What have you done to your car today?

[Sasso]

In other news, got a 'reverse scoop' the other day that goes in the place of the Starlet GT's normal TMIC scoop (car has an FMIC instead). Converts the hole in the bonnet to vent engine bay air, rather than let water and muck in .

that just got the open part on the back i.e. facing the windscreen? noice

can understand on cars when they have them with a rad under there, but if a car doesn't and someone just slaps a scoop on (assuming they actually cut a hole in the bonnet even though it's for aesthetics), I imagine they just filter all the crud and rain straight onto the top of the engine/spark leads xD

 

[TehBluebear]

that just got the open part on the back i.e. facing the windscreen? noice

can understand on cars when they have them with a rad under there, but if a car doesn't and someone just slaps a scoop on (assuming they actually cut a hole in the bonnet even though it's for aesthetics), I imagine they just filter all the crud and rain straight onto the top of the engine/spark leads xD

Yep, it is mate! Eventually in the future I'd love to fab up a bonnet with a proper set of vents in it, or even one big vent over the exhaust mani like the Cruise bonnet for the Starlet Glanza. Aftermarket options for the GT, bonnet-wise, are basically nonexistent. Imo, the combination of the existing bulge on the GT bonnet plus the higher line of the reverse scoop makes it look slightly ridiculous, but it's better than getting water all over my HT leads and rocker cover.

EDIT: Seen you post about in the BF4 thread; what's your Soldier name btw?

 

[Gaygle]

Haven't done much to the car today, but I am quickly learning how much fun it is to look at cars from £500-£2000. Set the filters on Autotrader to petrol, manual, under £3000, private sellers only and the engine size to 2l or over and look at the bargains on there! It makes me angry that 99% of these cars would have been eligible for the scrappage scheme.

There's a lovely 530i sport for £2250, countless bargainous Volvos, some awesome old BMWs and Jags. Hell even boring stuff on there looks exciting when its got FSH, 2 owners and 4 good tyres for like £500!

Buying cheap cars looks like fun!

 

[Sasso]

Yep, it is mate! Eventually in the future I'd love to fab up a bonnet with a proper set of vents in it, or even one big vent over the exhaust mani like the Cruise bonnet for the Starlet Glanza. Aftermarket options for the GT, bonnet-wise, are basically nonexistent. Imo, the combination of the existing bulge on the GT bonnet plus the higher line of the reverse scoop makes it look slightly ridiculous, but it's better than getting water all over my HT leads and rocker cover.

EDIT: Seen you post about in the BF4 thread; what's your Soldier name btw?

haha yeah, bet the same will be complaining why the engine won't start... then see the HT leads are taking a swim xD

I'm DrSasso on battle log usually jump on with the ocuk lot some evenings, probably on for a good haul tonight so just jump on with them if I'm not on and I'll probably be along a bit later. sometimes just completely lack the motivation to game xD

 

[ianh]

Changed the batteries in both remotes and now I'm looking up car detailing prices ready for the summer

 

[Greg0986]

Decided I was not happy with how I cleaned the car a few weeks ago, so I did it again .

Washed with 2 bucket method, de-ironed, de-tared, clayed, polished using SRP (Will use the DA when it is warmer, and I have more time, and waxed. Also did the wheels. Must remember to take them off and seal them...

 

[JonnyGeee]

photos once painted please.

ABF ?

I have gone with the 2.0 16v 9a from a corrodo, I have the kr cams to fit In which ahould take it to 150bhp. Hopefully with a decent exhaust and gas flowed head im aiming for arpund the 165/170 mark.

When it's back from the bodyshop I can finally start getting the engine in!

 

[shauncr91]

Replaced the horrible blue interior bulbs which came with the car with white LED's which are really very bright, great change for £3.50. Also added an Auto Finesse Sweet Shop air freshener, gotta be worth at least 4bhp.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Haven't done much to the car today, but I am quickly learning how much fun it is to look at cars from £500-£2000. Set the filters on Autotrader to petrol, manual, under £3000, private sellers only and the engine size to 2l or over and look at the bargains on there! It makes me angry that 99% of these cars would have been eligible for the scrappage scheme.

There's a lovely 530i sport for £2250, countless bargainous Volvos, some awesome old BMWs and Jags. Hell even boring stuff on there looks exciting when its got FSH, 2 owners and 4 good tyres for like £500!

Buying cheap cars looks like fun!

Yea, then you get off of Autotrader and go see some of them and realise that 90% of them, especially in the case of the BMW's/Jags etc, are just tatty rubbish now

 

[Gaygle]

Yea, then you get off of Autotrader and go see some of them and realise that 90% of them, especially in the case of the BMW's/Jags etc, are just tatty rubbish now

Oh unquestionably there are utter heaps on there. But it's actually quite easy to find ones likely to be the good 'uns amongst the rubbish. The 530i looks very good for the money and well looked after.

 

[rodenal]

They're definitely out there, you just need to be able to spot a car that's been generally loved, even if its got a couple of existing niggles.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Oh unquestionably there are utter heaps on there. But it's actually quite easy to find ones likely to be the good 'uns amongst the rubbish. The 530i looks very good for the money and well looked after.

But even nice ones are now getting to the stage where its a case of 'What annoying niggle is going to **** me off this month?'

I can't help but wonder if you shouldn't just keep hold of your 335i. It's no more expensive to run than the stuff you are looking at for sub £2k especially when you consider you've got the monthly warranty on it.

The only reason I got rid of my 335i was because it just wasn't my sort of car. I saved absolutely no money in doing it really, the 530i costs the same to fuel, the same to put tyres on, etc etc and costs me money when it goes wrong rather than just paying 50 quid a month and forgetting about it on the warranty. My only real saving was the depreciation I'd have faced which turned out to be many thousands less than I calculated

Then unless you want to and enjoy doing everything yourself mechanical you end up in the annoying world of finding an 'independent specialist' who knows what they are doing which is easier said than done and all the faffing that entails. Irritating.

 

[rodenal]

Agree with the above really, that's why I always find it odd when people try to advise buying an e46/e39 x30i to do 15k+ a year for a few £k. Not because the cars themselves are anything less than perfect for that sort of mileage, but because they're all getting on and whilst it matters not to me if I need to take the car off the road for a few days whilst I sort something out, if its your neccesary mode of transport then that gets really old, really quickly

 

[Gaygle]

But even nice ones are now getting to the stage where its a case of 'What annoying niggle is going to **** me off this month?'

I can't help but wonder if you shouldn't just keep hold of your 335i. It's no more expensive to run than the stuff you are looking at for sub £2k especially when you consider you've got the monthly warranty on it.

The only reason I got rid of my 335i was because it just wasn't my sort of car. I saved absolutely no money in doing it really, the 530i costs the same to fuel, the same to put tyres on, etc etc and costs me money when it goes wrong rather than just paying 50 quid a month and forgetting about it on the warranty. My only real saving was the depreciation I'd have faced which turned out to be many thousands less than I calculated

Then unless you want to and enjoy doing everything yourself mechanical you end up in the annoying world of finding an 'independent specialist' who knows what they are doing which is easier said than done and all the faffing that entails. Irritating.

I would probably keep the 335i for at least a little bit longer if i could but i do actually need the £7-8k from the sale to help fund my new house - that's the driver behind the sale.

Not to mention the 335i was vastly more expensive to run than my old 330i was. Sure tyres and fuel are about the same, but insurance is around £100 more, tax is around £200 more and warranty is around £400 more (plus the 2 x £100 excesses for problems). Not to mention only dealer servicing/repairing it. And now as the mileage has just creeped over 60k miles, the warranty i would either be faced with a £900 odd warranty or opening myself up to the risk of things like £3000 worth of turbos going amongst the other horrendously expensive parts (recently found out the new injectors are now around £220 EACH and 3 must be fitted at once as they aren't compatible with the old ones).

I will probably go through the receipts i have to work out how much i've spent over the passed 12 months keeping the car looking good and running how it should and i will cry. Not to mention the time and effort i've had to put in.

On a more personal note, having a nice car is still a priority to me, but after a while it just gets wearing worrying about the car. I have to watch out for speed bumps, pot holes, where i park, where i drive it, who is around it, where i get it fixed etc. I'm not hugely anal about all of this stuff but trying to keep the car looking as good as it does is taking more and more effort these days and takes the time that i don't really have at the moment. I quite like fixing cars myself (or at least having a go) but it seems that i can't do that on mine because A) it's worth too much for me to start fiddling B) it's under warranty and C) the parts cost too much.

 

[Gaygle]

Agree with the above really, that's why I always find it odd when people try to advise buying an e46/e39 x30i to do 15k+ a year for a few £k. Not because the cars themselves are anything less than perfect for that sort of mileage, but because they're all getting on and whilst it matters not to me if I need to take the car off the road for a few days whilst I sort something out, if its your neccesary mode of transport then that gets really old, really quickly

The older generation BMW's come with infinitely less hassle. As a random example my car was saying it was overheating the other day. Instead of being able to call the RAC to get me to a garage/home i had to call BMW Assist (who were actually great on the phone). However, they sent out some dozey guy who didn't know anything about the car and there was no chance of fixing it at the roadside (i doubt anything on a new BMW can be fixed at the roadside anymore).

Since i didn't have the right policy they weren't going to recover me home at first, but then they changed their mind saying they would because no BMW dealer was open at the time.

I got home and booked an appointment with the BMW Dealer (as it was under warranty). They didn't have any appointments for 3 days. There was a strange fault with what i believed to be the water pump where it worked for around 10 miles then gave up - but a restart of the engine made it work again, so this wasn't as big an issue as it could have been.

However my nearest BMW dealer is some 20 miles away, so i had to drive it there for them to do their tests. They told me they couldn't give me a hire car as they didn't have any, so i had to ask my girlfriend to pick me up. Then when i turned up they in fact did have a hire car to give me, so i had to send my girlfriend home. Anyway, 2 days later i had my car back with a new £550 water pump in it, with just my excess to pay.

Had it have been an E46, i would have called RAC, who would have dropped me home with the car and the next day i would have called up one of the 100 garages within 5 miles of me to get them to fit a new £40 water pump. No hassle. No causing other people hassle and no 5-6 day wait between the fault occurring and it being fixed.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Had it have been an E46, i would have called RAC, who would have dropped me home with the car and the next day i would have called up one of the 100 garages within 5 miles of me to get them to fit a new £40 water pump. No hassle. No causing other people hassle and no 5-6 day wait between the fault occurring and it being fixed.

Rose tinted specs from this story. So you didn't buy the full Emergency Service package (which is fair enough) but then you expected the free 'warranty assist' part of the warranty to provide similar levels of service to a full AA package, not going to happen.

Your E46 was younger than they are now. Until very recently I was happy with the ownership experience of an older one as well but now these cars are getting to be 10-15 years old its annoying niggles after annoying niggles.

How would you know which of the 100 or so garages knows what they are doing? Which would claim to know because they have a sign saying 'specialist' but then screw the job up and deny all knowledge of it? Or what happens when the problem requires investigation, they dont have a clue, so they start diagnosing it by replacing random parts and charging you for them? That happens at main dealers too but at least under warranty its somebody elses problem

Most visits to a specialist seem to involve faff dropping the car off, a walk to a bus stop as the X reg Corsa loan car isn't available, several days of wondering how big the bill will be etc

 

[[TW]Fox]

On a more personal note, having a nice car is still a priority to me, but after a while it just gets wearing worrying about the car. I have to watch out for speed bumps, pot holes, where i park, where i drive it, who is around it, where i get it fixed etc.

This bit doesn't work for me. You don't have a 2012 335i, you have an 8 year old 335i. What is the difference really between how you'd park/drive/watch for speed ramps in an 8 year old 335i versus a 12 year old 330i? Neither are £40k cars you cant park anywhere without fear of it being trashed or nicked. My 530i is 13 years old yet I still don't park it next to a B reg Meastro covered in dents or drive over speed bumps at 40mph? Why would anyone with any mechanical sympathy do those things?

You are hardly going to sift through all the chaff in the £2k market, finally find a decent example of, say, I dunno, a 330i, and then smashed it into speed ramps, drive it through potholes and park it up against walls in Tesco are you?

 

[Gaygle]

Rose tinted specs from this story. So you didn't buy the full Emergency Service package (which is fair enough) but then you expected the free 'warranty assist' part of the warranty to provide similar levels of service to a full AA package, not going to happen.

Your E46 was younger than they are now. Until very recently I was happy with the ownership experience of an older one as well but now these cars are getting to be 10-15 years old its annoying niggles after annoying niggles.

Quite. I'm not expecting a 12 year old car to be problem free, but the costs will be significantly lower.

I've just had a quick scan through my receipts from the passed 12 months:

3 x £100 warranty claims - £300
2 x front brake discs and pads - £410 (not to mention the sheer hassle i had to go through when trying to get the right discs)
4 x rear tyres - £700
2 x front tyres - £200
12 months warranty - £400
12 months tax - £475

I'm not even sure if i'm fed up with paying the money, i think i'm just fed up with the hassle (as well has having to sell the car for the money!) of keeping the car as it should be.

When i got the tyres changed, some tyre monkey was about to use a crowbar to get the tyre off which he was going to lever against the outside rim of the alloy which would have damaged it.

I looked out the other day to find the next doors neighbour's daughter trying to rollerskate and using my little boot spoiler as a handle to keep her from falling over.

I had to get the front brake discs changed 3 times before i found some that wouldn't judder.

I have had to have the car back to the dealer, 20 miles away, 5-6 times in the last 12 months which is a royal pain in the arse getting back from. 3 of those times they did a repair. The other 3 or so they cleared the fault, fixed the wrong part and said "let us know if it comes back" - which it always did because i knew exactly what it was (the common exhaust VANOS solenoid) and had it been up to me, i would have spent £70 on the part and fitted it myself in 20 minutes.

I have HAD to keep a £400 a year warranty due to how complex newer BMW's are which means i can only use the BMW dealer that is 30 minutes drive away for servicing too.

It's just hassle that i don't want anymore i guess. I would much sooner have a few niggles on an E46 or a totally different car. Niggles are normally things you can fix when you have a day off, a few hours to spare and a few spanners. And i dare say i enjoy doing that sort of thing. There is no coding, no dealer only parts, no dealer only repairs.

 

[DXP55]

Got the Focus in garage over inspection pit for oil change - normally a 15 min job - the rest of time is getting undertray off and on - Not today - lost my allen key bit for sump plug so gets out my big set of allen keys - I change my oil in between 12k mile Ford services. I don't know who tightened up sump plug but he must have use 3/4 ratchet or bar. - Tight wasn't word - finally cracked it and started to unscrew it and it got tight - Thought here we go they cross threaded it as well. Fortunately it got easier and came out fine but left copper washer stuck to sump -

Flicked off washer and I have never seen such a flattened washer in my life - The Ford one's you tighten them up to a tight squeeze

Done now but it made me sweat a bit till I determined the threads wasn't crossed.

Bet they gave it the youth in training to do.

Dave

 

[[TW]Fox]

Quite. I'm not expecting a 12 year old car to be problem free, but the costs will be significantly lower.

Will they? Your costs below look no cheaper than mine. Infact your tyres are cheaper. Your discs and pads are about the same. The only thing thats cheaper is my road tax becuase it's a pre March 06. I've probably spent equal to your warranty+excess charges on repairs and stuff in the last 12 months, too. On a car with negligible value. I could be keeping a far newer car on the road for the same or less money.

I would absolutely leap at the chance to fix repair costs at £50 a month or whatever it is monthly for the BMW warranty Seems you bought a yearly policy in the year you were due to tick over 60k miles though which ruled this out for you, which was a bit of an oversight. Perhaps I might feel different if my local dealer was 20 miles away, I dunno. I get it serviced by the main dealer anyway so in that respect its no different (Thats the other thing that irritates me about specialists. Included in the dealer servicing costs is a huge glass palace, posh coffee, brand new loan vehicles, etc etc. Some of the local specialists often charge hardly any less for servicing and I have to walk to the bus stop? Eh?)

It's just hassle that i don't want anymore i guess. I would much sooner have a few niggles on an E46 or a totally different car. Niggles are normally things you can fix when you have a day off, a few hours to spare and a few spanners. And i dare say i enjoy doing that sort of thing. There is no coding, no dealer only parts, no dealer only repairs.

There is coding on the E46. You'll need to get yourself the software

I guess if you need the money out of the 335i this is all academic, just don't go into it thinking it'll be cheaper to own because it won't - the released capital is likely your only real benefit if you opt for an older BMW instead of something like a cheap Fiesta.