Smart ForFour Brabus anyone owned one?
Discussion
Quick car & well built. Let down by mag wheels which corrode / bend very easily!
More info about them here http://www.forfourowner.com/discuss/
Don't let anyone tell you they're just a Mitsubishi Colt....They aint.
More info about them here http://www.forfourowner.com/discuss/
Don't let anyone tell you they're just a Mitsubishi Colt....They aint.
I had one of the very first BRABUS forfour's in the UK, even before the press launch and now my partner has one of the very last to be registered in 2008. I drove my car quite hard, and I did have some issues with it. I had the steering rack replaced as it was clonking on full lock, and a front strut top mount as it was creaking. I had the car for about 18 months, 24k and lost a shed load of money, due to being an early adopter. Andrew's car has had a few niggly things wrong, the major thing on his was the gear selector going stiff, and the door handles, both covered on the 4yr warranty.
Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Edited by J500ANT on Friday 14th January 18:58
J500ANT said:
I had one of the very first BRABUS forfour's in the UK, even before the press launch and now my partner has one of the very last to be registered in 2008. I drove my car quite hard, and I did have some issues with it. I had the steering rack replaced as it was clonking on full lock, and a front strut top mount as it was creaking. I had the car for about 18 months, 24k and lost a shed load of money, due to being an early adopter. Andrew's car has had a few niggly things wrong, the major thing on his was the gear selector going stiff, and the door handles, both covered on the 4yr warranty.
Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Cheers for the reply may have found one, we had gearchange and doorhandle issues on the ones in my works (non Brabus models)Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Edited by J500ANT on Friday 14th January 18:58
bit of a worry about the wheels why are they a staggered fitment on a FWD car?? over a grand for a set without tyres
dannytherev said:
Cheers for the reply may have found one, we had gearchange and doorhandle issues on the ones in my works (non Brabus models)
bit of a worry about the wheels why are they a staggered fitment on a FWD car?? over a grand for a set without tyres
No idea why they're staggered fitment to be honest, my OH has the wider rears all round on his car, and has the Monoblock A wheels which are a damn sight sturdier (fingers crossed).bit of a worry about the wheels why are they a staggered fitment on a FWD car?? over a grand for a set without tyres
dannytherev said:
J500ANT said:
I had one of the very first BRABUS forfour's in the UK, even before the press launch and now my partner has one of the very last to be registered in 2008. I drove my car quite hard, and I did have some issues with it. I had the steering rack replaced as it was clonking on full lock, and a front strut top mount as it was creaking. I had the car for about 18 months, 24k and lost a shed load of money, due to being an early adopter. Andrew's car has had a few niggly things wrong, the major thing on his was the gear selector going stiff, and the door handles, both covered on the 4yr warranty.
Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Cheers for the reply may have found one, we had gearchange and doorhandle issues on the ones in my works (non Brabus models)Other than that, it was a great car. Service intervals are confusing, inside the door it says the car needs an oil change every 6000 miles but the dash computer doesn't know about that and gets confused. I ended up doing 6k oil change, 12k service, 18k oil change, 24k service. Lots of cars won't have had those oil changes.
Things that go wrong on them now:
Gearchange gets very heavy - gear selector on top the gearbox needs replacing, not massively costly.
Door handle issues - cables need changing or lubricating.
Wheels - the BRABUS wheels are VERY soft, I never buckled one, but my partner buckled 2 on his. VERY expensive.
Rear shock absorbers can leak for a passtime.
Cambelt change - when I had mine I was told it was every 5yrs/60k
I would suggest you join www.forfour.co.uk for forfour only info, and www.thesmartclub.com for general smart stuff.
Tony
Edited by J500ANT on Friday 14th January 18:58
bit of a worry about the wheels why are they a staggered fitment on a FWD car?? over a grand for a set without tyres
As J500ANT said, find yourself a set of used rears and stick those on the front - ebay.de is a great place to find more 'cost effective' spares.
J500ANT said:
Shame it doesn't have a Radio 6 or Command.I see it's one of the later ones as well, when MB cost cutting removed the bonnet vents and sill protectors
littlebasher said:
J500ANT said:
Shame it doesn't have a Radio 6 or Command.I see it's one of the later ones as well, when MB cost cutting removed the bonnet vents and sill protectors
You can upgrade to a Radio6, Andrew's done that on his BRABUS.Also, as a little snippet of info, as at the end of 2009 there were 291 BRABUS forfour's registered in the UK.
Edited by J500ANT on Tuesday 18th January 08:32
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