One year on with my cheap Murcielago
Discussion
Have just renewed insurance so have now had the Orange Paris Murcielago for one year, will list my costs and issues;
about 1500 miles
Small things and odd and sods from Lambo Sevenoaks, I don't think I have ever bought anything from them for over £60 - hoses, number plate lights etc
Service - all fluids / filter and plugs £450
Audi A6 ashtray £18
Glue to re- glue leather £15 on door cards / instrument binnacle.
Door Struts £60
Rear view mirror - Audi A6 part £20.
Mike Pullen inspection £210 - never got a receipt....
Lift hoses £130
It needs painting - but there is no immediate rush for that, some more leather tidying and Rocker / cam covers painting will get them powder coated this winter.
It has a coolant leak which you can smell but cant see, I have had the system pressure tested and poking all over the engine still couldn't spot a leak !
I think the sump gasket may be weeping.
Predictably didn't get the extra key from the Paris dealer.
Passed its MOT with no advisories last week.
Not a bad first year of ownership
about 1500 miles
Small things and odd and sods from Lambo Sevenoaks, I don't think I have ever bought anything from them for over £60 - hoses, number plate lights etc
Service - all fluids / filter and plugs £450
Audi A6 ashtray £18
Glue to re- glue leather £15 on door cards / instrument binnacle.
Door Struts £60
Rear view mirror - Audi A6 part £20.
Mike Pullen inspection £210 - never got a receipt....
Lift hoses £130
It needs painting - but there is no immediate rush for that, some more leather tidying and Rocker / cam covers painting will get them powder coated this winter.
It has a coolant leak which you can smell but cant see, I have had the system pressure tested and poking all over the engine still couldn't spot a leak !
I think the sump gasket may be weeping.
Predictably didn't get the extra key from the Paris dealer.
Passed its MOT with no advisories last week.
Not a bad first year of ownership
As a possible potential owner I find your posts really interesting including the amazing story of nervously picking the car up, hoping it wouldn't die in traffic, etc.
As a hands-on person who does all his own work, no matter how complex the car, I am very inspired reading about how you sorted early issues like the throttle bodies.
I don't mention the possibility of buying a Lamborghini to any friends now because they are in the "joe public mindset" that the clutch will wear out every 100 miles and major eye-wateringly expensive repairs occur every 5 minutes.
My research indicates otherwise and there are some ingenious owners out there like yourself. When I first started looking for "people who work on their own Lamborghini" I thought my search would come out blank. However there's a lot of useful information out there including the guy who's made his own tool for dismantling the shocks and repairing them with seals that cost pennies, rather than the £1800 cost per unit.
A friend has owned a 2007 LP640 for 4 years and I don't think it has ever needed anything costing any amount of money and it's now worth more than he paid for it. On top of that we went on a European roadtrip in July (6 cars of varying descriptions including the Murcielago, we went to the Lamborghini factory and the other one where they make the "Prancing Horses" ...) and the old Murci didn't miss a beat in 2800 miles.
Keep this good stuff coming!
Malc.
As a hands-on person who does all his own work, no matter how complex the car, I am very inspired reading about how you sorted early issues like the throttle bodies.
I don't mention the possibility of buying a Lamborghini to any friends now because they are in the "joe public mindset" that the clutch will wear out every 100 miles and major eye-wateringly expensive repairs occur every 5 minutes.
My research indicates otherwise and there are some ingenious owners out there like yourself. When I first started looking for "people who work on their own Lamborghini" I thought my search would come out blank. However there's a lot of useful information out there including the guy who's made his own tool for dismantling the shocks and repairing them with seals that cost pennies, rather than the £1800 cost per unit.
A friend has owned a 2007 LP640 for 4 years and I don't think it has ever needed anything costing any amount of money and it's now worth more than he paid for it. On top of that we went on a European roadtrip in July (6 cars of varying descriptions including the Murcielago, we went to the Lamborghini factory and the other one where they make the "Prancing Horses" ...) and the old Murci didn't miss a beat in 2800 miles.
Keep this good stuff coming!
Malc.
Brilliant. I've just found your original post here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Any more details? Is it rude to ask what ballpark you paid?
Any more details? Is it rude to ask what ballpark you paid?
Just to add to this piece, I agree with Del Mar, I have had my Murci for sixteen months and although I have spent a little more than he has (mostly underfloor panels which we re damaged due to stones, and just getting it back to the condition I wanted, the cost has not been severe. I would be grateful for a link to the piece about the guy who has repaired his own shock absorbers.
The key for me is to share problems and solutions without worrying the Lambo community will think the car is a melon and to stay clear in the future. I was an owner of a De-Tomaso for 16 years and spent four of the last years cutting out rust and turning the car into a concourse example. The car was one of the best in Europe when I finished and I had no concerns showing the buyers the work. So lets not forget in ten more years these will be old cars and common faults will be appearing, so as long as us car enthusiasts do the work correctly it should be a positive rather than a negative.
Thoughts? John
The key for me is to share problems and solutions without worrying the Lambo community will think the car is a melon and to stay clear in the future. I was an owner of a De-Tomaso for 16 years and spent four of the last years cutting out rust and turning the car into a concourse example. The car was one of the best in Europe when I finished and I had no concerns showing the buyers the work. So lets not forget in ten more years these will be old cars and common faults will be appearing, so as long as us car enthusiasts do the work correctly it should be a positive rather than a negative.
Thoughts? John
Just caught up (thanks to poster for link to original thread) and great to see someone take a gamble and it pay off. I did the same with my, albeit considerably cheaper, E30 M3 BMW that I flew to Ireland for. I think people avoided mine due to a lack of history and track use? Anyway, great use of Internet researching for part number and willingness to get your hands dirty.
Do you plan to do any paint repairs? Did you replace the tyres?
More pics please!
Do you plan to do any paint repairs? Did you replace the tyres?
More pics please!
S10GTA said:
Brilliant. I've just found your original post here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Any more details? Is it rude to ask what ballpark you paid?
It was advertised for €94,000. last years exchange rate was better that than this years !Any more details? Is it rude to ask what ballpark you paid?
Tyres are still ok.
The bottom 6 inches of the car are stone chipped / scuffed so will need doing. I would strip the car myself and a I know a decent paint man.
John.
There are so few of these out there that any information found and shared would be beneficial to all owners. I am happy to have a go at most things bar engine work - if it goes wrong that hurts. Having a lift helps a lot.
In your Pantera repairs did you ever deal with Roland in Germany ?
SydneySE is a great source of knowledge - changed his own clutch in an underground garage !
The bottom 6 inches of the car are stone chipped / scuffed so will need doing. I would strip the car myself and a I know a decent paint man.
John.
There are so few of these out there that any information found and shared would be beneficial to all owners. I am happy to have a go at most things bar engine work - if it goes wrong that hurts. Having a lift helps a lot.
In your Pantera repairs did you ever deal with Roland in Germany ?
SydneySE is a great source of knowledge - changed his own clutch in an underground garage !
malc350 said:
As a possible potential owner I find your posts really interesting including the amazing story of nervously picking the car up, hoping it wouldn't die in traffic, etc.
As a hands-on person who does all his own work, no matter how complex the car, I am very inspired reading about how you sorted early issues like the throttle bodies.
I don't mention the possibility of buying a Lamborghini to any friends now because they are in the "joe public mindset" that the clutch will wear out every 100 miles and major eye-wateringly expensive repairs occur every 5 minutes.
My research indicates otherwise and there are some ingenious owners out there like yourself. When I first started looking for "people who work on their own Lamborghini" I thought my search would come out blank. However there's a lot of useful information out there including the guy who's made his own tool for dismantling the shocks and repairing them with seals that cost pennies, rather than the £1800 cost per unit.
A friend has owned a 2007 LP640 for 4 years and I don't think it has ever needed anything costing any amount of money and it's now worth more than he paid for it. On top of that we went on a European roadtrip in July (6 cars of varying descriptions including the Murcielago, we went to the Lamborghini factory and the other one where they make the "Prancing Horses" ...) and the old Murci didn't miss a beat in 2800 miles.
Keep this good stuff coming!
Malc.
The Murcielago is way way more robust than the Gallardo for example. The clutch myth still persists to this day. As some will know my Murcielago has had 7 clutches but then again has done 258,000 miles. That's over 36,000 miles per clutch. As a hands-on person who does all his own work, no matter how complex the car, I am very inspired reading about how you sorted early issues like the throttle bodies.
I don't mention the possibility of buying a Lamborghini to any friends now because they are in the "joe public mindset" that the clutch will wear out every 100 miles and major eye-wateringly expensive repairs occur every 5 minutes.
My research indicates otherwise and there are some ingenious owners out there like yourself. When I first started looking for "people who work on their own Lamborghini" I thought my search would come out blank. However there's a lot of useful information out there including the guy who's made his own tool for dismantling the shocks and repairing them with seals that cost pennies, rather than the £1800 cost per unit.
A friend has owned a 2007 LP640 for 4 years and I don't think it has ever needed anything costing any amount of money and it's now worth more than he paid for it. On top of that we went on a European roadtrip in July (6 cars of varying descriptions including the Murcielago, we went to the Lamborghini factory and the other one where they make the "Prancing Horses" ...) and the old Murci didn't miss a beat in 2800 miles.
Keep this good stuff coming!
Malc.
It's my firm belief that owners style of driving is the sole culprit of wearing out a clutch. As an ex-instructor sat next to people driving SG54 on the track from 2005-8 I was amazed at the amount of 'experienced' drivers who ride the clutch and rest their foot on it. Some will think nothing of reversing up a hill which murders a clutch.
The only weak spot in early Murcielago's is the throttle bodies which do go out of adjustment occasionally and result in hunting at idle as has been said above. Its an easy fix at a Lambo specialist.
What you don't get in a Murcielago is worn piston rings which happens like clockwork on a 60,000 mile Gallardo resulting in lots of blue smoke on start up, internal switches that fall off and a fair few other anomalies at that mileage.
The 4 Gallardo's that I run on 6th Gears event days all displayed the above. Digressing I know but the newer LP560 don't do any of the above and are head and shoulders above the earlier Gallardo.
The Murcielago & LP640 in my experience is the Lambo to go for reliability wise..
Hello Del Mar,
I reckon you are referring to Roland Jaekel. I have met him several times but did most of the work myself with many parts from the USA (some were a complete waste of money and had to be reordered. The build took me and a friend about 4000 hours over the years.
I reckon you are referring to Roland Jaekel. I have met him several times but did most of the work myself with many parts from the USA (some were a complete waste of money and had to be reordered. The build took me and a friend about 4000 hours over the years.
del mar said:
Tyres are still ok.
The bottom 6 inches of the car are stone chipped / scuffed so will need doing. I would strip the car myself and a I know a decent paint man.
John.
There are so few of these out there that any information found and shared would be beneficial to all owners. I am happy to have a go at most things bar engine work - if it goes wrong that hurts. Having a lift helps a lot.
In your Pantera repairs did you ever deal with Roland in Germany ?
SydneySE is a great source of knowledge - changed his own clutch in an underground garage !
The bottom 6 inches of the car are stone chipped / scuffed so will need doing. I would strip the car myself and a I know a decent paint man.
John.
There are so few of these out there that any information found and shared would be beneficial to all owners. I am happy to have a go at most things bar engine work - if it goes wrong that hurts. Having a lift helps a lot.
In your Pantera repairs did you ever deal with Roland in Germany ?
SydneySE is a great source of knowledge - changed his own clutch in an underground garage !
Edited by John Rutter on Friday 30th September 21:30
There's a lot of guys that completely disagree with you on this forum. I don't know who to believe.
http://www.lambopower.com/forum/index.php?showtopi...
http://www.lambopower.com/forum/index.php?showtopi...
simonspider said:
The Murcielago is way way more robust than the Gallardo for example. The clutch myth still persists to this day. As some will know my Murcielago has had 7 clutches but then again has done 258,000 miles. That's over 36,000 miles per clutch.
It's my firm belief that owners style of driving is the sole culprit of wearing out a clutch. As an ex-instructor sat next to people driving SG54 on the track from 2005-8 I was amazed at the amount of 'experienced' drivers who ride the clutch and rest their foot on it. Some will think nothing of reversing up a hill which murders a clutch.
The only weak spot in early Murcielago's is the throttle bodies which do go out of adjustment occasionally and result in hunting at idle as has been said above. Its an easy fix at a Lambo specialist.
What you don't get in a Murcielago is worn piston rings which happens like clockwork on a 60,000 mile Gallardo resulting in lots of blue smoke on start up, internal switches that fall off and a fair few other anomalies at that mileage.
The 4 Gallardo's that I run on 6th Gears event days all displayed the above. Digressing I know but the newer LP560 don't do any of the above and are head and shoulders above the earlier Gallardo.
The Murcielago & LP640 in my experience is the Lambo to go for reliability wise..
It's my firm belief that owners style of driving is the sole culprit of wearing out a clutch. As an ex-instructor sat next to people driving SG54 on the track from 2005-8 I was amazed at the amount of 'experienced' drivers who ride the clutch and rest their foot on it. Some will think nothing of reversing up a hill which murders a clutch.
The only weak spot in early Murcielago's is the throttle bodies which do go out of adjustment occasionally and result in hunting at idle as has been said above. Its an easy fix at a Lambo specialist.
What you don't get in a Murcielago is worn piston rings which happens like clockwork on a 60,000 mile Gallardo resulting in lots of blue smoke on start up, internal switches that fall off and a fair few other anomalies at that mileage.
The 4 Gallardo's that I run on 6th Gears event days all displayed the above. Digressing I know but the newer LP560 don't do any of the above and are head and shoulders above the earlier Gallardo.
The Murcielago & LP640 in my experience is the Lambo to go for reliability wise..
Edited by lotusespritse on Saturday 22 October 04:42
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