Murcielago LP640 Ownership Experiences
Discussion
NDA said:
I had one of the early ones, from new. Very fast and wide... like steering a ship from the pointy end. An event to drive.
The dealer I bought it from, had it on sale or return when I decided to sell it, lent it out (without my permission), crashed it, badly repaired it, lied about it.... all great fun when you're buying a brand new car - it's how some dealers treat their customers.
jesusThe dealer I bought it from, had it on sale or return when I decided to sell it, lent it out (without my permission), crashed it, badly repaired it, lied about it.... all great fun when you're buying a brand new car - it's how some dealers treat their customers.
I'm the new owner of Sandy's car,
You need to go in with your eyes open. I have the (very fortunate) pleasure of owning and looking after a number of supercars. Ferrari's, Porsche's and a number of older, ugly classics. The newer ones generally tolerate being sat around until I get the time to use them, but the Murci needs using. It goes out at least once every 3 weeks and gets a at least a couple of hundred miles put on it each time, up to temperature with the full beans each time.
You MUST be able to able to afford things going wrong, because they will. As he says, I dropped £15k on camshafts and various other things recently, and today it pissed its coolant all over the floor as I started it. God knows what's caused that, but we'll sort it. So be it. Goes with the territory. But is it worth it? Hell yes. What a car, what a noise.
There ARE better cars out there. The Ferrari's knock it for six for driving. The Porsche's kill it for reliability and usability, but for that event..., the 'fizz' as James May calls it, the Lambo destroys them. If you haven't got the means to stay on top of it, don't do it. Mine is jointly owned with a friend. It's the way to do it. Everything is halved,
I love the way Sandy used it. Of all the owners, he actually spent the least because he used it day-in day-out. I don't quite have that luxury, but its what these cars ask for and nobody gives it to them.
You need to go in with your eyes open. I have the (very fortunate) pleasure of owning and looking after a number of supercars. Ferrari's, Porsche's and a number of older, ugly classics. The newer ones generally tolerate being sat around until I get the time to use them, but the Murci needs using. It goes out at least once every 3 weeks and gets a at least a couple of hundred miles put on it each time, up to temperature with the full beans each time.
You MUST be able to able to afford things going wrong, because they will. As he says, I dropped £15k on camshafts and various other things recently, and today it pissed its coolant all over the floor as I started it. God knows what's caused that, but we'll sort it. So be it. Goes with the territory. But is it worth it? Hell yes. What a car, what a noise.
There ARE better cars out there. The Ferrari's knock it for six for driving. The Porsche's kill it for reliability and usability, but for that event..., the 'fizz' as James May calls it, the Lambo destroys them. If you haven't got the means to stay on top of it, don't do it. Mine is jointly owned with a friend. It's the way to do it. Everything is halved,
I love the way Sandy used it. Of all the owners, he actually spent the least because he used it day-in day-out. I don't quite have that luxury, but its what these cars ask for and nobody gives it to them.
Oh, I don’t do expensive ornaments and would use it regularly between around March and November. I tend to avoid the depths of winter mainly to avoid the salty, gritty roads, but have been known to venture out of a fine dry day through winter. My SL2 is used a fair amount and often for longish runs, because I can’t get enough of “The Event”.
Cars respond better when used regularly in my experience, but I definitely appreciate the heads up in terms of “Tantrums”. It is Italian after all! Passion and drama is in the DNA.
Thinking that if I do take the plunge, a few things have come of this useful feedback:
1. Manual is more sensible than e-gear. I do really get on with e-gear though, I think you need to know how to work it properly. I.e. don’t treat it like an Auto. It is a manual car with no clutch peddle. Drive accordingly.
2. Put away around £5k-£6k annually into a pot as a self funded Warranty.
3. Drive it regularly
I guess then it is a bit of a lottery in terms of picking one and it being well behaved. Is it likely that the 6.5 640 is going to be more sorted than an earlier 6.2?
Not put off yet! I couldn’t share one though, that’s like sharing a girlfriend! Lol.
Cars respond better when used regularly in my experience, but I definitely appreciate the heads up in terms of “Tantrums”. It is Italian after all! Passion and drama is in the DNA.
Thinking that if I do take the plunge, a few things have come of this useful feedback:
1. Manual is more sensible than e-gear. I do really get on with e-gear though, I think you need to know how to work it properly. I.e. don’t treat it like an Auto. It is a manual car with no clutch peddle. Drive accordingly.
2. Put away around £5k-£6k annually into a pot as a self funded Warranty.
3. Drive it regularly
I guess then it is a bit of a lottery in terms of picking one and it being well behaved. Is it likely that the 6.5 640 is going to be more sorted than an earlier 6.2?
Not put off yet! I couldn’t share one though, that’s like sharing a girlfriend! Lol.
del mar said:
Perhaps your car was built on a Friday ??
Tuesday cars are always better.
I do 1000 - 1500 miles a year in my 6.2.
Serviced it myself £400 on fluids and plugs, needs doing again in September.
Ats were offering brake fluid changes for £40 - it is not rocket science.
Minor trim pieces from Sevenoaks - £100 or so.
Only big cost so far has been coils at £1000, I now have 11 good spares for sale so could recoup some money.
Fuel - I don’t count that.
Parts - do not damage anything they are expensive.
I damaged a wing mirror backing out of the garage - £3000 or fixed myself for free. I am now an expert at such things.
Clutch will hurt when it is due, but I never launch in 1st.
I enjoy the thrill of finding the parts.
Ashtray lid £80 plus vat or Audi A6 rear door ashtray £18 on eBay.
Most parts can probably be made cheaper than buying from lambo
Mine will need a respray in due course, my man has said £2599 - 3000 if I strip the car apart.
Another said £8000 !!!
Reading lambopower I would avoid the e gear like the plague, although I have no experience of one.
Good man- DIY makes these really cheap to run. I naturally have done similar to you, and also my own clutch change (on an e-gear, easier on a manual); featured here on PH: Tuesday cars are always better.
I do 1000 - 1500 miles a year in my 6.2.
Serviced it myself £400 on fluids and plugs, needs doing again in September.
Ats were offering brake fluid changes for £40 - it is not rocket science.
Minor trim pieces from Sevenoaks - £100 or so.
Only big cost so far has been coils at £1000, I now have 11 good spares for sale so could recoup some money.
Fuel - I don’t count that.
Parts - do not damage anything they are expensive.
I damaged a wing mirror backing out of the garage - £3000 or fixed myself for free. I am now an expert at such things.
Clutch will hurt when it is due, but I never launch in 1st.
I enjoy the thrill of finding the parts.
Ashtray lid £80 plus vat or Audi A6 rear door ashtray £18 on eBay.
Most parts can probably be made cheaper than buying from lambo
Mine will need a respray in due course, my man has said £2599 - 3000 if I strip the car apart.
Another said £8000 !!!
Reading lambopower I would avoid the e gear like the plague, although I have no experience of one.
https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-features/d...
I did mine in the garage under my apartment, with four trolley jack (no lift) and an engine crane of e-bay with hand tools from Halfords. Based on what you've done so far, am sure you could do your own clutch (with a manual you only need move the motor back not take out the motor and gearbox as a unit as you do on the e-gear).
Patrick-Peter said:
Well that makes for a rather depressing read. I better put more aside for contingencies if this is the case for all murci's. I hope mine behaves itself as I don't wanna fall out of love with it just yet. Already had the full clutch & release bearing done and came in under 6k but I knew these cost going in.
The reason you spent £6K:£2K approx for a "clutch kit" (3 piece assembly)
£1500-1700 for release bearing
£2.5K in labour
the above are average figures.
I pay (DIY);
£850 for a full face kevlar clutch from Maddog engineering (plus reface & balance the pressure plate and flywheel)
£500 for the Gallardo/R8 (and LP670) updated release bearing
£1200 (from memory) for the LP670 Bellhousing to allow the sue of the above release bearing
I took the opportunity to change oil & coolant rather than "collecting and re-using it" as service shops do.
These cars are not expensive to run if you do it yourself; my next clutch change will just be another £850 or so plus fluids, so I feel fine using my e-gear in a spirited manner :-) (I get on with these boxes so well I recently bought a quattroporte F1 as these are essentially the same magnetti marelli parts, regardless Ferrari/maserati/lambo- eg the clutch disc on an e-gear murcielago is the same as a 599 F1 Ferrari)
I also upgraded the front brakes on mine to the 8 pot Gallardo brakes- but they are actually Audi items..... even have the Audi rings cast on the calliper! I got these of e-bay, repainted them and fitted new seals and pistons (quite cheap to do).
Number plate lights are of an series one Audi TT... theres also a lot of R8/gallardo cross over, like the brake master cylinder/brake booster assembly... I could go on. I got most parts from auto-recyclers in LA & Germany and some new parts from eurospares, and some from just regular Audi dealers....
SydneySE said:
I also upgraded the front brakes on mine to the 8 pot Gallardo brakes- but they are actually Audi items..... even have the Audi rings cast on the calliper! I got these of e-bay, repainted them and fitted new seals and pistons (quite cheap to do).
Were these LP Gallardo calipers, and 380mm discs? Did you need to fit adapters for the calipers?I haven’t been in touch with Mike Pullen for some time but assuming he is still around give him a call. He runs Carrera Sport in Haywards Heath.
He is the best in the business for Lambos IMO and will give you an honest response to running costs on any of them.
Some of you guys appear to be getting a kick out of paying stupid prices at main dealers. Mike charges sensible prices for maintaining these exotics. I’m not sure why anyone would service a classic lambo at a main dealer. You are the reason why the owner of the franchise is driving an SV to work every day!
He is the best in the business for Lambos IMO and will give you an honest response to running costs on any of them.
Some of you guys appear to be getting a kick out of paying stupid prices at main dealers. Mike charges sensible prices for maintaining these exotics. I’m not sure why anyone would service a classic lambo at a main dealer. You are the reason why the owner of the franchise is driving an SV to work every day!
No I really couldn't give a toss saving a few grand here or there or what the costs were, I wanted my car in capable hands and I wanted it working and it came with a 2 year warranty from them . David Jenkins at Pangbourne was recommended to me by a number of people as extremely proficient on Murcis and this proved to be the case. I don't want to hear ahh well it's not something we encounter so it will be 6 weeks while we figure out how to get the sodding parts . I wanted it done yesterday and I didnt mind paying for that and getting parts flown in next day to get my car sorted. I investigated using other specialists but I was often quoted a 5-6 week timescale even to fit the car in for programmed work let alone a problem out of the blue ...as they didn't have the size of premises or the staff to cope with more than a couple of cars at any one time
sandysinclair said:
No I really couldn't give a toss saving a few grand here or there or what the costs were, I wanted my car in capable hands and I wanted it working and it came with a 2 year warranty from them . David Jenkins at Pangbourne was recommended to me by a number of people as extremely proficient on Murcis and this proved to be the case. I don't want to hear ahh well it's not something we encounter so it will be 6 weeks while we figure out how to get the sodding parts . I wanted it done yesterday and I didnt mind paying for that and getting parts flown in next day to get my car sorted. I investigated using other specialists but I was often quoted a 5-6 week timescale even to fit the car in for programmed work let alone a problem out of the blue ...as they didn't have the size of premises or the staff to cope with more than a couple of cars at any one time
Whats the price difference between a main dealer and an independent in terms of servicing and ad hoc fixes? approximately..Larry5.2 said:
Were these LP Gallardo calipers, and 380mm discs? Did you need to fit adapters for the calipers?
Yes they are the same callipers (discs are not Audi though- different offset).Yes adaptors are needed. When I had the CAD drawings done for mine, I made 4 sets. I' ve sold one set, one is used for my car, so I have 2 sets spare. If you're interested in the adaptors, drop me a message with your number and I'll send you some pics.
TP321 said:
sandysinclair said:
No I really couldn't give a toss saving a few grand here or there or what the costs were, I wanted my car in capable hands and I wanted it working and it came with a 2 year warranty from them . David Jenkins at Pangbourne was recommended to me by a number of people as extremely proficient on Murcis and this proved to be the case. I don't want to hear ahh well it's not something we encounter so it will be 6 weeks while we figure out how to get the sodding parts . I wanted it done yesterday and I didnt mind paying for that and getting parts flown in next day to get my car sorted. I investigated using other specialists but I was often quoted a 5-6 week timescale even to fit the car in for programmed work let alone a problem out of the blue ...as they didn't have the size of premises or the staff to cope with more than a couple of cars at any one time
Whats the price difference between a main dealer and an independent in terms of servicing and ad hoc fixes? approximately..But the difference is largely as described above from my perspective. The only bit I haven’t seen with the specialist independents is the “ahh well it’s not something we encounter”. They are very experienced.
David just did the clutch on my Murci.
Ferruccio said:
At a guess between x1.5 and 2.
But the difference is largely as described above from my perspective. The only bit I haven’t seen with the specialist independents is the “ahh well it’s not something we encounter”. They are very experienced.
David just did the clutch on my Murci.
That’s an engine out job right? How much does he charge?But the difference is largely as described above from my perspective. The only bit I haven’t seen with the specialist independents is the “ahh well it’s not something we encounter”. They are very experienced.
David just did the clutch on my Murci.
del mar said:
Perhaps your car was built on a Friday ??
Tuesday cars are always better.
I do 1000 - 1500 miles a year in my 6.2.
Serviced it myself £400 on fluids and plugs, needs doing again in September.
Ats were offering brake fluid changes for £40 - it is not rocket science.
Minor trim pieces from Sevenoaks - £100 or so.
Only big cost so far has been coils at £1000, I now have 11 good spares for sale so could recoup some money.
Fuel - I don’t count that.
Parts - do not damage anything they are expensive.
I damaged a wing mirror backing out of the garage - £3000 or fixed myself for free. I am now an expert at such things.
Clutch will hurt when it is due, but I never launch in 1st.
I enjoy the thrill of finding the parts.
Ashtray lid £80 plus vat or Audi A6 rear door ashtray £18 on eBay.
Most parts can probably be made cheaper than buying from lambo
Mine will need a respray in due course, my man has said £2599 - 3000 if I strip the car apart.
Another said £8000 !!!
Reading lambopower I would avoid the e gear like the plague, although I have no experience of one.
Haha I love this post; Good man.Tuesday cars are always better.
I do 1000 - 1500 miles a year in my 6.2.
Serviced it myself £400 on fluids and plugs, needs doing again in September.
Ats were offering brake fluid changes for £40 - it is not rocket science.
Minor trim pieces from Sevenoaks - £100 or so.
Only big cost so far has been coils at £1000, I now have 11 good spares for sale so could recoup some money.
Fuel - I don’t count that.
Parts - do not damage anything they are expensive.
I damaged a wing mirror backing out of the garage - £3000 or fixed myself for free. I am now an expert at such things.
Clutch will hurt when it is due, but I never launch in 1st.
I enjoy the thrill of finding the parts.
Ashtray lid £80 plus vat or Audi A6 rear door ashtray £18 on eBay.
Most parts can probably be made cheaper than buying from lambo
Mine will need a respray in due course, my man has said £2599 - 3000 if I strip the car apart.
Another said £8000 !!!
Reading lambopower I would avoid the e gear like the plague, although I have no experience of one.
TP321 said:
That’s an engine out job right? How much does he charge?
here's what dealers, and most independents don't tell you; its only an engine out job on an e-gear (once you start doing the job on an e-gear you'll know why). Thing is labour for remove/replace engine+box is and change the clutch is £2K-£2.5K the rest is parts.This is not just me making this up, see here for how a manual Murci does not need its engine removed (or its gearbox) to change the clutch, and I can confirm this seeing it in person (and having done my own e-gear for the 2nd time right now):
http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?4...
that company even posted the process on their own. website, which shows the engine and trans separated in-situ:
http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/do-you-even-lift-en...
now if you don't have to remove the engine and box, your clutch change should be closer to £3K than to £4K....
SydneySE said:
Yes they are the same callipers (discs are not Audi though- different offset).
Yes adaptors are needed. When I had the CAD drawings done for mine, I made 4 sets. I' ve sold one set, one is used for my car, so I have 2 sets spare. If you're interested in the adaptors, drop me a message with your number and I'll send you some pics.
PM sent...Yes adaptors are needed. When I had the CAD drawings done for mine, I made 4 sets. I' ve sold one set, one is used for my car, so I have 2 sets spare. If you're interested in the adaptors, drop me a message with your number and I'll send you some pics.
TP321 said:
Whats the price difference between a main dealer and an independent in terms of servicing and ad hoc fixes? approximately..
I think from memory I was quoted 5k for the clutch change instead of 7.7k and an 8 week wait at the indy which is great ...if you are of the patient disposition... but I wasn't .....and as my main car, i needed it back pronto and also I wanted to drive my car at every single chance i got so it's all subjective , so I was turned around in 5 days and had my car by the weekend . I totally understand the indy route and I would have gone that way .. but 8 weeks is just not good enough I'm afraid. sandysinclair said:
TP321 said:
Whats the price difference between a main dealer and an independent in terms of servicing and ad hoc fixes? approximately..
I think from memory I was quoted 5k for the clutch change instead of 7.7k and an 8 week wait at the indy which is great ...if you are of the patient disposition... but I wasn't .....and as my main car, i needed it back pronto and also I wanted to drive my car at every single chance i got so it's all subjective , so I was turned around in 5 days and had my car by the weekend . I totally understand the indy route and I would have gone that way .. but 8 weeks is just not good enough I'm afraid. SydneySE said:
Patrick-Peter said:
Well that makes for a rather depressing read. I better put more aside for contingencies if this is the case for all murci's. I hope mine behaves itself as I don't wanna fall out of love with it just yet. Already had the full clutch & release bearing done and came in under 6k but I knew these cost going in.
The reason you spent £6K:£2K approx for a "clutch kit" (3 piece assembly)
£1500-1700 for release bearing
£2.5K in labour
the above are average figures.
I pay (DIY);
£850 for a full face kevlar clutch from Maddog engineering (plus reface & balance the pressure plate and flywheel)
£500 for the Gallardo/R8 (and LP670) updated release bearing
£1200 (from memory) for the LP670 Bellhousing to allow the sue of the above release bearing
I took the opportunity to change oil & coolant rather than "collecting and re-using it" as service shops do.
These cars are not expensive to run if you do it yourself; my next clutch change will just be another £850 or so plus fluids, so I feel fine using my e-gear in a spirited manner :-) (I get on with these boxes so well I recently bought a quattroporte F1 as these are essentially the same magnetti marelli parts, regardless Ferrari/maserati/lambo- eg the clutch disc on an e-gear murcielago is the same as a 599 F1 Ferrari)
I also upgraded the front brakes on mine to the 8 pot Gallardo brakes- but they are actually Audi items..... even have the Audi rings cast on the calliper! I got these of e-bay, repainted them and fitted new seals and pistons (quite cheap to do).
Number plate lights are of an series one Audi TT... theres also a lot of R8/gallardo cross over, like the brake master cylinder/brake booster assembly... I could go on. I got most parts from auto-recyclers in LA & Germany and some new parts from eurospares, and some from just regular Audi dealers....
SydneySE said:
Patrick-Peter said:
Well that makes for a rather depressing read. I better put more aside for contingencies if this is the case for all murci's. I hope mine behaves itself as I don't wanna fall out of love with it just yet. Already had the full clutch & release bearing done and came in under 6k but I knew these cost going in.
The reason you spent £6K:£2K approx for a "clutch kit" (3 piece assembly)
£1500-1700 for release bearing
£2.5K in labour
the above are average figures.
I pay (DIY);
£850 for a full face kevlar clutch from Maddog engineering (plus reface & balance the pressure plate and flywheel)
£500 for the Gallardo/R8 (and LP670) updated release bearing
£1200 (from memory) for the LP670 Bellhousing to allow the sue of the above release bearing
I took the opportunity to change oil & coolant rather than "collecting and re-using it" as service shops do.
These cars are not expensive to run if you do it yourself; my next clutch change will just be another £850 or so plus fluids, so I feel fine using my e-gear in a spirited manner :-) (I get on with these boxes so well I recently bought a quattroporte F1 as these are essentially the same magnetti marelli parts, regardless Ferrari/maserati/lambo- eg the clutch disc on an e-gear murcielago is the same as a 599 F1 Ferrari)
I also upgraded the front brakes on mine to the 8 pot Gallardo brakes- but they are actually Audi items..... even have the Audi rings cast on the calliper! I got these of e-bay, repainted them and fitted new seals and pistons (quite cheap to do).
Number plate lights are of an series one Audi TT... theres also a lot of R8/gallardo cross over, like the brake master cylinder/brake booster assembly... I could go on. I got most parts from auto-recyclers in LA & Germany and some new parts from eurospares, and some from just regular Audi dealers....
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