The shediest ML in the WORLD (possibly)
Discussion
Let's start here. The world's greatest advert that I just couldn't resist.
I just felt like I knew everything I needed to know thanks to the in depth advert.
I'm sure you'll agree, you just feel a bond with the car and feel there's going to be nothing wrong with it.
So.. I've been looking at random cars like the ML for a couple of days and was 100% not going to have another range rover.
Here came my excitement when I saw a unusually rare ML500 IN BLACK! WITH LPG!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited and knew it couldn't possibly be a POS so put a bid on it. Right until the last second I was the highest bidder then all of the sudden it finished at £1270.
Strange I thought, I'd gone the whole way through the auction winning it and then all of the sudden it jumped nearly £300.
I was annoyed that my epic car was going to go to someone else and as I'm always skeptical of people bidding on their own auction, I decided to send the seller a message saying 'if the buyer changes their mind, let me know and I'll collect tomorrow'.
9am the next morning (the ad finished at half 9 Friday night) I got a message saying the guy was a timewaster and I could have it.
EPIC SURE THING CAR IS MINE!!!
Lots of messaging etc and we agree £1100 so I book my train ticket to Manchester and off I go.
My neighbour gave me a lift to the station, well he tried..
I missed my train so I was gutted but obviously so was he.
I waited until it was all sorted and the lovely policeman who attended took me to the train station and had a word with them to ask if I could catch the next one.
They said yes so I was on my adventure again.
Weird being literally the only person in the whole cabin.
|https://thumbsnap.com/SdQHQKPK[/url]
When I finally got to Manchester, the guy picked me up from the station.
As I was walking out, I saw the car gleaming in the sun and couldn't believe my luck.
As I got closer, I realised the car is almost at a ratio of 50% paint and 50% rust.
I knew these cars are prone to a bit of surface rust but I think this car spent a couple of years in the sea.
Anyway, I'm in the car, the guys telling me how amazing it is and he's had it for 5 years and never had any problems. (except for all the obvious problems I suppose)
The initial issues are;
No door card on the drivers side (second hand one in the boot)
Door card on the passenger side is destroyed and needs replacing.
Drivers door mirror glass needs replacing.
Filthy as f
k
Accelerator feels like a wobbly tooth.
Im going through the mountainous paperwork (all 6 pieces of a4 paper) and looking at the V5 I see a tiny little note at the bottom saying this car is a piece of st and was probably as I suspected driven off the pier and left in the sea.
It's a bloody cat C and has an unhealthy obsession with rust.
I'm pissed off at this point but keep a cool head and basically tell the guy he either drops the price dramatically or he pays for my travel costs for the day.
He wants rid and I don't like trains so we agree £700.
Whats the worst that can happen at that money.
I fill up the lpg and the petrol and load in the non rusty bootlid he had given me. (we weren't sure it would fit but it was actually quite easy to put in the back).
It took me 2 and a half hours to get home and used half a tank of petrol so not 100% the lpg is working properly or somehow it just didn't turn on for the whole journey.
It didn't overheat, it didn't catch on fire, it just trundled on down the motorways perfectly.
It's rusty, dirty and old but the engine is absolutely spot on although it's far too quiet for a V8.
Overall for £700, I'm very happy and once I've touched in the rust, it'll look 10 times better.
Plans are to give it all a service and make get someone to check the lpg system.
Oh and try and make it a bit louder on the cheap.
Oh and find out why the rear brakes are horrendously squeaky the second you touch the brake pedal.
Back home..
Anyone know why the airfilter is like this?
I just felt like I knew everything I needed to know thanks to the in depth advert.
I'm sure you'll agree, you just feel a bond with the car and feel there's going to be nothing wrong with it.
So.. I've been looking at random cars like the ML for a couple of days and was 100% not going to have another range rover.
Here came my excitement when I saw a unusually rare ML500 IN BLACK! WITH LPG!!!!!!!!!
I was so excited and knew it couldn't possibly be a POS so put a bid on it. Right until the last second I was the highest bidder then all of the sudden it finished at £1270.
Strange I thought, I'd gone the whole way through the auction winning it and then all of the sudden it jumped nearly £300.
I was annoyed that my epic car was going to go to someone else and as I'm always skeptical of people bidding on their own auction, I decided to send the seller a message saying 'if the buyer changes their mind, let me know and I'll collect tomorrow'.
9am the next morning (the ad finished at half 9 Friday night) I got a message saying the guy was a timewaster and I could have it.
EPIC SURE THING CAR IS MINE!!!
Lots of messaging etc and we agree £1100 so I book my train ticket to Manchester and off I go.
My neighbour gave me a lift to the station, well he tried..
I missed my train so I was gutted but obviously so was he.
I waited until it was all sorted and the lovely policeman who attended took me to the train station and had a word with them to ask if I could catch the next one.
They said yes so I was on my adventure again.
Weird being literally the only person in the whole cabin.
|https://thumbsnap.com/SdQHQKPK[/url]When I finally got to Manchester, the guy picked me up from the station.
As I was walking out, I saw the car gleaming in the sun and couldn't believe my luck.
As I got closer, I realised the car is almost at a ratio of 50% paint and 50% rust.
I knew these cars are prone to a bit of surface rust but I think this car spent a couple of years in the sea.
Anyway, I'm in the car, the guys telling me how amazing it is and he's had it for 5 years and never had any problems. (except for all the obvious problems I suppose)
The initial issues are;
No door card on the drivers side (second hand one in the boot)
Door card on the passenger side is destroyed and needs replacing.
Drivers door mirror glass needs replacing.
Filthy as f
kAccelerator feels like a wobbly tooth.
Im going through the mountainous paperwork (all 6 pieces of a4 paper) and looking at the V5 I see a tiny little note at the bottom saying this car is a piece of s
t and was probably as I suspected driven off the pier and left in the sea. It's a bloody cat C and has an unhealthy obsession with rust.
I'm pissed off at this point but keep a cool head and basically tell the guy he either drops the price dramatically or he pays for my travel costs for the day.
He wants rid and I don't like trains so we agree £700.
Whats the worst that can happen at that money.
I fill up the lpg and the petrol and load in the non rusty bootlid he had given me. (we weren't sure it would fit but it was actually quite easy to put in the back).
It took me 2 and a half hours to get home and used half a tank of petrol so not 100% the lpg is working properly or somehow it just didn't turn on for the whole journey.
It didn't overheat, it didn't catch on fire, it just trundled on down the motorways perfectly.
It's rusty, dirty and old but the engine is absolutely spot on although it's far too quiet for a V8.
Overall for £700, I'm very happy and once I've touched in the rust, it'll look 10 times better.
Plans are to give it all a service and make get someone to check the lpg system.
Oh and try and make it a bit louder on the cheap.
Oh and find out why the rear brakes are horrendously squeaky the second you touch the brake pedal.
Back home..
Anyone know why the airfilter is like this?
Edited by rich12 on Sunday 14th June 18:33
Edited by rich12 on Sunday 14th June 18:37
finlo said:
Your neighbour actually bothered having the burnt out Astra brought home!
He's a proper idiot. Got his mate to recover it even though me and the copper said to get his insurance to do it. It's been like the local attraction here today.
Don't think anyone's noticed the rusty bucket on my drive which is good.
miniman said:
Found another seat for £60 so may just buy that rather than trying to get it repaired.
Really don't want to spend more than £300 on it but I do want to really like driving it so I need to do something.
Also need to work out why the power pedal feels barely attached.
Butter Face said:
The funny thing about the Cat C write off if that the car had a VIC check done about 2 weeks after the current owner bought it, so he 100% knew about the write off 
You’re a brave man!
Oh 100%. I didn't realise but there's a little bit of paper showing as some sort of certificate with the date it was done so when I asked him, he said his nephew did the advert for him.You’re a brave man!
Im happy with the gamble for the money. I'll never make any money on it but if it lasts a while, that'll do.
I reckon I could get £500+ as spares/repairs.
Jimmy Recard said:
That's a common thing. They all do it after a while. There is a plastic pin that the pedal hinges on. Just replace it with a metal bolt and it's fixed forever 
It slides around on that white thing? 
Pic of somehow the whole boot fitting in the back of the car. Debating whether to keep the 270 badge on it to save having to remove it polish it up.
Edited by rich12 on Sunday 14th June 20:02
J4CKO said:
Can smell that from here 
£700 for a nice V8 engine, put it like that doesnt seem so bad.
We had a V6 one back in the early 2000's, that was thirsty.
It had 1/4 of a tank and I put £40 in of petrol, drove 160 miles and had half a tank left. £700 for a nice V8 engine, put it like that doesnt seem so bad.
We had a V6 one back in the early 2000's, that was thirsty.
No ideas on the mpgees but didn't think that was too bad.
I did barely go over 70 the whole way in the fear of it blowing up.
Big Tomm said:
Wow, I will follow this with interest as I very nearly took a punt on this! Sat at £999 for the majority for the auction if I remember rightly?
All the best with it. I’m very tempted by a V8 LPG’ed shed.
Ha. Yep I was the highest bidder for the whole week.All the best with it. I’m very tempted by a V8 LPG’ed shed.
The seller messaged me 4 minutes before it ended and said 'be quick, it finishes in a minute'.
Knew from that point he was bidding it up.
Any detailers following this thread?
Think you'll enjoy my 'detail'.
I soon realised after the first arch that I underestimated how much paint i'd need. Only managed one side before I ran out.
'Prepped'
Rear wheel arch, both doors done.
(bloody cameras too good!! It looks better in real life)
Front wing..
I'll be lacquering it tomorrow for the total non rusty look.
Think you'll enjoy my 'detail'.
I soon realised after the first arch that I underestimated how much paint i'd need. Only managed one side before I ran out.
'Prepped'
Rear wheel arch, both doors done.
(bloody cameras too good!! It looks better in real life)
Front wing..
I'll be lacquering it tomorrow for the total non rusty look.
Edited by rich12 on Monday 15th June 17:14
Slow said:
They are just jealous of it.
I wouldnt of even attempted to hide the rust, embrace the shed!
I can't. I've never had a car with visible rust before so I have a bit of a rust complex now. I wouldnt of even attempted to hide the rust, embrace the shed!
Looking out my window at the car right now and I have to say, (from 20ft) I've done a very good job.
Now it just looks like a crappy car, not a crappy rust bucket car.
Tommie38 said:
Good effort OP!
Looks like a fun project. The M113 500 is a brilliant engine and, bar a few oil leaks, should be fine. Gearboxes are good too, again keep an eye on the level.
The rust? Pah, par for the course with a Merc that age. Better than it having a dodgy respray and being done for £2,500...
Best result for me was waking up Sunday morning, looking under the car and not a single spot of oil.. Looks like a fun project. The M113 500 is a brilliant engine and, bar a few oil leaks, should be fine. Gearboxes are good too, again keep an eye on the level.
The rust? Pah, par for the course with a Merc that age. Better than it having a dodgy respray and being done for £2,500...
Took the cover off yesterday and looks pretty dry.
Gearbox oil a big job?
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