Show Us Your Motors!

You would say that though, SDK :p

Anyways! In Stoke and my car ticked over 90,000 miles today, bit of a milestone as that's a shade over 50,000 miles of driving in 3.5 years of ownership, all of which have been for the daily commute as well and it doesn't look (or feel) older than when I got it! Well, apart from the slightly curbed alloys...)

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Engine aside (more on that later) it's been an absolute pleasure to own and relatively trouble free. I have had only a few of the common tell tale symptoms of coilpack failure, m-tech suspension cracking and control arm bushing wear over that time but I have had no electrical problems, no vanos problems, no AC problems, no cooling system problems or anything else.

All in all, other than servicing intervals, I haven't had to spend that much money to maintain and look after it to keep it looking and feeling like it was when I got it at a bit over 40k miles:

- 2 full sets of tyres (~£450 a set)
- Braided lines upgrade (£75)
- Both rear m-tech suspension replacements from cracking (£175 each)
- 2 full sets of upgrade brake pads (~£120 a set)
- 1 full set of OEM discs (£101 after 30% discount)
- 2x wing replacements + resprays (own fault :p) (~£235 each)
- Driver's door respray (racist vandalism at a previous place of work carpark, culprit unknown) (£340)
- Coil Pack replacement (£285)
- Exhaust backbox hanger corroded, replacemed with new backbox from specialist (£236 inc fitting)
- Steering wheel re-leathering (£105)
- Gear knob replacement (£52)
- HID bulb replacements (£62)

Total: £3206

I always sn1gger (apparently s****** is a bad word!) when people mock the engine. Yes it's missing 2 cylinders and yes it prefers living in the 4-7k rev range but it's smooth, doesn't sound like a standard 2 litre NA 4cyl and is very very reliable but aside from that, the car itself has been a joy to drive whether its hard round bends with epic traction or scooting up and down the motorway and the feeling of absolute confidence at almost any sensible lol speed through the steering wheel.

I have complained about lack of pickup from 50 to 70MPH in 5th gear in the past and that still stands and it's really my only real gripe, but sitting at 80 or above is where the engine is most at home and picks up speed without hesitation so the gearing is a bit odd perhaps as it wants you to speed everywhere :p There is that 4k+ rev range again....

So yeah, even though the common trend is to hate on 4 cylinders, I've thoroughly enjoyed the ownership and I can't really bring myself to buy another used car (330Ci, for example) because there just isn't one in the same condition and most likely state of maintenance as mine, so to me it would feel like a step down in that sense, just for the sake of having more power. I don't want a newer 3 series of any description because the interior quality doesn't meet what I'm used to and they will nowhere near look as good after the same number of years of usage.

I'll decide on something to upgrade to though, and yeah, the engine won't be a diesel or an il4 :p
 
mrk said:
I can't really bring myself to buy another used car (330Ci, for example) because there just isn't one in the same condition and most likely state of maintenance as mine, so to me it would feel like a step down in that sense, just for the sake of having more power.
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This is pretty much how I feel right now. A shame really, but I guess it's nice to have something thats in such good condition that this applies.
 
Exactly that! It's also a nice feeling when people sit in there and they're surprised when they hear it's a 2003 car :)
 
Looks in fantastic nick mrk...and I do love them wheels!

Anyone else think the new 1 series looks as if it is suffering from a little bit of down syndrome??
 
[TW]Fox;21911006 said:
This is pretty much how I feel right now. A shame really, but I guess it's nice to have something thats in such good condition that this applies.
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I don't understand why not? Sure both of your car's are undoubtedly in extremely good condition, but a two year old car, with 20k miles from a dealer will be in just as good condition. If it's not, a £450-500 full correctional detail will see it returned to a condition which was better than when it left the factory.

I see what you're saying about the interior build quality though, but the times i've been in an F10, I've thought the build quality was excellent and styling was awesome.

There are cars in as good condition as yours is, just not the same age. Or price bracket - which i'm guessing is the problem.

That said, you're probably looking at £20k F10's right? Most people i know in their late 20's are putting that kind of money into getting a house by selling cars etc and downgrading to £2000 heaps that they hate. Obviously this would not be a problem for you, because although your car is worth not a lot, you still love it and it's still in fine condition.

Perhaps its worth just holding onto that money or putting it into property, driving your 50p wonder until it dies (heaven forbid!) and then saving whatever you can for a car that truly does it for you?
 
That is the situation I'm in as well. I want to invest in a property and sit on that for a few years and then perhaps decide on a car. It's been mentioned before by Fox too as well as other friends/family because realistically there's no reason to change car for me other than the desire to have more power because every other box is ticked such as comfort, condition, handling, reliability and driving around after a wash people to look so it's certainly not faded into the "aged too much and unnoticed" bracket either.

I think it's most likely I will do just that. Even though I don't commute via car any more so could easily afford to run something more powerful I think it makes sense to bank the savings and invest in due course!

Just need some Style 32s...
 
I think you've missed the point here.

Gaygle said:
I don't understand why not? Sure both of your car's are undoubtedly in extremely good condition, but a two year old car, with 20k miles from a dealer will be in just as good condition. If it's not, a £450-500 full correctional detail will see it returned to a condition which was better than when it left the factory.
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Neither of us were referring to 2 year old cars. mrk is referring to upgrading to the car he'd, in an ideal world, rather have - an E46 330Ci - and I'm talking about the E39 M5. Neither are available aged 2 years from a main dealer anymore. It is these cars to which our comments relate, these two cars are the once-obvious upgrade path.

I see what you're saying about the interior build quality though, but the times i've been in an F10, I've thought the build quality was excellent and styling was awesome.

There are cars in as good condition as yours is, just not the same age. Or price bracket - which i'm guessing is the problem.

That said, you're probably looking at £20k F10's right? Most people i know in their late 20's are putting that kind of money into getting a house by selling cars etc and downgrading to £2000 heaps that they hate. Obviously this would not be a problem for you, because although your car is worth not a lot, you still love it and it's still in fine condition.

Perhaps its worth just holding onto that money or putting it into property, driving your 50p wonder until it dies (heaven forbid!) and then saving whatever you can for a car that truly does it for you?
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There are no £20k F10 M Sport's so this is in effect exactly what I am doing. The only other car I want is an F10 M Sport (Perhaps an F30) and they are bonkers-expensive. I thought I could get around the fact I hated the E60 by buying an E92. Not so.

As a result I shall continue to enjoy my car until such time as my preferred budget (I don't wish to increase it any further) offers you a pick of the very best AUC F10 530/535 M Sport's, which I will then keep for as long as possible - 6-10 years. This is, being realistic, likely to be a number of years away.

I'm cool with that. Because I absolutely love owning the E39. It's awesome. And because I don't own it 'because its cheap' I don't need to let its value have an iota of bearing on how I look after it :D
 
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Firestar_3x said:
Looking tidy mrk.
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Cheers :) Ging I'm looking to change the wheels for 17" Style 32 but having had an eye on ebay and places it appears the 17" ones are rather rare and cost a lot more than the 18" ones which are rather common and can be had for around £400-£500 a set.

Maybe that's the route I'll have to take but only when these tyres have a few mm left as they're brand new still!

Unless some 17s crop up in the mean time in which case it's a straight swap after refurb!
 
New to here, thought i'd post a picture of my car anyway!
It's a 2004 Vauxhall Corsa Exclusiv! Only 500 made apparently! Full leather, heated seats, not bad for a Corsa eh? Hehe, anyway here she is :)

2eap3r9.jpg


Best picture that's been taken of it atm! I'll be sure to get more soon :)
 
There's a pretty mint set of the ones you want on eBay now (with tyres). You could swap tyres over and sell current set to claw some cash back?

eBay item no. 360458052450
 
Phil W said:
There's a pretty mint set of the ones you want on eBay now (with tyres). You could swap tyres over and sell current set to claw some cash back?

eBay item no. 360458052450
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Those do look brilliant actually cheers! I'll have a look around and see what mine + those tyres should likely fetch although I'm betting not that much considering the refurb required on all 4 (some scrapes and inside sections caked from brake dust).

Dumb Q but I assume the tyre size won't be a problem though? Mine are 225/45 on the front and 245/40 on the back.

Edit: I've just realised those won't for the e46 as offset is different due to e39's deeper dishes. I need the e46 variant of the radials!
 
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Duke said:
^ Could that door BE any different shade?
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Some *insert curse word here* kicked it, meaning I needed to get a new door, so my dad bought this one although he didn't know the colour was wrong at the time! Trying to find a door the same colour as my car isn't the easiest thing in the world! :(
 
uprica92 said:
New to here, thought i'd post a picture of my car anyway!
It's a 2004 Vauxhall Corsa Exclusiv! Only 500 made apparently! Full leather, heated seats, not bad for a Corsa eh? Hehe, anyway here she is :)

2eap3r9.jpg


Best picture that's been taken of it atm! I'll be sure to get more soon :)
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Oh dear god.
 
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