Best smoker barges 1-5 large [Vol 12]

[EarlOfHazard]

Prinny said:

0a said:

I think I want a manual barge next. A large engine, comfortable and reasonably refined, but where I can enjoy swapping gears myself when I get off the motorway on some A roads. Any ideas?

I think you’re going to have to go ‘80’s... e28 535i or e32 735i would be the last bastion of the executive manuals, it’s auto from then on in, unless wilfully obscure (xm v6 24v?). Maybe an e39 M5?

Anything likely to be worth having is not likely to feature in this thread though.

(If it were money-no-object - it’d be an e24 M635csi for me).

Vauxhall Omega mv6

[Super Slo Mo]

Prinny said:

I think you’re going to have to go ‘80’s... e28 535i or e32 735i would be the last bastion of the executive manuals, it’s auto from then on in, unless wilfully obscure (xm v6 24v?). Maybe an e39 M5?

Anything likely to be worth having is not likely to feature in this thread though.

(If it were money-no-object - it’d be an e24 M635csi for me).

E39 540i can be had in manual form as can the earlier E34 535i if you can find one.
Struggle within thread budget I suspect though.

[phil_cardiff]

There's a few spanish E60s with the sturdy 3.0 out there.

[SpeckledJim]

X300 Manuals are interesting things.

I would imagine one of those could 'flow' beautifully if you were concentrating.

[r129sl]

tobinen said:

Hereward and/or Zonergem. If it's the one I think you mean it was in Hereward's SL600 thread

Thank you for this, dead right.

[anonymous-user]

Krikkit said:

SpeckledJim said:

I don't know if the degree of commonality in our collections is weird or not.

Mrs J had a BRG mkI V-Spec from 2005 to 2014. Tan leather and tan hood. Fantastic. 70,000 noisy miles done with very very little hassle.

Sold to a mate when Baby II was on the way, and now he won't sell it back. Can't blame him.

Sorry to divert the barge thread to the MX5, but I've never found a car that makes me hot and cold so capably!

One one hand a light, feelsome RWD roadster is a great thing indeed (and who doesn't love pop-up headlights? Brilliant.)

On the other the engine is a turd, and the body wobble and aerodynamic behaviour is hilariously bad.

A house move is going to force the sale of mine, but I will simultaneously miss it and wish it gone! A V6 one is on my list of cars to try and build before they go stratospherically expensive.

Do drop me a message when you wish to sell, as long as it’s not completely rusty.

I miss my old one and don’t have a car without a roof currently.

[SimonTheSailor]

phil_cardiff said:

I saw a manual MV6 last week hence the obsession. 3.2 and decent handling I believe.

It'd be a boring old thread if we all liked the same thing I guess.

Typical. Comes up for sale a day before i fly to the States for a while.

Not an Elite but an MV6 manual, looks in good condition with little sign of rust (unusual). Higher miles so at least one exhaust manifold gasket 'ticking' .......

Not a fan of the wheels but they are genuine Steinmezt so worth a bit, sell 'em and buy some Irmscher MV6 wheels. Smooth, fast, frugal, load lugger.........

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Omega-MV6-esta...

[Zonergem]

The guy (not me, guv) who has been trying to sell this early R129 500SL for six months has thrown in the towel and sent it to auction. Low estimate is at top of thread.



http://www.barons-auctions.com/content/auctions___...

As a trade sale he was asking 13k, then 10k, then 9.5k. It might sneak into or close to thread.

[SimonTheSailor]

Nearly there -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Opel-Omega-2-6...



I'd put up with the colour if it had black leather........oh and an extra half a litre.

And a few hundred quid off.............

[SimonTheSailor]

Zonergem said:

The guy (not me, guv) who has been trying to sell this early R129 500SL for six months has thrown in the towel and sent it to auction. Low estimate is at top of thread.



http://www.barons-auctions.com/content/auctions___...

As a trade sale he was asking 13k, then 10k, then 9.5k. It might sneak into or close to thread.

Was this the one that shouldn't have actually been a 2-tone ?

[Zonergem]

Data card says it should be 355 Diamond Blue but it seems pretty close to Pearl Blue over Andor Blue now.

I'll investigate more once I get it home..

[golfer19]

Super Slo Mo said:

Prinny said:

I think you’re going to have to go ‘80’s... e28 535i or e32 735i would be the last bastion of the executive manuals, it’s auto from then on in, unless wilfully obscure (xm v6 24v?). Maybe an e39 M5?

Anything likely to be worth having is not likely to feature in this thread though.

(If it were money-no-object - it’d be an e24 M635csi for me).

E39 540i can be had in manual form as can the earlier E34 535i if you can find one.
Struggle within thread budget I suspect though.

The Colonel has a 535 sport manual.
Over budget at £7995
http://oldcolonelcars.co.uk/listing/bmw-e34-5-seri...

[Motorrad]

r129sl said:

Thank you for this, dead right.

A link to the supplier would be very helpful.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Zonergem said:

I'll investigate more once I get it home..

Does this mean what I think it means? You have a third?

[cornershop]

SimonTheSailor said:

But is the Bork factor big in these ?

Gearbox

That was up for 2k iirc on autotrader privately earlier this month, the ad certainly read well

[cornershop]

I’m doing precisely this, hoping my Lex will be purchased on 3 Mar (“first viewer will buy etc etc”)
Looking for e34 525i m50 manual - the one I test drove 2 weeks ago was a revelation but the body was shot

Prinny said:

0a said:

I think I want a manual barge next. A large engine, comfortable and reasonably refined, but where I can enjoy swapping gears myself when I get off the motorway on some A roads. Any ideas?

I think you’re going to have to go ‘80’s... e28 535i or e32 735i would be the last bastion of the executive manuals, it’s auto from then on in, unless wilfully obscure (xm v6 24v?). Maybe an e39 M5?

Anything likely to be worth having is not likely to feature in this thread though.

(If it were money-no-object - it’d be an e24 M635csi for me).

[r129sl]

Motorrad said:

r129sl said:

Thank you for this, dead right.

A link to the supplier would be very helpful.

Apologies: https://www.online-teile.com/mercedes-ersatzteile/

[r129sl]

SimonTheSailor said:

Zonergem said:

The guy (not me, guv) who has been trying to sell this early R129 500SL for six months has thrown in the towel and sent it to auction. Low estimate is at top of thread.



http://www.barons-auctions.com/content/auctions___...

As a trade sale he was asking 13k, then 10k, then 9.5k. It might sneak into or close to thread.

Was this the one that shouldn't have actually been a 2-tone ?

2 tone is correct on a 1990 car.

[cornershop]

r129sl said:

Motorrad said:

r129sl said:

Thank you for this, dead right.

A link to the supplier would be very helpful.

Apologies: https://www.online-teile.com/mercedes-ersatzteile/

I can recommend the following too - they delivered a rear SEC screen (Pilkington) without issue and deal with genuine and aftermarket parts - you need part numbers though:
http://originparts.de

[Philv8s]

All this R129 chat reminds me when I was talked out of buying a mint low mileage SL600. Immaculate with hard top, less than 70k on the clock with factory AMG kit and alloys for £6k! This was only 3 years ago tops. Gutted. #theonethatgotaway 🙄