Lexus LS430 Slightly modified
Discussion
After our BMW was stolen back in November as us taking a little bit of a financial hit due to the insurance not paying out for it I've been in the lookout for a new car.
After a week without a car i decided that we needed to get something just to get us around, Bearing in mind the used car market in Poland is very depressing with decent sub 500 GBP cars not existing we decided to buy this, (I would have flown to the UK to pick something up but my passport was stolen with the BMW so i was stuck in Poland
)
Walking to the local shop to buy vodka to drown my sorrows I happened upon this for sale in a nearby street,
Its a 2004 Peugeot 206 Roland Garros 2.0 HDI, As I understand they didn't make too many of these with the 2.0 hdi engine so its a bit of a rarity.
Great fun in the snow especially on summer tyres
The tyres were pretty shot (Perished more than worn) so I found a set of 17" oem rims with winter tyres to stick on in which tidied it up nicely
I also added one of those tuning box things to make it drivable as it had no power whatsoever over 3500 RPM,
Oh and the interior was pretty smart…
When we bought the car it had done around 250k kms and when we sold it just over 300k, (Trips to the UK and back monthly from Poland will do that,)
Despite the fact long journeys were akin to travelling in a washing machine on full spin due to the short gearing and agricultural engine the old Peugeot didn't miss a beat in the 6 months we abused it for. Nothing fell off, Nothing broke, All the electrics worked as well as french electrics ever could. I must say i'm pretty impressed, Although theres no soft touch plastics and that "solid feel" when you close the door I actually think it was better screwed together than our BMW e90.
Anyway moving on, The car was sold to my brother in law, Not because i wanted to sell it really but because he really wanted it, My plan was to keep it in the garage as a spare car as I'd really grown attached to the thing.
Washed, not polished ready to be handed over,
I've been searching for a new car since the BMW was stolen and had set an initial budget of 15k GBP to replace the BMW as I needed something comfortable and reliable for my monthly commute between the UK and Poland, Since the Audi s1 came out i had been yearning for one but after having a test drive I just couldn't bear to part with the cash.
In the meantime My wifes parents had given us a huge chunk of land to build a house on and we were also in the process of buying a UK property so the money was obviously better spent elsewhere. A couple of quotes from a builder in my wifes hometown revealed that the cost of building a 120m2 house is only slightly more expensive than the Audi S1... Decision made.
Originally I was after the latest first generation Lexus IS200 I could find but with them being few and far between in unmodified decent condition (with the aero kit) I started looking at the LS430.
After reading UtterPiffles threads about his jaunts across Europe in huge engined Mercs running on LPG this got me thinking,
So I bought this
Its a 2005 Lexus LS430 on just over 100k miles with full service history and its huge!
For just over barge thread money and only slightly I'm pretty impressed at how much car we bought for the money. (Quite literally as it barely in our parking space, good job we have 2 and only one car)
The most surprising thing is everything works!
Anyway as LPG conversions can be done cheaply and to a very good standard in Poland it seemed like the logical thing to do so booked it in for next week to have the gas installed. 700 GBP for a sequential system with HANA injectors and an 80 Litre tank in the spare wheel well. (Payback period should be around 6 months)
Driving on the uneven roads of Poznan has revealed a slight worn air strut on the rear left so instead of replacing the oem parts one by one only for them to inevitably fail at some point I've ordered a set of Tein Streetflex coilovers to take the place of the air system and to future proof the car against any more suspension problems.
So far i'm very impressed however my previous Lexus impressed me too and was well suited for the sort of use it got,
For comparison next to the 206
[/URL]
They do seem to be very well built if not that good looking compared to its German counterparts but that V8 sound is amazing.
More pictures and updates to come as things progress.
After a week without a car i decided that we needed to get something just to get us around, Bearing in mind the used car market in Poland is very depressing with decent sub 500 GBP cars not existing we decided to buy this, (I would have flown to the UK to pick something up but my passport was stolen with the BMW so i was stuck in Poland
)Walking to the local shop to buy vodka to drown my sorrows I happened upon this for sale in a nearby street,
Its a 2004 Peugeot 206 Roland Garros 2.0 HDI, As I understand they didn't make too many of these with the 2.0 hdi engine so its a bit of a rarity.
Great fun in the snow especially on summer tyres
The tyres were pretty shot (Perished more than worn) so I found a set of 17" oem rims with winter tyres to stick on in which tidied it up nicely
I also added one of those tuning box things to make it drivable as it had no power whatsoever over 3500 RPM,
Oh and the interior was pretty smart…
When we bought the car it had done around 250k kms and when we sold it just over 300k, (Trips to the UK and back monthly from Poland will do that,)
Despite the fact long journeys were akin to travelling in a washing machine on full spin due to the short gearing and agricultural engine the old Peugeot didn't miss a beat in the 6 months we abused it for. Nothing fell off, Nothing broke, All the electrics worked as well as french electrics ever could. I must say i'm pretty impressed, Although theres no soft touch plastics and that "solid feel" when you close the door I actually think it was better screwed together than our BMW e90.
Anyway moving on, The car was sold to my brother in law, Not because i wanted to sell it really but because he really wanted it, My plan was to keep it in the garage as a spare car as I'd really grown attached to the thing.
Washed, not polished ready to be handed over,
I've been searching for a new car since the BMW was stolen and had set an initial budget of 15k GBP to replace the BMW as I needed something comfortable and reliable for my monthly commute between the UK and Poland, Since the Audi s1 came out i had been yearning for one but after having a test drive I just couldn't bear to part with the cash.
In the meantime My wifes parents had given us a huge chunk of land to build a house on and we were also in the process of buying a UK property so the money was obviously better spent elsewhere. A couple of quotes from a builder in my wifes hometown revealed that the cost of building a 120m2 house is only slightly more expensive than the Audi S1... Decision made.
Originally I was after the latest first generation Lexus IS200 I could find but with them being few and far between in unmodified decent condition (with the aero kit) I started looking at the LS430.
After reading UtterPiffles threads about his jaunts across Europe in huge engined Mercs running on LPG this got me thinking,
So I bought this
Its a 2005 Lexus LS430 on just over 100k miles with full service history and its huge!
For just over barge thread money and only slightly I'm pretty impressed at how much car we bought for the money. (Quite literally as it barely in our parking space, good job we have 2 and only one car)
The most surprising thing is everything works!
Anyway as LPG conversions can be done cheaply and to a very good standard in Poland it seemed like the logical thing to do so booked it in for next week to have the gas installed. 700 GBP for a sequential system with HANA injectors and an 80 Litre tank in the spare wheel well. (Payback period should be around 6 months)
Driving on the uneven roads of Poznan has revealed a slight worn air strut on the rear left so instead of replacing the oem parts one by one only for them to inevitably fail at some point I've ordered a set of Tein Streetflex coilovers to take the place of the air system and to future proof the car against any more suspension problems.
So far i'm very impressed however my previous Lexus impressed me too and was well suited for the sort of use it got,
For comparison next to the 206
[/URL]They do seem to be very well built if not that good looking compared to its German counterparts but that V8 sound is amazing.
More pictures and updates to come as things progress.
Edited by CDB1983 on Thursday 26th May 10:52
Just dropped the old barge off for its LPG conversion, Hopefully we will have it back by the end of the week,
Next week coilovers get fitted as the OE rear air shocks have pretty much had it.
I've been searching US Ebay for the wood panel without the suspension switches as having redundant switches on the dash will really make my teeth itch.
Next plan is to do something with the OEM sound system and navigation. I was hoping for something along the lines of a Dynavin system but it seems nobody makes them so the plan is to fit the climate control panel which is fitted to the non navi cars and install Alpines Apple carplay system. (6 CD's get tedious on long trips) Navigation system is out of date and very temperamental so the only solution is to bin it. Problem at this stage is sourcing the right harness to integrate an aftermarket headunit with the Mark Levinson System which sounds fantastic and would be a shame to lose.
Bring on 25p per litre barging!
Next week coilovers get fitted as the OE rear air shocks have pretty much had it.
I've been searching US Ebay for the wood panel without the suspension switches as having redundant switches on the dash will really make my teeth itch.
Next plan is to do something with the OEM sound system and navigation. I was hoping for something along the lines of a Dynavin system but it seems nobody makes them so the plan is to fit the climate control panel which is fitted to the non navi cars and install Alpines Apple carplay system. (6 CD's get tedious on long trips) Navigation system is out of date and very temperamental so the only solution is to bin it. Problem at this stage is sourcing the right harness to integrate an aftermarket headunit with the Mark Levinson System which sounds fantastic and would be a shame to lose.
Bring on 25p per litre barging!
Lpg system installed, well has been for quite some time and so far so good.
Tank holds 65 litres and gives a range of 250-300 miles and costs less than £20 to fill,
The paranoid side of me keeps the petrol tank nearly full at all times as the fuel guage still moves when on LPG and then bounces back to the actual fuel level periodically.
After ordering the Teins they told me it would be a 6 month wait so opted for some K-sport coilovers, so far so good,
And fitted!
The only problem im having is that the intaller didnt set up the dampening on the rear and left them in factory settings. Job for today is to remove the rear seats and adjust the damping. The car drives so much better than on the stock blown shock absorbers and for the cost of 1 OEM air shock I now have 4.
Ride height a little lower than stock
EBC pads and discs fitted too so should stop the way it should without the vibration i was getting before.
Tank holds 65 litres and gives a range of 250-300 miles and costs less than £20 to fill,
The paranoid side of me keeps the petrol tank nearly full at all times as the fuel guage still moves when on LPG and then bounces back to the actual fuel level periodically.
After ordering the Teins they told me it would be a 6 month wait so opted for some K-sport coilovers, so far so good,
And fitted!
The only problem im having is that the intaller didnt set up the dampening on the rear and left them in factory settings. Job for today is to remove the rear seats and adjust the damping. The car drives so much better than on the stock blown shock absorbers and for the cost of 1 OEM air shock I now have 4.
Ride height a little lower than stock
EBC pads and discs fitted too so should stop the way it should without the vibration i was getting before.
V8RX7 said:
Honestly do the new shocks ruin the ride ?
It's supposed to be a comfortable cruiser whilst I like "sporty" I don't like crashy and jiggly
Compared to how it drove on the broken air system its actually pretty comfortable, I have raised the ride height up as the installer set it far too low and its set at 3 clicks away from maximum soft on dampening which has eliminated any bounce.It's supposed to be a comfortable cruiser whilst I like "sporty" I don't like crashy and jiggly
At the moment its at least as smooth as my old E38 with sport suspension, Obviously its not as smooth as its supposed to be however i couldnt warrant spending £700 a corner to repair the original air system only for it to break again as it seems the suspension is the only weak link on these things.
Some may have seen my other thread with regards to spigot rings etc...
Anyway It now has new shoes, 19" RTS trafficstars which have long been my favourite wheels but until recently have been way out of my budget, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
I know the rear needs more dish so new barrels and lips are in the pipeline after the winter
Polishes up well for an 11 year old 100k+ barge
Also as my wife finally passed her test and didn't fancy driving the LS with the wheel on the "wrong side" we scoured the local classifieds, Went to view a Yaris and a Fiesta which seemed to appall my wife and then she found this!
Looks good in the pictures but was pretty rough when we bought it, Dent on the roof from a badly loaded bicycle, Poor collision damage repair to the rear quarter and bumper and generally in a neglected state.
Week in the bodyshop and a weekend of polishing gave us this (not bad for a 17 year old car
Anyway It now has new shoes, 19" RTS trafficstars which have long been my favourite wheels but until recently have been way out of my budget, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
I know the rear needs more dish so new barrels and lips are in the pipeline after the winter
Polishes up well for an 11 year old 100k+ barge
Also as my wife finally passed her test and didn't fancy driving the LS with the wheel on the "wrong side" we scoured the local classifieds, Went to view a Yaris and a Fiesta which seemed to appall my wife and then she found this!
Looks good in the pictures but was pretty rough when we bought it, Dent on the roof from a badly loaded bicycle, Poor collision damage repair to the rear quarter and bumper and generally in a neglected state.
Week in the bodyshop and a weekend of polishing gave us this (not bad for a 17 year old car
Cheers
I think coilovers have come a long way over the years, These are on nearly the softest setting and ride nearly as smooth as the air did. Even on terrible Polish roads. The only difference being that when a shock absorber goes next time it will cost 150 quid as opposed to 700. Shocks only seem to last a year on these roads anyway
I think coilovers have come a long way over the years, These are on nearly the softest setting and ride nearly as smooth as the air did. Even on terrible Polish roads. The only difference being that when a shock absorber goes next time it will cost 150 quid as opposed to 700. Shocks only seem to last a year on these roads anyway
SR48 said:
Got balls to buy a used car in Poland, didn't want to look at cars in Germany?
The big one is from the UK, The Is200 was only around 1400 quid so thought it was worth the gamble, Any more than that and I will be looking over the border as buying used here is quite and experience Quick update,
We have now done around 3000 miles since fitting the new wheels and they are still on (I have been checking the torque of the bolts weekly), They haven't fallen off yet despite my tyre fitter telling me they would which is nice,
Lexus LS430 ownership is actually pretty painless for what was once a very expensive car and literally no faults whatsoever (Unlike our previous BMW which was half the age and mileage) despite the LPG conversion. When having the rear brakes and wheel bearings done last week the mechanic mentioned some rust around the jacking point and mentioned that it needs to be sorted ASAP! Only on the drivers side so possibly a previous owner jacked it up in the wrong place.
Quick call to Lexus mentioning the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty (Bearing in mind mine is 11 years old) they told me make an appointment with my local Lexus dealer which happens to be Lexus in Poznan who assessed the rust and agreed that it was unacceptable and made me leave the car with them for 5 days. Picked it up this morning with all the corrosion replaced! We even got a new IS200t to motor around in whilst ours was being repaired. (Now i want one)
Suffice to say both myself and my wife were very impressed by the service and the attitude.
We have now done around 3000 miles since fitting the new wheels and they are still on (I have been checking the torque of the bolts weekly), They haven't fallen off yet despite my tyre fitter telling me they would which is nice,
Lexus LS430 ownership is actually pretty painless for what was once a very expensive car and literally no faults whatsoever (Unlike our previous BMW which was half the age and mileage) despite the LPG conversion. When having the rear brakes and wheel bearings done last week the mechanic mentioned some rust around the jacking point and mentioned that it needs to be sorted ASAP! Only on the drivers side so possibly a previous owner jacked it up in the wrong place.
Quick call to Lexus mentioning the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty (Bearing in mind mine is 11 years old) they told me make an appointment with my local Lexus dealer which happens to be Lexus in Poznan who assessed the rust and agreed that it was unacceptable and made me leave the car with them for 5 days. Picked it up this morning with all the corrosion replaced! We even got a new IS200t to motor around in whilst ours was being repaired. (Now i want one)
Suffice to say both myself and my wife were very impressed by the service and the attitude.
95 fiesta si said:
Back in the day, i always wanted the 206 Roland Garros. It was the 2 tone leather and the panoramic roof i fell in love with. Even went to the dealer for the grand opening of its release.....i never got one though
To be fair they are fantastic little cars, It sounds pretty cliche but the 206 was the first car in ages I "enjoyed" driving, Lightweight with enough power makes for very fun driving. The Lexus is a fantastic car to get from one end of Europe to the other but it can't be described as fun.After less than 2 months we are looking at replacing the IS with the new IS200t on a lease (In Poland you keep the car at the end of the agreement) as I really like them and strangely my wife who has only been driving 2 months prefers driving the LS despite the wheel being on the wrong side. Trafficstars will be transferred to the new vehicle however
Time to switch back over to summer tyres so decided to change the wheels too,
Settled on some Riverside Lehrmiester in 19" with 8.5j on the Front and 9.5j on the rear. They seem to fill the arches much better on the back that my previous ones and the extra 1" of tyre should help with grip when pulling away in the wet. Fitted with Uniroyal RS3's too which appear to be a bit of a bargain at the moment. (Ordered some for the wifes is200 too)
Nice bit of dish on the back too but nothing excessive.
So far in close to 30k miles no real issues apart from a Lambda sensor. MOT time soon and the front wishbone bushes could do with replacing but apart from this it should sail through hopefully.
Settled on some Riverside Lehrmiester in 19" with 8.5j on the Front and 9.5j on the rear. They seem to fill the arches much better on the back that my previous ones and the extra 1" of tyre should help with grip when pulling away in the wet. Fitted with Uniroyal RS3's too which appear to be a bit of a bargain at the moment. (Ordered some for the wifes is200 too)
Nice bit of dish on the back too but nothing excessive.
So far in close to 30k miles no real issues apart from a Lambda sensor. MOT time soon and the front wishbone bushes could do with replacing but apart from this it should sail through hopefully.
jamiebae said:
Yes, the Polish used car market is 'interesting' to say the least. New car sales are around 280k a year, but about 400-500k of 10+ year old cars are imported each year from other countries (normally Germany, France, Belgium and NL). Generally these are accident damaged, MOT failures or just too rough and knackered to be sold in their home market. Most are then clocked while being badly repaired before being sold as 'clean' because they have no accident history in Poland. Add in the secondhand parts, part worn tyres and imperfect roads and I'd be driving a new base model Dacia as at least I'd know the history 
Lexus do trade on their reputation for customer service, but it's really impressive that you're treated that well with a 11 year old imported 'shed'
I would never buy a used car over here, Some of the stuff they repair is insane and truck loads of European scrap comes in every day. The standard of driving is appalling and made worse by the fact the cars don't behave as they should when they inevitably Hit a tree killing 4 people. The authorities try to solve the problem by cutting down the tree to stop it happening again as opposed to focussing more on driver improvement and stricter (or at least some sort) of MOT test.Lexus do trade on their reputation for customer service, but it's really impressive that you're treated that well with a 11 year old imported 'shed'
Examples like this are pretty much the norm,
They are then repaired by a back street garage and come back looking like this with a clean title as theres no such register for damaged vehicles.
https://www.otomoto.pl/oferta/bmw-seria-5-bmw-535-...
The standard LS wheels went to good use too,
As we only had winter tyres for my wifes car we decided to put some lower profile summer tyres on the standard LS wheels and stick them on the IS, I think they suit it well It looks like they had been recently refurbed just before we bought the LS so they are in perfect condition.
Uniroyal RS3's seem to be a bit of a bargain at the moment, 4 18" for less than 200 quid! The strange tread pattern is really messing with my OCD though
As we only had winter tyres for my wifes car we decided to put some lower profile summer tyres on the standard LS wheels and stick them on the IS, I think they suit it well
It looks like they had been recently refurbed just before we bought the LS so they are in perfect condition. Uniroyal RS3's seem to be a bit of a bargain at the moment, 4 18" for less than 200 quid! The strange tread pattern is really messing with my OCD though
Slight update,
Decided to tidy up the front bumper as it was quite stone chipped and had damage from hitting something that fell off the car in front at speed on the Autobahn leaving a huge deep scratch in the front bumper.
After a bit of browsing on yahoo auctions and many emails backwards and forwards to Nengun I managed to secure a factory aero kit for the Toyota Celsior which was installed along with sorting a few other bits of paint,
Dusty pic outside the bodyshop, (At least its daylight)
|https://thumbsnap.com/rJIPPvY0[/url]
After a wash and a quick polish to get rid of the dust,
|https://thumbsnap.com/zTOcOXtP[/url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/h23Y6MFE[/url]
Fit looks to be very good and as its ABS plastic should be quite strong too,
More pictures when its daylight and the glue on the rear bumper has set properly
Also had the rear 3 windows tinted in 60% tint.
Decided to tidy up the front bumper as it was quite stone chipped and had damage from hitting something that fell off the car in front at speed on the Autobahn leaving a huge deep scratch in the front bumper.
After a bit of browsing on yahoo auctions and many emails backwards and forwards to Nengun I managed to secure a factory aero kit for the Toyota Celsior which was installed along with sorting a few other bits of paint,
Dusty pic outside the bodyshop, (At least its daylight)
|https://thumbsnap.com/rJIPPvY0[/url]After a wash and a quick polish to get rid of the dust,
|https://thumbsnap.com/zTOcOXtP[/url]|https://thumbsnap.com/h23Y6MFE[/url]Fit looks to be very good and as its ABS plastic should be quite strong too,
More pictures when its daylight and the glue on the rear bumper has set properly
Also had the rear 3 windows tinted in 60% tint.
His metalworking skills are excellent however its pretty scary just how many cars like this are on the road in these parts of the world, I certainly wouldn't like to be the person who crashes it second time round. Its definitely a huge problem and certainly a contributing factor to the huge number of road deaths, Especially given how they drive.
Next on the list for the LS430 is a new exhaust as the standard one looks a bit small now and it would be nice to have a little bit of V8 noise however given that we use this car for pretty much only long journeys I'm trying to find something that isn't going to drone, Any suggestions?
Next on the list for the LS430 is a new exhaust as the standard one looks a bit small now and it would be nice to have a little bit of V8 noise however given that we use this car for pretty much only long journeys I'm trying to find something that isn't going to drone, Any suggestions?
After asking around on local forums I have managed to find a local distributer of Akrapovic exhaust systems, Booked in for mid July for an X pipe, High flow cats and back boxes. Hopefully not too loud however it would be nice to have a bit of a V8 burble.
The Place that painted uploaded some pictures to one of the forums, Obviously much higher quality than mine as i'm no photographer.
Must say i'm quite pleased with both how it looks and the fit and finish of the Aerokit. (Excuse the post apocalyptic background its a typical industrial estate here in PL)
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/E7neOHCr[/url]
As you can see the OEM exhaust looks a little lost, Initially I was just going to add tailpipes however the OEM ones just won't come off, 12 years of dirt and corrosion are obviously doing their part.
The Place that painted uploaded some pictures to one of the forums, Obviously much higher quality than mine as i'm no photographer.
Must say i'm quite pleased with both how it looks and the fit and finish of the Aerokit. (Excuse the post apocalyptic background its a typical industrial estate here in PL)
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/E7neOHCr[/url]As you can see the OEM exhaust looks a little lost, Initially I was just going to add tailpipes however the OEM ones just won't come off, 12 years of dirt and corrosion are obviously doing their part.
After 18 months, Several very long road trips under its belt and close to 30k on LPG, Nothing really to report.
Managed to get the OEM navigation working with a used unit from Japan and butchering that for parts to get my navi drive working (Common problem) 50 quid and a replacement navi DVD later and it works in a very 2005 fashion. (Not worth the hassle as Waze and Google maps are far better)
LPG system has been flawless throughout despite my initial reservations about running a car on gas. Steady 25mpg most of the time so with gas costing around 35p a litre it costs buttons to run. No noticeable differences to how it drive either.
MOT expired, Tax is 300 a year and with having the motorhome too 2 MOT trips a year to the UK seemed a bit excessive so decided to register it in Poland,
Bit of a PITA as there was a bit of question around the legality of the headlights in LHD countries however a letter from Lexus confirming that as the beam is flat they can be used in LHD and RHD markets got that sorted.
Also trying to explain that the UK is still an EU country (For now at least) so my car carries EU homologation fell on deaf ears so had to get yet another letter from Lexus.
Insurance is bloody expensive too. just over 1k a year compared to the 500 or so I was paying to the specialist broker!
Anyone wanting a cheap and hassle free route to V8 ownership, I couldn't recommend the LS430 enough as they are built like tanks.
Managed to get the OEM navigation working with a used unit from Japan and butchering that for parts to get my navi drive working (Common problem) 50 quid and a replacement navi DVD later and it works in a very 2005 fashion. (Not worth the hassle as Waze and Google maps are far better)
LPG system has been flawless throughout despite my initial reservations about running a car on gas. Steady 25mpg most of the time so with gas costing around 35p a litre it costs buttons to run. No noticeable differences to how it drive either.
MOT expired, Tax is 300 a year and with having the motorhome too 2 MOT trips a year to the UK seemed a bit excessive so decided to register it in Poland,
Bit of a PITA as there was a bit of question around the legality of the headlights in LHD countries however a letter from Lexus confirming that as the beam is flat they can be used in LHD and RHD markets got that sorted.
Also trying to explain that the UK is still an EU country (For now at least) so my car carries EU homologation fell on deaf ears so had to get yet another letter from Lexus.
Insurance is bloody expensive too. just over 1k a year compared to the 500 or so I was paying to the specialist broker!
Anyone wanting a cheap and hassle free route to V8 ownership, I couldn't recommend the LS430 enough as they are built like tanks.
Cheers for the comments
I agree re the suspension as due to the length of the thing its a pain getting in and out of the garage at our new place so I'm researching other options, (Not too keen on the coilovers its currently on and the OEM air is prohibitively costly to maintain on such an old car and on utterly terrible roads + 3 went at once)
Exhaust is planned, I did book it in and then cancel as the money was better spent elsewhere (fixing the camper) but i'm torn between going for a system or just getting tailpipes,
We Polished up and spaced out the OEM ones for now so it doesn't look too stupid but I think a little bit of a burble would be nice and i'm fairly certain it wont drone due to the soundproofing.
Finding the right wheels for these things is a pain. The OEM 18's suit the car very well but sit so far in and leave the arches looking a little bit empty especially with the aero kit. They do however look great on the wifes is200.
I agree re the suspension as due to the length of the thing its a pain getting in and out of the garage at our new place so I'm researching other options, (Not too keen on the coilovers its currently on and the OEM air is prohibitively costly to maintain on such an old car and on utterly terrible roads + 3 went at once)
Exhaust is planned, I did book it in and then cancel as the money was better spent elsewhere (fixing the camper) but i'm torn between going for a system or just getting tailpipes,
We Polished up and spaced out the OEM ones for now so it doesn't look too stupid but I think a little bit of a burble would be nice and i'm fairly certain it wont drone due to the soundproofing.
Finding the right wheels for these things is a pain. The OEM 18's suit the car very well but sit so far in and leave the arches looking a little bit empty especially with the aero kit. They do however look great on the wifes is200.
I insured with PZU again (reluctantly as they didn't pay out in full for our BMW when it was stolen) as they seemed to be the only company that would offer cover at a reasonably affordable price. (And my inlaws all work for them) Being RHD the third party element is double what it would be for a LHD vehicle, The AC - Comprehensive part comes in at around 700. Given how many people crash and how many cars are stolen i'm really not surprised at the prices. - Should go down next year hopefully. Some quotes i got were over 2k GBP third party only.
Language is coming along reasonably, I don't get daily practice as my wife speaks perfect English and we run our own business so in the office we have an English only policy so don't really get the interaction at work. I guess i understand about 80% of what is happening, Can read Polish and get a reasonable understanding of whats going on although i really dislike speaking Polish as some of the sounds are impossible to pronounce
Ah the joys of smog! Poznan doesn't get it too bad but it happens from time to time, I dread to think of what it would be like in Krakow or Katowice as opening your windows in the winter is nearly impossible. Hoping for a mild winter like the last 2 (Not really any snow)
Language is coming along reasonably, I don't get daily practice as my wife speaks perfect English and we run our own business so in the office we have an English only policy so don't really get the interaction at work. I guess i understand about 80% of what is happening, Can read Polish and get a reasonable understanding of whats going on although i really dislike speaking Polish as some of the sounds are impossible to pronounce
Ah the joys of smog! Poznan doesn't get it too bad but it happens from time to time, I dread to think of what it would be like in Krakow or Katowice as opening your windows in the winter is nearly impossible. Hoping for a mild winter like the last 2 (Not really any snow)
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