MDifficult’s E82 1M Coupe & Ariel Atom 3

[Court_S]

I can certainly see where you’re coming from; the weather has been poo this year which certainly puts a brake on doing car related stuff. I think I’ve only done C&M once or twice this year whereas I’m usually there quite a lot.

I’ve found my patience tested somewhat running two older BMW’s this year; the 330i has swallowed up quite a lot of cash in a short space of time and has been unusable for three weeks or so. fking thing.

The amount of copper slip used by BMW was a pisstake. If you stray away from servicing at dealers, they’ll be a total pain in the arse with future warranty claims as I found out the hard way in January.

Hopefully we’ll get some dry, cold days soon with will make car stuff feel a bit more appealing.

[MDifficult]

JakeT said:

I’d recommend escaping this island to fall back in love with the drive, honestly. This time of year is the best time to make plans. We’re skiing next year, and taking the car. The extended family are flying, so double win. Then, we’re either heading to Portugal and Spain, or maybe Croatia and back. I can guarantee you’ll not only appreciate the act of driving, but also your cars much more. Taking a 1M on a good trip would be amazing, and would re-ignite the fire.

You're absolutely right.. and I'd forgotten that I'm booked on a four day Atom adventure in Wales next year, with two days on track at Anglesey so I've got that to look forward to already. Now need to think of something for the 1M...

bencollins4 said:

I sympathise with this, as I think we all go through these thoughts from time to time. I had my Elise SORN’d for October as we were away for a bit, work was busy, and I couldn’t foresee it coming out of the garage, so I promised myself it would come out in November…..well, every occasion I wanted to use it, it has pissed down so I have given up until the Spring!

Driving generally has been pretty uninspiring since our Indian summer came to an abrupt end 6 weeks ago and it does provoke thoughts of boring diesels to carry out long motorway trips for work, but I’m holding off for the time being!

Point of the post is, don’t sell either car, certainly not right now. I’m sure everything will come good soon, and you’ll be pleased you hung on to them. Here’s to Spring (and a good day for PHSS at Thruxton)!

Also absolutely right. I think I was spoilt by last year where there just seemed to be endless mornings, evenings and weekends of lovely weather right up until the end of the year. Don't worry, I'm not selling anything (well... unless something awesome comes up - but that's every day of every year)

d_a_n1979 said:

Yeah; I think real world the E39 M5 would work best; the E30 touring would be more of a nice to have (too small for me personally); but both superb cars with their own issues too unless already sorted...

I can't really explain the E30 thing. I think it's because I'd happily own one that was 'a bit rough around the edges' whereas if I went for the E39 it would have to be perfect and everything that wasn't would drive me nuts!

MTW said:

I Always get the blues this time of year with the Caterham and get the itchy “it’s a lot of money to be sat in the garage doing nothing” feeling, every year so far like clockwork it’s starts coming on!

Fully agree’d with the state of the roads and driving these days, but what has been a real revelation to me has been buying the Alfa Romeo, honestly it’s 90% as fun as the Caterham and it’s only 85bhp. It’s fantastic actually being able to scream through multiple gears all the way to 6000+ rpm, feel like you are going 10/10th and you are barely bothering 60mph. Whereas in the Caterham you really can only enjoy the car in split second bursts on the road, probably similar to the Atom. I highly recommend trying a classic, I honestly never thought you could have fun in a really slow car until now. I’m fully converted!

Nice to know it's not just me - my post generated a lot more thoughts and feedback than I expected. Your last point is more accurate than you know.. I've looked at both Ford Puma 1.7s and Panda 100hps. Those are classics too right?

Court_S said:

I can certainly see where you’re coming from; the weather has been poo this year which certainly puts a brake on doing car related stuff. I think I’ve only done C&M once or twice this year whereas I’m usually there quite a lot.

I’ve found my patience tested somewhat running two older BMW’s this year; the 330i has swallowed up quite a lot of cash in a short space of time and has been unusable for three weeks or so. fking thing.

The amount of copper slip used by BMW was a pisstake. If you stray away from servicing at dealers, they’ll be a total pain in the arse with future warranty claims as I found out the hard way in January.

Hopefully we’ll get some dry, cold days soon with will make car stuff feel a bit more appealing.

I've been reading both your threads from behind the sofa .. your persistence in the face of 'one thing after another' is absolutely to be admired and you'll be rewarded in the end (either because they'll be fantastic or... you can start your own YouTube channel!). I have an emerging plan for how to solve the dealer issue.. more on that soon hopefully.

Nothing for it.. need to lift myself out of the doldrums and get out and have some fun!

[MDifficult]

...and I should add... a massive thank you to everyone who's posted with words of encouragement! I won't be ditching everything for a Golf just yet

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

...and I should add... a massive thank you to everyone who's posted with words of encouragement! I won't be ditching everything for a Golf just yet

Good stuff…no one needs a Golf!

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

I've been reading both your threads from behind the sofa .. your persistence in the face of 'one thing after another' is absolutely to be admired and you'll be rewarded in the end (either because they'll be fantastic or... you can start your own YouTube channel!). I have an emerging plan for how to solve the dealer issue.. more on that soon hopefully.

Nothing for it.. need to lift myself out of the doldrums and get out and have some fun!

Ironically the problem child (N54) seems to be ok at the moment and the reliable N52 keeps biting me in the arse.

Or I’ll end up broke and destitute!

Will be interested to see how you deal with the dealer issue. They can be absolute fkers…they tried to pull a fast one with my father in law with pads and discs, not even quoting him the reduced price for a car over four years old.

[d_a_n1979]

MDifficult said:

...and I should add... a massive thank you to everyone who's posted with words of encouragement! I won't be ditching everything for a Golf just yet

^^^ As Sam said

Think we'd all have to point out the error of your ways if you ended up with a Golf

[RB Will]

Do you have more details on that Wales trip?

[MDifficult]

d_a_n1979 said:

^^^ As Sam said

Think we'd all have to point out the error of your ways if you ended up with a Golf

To be fair, it was a 7.5 GTI Performance, I’m not a complete pussy

RB Will said:

Do you have more details on that Wales trip?

Sure - it’s a privately organised event, just Atoms and BAC Monos. There’s a group drive across Wales to get there too which should be fun. I think it’s happened for the last few years but this is the first time I got my name down to be invited. Drop me a PM if you’d like to know any specifics?

[MDifficult]

After the disappointing news that the skidpad sessions were cancelled (some organisational cock-up), the Sunday Service itself was still great and the journey there and back was a chance to stretch the 1M 'legs' with a couple of other M cars - just what the doctor ordered for an otherwise miserable winter

MrTouring and I were joined by my mate with his absurd 500+ Bhp M2 Competition Manual on Cup 2s. Watching him in the mirror pull out of every t-junction fully sideways was quite the spectacle

The Sunday Service itself was great, despite the weather, only let down by the Mobile DJ who insisted on playing his awful music throughout the first hour. As we wandered over to the find out where it was coming from I was convinced it would be the Ford Performance lot (they've form for this sort of thing) only to be horrified to find it was a BMW Touring. Have a word with yourself mate - you're letting the side down!

Anyway, massive thanks to Ben and the team for organising, and a warm 'well done' to RB Will and his disgustingly-filthy Nomad.

As always, I was far too busy chatting and ogling to take any pictures (and everyone else will do it better), but thankfully we stopped to take one on the way..

[RB Will]

Ta muchly. The weather was a bugger. All the apps I checked said cold but mostly dry, light shower around Marlborough about 9am. So the constant drizzle changing to constant proper rain until the sun came out 5 mins from home was a git
Thanks to that it wasn’t just the Nomad that was disgusting



Nice little meet though, some lovely stuff there and eclectic as ever. I followed the DS some of the way home, smelled like it was running on coal.
Mobile disco did seem a bit out of place though.

[MDifficult]

Well, you don't need me to tell you that the weather has continued to be absolute crap. On the plus side, it's been warm so no need for much salt through December, but it's been wetter than an otter's pockets.

That said though.. just when I thought things couldn't get more miserable the world conspired to give me a perfect day and who would have thought it would be the day before Christmas Eve!?

I woke up to a glorious, dry, cool day so jumped at the chance. Heated gear on, into the Atom, and managed to do 200 miles before the blue was replaced by grey. Even remembered to stop and take a photo!



Roads were empty and it was just the perfect way to spend a morning. Fingers crossed we get some more in January!

[Kaveney]

MDifficult said:

Well, you don't need me to tell you that the weather has continued to be absolute crap. On the plus side, it's been warm so no need for much salt through December, but it's been wetter than an otter's pockets.

That said though.. just when I thought things couldn't get more miserable the world conspired to give me a perfect day and who would have thought it would be the day before Christmas Eve!?

I woke up to a glorious, dry, cool day so jumped at the chance. Heated gear on, into the Atom, and managed to do 200 miles before the blue was replaced by grey. Even remembered to stop and take a photo!



Roads were empty and it was just the perfect way to spend a morning. Fingers crossed we get some more in January!

Hope that good drive and the good weather has rekindled your love for driving again .

[MDifficult]

Kaveney said:

Hope that good drive and the good weather has rekindled your love for driving again .

Cheers - it certainly didn't do any harm!

[d_a_n1979]

MDifficult said:

Well, you don't need me to tell you that the weather has continued to be absolute crap. On the plus side, it's been warm so no need for much salt through December, but it's been wetter than an otter's pockets.

That said though.. just when I thought things couldn't get more miserable the world conspired to give me a perfect day and who would have thought it would be the day before Christmas Eve!?

I woke up to a glorious, dry, cool day so jumped at the chance. Heated gear on, into the Atom, and managed to do 200 miles before the blue was replaced by grey. Even remembered to stop and take a photo!



Roads were empty and it was just the perfect way to spend a morning. Fingers crossed we get some more in January!

And why not! What a great way to welcome in the New Year

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

Well, you don't need me to tell you that the weather has continued to be absolute crap. On the plus side, it's been warm so no need for much salt through December, but it's been wetter than an otter's pockets.

That said though.. just when I thought things couldn't get more miserable the world conspired to give me a perfect day and who would have thought it would be the day before Christmas Eve!?

I woke up to a glorious, dry, cool day so jumped at the chance. Heated gear on, into the Atom, and managed to do 200 miles before the blue was replaced by grey. Even remembered to stop and take a photo!



Roads were empty and it was just the perfect way to spend a morning. Fingers crossed we get some more in January!

Good stuff - the weather over the festive period was pretty ste but punctuated with the odd nice day. I did very few fun drives last year - something that needs to be sorted this year (here's to hoping for a better summer than last).

[MDifficult]

The weather has been on my side once again, and the Atom got a good long run out this Sunday - absolutely stunning blue skies and although there was a little salt on the roads it was dry as a bone and stayed on the road rather than on the car. Result! I'm booked on the Pistonheads Hill Climb event again too and I'm hoping to avoid the gravel trap this time

The 1M has been into BMW for a little preventative maintenance (I successfully restored my relationship with the local dealer and the technicians - no details on that but suffice to say I'm very much happier putting the car in than I was before). New lower camber arm bushes, replacement rear brake lines and new rear springs - all of which were okay but if you're having that bit of the car apart again, made sense to do because they were starting to look pretty crusty - classic 13yo car stuff really. Thankfully, the warranty paid out for good chunk of it too, and the car was returned to me in pristine condition and well taken care of. Can't argue with that.

It's due to go back in March for a 'major' service, with gearbox and (I think) diff oil all being done, but since the preventative stuff has been taken care of I'm hoping it's a quick in-and-out (although it'll be a pretty expensive in-and-out no doubt). That should see it 'good' for the next few years at least.

I even detailed the bloody thing last week and it sure does look better after two months of suffering the worst of the winter weather without so much as a damp cloth being run over it. I would have taken a picture but it was pitch dark by the time I'd finished!

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

The weather has been on my side once again, and the Atom got a good long run out this Sunday - absolutely stunning blue skies and although there was a little salt on the roads it was dry as a bone and stayed on the road rather than on the car. Result! I'm booked on the Pistonheads Hill Climb event again too and I'm hoping to avoid the gravel trap this time

The 1M has been into BMW for a little preventative maintenance (I successfully restored my relationship with the local dealer and the technicians - no details on that but suffice to say I'm very much happier putting the car in than I was before). New lower camber arm bushes, replacement rear brake lines and new rear springs - all of which were okay but if you're having that bit of the car apart again, made sense to do because they were starting to look pretty crusty - classic 13yo car stuff really. Thankfully, the warranty paid out for good chunk of it too, and the car was returned to me in pristine condition and well taken care of. Can't argue with that.

It's due to go back in March for a 'major' service, with gearbox and (I think) diff oil all being done, but since the preventative stuff has been taken care of I'm hoping it's a quick in-and-out (although it'll be a pretty expensive in-and-out no doubt). That should see it 'good' for the next few years at least.

I even detailed the bloody thing last week and it sure does look better after two months of suffering the worst of the winter weather without so much as a damp cloth being run over it. I would have taken a picture but it was pitch dark by the time I'd finished!

Good stuff; I missed Prescott annoyingly and it’s a long way to go as a spectator.

Good news re the dealer too.

[MDifficult]

Court_S said:

Good stuff; I missed Prescott annoyingly and it’s a long way to go as a spectator.

Good news re the dealer too.

Cheers - really looking forward to Prescott. Despite the little wobble it was one of the most exciting car adventures last year. Hopefully I’ll be older and wiser this time! Shame you won’t be there for a passenger ride

[keo]

I should be going PHSS so I will definitely have a look at the Atom!

[MDifficult]

keo said:

I should be going PHSS so I will definitely have a look at the Atom!

Great! If you fancy a passenger ride let me know... there's a 75% chance of getting to the top!