My 1978 MGB Roadster

[littlemidgetgem]

sparks87 said:

Wow a 540 Manual would definitely be a step up, I hear for a big V8 they are not that much worse, fuel wise than the bigger of the 6 cylinder engines. I think as standard the pre facelift E39 is a great looking car, but the angel eyes do really enhance the look.

A lot of E39s suffered with the pixel displays failing, and BMW refuse to even acknowledge this as a design fault Out of several cars that I looked at, only one E39 had a working display. My one is only readable every so often, kinda annoying as I'm not sure what the mileage says or temperature reading. Even my green service lights don't work properly But its a simple fix and much better than spending £400 so BMW can do it...

Glad your enjoying yours

Not bothered about fuel economy, get 25-26 out of the 520i which isn't great for a 2ltr really! Would be a lovely step up, certainly a contenders if I go for the one car option!

Think I would try to go facelift too, I like the angel eyes

Thanks for letting me know about the pixels, I take it I'm lucky, perhaps I've got a good 'un that I should keep hold of??

[sparks87]

littlemidgetgem said:

sparks87 said:

Wow a 540 Manual would definitely be a step up, I hear for a big V8 they are not that much worse, fuel wise than the bigger of the 6 cylinder engines. I think as standard the pre facelift E39 is a great looking car, but the angel eyes do really enhance the look.

A lot of E39s suffered with the pixel displays failing, and BMW refuse to even acknowledge this as a design fault Out of several cars that I looked at, only one E39 had a working display. My one is only readable every so often, kinda annoying as I'm not sure what the mileage says or temperature reading. Even my green service lights don't work properly But its a simple fix and much better than spending £400 so BMW can do it...

Glad your enjoying yours

Not bothered about fuel economy, get 25-26 out of the 520i which isn't great for a 2ltr really! Would be a lovely step up, certainly a contenders if I go for the one car option!

Think I would try to go facelift too, I like the angel eyes

Thanks for letting me know about the pixels, I take it I'm lucky, perhaps I've got a good 'un that I should keep hold of??

Well I knew before I purchased the 528 that its dash had pixels missing, but otherwise the car was great so I got it anyway. If you do look for a 540 don't be put off by faulty pixels, loads of E39s have them and it doesn't usually effect the stereo unit, just the dash. Like I said I can get it fixed for £80 by a guy in Southampton who has been praised on pistonheads as well as other BMW forums, so its not the end of the world I guess

Edited by sparks87 on Tuesday 2nd December 22:20

[SB - Nigel]

Wow it's gone and I was going to give you a tip about using the overdrive

Gearbox problem sounded a bit iffy lack of oil changes or wrong oil can make matters worse, the other things might have been sorted fairly easily

B cabins are usually nowhere near as warm as Midgets cabins (my Midget is warm even in today's weather) so it may have seemed worse than it was (plus difference in weather between having the two cars)

Overdrive tip for your future cars or anyone else (something I forgot after not having an overdrive car for over 15 years)

When engageing or disengageing the overdive (by flicking the switch) do not alter your accelorator (foot) position

I was originally told to also dip the clucth at the same time - totally wrong

The overdrive shoulkd engage/disengae immediately if it doesn't easiest thing is to check/clean the filter or look for bad wire connections as a lot of times these are all that's stopping it working properly

[littlemidgetgem]

Thanks

I will get back into the fold, probably soon! Very disappointed though with this one. More so that the garage would only give me my money back - not fix the car, or even do the jobs promised to me

Also thanks for the O/D tip, people do tell you different things, through not actually knowing I imagine?!

[SB - Nigel]

littlemidgetgem said:

Very disappointed though with this one. More so that the garage would only give me my money back - not fix the car, or even do the jobs promised to me

I think even allowing for the downturn the B sounded too cheap (I might be wrong) the cost of a classic marque or model has very little to do with its mechanical value it's all to do with its popularity, a MX-5 would be much better value at £1,700

At this low price though both cars are more of a gamble, you've probably been lucky in the past with your car gambles, I wish I was

Perhaps they took the B back to put right and sell for more money (?)

littlemidgetgem said:

Also thanks for the O/D tip, people do tell you different things, through not actually knowing I imagine?!

Yes you're right

I'd forgotten but a very experienced ex-engineer and classic/vintage enthusiast reminded me - another tip I'd forgot for you - some classic cars like to be started with the clutch in and others don't (like my Midget), it makes starting easier all of a sudden

[littlemidgetgem]

SB - Nigel said:

littlemidgetgem said:

Very disappointed though with this one. More so that the garage would only give me my money back - not fix the car, or even do the jobs promised to me

I think even allowing for the downturn the B sounded too cheap (I might be wrong) the cost of a classic marque or model has very little to do with its mechanical value it's all to do with its popularity, a MX-5 would be much better value at £1,700

At this low price though both cars are more of a gamble, you've probably been lucky in the past with your car gambles, I wish I was

Perhaps they took the B back to put right and sell for more money (?)

littlemidgetgem said:

Also thanks for the O/D tip, people do tell you different things, through not actually knowing I imagine?!

Yes you're right

I'd forgotten but a very experienced ex-engineer and classic/vintage enthusiast reminded me - another tip I'd forgot for you - some classic cars like to be started with the clutch in and others don't (like my Midget), it makes starting easier all of a sudden

Yeah I took a gamble and it didn't pay off unfortunetely, I could have spent more and should have known it was too good to be true. Will probably spend more and look after christmas current thoughts are TVR S, wedge, E30, 944 or maybe another MG. Won't buy an MX5 had one for a bit and though it handled well thats all it had going for it, paintwork was horrible, engine was woefully underpowered and had no character to make up for it, maybe I got a nail of one of those too?!

[SB - Nigel]

littlemidgetgem said:

Will probably spend more and look after christmas current thoughts are TVR S, wedge, E30, 944 or maybe another MG.

S and Wedge you'll need to spend a lot more to get something decent - unless you're very lucky

TVR's well just checkout the forums for info - one tip here, most owners will pay a lot of money to get "sexy" new dampers and springs when what was probably required and much more effective instead would have been to change the rubber suspension bushes (deepy "unsexy") and get the suspension geomentry set up by a specialist (bit more "sexy")

littlemidgetgem said:

engine was woefully underpowered and had no character to make up for it, maybe I got a nail of one of those too?!

MX-5s are generally so good it takes a real idiot previous owner to turn them into a nail (but such people are about, some even do it for money)
There was a lower powered entry level Mk1 1.6 in the mid-90s but the MX-5 was not about power it was about 60 mph B roads anyway 1500 Midget when new was (claimed) to have only 66 bhp so even the lowest MX-5 would have been around 50% more HP

Talking of 66 hp here's another suggestion for you look out for a good one of these - link - the cabins heat up and cool down (air-con is standard) very quickly - the modern Midget, as standard great fun and very economical

I wonder how tall William is now?

[littlemidgetgem]

Not for me I don't really want a modern car at all!

I've got up to £4-5K to spend, so am not wanting to get something for nothing really.

If I go down the MX5 route it will have to be turbo'd / supercharged, I understand B Road hooning is want the MX is meant to be all about and it was great until you encounted other cars and didn't have the power to overtake where you normally would beable to.

You tend to respect a Midget for what it is which makes you not really care about how fast it goes!!

Have a bit of a strange criteria really -
Must not be too common, modern.
Don't want a load of gadgets infact the less the better.
Would like a bit of power this time.

[SB - Nigel]

Right it's a TVR S then but for that sort of money tho' DO NOT go for a V8S

With any classic/sport I recommend (learn by my mistakes) that you drive an excellent example even if it's a lot more than you want to spend as this should show how well the car should really go as if you've never driven one before even a bad example can seem a lot of fun

Then drive as many as you can in your price range - do NOT buy the first (or second you) go to look at!

No power steering in an S, 90s car with 70's stylimg and 50s sports car feel - fantastic but many faults to look for, see Forum

Photo to follow (now I've got an easy site again)

Sorry not the best photo (scan of poor paper photo)

William looks at least a year younger in this photo

Edited by SB - Nigel on Wednesday 3rd December 21:46