High mileage car 'refresh'

[caelite]

Hey folks

There's another still active thread about 150k+ milliage cars floating about, where many are, very rightly stating that a 15year/150k mile car can easily be reliable and mechanically sound however many suspension and dampening components will be well past their prime. I was just wondering what the general consensus on here would be for a high mileage refresh to make an older car drive like it had just left the showroom.

In my opinion I would do the following:
1. Wheels + tyres, obvious one, tyres are consumable, wheels take a beating over their operating life and can easily be replaced with something lighter and more modern.

2. Full oil, belt, spark, ignition lead and gasket service, with modern engines suffering less from bore wear than they once did, I can't think of anything further than this to return an engine to its factory glory and compression.

3. Springs, shocks, suspension mounts & bushes, all of these components take a beating I would expect them to be still usable but tired at 100-150k

Just wondering if I had missed anything, actually tempted to get stuck in and perform some of these refreshes on my 100k mile Mazda 5.

[caelite]

Momentofmadness said:

I don't think new wheels would be part of a refresh, but other than if it's what's you fancy then go for it

Other than that, suspension, including upgrade to poly bushes etc would make the world of difference.

Fix any niggles, broken trim etc and alsi give it the valet (or detail) of it's life to keep the love affair alive too?

Eh, personally I would include them, or at least a full refurb, the majority of the vehicles I have owned (all 8-20 years old) have had wheel issues, although very minor. From being thoroughly kerbed to corrosion and cracks appearing and causing tyre pressure fluctuations. It's a very easy change to make, particularly as most retailers will do Wheel+Tyre packages at extremely discounted rates if you are doing the tyres anyway (I got a set of 15x7 Team Dynamic 1.2s for ~£70 a wheel if you factor in the tyre cost). Costs a wee bit more than a refurb+tyres do but can entirely change the look of your vehicle and eliminates potential niggles, helped my car a lot going down to 15s on 195/50 rather than the 16s on 205/40 that Mazda decided was appropriate for the late model NBs, high sidewalls increased comfort and made breakaway more progressive

And yeah currently refreshing my 5, my personal to do list is:
DONE
+Tyres&Wheels
+Oil,Filter & coolant flush
+Utility Belts
+Throttle & clutch cable readjusted, its surprising the amount of folk who don't bother with this but sorting it aids pedal feel a lot
+Trim, not necessarily fixing, but I ripped of a bit of rattling plastic from my driverside seatbelt column, was doing my nut in and 'weight saving'
+Compression test, all cyl well within tolerance (between 164 and 168psi), rules out so many mechanical faults.

TODO
-Struts&Springs, looking at a midrange set of coilovers, either FM Vmaxx, Koni Streets or low end Gaz units.
-Gearbox & Diff oil, this NEVER gets done in old cars it seems, very cheap & easy to do, particularly important with clutchpack LSD systems
-Silicon coolant hoses, I've got a minor leak, any excuse to upgrade
-Cam cover gasket, an excuse to paint the cam cover a laudy colour!
-Sparks & Ignition leads, got a set of NGK Iridiums sitting at a friends, been meaning to order a set of high quality 8mm leads
-Full 4 wheel geometry, holding off until after the struts
-Rust repairs, its a 13 year old Mazda 5... no doubt this (the most important job) will be left to last, I hate welding & I KNOW that my driverside sill needs replaced, I am about 90% sure that actually using the driverside rear jacking point will result in a rather large hole

Asides from that the only thing I am strongly considering is a fresh set of polybushes, although at £300 (which would make it the 2nd single largest purchase behind the coilovers) I am reluctant to do so until it starts squeeking. Toying with doing the cam belt & water pump, but its not due for another 20k miles, I will give it a good inspection whilst I am doing the cam cover though, I will most likely do a headgasket whilst the cam belt is out as that is half the labour for that job.

I might actually clean the car at some point too...

[caelite]

NiceCupOfTea said:

I know you just mentioned the 4-wheel laser alignment, but I'll just add it again - recently had it done on my 18 year old / 115k miles e36 convertible after it failed the MOT on badly worn front tyres (outer edges looked ok, inner were like racing slicks ). So hopefully improved tyre life and more even wear, and the twitchiness, especially in the wet on the motorway, is totally gone and it drives beautifully.

Best money I've spent on a car in a long time - will be doing the same with my Saab 900 (190k miles) when my new suspension is on, and my e46 Touring (150k miles) once I get it back from its service.

Aside from that, full service including diff/gearbox oil, shocks/springs/bushes.

Yeah I have heard a good geometry can transform most 'sporty' cars. Although from what I have heard it is well worth taking your car to some sort of specialist who can advise on a model specific geometry rather than just the local tyre places who use the manufacturers rather wide tolerances. My 5 doesn't seem to scrub but has a lovely 'feature' where holding the steering wheel ~5 degrees to the right equals straight dead centre on both front wheels, really minor compared to a lot of what I have put up with in my history of ropey 4x4s but I actually find it really irritating in the mx5 .

[caelite]

Monkeylegend said:

CubanPete said:

Monkeylegend said:

CubanPete said:

Window and door seals get noisy with age.

Anything else rubber and perishable. Hoses / Belts / Bushes / Pulleys etc

Get injectors cleaned or replaced.

Mats and carpet. Seat / Steering wheel.

Or alternatively buy a Mercedes.

Best add bodywork as well then.

Not for a 2011 E class

Indeed, instead you just have a near infinite amount of potential electrical faults to look out for.