TheXUDfiles

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think part of the issue is people buy a 10-15 year old, Peugeot for example
And they expect it to be like a brand new Toyota.....its not, of course its not
And the sort who often buy them and never maintain them, thus leading to reliability issues......
They're no worse than anything else, in fact they usually drive better, look better and are comfortable 

Agree regarding the German VS French views people seem to have
take for example, when i bought the C5
lots of people told me to buy a VW
but, i know from experience with family members cars and what i've heard is they don't seem to hold up well, have lots of electrical issues and rot their arches
i was told things like the suspension will be a nightmare, it'll break down all the time and catch fire
suspension is rock solid reliable, not had any issues with it and the only thing i've done is replace the spheres (which lasted 18 years might i add!)
yes i had issues with the autobox, but it had done 165k and hadn't ever had the fluid changed before i bought it, so that's to be expected
 
surprisingly, it's younger people who have been more interested in my car, people my age (18-25 bracket) that have actually been very interested in it and the suspension and actually respected it
but yet, it's classed as inferior to a base model passat with no kit, boring suspension and likely rotten wheel arches just due to the badge
well, each to their own
 
even with the modern stuff, i hear people say french cars are ugly and boring
oh well, it means stuff like this will be cheap in the future!
you certainly can't deny this is a damn good looking car

modern Peugeots are some of the finest looking stuff on the road, i do hope in some ways it will change peoples views on french cars and it's always very unjustified

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, French cars have no particular social status, they're not aspirational or thrusting in any way so the wannabes wouldn't be seen dead in one. I suppose spinning the yarn about superior German engineering helps them to feel better about paying a fortune for an unreliable heap of electronic misery. 
I love it when people think that I'm skint because I run a French shiter, they have no idea that I could afford a brand new 5 series for cash but the thing they CANNOT understand is that I choose not to, it's an alien concept to them. I love my little pugs simplistically, that it's not needy and that it's cheap to run and fix, it does everything that I want and very little that I don't. 
I really hope that people spread the word that French cars are dreadful because it means that prices will remain cheap and they will keep buying "superior brands".

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I think the hatred of French cars has more to do with image and society's value structures than anything else.
German cars are perceived as commanding, corporate and prestigious in this country, even the shit ones, whereas French cars have always been seen as softer somehow and less covetable. 
To a certain extent we all wear our cars like clothes, and sometimes they present a face to the world that we can't present, or wish we could present. In times where aggression and "flexing" seems to be everyone's stock in trade, a chiselled, angry, arrogant face with four rings or a three pointed star on it is about more than image, it's about surviving in a social hierarchy where the material object is an extension of the self and the foundation for one's identity. 
The average person doesn't buy (ok, finance) a new Mercedes because they like the history of the brand, respect the W124 or want a car which they think will last for decades. In fact, they don't give a flying fig about cars, not really. 
They buy them because a W-reg Citroen Xantia won't make them as socially desirable as an A180 will. 
We're outsiders, we're weirdoes, and you have to be to play around with the crap we do. We don't get it. They don't get us. 
Good. 
I like driving a hated car. It tells the instagram brigade that I'm not playing their game. Sure, I also have a German car, but being from 1999 it just as well be from a different planet. 
 
 
 

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

You'll get to see it again in a few months time.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I never got back to you - you expressed interested in this when I thought of selling it. I'm really sorry about that. I had a lot of Lifeshite kicking off in the days after putting the advert up, and forgot all about it and didn't log in again for ages. 
I changed my mind because it came out of a lot of trauma with me and I felt more attached to it after. 
Sorry  
Anyway, wheels. They're style 5s. You can still buy them brand new, actually. I always said when I finally got mine it would have these wheels. I drove to Hull to get them. It was a tight fit. 
 

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.

I thought it would be useful to some to do a proper report on what these things I like to run long-ish term. Is it the Shangri-la  "CHAMPAGNE FOR LEMONADE MONEY MOTORING" Mike Brewer and Quentin Wilson once implored us to go and seek out?
I'm probably going to have to do this in two parts. 
 
This is what it looked like this time last year, as I froze to death, desperately getting the salt off.

And now:

I've done the wide-boy thing of buying it new alloys before sorting more pressing issues (like the dented door), but they had better tyres than the Gitis which were brilliant, right up until they SUDDENLY went to shit and made it hard to keep on my side of the road when cornering at anything more vigorous than 5/10s. 
And all old BMWs need lattice alloys in my view. 
So, what has it actually been like to live with? 
I tend to throw this at a garage, and the closest I get to getting my hands dirty on it is washing it. 
I've been using a local-isn BMW specialist (M-tek, in Wellingborough) and can recommend them to anyone running an older BM.
January: 
The first job was to fix the trademark BMW shimmy, which in this case was caused by worn bushes on the brake control arms. The bushes are pressed into the arms, and come as a complete unit - cost to repair - £400, inc parts and labor. They warned me that it "won't be cheap", and I paled expecting at least double that! Problem fixed, car was immediately less wolly to drive and the shimmy has been banished.
April:
Going to Sussex to visit a friend, baking hot day, as it always seems to be weirdly hot in April now. After smugly cruising down the M25, past broken down, much newer cars, the smile was wiped off my face on the A3. The engine cut out in much the same way my 800 did when the fuel pump died. 
I was able to coast down a slip road and crash land outside a farmer's gate. Quick roadside first aid with minimals tools produced no obvious improvement. Big yellow taxi time? 

No, I'm an idiot. When I checked the fuses, I only checked to see if they had blown. The fuel pump fuse is on the "secret" fuse panel behind the boot carpet, kept out of sight because German cars don't break. It was crusted up with verdigris like corrosion. A quick clean, back it went, and we're on the road again. Lesson learned. I still made it for lunch, we just had it at 7pm.

June: 
Service time. Don't ask me what was done, I just told them to do what needed doing. £250. 
July: 
Awful time as my Father in Law passed.  A week later, neckless, hairless, brainless Kia driver forced me off the road, snapping a spring which took a tyre out in the process. I hit some of the WW2 era concrete left over from the old airfields: the irony wasn't lost on me. It happened very close to home, so I limped it  to just outside home.
The car was so close to the ground I couldn't get a jack under it to move the broken bits of spring out and change the wheel. I really wasn't in the mood in the be sorting it out and didn't need the hassle, so booked it in with Redcorn for it to be carted away. 
In the end it was my other half who talked me out of it, because she likes the car as well and wanted a distraction. So who you gonna call? 
It took the poor patrolman over an hour just to jack it up: good thing I didn't attempt it myself, as it probably would have killed me. This was what the spring looked like:
Got it transported to the BMW place for new springs on both sides to be safe, £500. 
Part 2 on the way.