Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol8]
Discussion
Well over budget but just spotted a PH sticker on this 760 swb on the bay, is he known?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-760I-AC-Shnitzer-kit...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-760I-AC-Shnitzer-kit...
Stegel said:
There are few around at the moment, and much as I'd like to think they're on the up price-wise, I think the few in the teen £000s are skewing the market. I paid max thread budget + 33% for mine in Nov 13 - 160k miles, most things (inc. the hood, recovered 3 years ago in my case) working fine, and two new wings in the last few years. It has been through Barons auction twice in the last 6 or 7 years for virtually the same money. It started on eBay at £10k and after two re-listings I viewed and made an offer. I have spent £1,800 on engine loom, tyres and bits and bobs and will spend at least that again in the next 18 months on suspension, interior and a couple of minor engine leaks. Probably not cost effective in the short term, but I love it and it's a keeper.
Beware non-working hood - it could be a simple limit switch or hydraulic leak, but tracing it could be expensive and if it is an ECU (going by my SL's history file and another threadists's recent SL experience) get quite expensive. I'd have thought one with U/S hood, unless mint in every other area, would be within thread budget.
Thanks for the advice, and to you also CdG - yours would be nigh on perfect, except I can't afford that much. At least if I bought a project I could get my hands dirty on the mechanicals and plough my way through the rest on and ongoing basis. I will be under the threat of divorce if I buy before selling something, but you only live once right?Beware non-working hood - it could be a simple limit switch or hydraulic leak, but tracing it could be expensive and if it is an ECU (going by my SL's history file and another threadists's recent SL experience) get quite expensive. I'd have thought one with U/S hood, unless mint in every other area, would be within thread budget.
Easternlight said:
Well over budget but just spotted a PH sticker on this 760 swb on the bay, is he known?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-760I-AC-Shnitzer-kit...
Yeah I recognise that username. Car is sold.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-760I-AC-Shnitzer-kit...
tobinen said:
Cheap mini-convertible barge for summer? Bottom end of thread budget.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-MERCEDES-SLK-230-KO...
I like these as a concept.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-MERCEDES-SLK-230-KO...
However my Father's 320 has been a continuous pain - to the extent that it's on the drive with yet another problem that he has lost patience to fix. The latest was overheating due to one of the fans and a sensor going wrong at the same time.
His was a cheapish mid thread budget one (nowhere near as cheap or high mileage as this tough) - but everything seems to be a weak point on these, and by the time you are done fixing one thing, another thing gives an error. I would avoid at any price and buy an MX5.
If you want to see the bottom of Merc build quality, and the longest extension in terms of a technically neat car these are it!
The 320 engine also manages to sound really boring, though they are quite quick!
Edited by 0a on Monday 11th May 22:29
hman said:
longblackcoat said:
Maybe I got the only good one?
Mine cost me £1500 a year or so back, and other than some brake lines needing replacing, a wheel bearing and some suspension bushes (hardly a crime at 13 years old) and some pixellation issues (OK, a specific issue, but easily sortable for under £200), it's been brilliant. Everything works (admittedly it has broken cupholders, but who cares?), there's no rust, and it's basically a solid old beast. I've put almost 30k on it in that time, so it's not like it's sat in a garage doing nothing.
Has now passed 2 MOTs witn no advisories, does high 20s as a long run average, and has yet to let me down. Bargain motoring, frankly; I'd imagine I could sell it for around what I paid for it.
UNLESS all the other work was done before you owned it, yours will need all of the above - total fact.Mine cost me £1500 a year or so back, and other than some brake lines needing replacing, a wheel bearing and some suspension bushes (hardly a crime at 13 years old) and some pixellation issues (OK, a specific issue, but easily sortable for under £200), it's been brilliant. Everything works (admittedly it has broken cupholders, but who cares?), there's no rust, and it's basically a solid old beast. I've put almost 30k on it in that time, so it's not like it's sat in a garage doing nothing.
Has now passed 2 MOTs witn no advisories, does high 20s as a long run average, and has yet to let me down. Bargain motoring, frankly; I'd imagine I could sell it for around what I paid for it.
The rad will split down the sides, they do this catastrophically and without warning - so if you havent had them replaced then I would 100% do them right now.
The rust is not visible without going underneath the car and removing the jacking pads - you may think yours is sound because it looks ok - but the reality is that there is more than likely corrosion, and because it rots from the inside out - when it appears externally its toooo late to remedy.
The CCV failure doesnt come up with a code, the dipstick return oil channel clogs (because its too small basically) and then the tube fills with oil - the first you will know about this is when the CCV fills up with oil and you get bluey black smoke under hard acceleration - which you cant see because you are in the front of the car - Also the CCV diaphragm tears and so it wont work properly - this can lead to slightly wobbly idle and a loss of MPG - it also leads to overpressurisation of the cam cover and then...
The cam cover cracks over time - mine was a 2001 and it had multiple cracks - these cracks weep oil onto the exhaust and down the side of the engine, people think its the gasket 9/10 its not - its the cam cover itself. First sign is a burning oil smell when sat stationary for a long period, so if you are doing mainly motorway you might not notice..
The rear looms break up - normally this means the boot release stops working and/ or the rear number plate lights stop working.
The tailgates and rear valances go rusty, as does the fuel filler flap.
OOOPs nearly forgot - the ABS module overheats and fails because its sited too close to exhaust manifold, again without warning until TC, ABS, and Brake warning light come up.
Aaand also seat occupancy sensors too.
The point I am making is that the cars being sold that havent had these faults fixed are GOING to fail - so buy with your eyes open and if they havent been fixed then allow some money to sort it in the future.
The usual suspects WILL go pop. Especially ageing plastic parts on the cooling system which runs at high pressure.
The rad and exp tank were slightly seeping on mine when I bought it - once the system was bled down and parts removed it would have been mad not to change the lot so I replaced water pump, stat, fan clutch and hoses on the front of the engine. The only parts I didn't change, a few hoses to the rear of the engine, went pop about 5k later. Typical!
I also had to replace the CCV (due to a puff of blue smoke on start up), hedgehog and centre drag link. Rear driverssill corner needed welding, this turned out to be a big job.
Like hman says, I would expect an expensive polished E39/E38 from one of those dealers will all the same work my £1000 example has needed.
Here is my S280.... I bought the car a week ago, after deliberating for a couple of weeks. But after checking the AC over 2 visits, spaced 10 days apart, thoroughly checking that everything electrical worked, checking the motor for overheating and Head gasket issues and all the other (non W140 specific) stuff you check for when buying a used car - I decided to go for it.....
I should maybe mention, that i recently moved to South Australia from the UK (This is an AU car).
The car did have some minor/annoying issues that needed addressing (but i negotiated this into the price) Namely:
Wheels needed a refurbish
The front dummy tow eye cover/access trim was missing from the drivers side of the bumper.
Laquer/Paint on the roof was ruined
Rear View mirror casing has come apart in several pieces
No recent service history - It was evident that the car had been serviced, but no invoices had been kept in the sellers period of ownership
There is an S320 badge on the boot instead of an S280 badge.
The car was fitted with Chrome wheel arch trims.
There was a big monitor mounted to the dashboard (luckily not screwed to any trim) and wiring running (badly) through the car, to a rear view camera, mounted next to the boot release button.
The car needed a lot of deep cleaning.
There was a blow or excess noise coming from the exhaust - Nothing major, bur definitely there.
Basically, i bought the car from an elderly lady, who had stopped driving the car a long time ago, as she had lost confidence in her driving such a big car (she had a W126 560SEL) before this, and so had switched to a C-Class, and her husband works in the tropics for 9 months of the year. And so the car had become a driveway ornament.
Here are the pictures from the advert - I think they must have taken these when they first bought the car some 3-4 years before advertising it for sale.
First thing i did was remove the arches and give the car a good clean and a quick polish, so that i could double check for any further paint damage, marks, scratches etc - She actually came up quite nice:
I removed the monitor from the dash and pulled out the wiring to/from it. Then gave the interior a good clean, hoover and fed the leather.
As a real bonus, i found the trim from the front bumper, under the passenger seat!!
I then set about giving the wheels a new lease of life:
Then started sanding down the roof and filling in a dent that was next to the sunroof - ready for prep and paint.
Once completed i gave the car another good clean and a coat of carnuba wax, and took some pictures:
As i write this, the car is at a local exhaust fabricator, having a new rear box made/fitted as the baffles in the original exhaust were shot. I have also changed the plugs and the air filter (all the fluids were new, when i bought the car) and carefully inspected the wiring harness - which, thankfully is clear of any of the biodegrading issues that some W140's can suffer from.
All in all, with the purchase price, the parts, paint, and labour for things i couldn't do. And with 6 months rego and a years fully comprehensive insurance, the car will owe me $5000 which is about £2500 - Great, when you think that there is a huge import tax on european cars, which meant that this car cost $145.000 when it was new in 1996!
Oh, and fuel is equivalent to about 68p a litre..... Which i think is proper barge motoring :-)
I should maybe mention, that i recently moved to South Australia from the UK (This is an AU car).
The car did have some minor/annoying issues that needed addressing (but i negotiated this into the price) Namely:
Wheels needed a refurbish
The front dummy tow eye cover/access trim was missing from the drivers side of the bumper.
Laquer/Paint on the roof was ruined
Rear View mirror casing has come apart in several pieces
No recent service history - It was evident that the car had been serviced, but no invoices had been kept in the sellers period of ownership
There is an S320 badge on the boot instead of an S280 badge.
The car was fitted with Chrome wheel arch trims.
There was a big monitor mounted to the dashboard (luckily not screwed to any trim) and wiring running (badly) through the car, to a rear view camera, mounted next to the boot release button.
The car needed a lot of deep cleaning.
There was a blow or excess noise coming from the exhaust - Nothing major, bur definitely there.
Basically, i bought the car from an elderly lady, who had stopped driving the car a long time ago, as she had lost confidence in her driving such a big car (she had a W126 560SEL) before this, and so had switched to a C-Class, and her husband works in the tropics for 9 months of the year. And so the car had become a driveway ornament.
Here are the pictures from the advert - I think they must have taken these when they first bought the car some 3-4 years before advertising it for sale.
First thing i did was remove the arches and give the car a good clean and a quick polish, so that i could double check for any further paint damage, marks, scratches etc - She actually came up quite nice:
I removed the monitor from the dash and pulled out the wiring to/from it. Then gave the interior a good clean, hoover and fed the leather.
As a real bonus, i found the trim from the front bumper, under the passenger seat!!
I then set about giving the wheels a new lease of life:
Then started sanding down the roof and filling in a dent that was next to the sunroof - ready for prep and paint.
Once completed i gave the car another good clean and a coat of carnuba wax, and took some pictures:
As i write this, the car is at a local exhaust fabricator, having a new rear box made/fitted as the baffles in the original exhaust were shot. I have also changed the plugs and the air filter (all the fluids were new, when i bought the car) and carefully inspected the wiring harness - which, thankfully is clear of any of the biodegrading issues that some W140's can suffer from.
All in all, with the purchase price, the parts, paint, and labour for things i couldn't do. And with 6 months rego and a years fully comprehensive insurance, the car will owe me $5000 which is about £2500 - Great, when you think that there is a huge import tax on european cars, which meant that this car cost $145.000 when it was new in 1996!
Oh, and fuel is equivalent to about 68p a litre..... Which i think is proper barge motoring :-)
Edited by richard300 on Tuesday 12th May 03:18
KrisP said:
Thanks for the advice, and to you also CdG - yours would be nigh on perfect, except I can't afford that much. At least if I bought a project I could get my hands dirty on the mechanicals and plough my way through the rest on and ongoing basis. I will be under the threat of divorce if I buy before selling something, but you only live once right?
KrisP. I looked at a few before buying mine just over 2 years ago, all of them well within thread budget. It is possible, and you do see them on e-bay and elsewhere from time to time. They tended to be the 4 cylinder models, which are invariably cheaper. Do look at the classifieds of the clubs too.They all had the usual 124 issues, which are quite well known and generally pretty easily sorted. Interestingly, I saw fewer rusty wings on the A124 than I seemed to on the W124, although I suspect that may have just been coincidence.
The key with these, as has been said above, is the roof. A car with a non-working roof will be cheap to buy, but it will cost you to fix. They seem reliable once working, but can be tricky to get to that point. If you're a half-way competent mechanic/electrician/hydraulic bloke then I suspect it's all very do-able at home, but I'm not so was always going to have to buy a sorted car.
Overall, as you alluded to in your first post, I reckon you'd be able to get one around thread money, fix it yourself and still not exceed the price ceiling. They are wonderful cars. If you're anywhere near Farnborough, or are going to Benz on the Green this weekend, you're very welcome to have a play with mine.
KrisP said:
Stegel said:
There are few around at the moment, and much as I'd like to think they're on the up price-wise, I think the few in the teen £000s are skewing the market. I paid max thread budget + 33% for mine in Nov 13 - 160k miles, most things (inc. the hood, recovered 3 years ago in my case) working fine, and two new wings in the last few years. It has been through Barons auction twice in the last 6 or 7 years for virtually the same money. It started on eBay at £10k and after two re-listings I viewed and made an offer. I have spent £1,800 on engine loom, tyres and bits and bobs and will spend at least that again in the next 18 months on suspension, interior and a couple of minor engine leaks. Probably not cost effective in the short term, but I love it and it's a keeper.
Beware non-working hood - it could be a simple limit switch or hydraulic leak, but tracing it could be expensive and if it is an ECU (going by my SL's history file and another threadists's recent SL experience) get quite expensive. I'd have thought one with U/S hood, unless mint in every other area, would be within thread budget.
Thanks for the advice, and to you also CdG - yours would be nigh on perfect, except I can't afford that much. At least if I bought a project I could get my hands dirty on the mechanicals and plough my way through the rest on and ongoing basis. I will be under the threat of divorce if I buy before selling something, but you only live once right?Beware non-working hood - it could be a simple limit switch or hydraulic leak, but tracing it could be expensive and if it is an ECU (going by my SL's history file and another threadists's recent SL experience) get quite expensive. I'd have thought one with U/S hood, unless mint in every other area, would be within thread budget.
It much like the ever popular aircon regas, it maybe a £30 job or it maybe a £3000 job.
Edited by QuantumTokoloshi on Tuesday 12th May 09:57
Here's something a bit different, with a fantastic advert and an, erm, interesting LPG conversion.....
About £2k overpriced though I feel, but still in budget for the thread.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
About £2k overpriced though I feel, but still in budget for the thread.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...
SuperHangOn said:
hman said:
longblackcoat said:
Maybe I got the only good one?
Mine cost me £1500 a year or so back, and other than some brake lines needing replacing, a wheel bearing and some suspension bushes (hardly a crime at 13 years old) and some pixellation issues (OK, a specific issue, but easily sortable for under £200), it's been brilliant. Everything works (admittedly it has broken cupholders, but who cares?), there's no rust, and it's basically a solid old beast. I've put almost 30k on it in that time, so it's not like it's sat in a garage doing nothing.
Has now passed 2 MOTs witn no advisories, does high 20s as a long run average, and has yet to let me down. Bargain motoring, frankly; I'd imagine I could sell it for around what I paid for it.
UNLESS all the other work was done before you owned it, yours will need all of the above - total fact.Mine cost me £1500 a year or so back, and other than some brake lines needing replacing, a wheel bearing and some suspension bushes (hardly a crime at 13 years old) and some pixellation issues (OK, a specific issue, but easily sortable for under £200), it's been brilliant. Everything works (admittedly it has broken cupholders, but who cares?), there's no rust, and it's basically a solid old beast. I've put almost 30k on it in that time, so it's not like it's sat in a garage doing nothing.
Has now passed 2 MOTs witn no advisories, does high 20s as a long run average, and has yet to let me down. Bargain motoring, frankly; I'd imagine I could sell it for around what I paid for it.
The rad will split down the sides, they do this catastrophically and without warning - so if you havent had them replaced then I would 100% do them right now.
The rust is not visible without going underneath the car and removing the jacking pads - you may think yours is sound because it looks ok - but the reality is that there is more than likely corrosion, and because it rots from the inside out - when it appears externally its toooo late to remedy.
The CCV failure doesnt come up with a code, the dipstick return oil channel clogs (because its too small basically) and then the tube fills with oil - the first you will know about this is when the CCV fills up with oil and you get bluey black smoke under hard acceleration - which you cant see because you are in the front of the car - Also the CCV diaphragm tears and so it wont work properly - this can lead to slightly wobbly idle and a loss of MPG - it also leads to overpressurisation of the cam cover and then...
The cam cover cracks over time - mine was a 2001 and it had multiple cracks - these cracks weep oil onto the exhaust and down the side of the engine, people think its the gasket 9/10 its not - its the cam cover itself. First sign is a burning oil smell when sat stationary for a long period, so if you are doing mainly motorway you might not notice..
The rear looms break up - normally this means the boot release stops working and/ or the rear number plate lights stop working.
The tailgates and rear valances go rusty, as does the fuel filler flap.
OOOPs nearly forgot - the ABS module overheats and fails because its sited too close to exhaust manifold, again without warning until TC, ABS, and Brake warning light come up.
Aaand also seat occupancy sensors too.
The point I am making is that the cars being sold that havent had these faults fixed are GOING to fail - so buy with your eyes open and if they havent been fixed then allow some money to sort it in the future.
The usual suspects WILL go pop. Especially ageing plastic parts on the cooling system which runs at high pressure.
The rad and exp tank were slightly seeping on mine when I bought it - once the system was bled down and parts removed it would have been mad not to change the lot so I replaced water pump, stat, fan clutch and hoses on the front of the engine. The only parts I didn't change, a few hoses to the rear of the engine, went pop about 5k later. Typical!
I also had to replace the CCV (due to a puff of blue smoke on start up), hedgehog and centre drag link. Rear driverssill corner needed welding, this turned out to be a big job.
Like hman says, I would expect an expensive polished E39/E38 from one of those dealers will all the same work my £1000 example has needed.
But you've stated - as a total fact, no less - that loads of things will go wrong. I've checked mine all over for rust. Properly, removing the jacking pads and checking with a torch/poking with a screwdriver. The sills are completely fine. The filler cap, the wings .... all of it. Unless it's going to suddenly rust overnight, which is pretty unlikely.
There's never been a problem with the rear number plate light or the boot release, so I think I can leave the replacement of the rear loom for another day. I accept that it could fail, but there's no point stressing about it.
There isn't any blue smoke on startup, and the fuel consumption is fine, so my assumption is that the CCV is fine. If I have to replace, so be it.
Re the cooling system, I'm aware of the radiator issue; that's one that I might well do soon. There have been zero problems so far in 13 years and 130k, and if it weren't for all the dire prognostications from the E39 beards, I'd not be worrying about it even a little. It works, the temps are stable, and there's been no leaks of any sort. But I will do the rad.
The ABS sensor? It's lasted 130k miles so far. I'm not going to replace it on a whim.
Ultimately, it's a cheap (albeit very nice) car. It's not worth much, and never will be. I'm sure I could do a painstaking rolling refurbishemnt and stick £3k into the car (get the paint perfect, refurb the wheels, all the above work) but it's just not worh that to me, nor, it seems, to the market.
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