Best Smoker Barges 1-5 large [Vol 7]

[hornetrider]

E65Ross said:

E65 has gone in today for some work and it won't be ready until Monday

Turns out the reason the front tyres were wearing unevenly (more so the OSF) was due to the camber being way off, and the OSF spring was 14-15mm lower than the NSF. The OSR spring was also lower than the NSR spring.....so yes, it's getting 4 new springs!

Mate is getting it sorted, I asked is it worth doing the shocks too and he said it rides fine and they aren't leaking so not to worry, just change them at a later date if needed. I then said about increased labour cost and he simply said "don't you worry about that, you're getting a very good deal on that).

Secondly, I can't recall exactly but something like the rear track adjuster or rod end or something or the other is seized solid do needs a new one which won't arrive until tomorrow.

So, that needs doing, 4 new springs, 4 new tyres, new fuel filter, air filter, microfilter plus the cause of the steering wheel shimmy under braking all at once. Ouch!! Will easily be my biggest ever car bill.

You've bought a money pit!

E65Ross said:

Perhaps a daft question but I genuinely don't know....after getting 4 new springs and tyres (and the other bits) will there be a noticeably difference in how it rides/handles!?

I don't think it is a daft question. I'm no guru but I don't think you'll really notice. Now, if you'd done your shocks too...

[Output Flange]

E65Ross said:

So, that needs doing, 4 new springs, 4 new tyres, new fuel filter, air filter, microfilter plus the cause of the steering wheel shimmy under braking all at once. Ouch!! Will easily be my biggest ever car bill.

Depends how fked it was to start with, but yes, you should notice a difference.

If it were me, I'd be getting them to carefully inspect/change things like bump stops and top mounts while it's off the car. If the shocks haven't been changed in the last 60k miles then I'd be inclined to do it all in one hit, cheap labour or not.

[E65Ross]

hornetrider said:

E65Ross said:

E65 has gone in today for some work and it won't be ready until Monday

Turns out the reason the front tyres were wearing unevenly (more so the OSF) was due to the camber being way off, and the OSF spring was 14-15mm lower than the NSF. The OSR spring was also lower than the NSR spring.....so yes, it's getting 4 new springs!

Mate is getting it sorted, I asked is it worth doing the shocks too and he said it rides fine and they aren't leaking so not to worry, just change them at a later date if needed. I then said about increased labour cost and he simply said "don't you worry about that, you're getting a very good deal on that).

Secondly, I can't recall exactly but something like the rear track adjuster or rod end or something or the other is seized solid do needs a new one which won't arrive until tomorrow.

So, that needs doing, 4 new springs, 4 new tyres, new fuel filter, air filter, microfilter plus the cause of the steering wheel shimmy under braking all at once. Ouch!! Will easily be my biggest ever car bill.

You've bought a money pit!

E65Ross said:

Perhaps a daft question but I genuinely don't know....after getting 4 new springs and tyres (and the other bits) will there be a noticeably difference in how it rides/handles!?

I don't think it is a daft question. I'm no guru but I don't think you'll really notice. Now, if you'd done your shocks too...

It does seem that way

Still....ones it's done it'll be good for xxxx (insert optimistic length of time here, only to be realistically replaced with a much shorter period of time).



To be fair tyres are tyres, and that's easily going to be over 1/2 the bill. The car has so far cost me (wheel refurb aside) around £400 this year so it's not that bad.

[hornetrider]

E65Ross said:

Still....ones it's done it'll be good for the next threadist to buy it

EFA.

[E65Ross]

hornetrider said:

E65Ross said:

Still....ones it's done it'll be good for the next threadist to buy it

EFA.

I do wonder whether, when the time comes, it will go to a fellow threadist! Who's lining up for it?

[hornetrider]

E65Ross said:

I do wonder whether, when the time comes, it will go to a fellow threadist! Who's lining up for it?

Well, I guess they can look at it two ways.

1. It's a Friday lemon money pit, avoid like the plague, look at all the bills zomg!
2. It's been owned by a dedicated threadist who lavishes money on it so it's spot on.

I'd go with 2.

[brickwall]

E65Ross said:

I do wonder whether, when the time comes, it will go to a fellow threadist! Who's lining up for it?

[trooperiziz]

strudel said:

So, Jag XJs.

There always seem to be a few lurking around for under a grand, and they don't seem to hang about either. Is there anything that can go seriously wrong with these? This one has caught my eye:

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

Seriously tempted to go view it tomorrow but this would be my first bargain barge and I'm unsure what I'm letting myself in for! This one has a full service history though so I'm feeling relatively at ease with it...good idea?

My XJR lunched it's crown wheel in the rear axle, which isn't an unusual failure, but generally happens on the more powerful models.
Other than that, it's mainly electrical problems rather than anything major mechanically wise. At this price range though, an electrical failure can be uneconomical to repair.

[Output Flange]

hornetrider said:

Well, I guess they can look at it two ways.

1. It's a Friday lemon money pit, avoid like the plague, look at all the bills zomg!
2. It's been owned by a dedicated threadist who lavishes money on it so it's spot on.

I'd go with 2.

I'd go with 2 if the it was having more than the bare minimum done. Do the springs, the shocks, the bump stops, the spring pads, the top mounts while it's all off.

[hornetrider]

Kick the man while he's down

FWIW, that's what I did with my E38. fking painful that was. Spent double the entry fee on a full refresh.

[SpeckledJim]

trooperiziz said:

strudel said:

So, Jag XJs.

There always seem to be a few lurking around for under a grand, and they don't seem to hang about either. Is there anything that can go seriously wrong with these? This one has caught my eye:

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

Seriously tempted to go view it tomorrow but this would be my first bargain barge and I'm unsure what I'm letting myself in for! This one has a full service history though so I'm feeling relatively at ease with it...good idea?

My XJR lunched it's crown wheel in the rear axle, which isn't an unusual failure, but generally happens on the more powerful models.
Other than that, it's mainly electrical problems rather than anything major mechanically wise. At this price range though, an electrical failure can be uneconomical to repair.

Just go and drive it. If it works, and nothing about the seller makes you shiver, get it bought.

They are generally pretty tough. Much tougher than the unfair, early XJ40-alike reputation anyway.

[E65Ross]

Output Flange said:

I'd go with 2 if the it was having more than the bare minimum done. Do the springs, the shocks, the bump stops, the spring pads, the top mounts while it's all off.

But if there's no point, and I'm told that if they need replacing in the future I won't really pay much labour.... Why change for no reason?

When your car goes in for a service next, will you change the engine simply because it's done lots of miles, yet still does the job fine?

[SpeckledJim]

E65Ross said:

Output Flange said:

I'd go with 2 if the it was having more than the bare minimum done. Do the springs, the shocks, the bump stops, the spring pads, the top mounts while it's all off.

But if there's no point, and I'm told that if they need replacing in the future I won't really pay much labour.... Why change for no reason?

When your car goes in for a service next, will you change the engine simply because it's done lots of miles, yet still does the job fine?

Ross, you're either very unlucky, or the King of Changing Stuff.

If any of my cars threw me the kind of maintenance requirements that yours seem to, they wouldn't last the month!

[Patrick Bateman]

Bills are relative. I wouldn't begrudge higher end stuff (7 series, S-class, M cars) throwing those bills as much as I would if they were regular 3/5 series.

[0a]

E65Ross said:

E65 has gone in today for some work and it won't be ready until Monday

Turns out the reason the front tyres were wearing unevenly (more so the OSF) was due to the camber being way off, and the OSF spring was 14-15mm lower than the NSF. The OSR spring was also lower than the NSR spring.....so yes, it's getting 4 new springs!

Mate is getting it sorted, I asked is it worth doing the shocks too and he said it rides fine and they aren't leaking so not to worry, just change them at a later date if needed. I then said about increased labour cost and he simply said "don't you worry about that, you're getting a very good deal on that).

Secondly, I can't recall exactly but something like the rear track adjuster or rod end or something or the other is seized solid do needs a new one which won't arrive until tomorrow.

So, that needs doing, 4 new springs, 4 new tyres, new fuel filter, air filter, microfilter plus the cause of the steering wheel shimmy under braking all at once. Ouch!! Will easily be my biggest ever car bill.

Perhaps a daft question but I genuinely don't know....after getting 4 new springs and tyres (and the other bits) will there be a noticeably difference in how it rides/handles!?

Fortunately, he's lent me his 3.0 tdi A6 again to smoke around in until it's sorted It was absolutely filthy so as a thanks I've just spend 2.5 hours cleaning it up and hoovering it

Ross, if it makes you feel any better I paid a £1,060 bill for retrieving my W124 from the garage today. £280 for 4 new tyres (Conti winters), finishing off the suspension work (I still had a few bits that hadn't been replaced that were bugging me) and some other jobs. Fortunately parts are pretty cheap on the W124 and most of the bill was of my own making.

I had a fantastic 300+ mile drive in it this evening though - the wobblyness at high speed has gone and it feels so tight and fresh! The wobble at, er, slightly enthusiastic speeds has gone.

Can anyone help fixing the cruise control though? I have purchased a unit and understood it was located under the dashboard but my mechanic couldn't find it.

I love the W124, much more than the Tesla thing I drove last week (yes!!!!), 300 miles and I wanted to keep going! Still 1/4 of a tank of fuel left as well which seems suspiciously good.

[0a]

Far too expensive - it can't be worth half of the asking price of £2.5k, but I do like it. I'm a 4 door man.

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[JZZ30]

That 960 is lovely, but agreed, far too much money.

Edited by JZZ30 on Saturday 1st November 12:14

[E65Ross]

SpeckledJim said:

E65Ross said:

Output Flange said:

I'd go with 2 if the it was having more than the bare minimum done. Do the springs, the shocks, the bump stops, the spring pads, the top mounts while it's all off.

But if there's no point, and I'm told that if they need replacing in the future I won't really pay much labour.... Why change for no reason?

When your car goes in for a service next, will you change the engine simply because it's done lots of miles, yet still does the job fine?

Ross, you're either very unlucky, or the King of Changing Stuff.

If any of my cars threw me the kind of maintenance requirements that yours seem to, they wouldn't last the month!

I knew when I got the car the 1st few months would be expensive, which they were. I said to myself for bork anywhere around £1k is certainly acceptable. I don't include tyres as bork. So from January it will have cost about £1k in bork this year, not too bad in the scheme of things. I'm also going through some rather unfortunate health issues at the moment which means I cannot be dealing with selling and buying cars right now.

Edited by E65Ross on Saturday 1st November 09:45

[E65Ross]

0a said:

Ross, if it makes you feel any better I paid a £1,060 bill for retrieving my W124 from the garage today. £280 for 4 new tyres (Conti winters), finishing off the suspension work (I still had a few bits that hadn't been replaced that were bugging me) and some other jobs. Fortunately parts are pretty cheap on the W124 and most of the bill was of my own making.

I had a fantastic 300+ mile drive in it this evening though - the wobblyness at high speed has gone and it feels so tight and fresh! The wobble at, er, slightly enthusiastic speeds has gone.

Can anyone help fixing the cruise control though? I have purchased a unit and understood it was located under the dashboard but my mechanic couldn't find it.

I love the W124, much more than the Tesla thing I drove last week (yes!!!!), 300 miles and I wanted to keep going! Still 1/4 of a tank of fuel left as well which seems suspiciously good.

Great to hear it's doing well and that, more importantly, you're still enjoying it.

[harry kular]

0a said:

I had a fantastic 300+ mile drive in it this evening though - the wobblyness at high speed has gone and it feels so tight and fresh! The wobble at, er, slightly enthusiastic speeds has gone.

Oa, could you please elaborate on what has removed this wobble? I haven't got to the bottom of it in my car (s124)- happens around 80ish with me.