Are there new Vehicle excise charges on the horizon?

I'm not talking the difference between Bosch retail and trade I'm talking when that same sensor ends up in the Dealership, badged up as a Ferrari part.
Trust me it does, may be not to the exact figures I've posted above but it was very similar.
(Ex employee owns one and discovered this :D )


Oh and you seem to have added £50 from thin air.
Was that TW added tax ?
 
Scubascorpion said:
Oh and you seem to have added £50 from thin air.
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I was just sticking to the figures I quoted originally.

Though having checked, the price of a non BMW branded Bosch MAF is £208.

So there we go, less than a grand to replace all 4. Bargain! They are common enough failures that some of the OCD yanks keep spares in the boot.

The problem with posting on internet forums is that its difficult to seperate what somebody has posted before from what they post now when forming opinion (Happens to me, too, must be every other month somebody reminds me I once crashed). And you've spent years on here posting about how much debt you are in, how you were nearly bankrupt, etc etc yet now its time to run an E39 M5 on the cheap? I thought you were emigrating to Australia anyway?

The reason why £6k M5's exist is because people think 'How hard can it be?', buy one, realise how hard it can be, and then it gets moved on. They are yet another example of a car that really has no market other than neive people. I appreciate you are in a better position than many because of the fact labour is less of an issue (Though I say less of an issue not 'no issue' - unless you are an experience M5 specialist, in which case why are you even posting here about this?) but labour is only part of the story.

So there we have it - the answer to your question is that they are cheap because nobody wants them not because VED is going up (It already has - to £260), not because fuel is going up (Because it's been stable for 3 months), but because they are a massive liability at the bottom of the market and a medium sized liability at the top of the market.

You'd be well advised to see what PeterNem says - he ran an E39 M5 for 3 years so has practical experience of what they are like to run.

The E39 M5 is something i've spent a lot of time looking at - as most people know its my dream car - I almost bought one before and now I'm changing the 335i I'd be lying if I said I'd not strongly considered it again but each time it becomes very hard to justify the near certain massive expense.
 
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I wasn't nearly bankrupt, I could afford the repayments but it was sucking the life out of me seeing no end to it. Hence that one post about possibilities of declaring myself so.
Oz is on hold for a while until the economy irons itself out a little.

Posting because I can and it was a query I thought might have an answer I hadn't thought of but as per usual the thread is directed way off course.

Apart from Internet and phone bills my wages are pretty much free money now.
I think I can manage to run a 11 year old car correctly, with the correct parts and diagnose any and all faults that should come up.
Although the ABS warning light came on on the golf last night so maybe oh shock horror I'll need a new abs pump at a gazzilion pounds. Or then again it'll probably be a £5 hub sensor.
 
I think the best thing you can do is buy a £6.5k M5, saves turning a good one into a shed through bodged maintenance.
 
Scubascorpion said:
Although the ABS warning light came on on the golf last night so maybe oh shock horror I'll need a new abs pump at a gazzilion pounds. Or then again it'll probably be a £5 hub sensor.
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In retrospect I agree. An M5 is just like a Golf with an ABS warning light.

Are you not like... 40? How can your only costs be internet and phone bill, surely you have to buy food and stuff :confused:

If you genuinelly do have your entire wage every month bar internet and phone to spend on running an M5 then I change my opinion - its probably quite easily dooable. Heck you could do it on minimum wage if you genuinelly only pay a telephone bill and broadband every month but that would be pretty unusual, and being able to do something and something being a good idea are two different things.
 
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well it would be the same as as say a 520D with an ABS warning light, it's the same sensor.

to you sir, at the dealer that'll be one hundred and fifty of your finest dollars.
Back in the real world it's thirty eight quid.

Anyway stuff it, I'm out.
 
Scubascorpion said:
well it would be the same as as say a 520D with an ABS warning light, it's the same sensor.
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Well it wouldn't because you wouldn't only have an ABS warning light illuminated on a 520d with a faulty wheel speed sensor. You'd also have a DSC warning light as well, and the combination of those two lights means any number of faults ranging from a wheel speed sensor through to steering angle sensors, DSC hydro units and whatnot.
 
[TW]Fox;19937624 said:
You'd be well advised to see what PeterNem says - he ran an E39 M5 for 3 years so has practical experience of what they are like to run.
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I stopped keeping track after the first 12 months as wasn't too bothered, but for reference...

e39costs.png


When you add fuel and insurance costs they become pretty high. I probably could have done things a little cheaper, and there is some discretionary stuff in there like the cost of having the exhaust swapped over. I've just noticed I'd not included the costs of replacing both MAF sensors at (I recall) around £300.
 
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