Still on the lookout for a replacement. Fast Saloon 6k

mk1_salami said:
I guess it depends on what kind of owner you're going to be.

Owner A - Fastidious with servicing, repairs to minor niggles and absolutely anal about everything working in A1 condition all the time. At the end of a 2 year ownership period he *might* claw back £500 more than the other E46 BMW for sale.

Owner B - Doesn't hand over his credit card for anything the main dealer says needs done. Have you ever been in kwik fit when they say you need new suspension etc? No thanks, I'll deal with the slight squeek, research the cheaper option and save ££££'s
Click to expand...

Why would you want to drive around in a broken car. I do not understand. What is the appeal of spending £6k on a 3 Series only to ignore stuff as it degrades :confused: Some of the stuff that goes wrong is utterly unvoidable - if the cooling system goes up the spout or the diff goes you cant use the car until its fixed?

If you care that little about the car why waste £6k on an old 3 Series, surely something newer and generic would be fine?

At the end of the 2 year period Owner B's car might be worth a little bit less, but who cares? He's saved a fortune by not being bent over while his wallet takes a beating.
Click to expand...

He might have saved a fortune but he's spent 2 years driving around in a broken car. I honestly cannot rationalise driving a car and not fixing anything you find that goes wrong :confused:

Say the gearbox failed on that 09 plate Octavia, how many scrappies do you think have one in stock compared to a 2001 E46? And how much extra does he charge for the premium?
Click to expand...

Why would you need a scrappy for a gearbox on a 1 year old car? :confused:

You seem to think everyone loves the idea of trawling scrappies for bits and spending Sunday afternoon fitting them. This might work on a 94 MX5 but I rather suspect it isnt what MrLOL wants from his £6k car.

You sound very much like you have the sort of mentality which causes the fact that the classified adverts are full of cheap shagged E46's these days and the reason why buying one is like going for a bath in a snake pit lately. Too many people like you bodging stuff, 'putting up' with broken bits and presumably fitting Wan Li tyres?
 
Last edited:
How about a last of the line Accord Type-R? My dad owned one from new for 3 years and put 110k on it in that time with no issues. They do come without the spoiler if you're looking to hide the speed from other road users. Quick example:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1419346.htm

Probably not the best out there, but is one of the newest, and most expensive - loads seem to have 120-odd thousand miles without showing it
 
Well its not, but it is in the ST220/VXR class, albeit older and not quite so fast. Being a Honda means it sounds sensible and reliable to those who know better, kinda like the vRS :)
 
[TW]Fox;15712164 said:
Last time somebody mentioned the Type-R in a MrLOL thread it went nuclear with some guy claiming it was like a BMW M3 :eek:
Click to expand...


With you doing your best to help it in that direction ;)

but back on topic...

I'm in the same situation atm MrLol.

I want to replace my car with something reasonably exciting with a saloon shape and a similar budget to yourself. I've so far been looking at similar cars to yourself but the thing thats really bugging me is that neither of them really "feel" that quick to me, so i'm starting to wonder if its a bit pointless vs say, the 2.0 mondeo or the 2.0 accord respectively as the running costs are going to be noticably lower on either of these, especially fuel.

I've spent hours looking at other options and i've really not come up with anything :(
 
Last edited:
If you are that worried over things going wrong why not spend some of the left over on a decent warranty?
 
MrLOL said:
The ST220 is the obvious candidate, but im having trouble finding a decent blue one with Xenons for under 7k

There are black and silver ones about, but id really like a blue one.

Im still on the lookout for Decent 2.4 Accord Type S as well

but not much luck having finding the right combo of colour and price and spec etc..

Anybody got any other suggestions beyond the accord and st220 ?
Click to expand...

E55 AMG

http://pistonheads.com/sales/1341304.htm
 
still dont have a clue what to buy :(

just want something interesting thats not going to throw up hugh bills, even if it does have a 1.8 or something.

Why do i have to be so fussy :( i'd love to be happy with a 1.6 focus ... then it wouldnt stress me so much.
 
[TW]Fox;15711580 said:
You seem to think everyone loves the idea of trawling scrappies for bits and spending Sunday afternoon fitting them. This might work on a 94 MX5 but I rather suspect it isnt what MrLOL wants from his £6k car.

You sound very much like you have the sort of mentality which causes the fact that the classified adverts are full of cheap shagged E46's these days and the reason why buying one is like going for a bath in a snake pit lately. Too many people like you bodging stuff, 'putting up' with broken bits and presumably fitting Wan Li tyres?
Click to expand...

I pretty sure I didn't run a 12.9s quartermile with Wan Li tyres and a shagged car ;)

I'm sure MrLOL doesn't want to spend time working on his car, but he seems to want it all while laying out the minimal amount of cash.

All I'm saying is that things can be done on the cheap (scrappies, local garages, DIY what you can) rather than paying through the nose for everything like YOU do.

The OP is obviously on a budget, and is still looking for a nice car. Sometimes corners can be cut while being acceptable. What part of that don't you understand?

How do you think there are so many people with huge performance cars out there but have ordinary jobs or aren't loaded? They sure as hell aren't paying garages to do the work for them, and where possible do the work their selves. If you want a fast car, but can't necessarily afford the maintenance bills to run it surely the logical solution is to work on it yourself where it permits? If you can't do this for some reason, be it lack of space, tools or mechanical know-how and struggle to pay for the work to be done by someone else then you should be looking at a cheaper car.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mk1_salami said:
I'm sure MrLOL doesn't want to spend time working on his car, but he seems to want it all while laying out the minimal amount of cash.
Click to expand...

He does indeed - but the way round this is to compromise on car choice not on the way you run the car.

All I'm saying is that things can be done on the cheap (scrappies, local garages, DIY what you can) rather than paying through the nose for everything like YOU do.
Click to expand...

Firstly I don't pay through the nose for anything - I am very value concious when paying for car stuff.

Secondly finding a ready supply of most BMW bits in breakers is far from easy. Most breakers dont even seem to have them meaning you are at the mercy of people like Quarry Motors who charge obscene amounts of money for second hand stuff.

The OP is obviously on a budget, and is still looking for a nice car. Sometimes corners can be cut while being acceptable. What part of that don't you understand?
Click to expand...

I just refuse to accept 'cutting corners' on owning something like a 3 Series is a good way of doing it. If you can't own one without cutting corners..... dont own one?

Whats the point in something like a 3 Series if you are going to handicap it by driving it on shot suspension or whatever :confused:
 
mk1_salami said:
How much would you expect to pay to replace the gearbox on something like an e46 328?
Click to expand...

Auto? A rebuild from a specialist is the best way forward - about £1500. Replacing with used is false economy as it'll probably go again.

Manual? Half that probably. And much less likely to be required.
 
Where did I say I would pay £1500 for a manual gearbox :confused:

And who is going to fit a gearbox to a 6 cylinder E46 for 80 quid? lol If you have a mate in the trade maybe but walk into a local indy like most of us would have to and you wont be getting that fitted to your car for £80!!

I forget how many hours labour my gearbox change was but it was quite a few...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom