Winter quattro shed
Discussion
I have a BMW 530i with rather wide 35 profile rear tyres, that were a bit rubbish last Winter, so I cast my eyes around for a set of all weather/winter tyres for this year. Blackcircles quote for Michelins was £209.10 inc Vat/tyre which seemed a bit ouch...… so I bought an entire car conveniently with some winter tyres for less.
It was for sale privately. I'm not entirely sure why the guy didn't advertise its full service history, factory nav and cambelt + waterpump change last year, but I walked away rather pleased. He kept the bike carriers
Being a diesel, it may even save me a few fuel pennies over the coming months. Hopefully the balsa wood camshafts won't lunch themselves.
It was for sale privately. I'm not entirely sure why the guy didn't advertise its full service history, factory nav and cambelt + waterpump change last year, but I walked away rather pleased. He kept the bike carriers
Being a diesel, it may even save me a few fuel pennies over the coming months. Hopefully the balsa wood camshafts won't lunch themselves. Mr Tidy said:
That should do the job OP! Especially if it has winters on it.
I got a set of wheels with winters fitted for my E46 3 years ago for £180 - just wondering what sort of prices you were finding for wheels and tyres if it was cheaper for you to buy a whole car!
I was working on fitting winter tyres to my 18" M Parallels. I couldn't bare fitting awful looking winter wheels to the car, I couldn't have faced driving it with a set of 15/16"s with higher profile tyres, so the Audi is a happy compromise whilst my BMW has a rest on my driveway for a few months or so. Unfortunately, the tyres on the Audi are a touch too narrow for the BMW.I got a set of wheels with winters fitted for my E46 3 years ago for £180 - just wondering what sort of prices you were finding for wheels and tyres if it was cheaper for you to buy a whole car!
A really decent car for that sort of money and sounds like someone stayed on top of maintenance.
Paul S4 said:
With a remap that should be quite a rapid shed...!
Really not worth it, Revo Technik back in the day pulled their map from these from market as they were already at their reliable limit standard.TonyRPH said:
I had the 3.0 L v6 version a couple of years back - nice cars, but the cost of front suspension parts is mad.
There is decent quality aftermarket stuff available, fortunately. Totally take your point that they like to munch bits!Dr G said:
A really decent car for that sort of money and sounds like someone stayed on top of maintenance.
Apparently the fuel pump is rated to 210bhp, so with the car at 180 already, a map will be maxing it out. I may still consider doing it though, as the turbo doesn't spool until 1800 rpm, and 1st and 2nd gear are both very low, which makes for an interesting combination when pulling onto a busy roundabout from stationary. Paul S4 said:
With a remap that should be quite a rapid shed...!
Really not worth it, Revo Technik back in the day pulled their map from these from market as they were already at their reliable limit standard.TonyRPH said:
I had the 3.0 L v6 version a couple of years back - nice cars, but the cost of front suspension parts is mad.
There is decent quality aftermarket stuff available, fortunately. Totally take your point that they like to munch bits!Richair said:
If I was a betting man being a 53 plate I'd guess this has a 'BAU' engine, which has the updated roller followers. In which case there's no need to worry about the valvetrain exploding 
I'm aware of VAG engine code roulette after our work Caddy 1.9TDi blew a piston at 75k miles. Googled the engine code, and apparently that specific engine has a reputation for it. I checked the A4 before I bought it, and it is blessed with the earlier AKE with balsa wood camshafts. They're holding up at 192k miles, so fingers crossed they won't atomize over this winter, which is all I'll use the car for before moving it on.Mr Tidy said:
That should do the job OP! Especially if it has winters on it.
I got a set of wheels with winters fitted for my E46 3 years ago for £180 - just wondering what sort of prices you were finding for wheels and tyres if it was cheaper for you to buy a whole car!
Looks like a damned good buy if it doesn't lunch something expensive.I got a set of wheels with winters fitted for my E46 3 years ago for £180 - just wondering what sort of prices you were finding for wheels and tyres if it was cheaper for you to buy a whole car!
I'm in the same situation though the rears alone for the XK are £360 each (up about £50 since I last checked... last week) and a similar to the OP £210 for the fronts, so £1140 just for the rubber so slap in fitting and I'm looking at not getting a great deal of change from £1200. Though I'm looking at rag tops (MG F/TF/mx5
), Panda, something small, interesting, dinky wheels with a manual gearbox (the Rover is off the road awaiting the full accumulation of suspension parts before starting a suspension refresh/body restoration).A bit of man maths going on to avoid the sensible suggestion of new alloys/winter tyres
(that and I can't be arsed to work out offsets/possibly need to get a set of spacers, etc...).Edited by alpha channel on Saturday 10th November 10:59
80quattro said:
I'm aware of VAG engine code roulette after our work Caddy 1.9TDi blew a piston at 75k miles. Googled the engine code, and apparently that specific engine has a reputation for it. I checked the A4 before I bought it, and it is blessed with the earlier AKE with balsa wood camshafts. They're holding up at 192k miles, so fingers crossed they won't atomize over this winter, which is all I'll use the car for before moving it on.
You'd like to think at that mileage that if they were on death's door they'd have gone already.Decent oil in it? Changed recently? If that's up to date you'll be laughing. If it aint broke and all that.
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