Best Smoker Barges 1-5 large [Vol 7]

[The Don of Croy]

minimoog said:

Krikkit said:

4WD and 4WS aren't they? Not very handsome from the outside, but the interior looks nice. Pretty much guarantee you'll never see another unless you work at a Honda dealer too.

Just been having a read and apparently they steer and handle brilliantly too. Hmm.

Never seen one either...slap a cheapo number plate on it and 99% of other motorists might deduce you're in a new car.

First time I've seen a car fitted with a specific floor mat over the transmission tunnel, too. But then the Japs do like attention to detail.

[BlackGT3]

JZZ30 said:

Sterillium said:

>>throws fresh meat into the pit<<


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

£3,500 740.

That's nice. I'm fairly new to this thread and haven't been keeping track of costs in general, but that looks strong money for an '01 with 178k miles? Is the 'Sport' particularly sought after?

Very, very strong money wise. I sold my 2000 740 Sport - same spec with 140k miles for 1,790GBP.

No mention of a gearbox rebuild, suspension refresh, rocker cover gasket replacement, water pump replacement, wheel bearings etc.

[barchetta_boy]

Easternlight said:

Stonking. Tempted to move my W124 wagon on for that!

[jonnydm]

E65Ross said:

jonnydm said:

Probably not a bad barge but unless you *need* something on a 56 plate, I think most would prefer an E65, Lexus LS or GS especially when you keep in mind the Honda's turn of pace and the higher level tax.

I suspect the Honda to have generally lower running costs than the others mentioned, mind.

I'd think the extra would be fairly marginal, at least over the Lexus especially when you consider that RFL is £480 and £80 of fuel will only see 200mi~.

Anyway maybe I'm bitter, as a long term follower of the school of avoiding-spending-anything-on-routine-maintenance who's about to pay the second £300 main dealer bill in 3 months.

[harry kular]

RE the Legend, did anyone notice the instrument cluster pic: the fuel guage is just under half full, and the digital range readout states 86 miles!

[Lowtimer]

Probably means it's spent a fair amount of time idling and/or being moved around on cold start enrichment in the last week or so. Which is not ideal, but does not say anything useful about the real world fuel consumption.

[thelawnet]

jonnydm said:

Probably not a bad barge but unless you *need* something on a 56 plate, I think most would prefer an E65, Lexus LS or GS especially when you keep in mind the Honda's turn of pace and the higher level tax.

Pre/post 56 is a £215/year difference. At the £1k car level, pretty significant. At £5k not so much.

Although for the price, this LS430 definitely better:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Edited by thelawnet on Tuesday 28th October 16:21

[vtecyo]

RenesisEvo said:

Just outside of the budget is this 100k mile Honda Legend. Smoked front lenses seem odd but otherwise looks great, even Michelin tyres (well, at least one!).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

One of the chaps at Hond-R owns one that is absolutely stunning. Strong money though..

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

[Fox-]

vtecyo said:

One of the chaps at Hond-R owns one that is absolutely stunning. Strong money though..

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

It looks like it was stunning until he 'scened' it up.

[RenesisEvo]

thelawnet said:

Pre/post 56 is a £215/year difference. At the £1k car level, pretty significant. At £5k not so much.

Although for the price, this LS430 definitely better:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

As good as that Lexus is, to me it looks two generations older than the Legend, despite having the same age plate. I'm rapidly warming to Lexus saloons but I can't muster much enthusiasm for that generation LS that seems to have dated rather quickly. Admittedly, there being no replacement Legend means it gets away with looking fresher than perhaps it might otherwise.

[jonclancy]

Standby for broadcast:

Had my first barge breakdown yesterday. Stranded when the throttle cable on my W124 300E-24 went dead.

Long story short, the throttle body bush had disintegrated. It's a small plastic part that you can get from the dealership for under £1.50. Fitted to MANY older Mercs (124, 129, 201 etc). If yours hasn't been changed, I highly recommend you do so. It'll take about 10 minutes. You need to remove the airbox (on my car, at least - 129s seem to have easier access) and just cut off the old bush and slip the new one on. I also used non-aggressive silicone grease on the bush.

YouTube vid to give the general gist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjB76gWmjbw





That is all...

[Baryonyx]

RenesisEvo said:

Just outside of the budget is this 100k mile Honda Legend. Smoked front lenses seem odd but otherwise looks great, even Michelin tyres (well, at least one!).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

These are great cars, shame they didn't sell a few more!

[texasjohn]

I'm a big fan of the Honda Legend. If one had been available reasonably locally I'd have gone for a nose around and most likely bought it.

As it was I bought an E500 in order to try something other than BMW for a change! The W211 is massively quick (5.5 388 model) and probably not much different on fuel or tax. A bit over thread budget though at 10k alas

[0a]

jonclancy said:

Standby for broadcast:

Had my first barge breakdown yesterday. Stranded when the throttle cable on my W124 300E-24 went dead.

Long story short, the throttle body bush had disintegrated. It's a small plastic part that you can get from the dealership for under £1.50. Fitted to MANY older Mercs (124, 129, 201 etc). If yours hasn't been changed, I highly recommend you do so. It'll take about 10 minutes. You need to remove the airbox (on my car, at least - 129s seem to have easier access) and just cut off the old bush and slip the new one on. I also used non-aggressive silicone grease on the bush.

YouTube vid to give the general gist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjB76gWmjbw





That is all...

Thankyou for the advice jonclancy I may see if I can get this done on my W124 before I collect it (will hopefully have time this week).

[thelawnet]

RenesisEvo said:

As good as that Lexus is, to me it looks two generations older than the Legend, despite having the same age plate. I'm rapidly warming to Lexus saloons but I can't muster much enthusiasm for that generation LS that seems to have dated rather quickly. Admittedly, there being no replacement Legend means it gets away with looking fresher than perhaps it might otherwise.

The corollary of that is that values for 460s just six months older would be almost double, and the 06 430 is likely to be more reliable than the 56 460. You do lose the more modern gadgets though some, like the satnav, aren't modern any more.

[KrisP]

texasjohn said:

I'm a big fan of the Honda Legend. If one had been available reasonably locally I'd have gone for a nose around and most likely bought it.

As it was I bought an E500 in order to try something other than BMW for a change! The W211 is massively quick (5.5 388 model) and probably not much different on fuel or tax. A bit over thread budget though at 10k alas

I'd love to hear more about what you think of the w211, I'm quite keen on one myself at the moment.

[BigBen]

KrisP said:

texasjohn said:

I'm a big fan of the Honda Legend. If one had been available reasonably locally I'd have gone for a nose around and most likely bought it.

As it was I bought an E500 in order to try something other than BMW for a change! The W211 is massively quick (5.5 388 model) and probably not much different on fuel or tax. A bit over thread budget though at 10k alas

I'd love to hear more about what you think of the w211, I'm quite keen on one myself at the moment.

A colleague and I both bought W211 320CDis within a few weeks of each other earlier this year. We are both very very impressed. They really are a car to do everything (except perhaps track work).

[Output Flange]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

16" Style 5s are my preference of E38 wheel. Huge baloon sidewalls give a lovely ride, and 225 wide is plenty for a 7er.

In other barge news, I've been smoking a Passat 1.8t as an interim car for a few weeks. I'd always assumed they'd be absolutely rubbish, but it has actually been a fairly competent piece of kit. Nothing to set your cock alight, but comfortable, nippy enough and decent MPG combine with a massive boot (it's an estate) to make it a useful tool - in a similar vein to a Volvo 850 estate, but without the Scandinavian flair.

It's going to make way now, as it doesn't tick the tow car box for me, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[texasjohn]

KrisP said:

I'd love to hear more about what you think of the w211, I'm quite keen on one myself at the moment.

It's very refined and quiet although it would be better still on 17s (my car has 18" wheels) feels more solid than the E60 and, despite a bigger engine than the 550, is better on fuel by a couple of MPG particularly round town.

It is however a bit too quiet and could do with the centre resonator removed.

The idrive system on the BMW is better but the MB stereo is really quite good (basic system) whereas I have always found on BMWs that you need the Loudspeaker option or Logic7.

It's early days and I'm not gelling with the car as quickly as I'd have liked. After a year of not driving it feels rather big and as I said to Ross offline maybe I should have gone for something a bit less barge like to start off with. As such I have put it back on eBay for sale. I think it will end up being a costly exercise as even if I get the asking price I am still down by the piece of two tyres and wheel refurb.

Out of thread budget but a lovely car, only 35.000 miles. I might take a PX for something a bit smaller but interesting ie ST220

Edited by texasjohn on Wednesday 29th October 10:13

[texasjohn]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It did indeed and thank you very much once again.

An interesting read which very nearly (and possibly should have) led to the purchase of an R32!