabber. Lower, faster and leagues rarer again - mine is a grage queen after a small bit of welding and paintwork touch-up got a huge amount of mission creep into a full on restoration.

E24 prices are on the up as a whole, probably only due to a tip in the demand and supply see-saw; I suspect prices of 635's and 628's (and 633's and the odd 630) will only continue their slow rise as the demand for the first time starts to exceed supply but the M635's took off with the E28's a few years ago so the sub-10k good condition M635 has become the missed opportunity of the past now they are nearly all in the £25k plus bracket.

Hope that helps.

Edit to add; UK rhd numbers sold were about 5,300-ish 635's, just shy of a thousand 628's, a similar amount of 630's and 633's and just 524 M635's. There are over a thousand 635's left with more than 500 on the road, and about half of the M635's are left with less than half of them on the road, probably less than 100.

Edited by E24man on Tuesday 28th February 07:03

[Biglips]

Would love to know where he gets his stock from. He keeps turning up some lovely barges. He gets top dollar on his sales but good luck to him as they are beautifully presented.. his eBay feedback is also very good Has anyone from this parish bought from him? Does the reality match the glossy sales?

[r129sl]

derin100 said:

mondayo said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

0a said:

Jimmy Recard said:

JF87 said:

Big-spec early E500 for £3,250 on the mbclub site. This is the kind of chap you want to buy a car off:

Vendor said:

There are 3 mat buttons missing but they are only available from the USA but I am going there at the end of April so I will buy some and forward on to the buyer.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/classifieds-cars-sa...

Yep, I like the look of this car and the sound of the seller

Wow this looks like solid 1-5 thread material: big engine, loads of work done and a great ad, good miles so the car will be sufficiently tested by now.

Agreed, great spot. All that car really needs is to be an estate.

Seek and ye shall find
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-BENZ-E500-AUTO-...
You can probably guess the seller from the picture and the description "rare car, one female owner"

Edited by mondayo on Monday 27th February 22:30

Given the quality of his camera...and I'm not saying his method doesn't work...I mean the Palmier 'brand' is now well established so "if it ain't broke ; don't fix it"...but couldn't he find a better back-drop to his pictures than parked kerbside in some non-descript North London suburb?

I can see there being a lot of competition for that car. And I might join it. Oh my.

Biglips said:

Would love to know where he gets his stock from. He keeps turning up some lovely barges. He gets top dollar on his sales but good luck to him as they are beautifully presented.. his eBay feedback is also very good Has anyone from this parish bought from him? Does the reality match the glossy sales?

One of our number bought a w140 from him. I seem to recall it was 95% as described, which is about as much as you can hope for from a car dealer.

I'd have thought he gets his stock from a MB dealer. Most stuff taken in part-ex goes off to auction but occasionally there'll be something that is too good and won't realise its potential at auction; there may also be a bit of a side arrangement with a salesman.

[Biglips]

r129sl said:

One of our number bought a w140 from him. I seem to recall it was 95% as described, which is about as much as you can hope for from a car dealer.

I'd have thought he gets his stock from a MB dealer. Most stuff taken in part-ex goes off to auction but occasionally there'll be something that is too good and won't realise its potential at auction; there may also be a bit of a side arrangement with a salesman.

Also as it is an auction I suppose the market sets the price so unless he has a system for shill bidding he cannot be accused of asking outrageous prices. Will be interested to see the description on this when he puts it up.

[golfer19]

E24man said:

golfer19 said:

Moving on from aeroplanes have any of you guys any experience of the 628 6 Series as opposed to the more common 635.
Doesn't seem to be that many about.
Are they that much down on power.

There's not many about as they were not as popular as the 635CSi back when they were new. The 6 Series was quite a price hike over the similar 5 Series even back then and also slightly more than the 7 Series until the E32 popped up so if you had the money to buy a 6 Series, relatively speaking the 635 wasn't much more than the 628. The M635 was a lot more expensive through all its years.

IIRC they were 182bhp vs 218bhp so not much on paper these days but the power is lost across the range as neither engine is a peaky rev-hungry multi-valver and there is a slighter larger loss on torque. If you haven't driven a 3.5 engined M30 car you probably won't know any different but the moment you drive the larger engine you'll notice.

They are lower spec cars so rarely have AC, the '80's trip computer, leccy seats and if its an auto it will probably be non-switchable gearbox. There are also quite a lot of mechanical differences under the skin so brakes are smaller, perhaps no ABS (?), different engine management and a different rear diff.

That said, they have just the same shark-nosed looks of the rest of the E24 range and IMHO are the best looking of the shark-nosed era of BMW's. It will whistle along quite nicely and as long as you are a welder (or best mates with one) shouldn't give you too many restless nights of the broken-barge variety.

I use a 635 as a daily and I always get complimented on it or have people let me out or slow as they pass by to take in the lines, but the M635 takes the plaudits as the real attention grabber. Lower, faster and leagues rarer again - mine is a grage queen after a small bit of welding and paintwork touch-up got a huge amount of mission creep into a full on restoration.

E24 prices are on the up as a whole, probably only due to a tip in the demand and supply see-saw; I suspect prices of 635's and 628's (and 633's and the odd 630) will only continue their slow rise as the demand for the first time starts to exceed supply but the M635's took off with the E28's a few years ago so the sub-10k good condition M635 has become the missed opportunity of the past now they are nearly all in the £25k plus bracket.

Hope that helps.

Edit to add; UK rhd numbers sold were about 5,300-ish 635's, just shy of a thousand 628's, a similar amount of 630's and 633's and just 524 M635's. There are over a thousand 635's left with more than 500 on the road, and about half of the M635's are left with less than half of them on the road, probably less than 100.

Edited by E24man on Tuesday 28th February 07:03

Thank you very much for the detailed reply.
Very informative.
The 628 we are looking at reads very well in the ad.
Nice history and very well presented at just a bit over thread budget.

[twoblacklines]

r129sl said:

Drive. Even if you're coming from Land's End it's probably quicker than flying

I used to go from Cornwall to Liverpool. Driving would take 6-8 hours.

Flying however, even including the 30 min drive SOUTH to the airport (Newquay) would take less than 2 hours combined.

Do you just pluck theses "facts" out of thin air or something?

[E24man]

golfer19 said:

Thank you very much for the detailed reply.
Very informative.
The 628 we are looking at reads very well in the ad.
Nice history and very well presented at just a bit over thread budget.

You're very welcome. Looking through some old brochures the first 628's came with a 4 or 5 speed manual gearbox, with a 3 speed auto as an option, and no ABS. Later 628's came with a 5 speed manual or a 4 speed non-switchable gearbox, ABS as standard but AC was an option from start to finish with all 628s.

As an interesting aside to how premium the 6 Series was when new, all the time it was sold alongside the E23 7 Series the 6 Series cost more, and the new prices in September 1986 alongside the E28 5 Series were;

528i £16,250
628CSi £22,765

535i £20,840
M535i £21,150
635CSi £28,975

M5 £32,390
M635CSi £38,990

All E24's rust so take a magnet along and check wheelarches, sills, front wings, inner front wings to the footwell and inside the engine bay, roof (especially with a sunroof), underneath the rear lights and in the boot. As with all 1980's and 1990's BMW's they can suffer with a steering 'shimmy' which is usually worn control arm bushes often exacerbated by over-size wheels.

Good luck, here's my pair in chillier times....

[Sir Snaz]

Chaps ..... I'm thinking of diving into the 1-5 club ......probably nearer the 1-2 end if I'm honest as I just need something as a back up .........just wondered what peoples view was on insuring cars this cheap .....do you tend to go just 3rd party fire and theft route?

[Lowtimer]

TPFT is often more expensive than comprehensive these days: counter-intuitive but true.
Just insure the car normally. They are not usually very expensive to insure, especially old Mercs.

[MJK 24]

Sir Snaz said:

Chaps ..... I'm thinking of diving into the 1-5 club ......probably nearer the 1-2 end if I'm honest as I just need something as a back up .........just wondered what peoples view was on insuring cars this cheap .....do you tend to go just 3rd party fire and theft route?

My W124 is insured for £4k agreed value fully comp on a Classic policy. Premium is approx £140 per annum. I'm mid 30's and it's parked on the drive with 5,000 miles per annum permitted. Double the mileage allowance would have added another £30 I think.

[Lowtimer]

I'm paying £700 a year total for my three - modified 1990 944 Turbo (agreed value £20K), 1993 500SL (£10K), and 2000 BMW 530i Touring at £3K. BMW on driveway, others garaged, North Yorkshire based.