VW Bora information?

[carlo]

Sorry to start another thread asking about motors, but there's just too many knowledgeable shiters out there to resist.

 

A Bora has always been a car I've had my eye on, (would certainly be the only VW I'd consider) I like its slightly left field image, plus it's a small saloon which is a huge plus.

 

Anyone had one?  Are they comfortable?  Would need an auto, and the diesel 130bhp unit with automatic looks very appealing; they seem to come with a tiptronic or conventional auto which is what I'd want.  

 

Is this 130bhp diesel reliable, or is the 115 a better bet?

 

Mucho obligeo

[Cavcraft]

@ Skattrd

[Mr Lobster]

Definitely one for skattrd, but. If you are thinking about a Bora I'd also suggest a Toledo which is essentially the same with SEAT badges.

[rainagain]

Not sure if it applies to the Bora but for Passats of roughly the same age the PD diesels are said to be more reliable than the common rail engines, but not so economical.

[r.welfare]

I'm pretty sure the 115 suffers mainly from manual (6 speed) box maladies but an auto would not; although I don't know how tough VAG slushpumps are. The 130 IIRC is hardy and an early one wouldn't be a PD (Pumpe Duse) lump, which the 115 is. PD means added complication and it's very particular on oil.

 

Only other thing to add (outside of the usual Mk4 Golf stuff like window regulators) is that Climatronic fans can go mental, probably better to get a car with manual a/c.

[Cavcraft]

Are they the ones behind the glovebox, Mr W? The one on my B5 went, and I had to get and fit new bushes, quite a common fault on them.

[trigger]

I had one for a year.

 

 

This was a 1.9 TDi PD 130bhp Sport model with the 6 speed gearbox, It was a nice car actually, the seats were comfortable enough if a little hard, the gearbox was a bit baggy but it done it's job ok, I think it had done about 120000 miles, the rear leg room is non-existent so if you have tall passengers to ferry about, forget it!.

 

 

The boot was impressive though, if a bit shallow but that's to be expected from a saloon.

 

 

 

It averaged around 45-47 mpg and I'm not a slow driver, The only issue I had was a noisy fuel pump which i swapped for a 2nd hand unit of ebay.

 

 

 

All in all it was a nice car and a more sensible, and cheaper, alternative to the Golf which is basically the same car.

[Dave_Q]

All Bora diesel engines will be PD.

 

Only difference between 105/115 and 130 is turbo and injectors. A 105 will remap to 130ish.

 

Can't see much difference in reliability between the two, comfort wise, it's a Golf with a boot so front seats should be good, back seats less so.

 

Never actually driven one myself.

[carlo]

I'm pretty sure the 115 suffers mainly from manual (6 speed) box maladies but an auto would not; although I don't know how tough VAG slushpumps are. The 130 IIRC is hardy and an early one wouldn't be a PD (Pumpe Duse) lump, which the 115 is. PD means added complication and it's very particular on oil.

 

Only other thing to add (outside of the usual Mk4 Golf stuff like window regulators) is that Climatronic fans can go mental, probably better to get a car with manual a/c.

 

That's interesting, is there such a thing on the 405?  I've got a loud buzzing motor sounding thing behind a small vent in my 405 dash (not the re-circulation flap motor as that's been disconnected)  On removing the centre dash I found a small cigar lighter shaped motor behind the vent with a spinning fan on the top - that was what was making the noise.  Also says 'Bitron' on the side.  I wondered if this might be something to do with the climate control.  Was going to rip it out/disconnect it but chickened out!  A right pig to get at aswell

[Owain71]

Had a couple of these as company cars when I worked for VW. The 2.3 V5 was a lovely thing (particularly with beige leather Recaro interior).

 

Took the 150 PD I had to France and surprised the driver of an Ibiza 2.0 GTI when we both booted away from a toll booth... loads of torque, lots of fun, good MPG, a great Q-car. Look out for the all-red-digits TDI badge on the boot.

 

Huge boot but restricted rear legroom. Handles better than a Golf thanks to having a parcel shelf welded across the rear.

 

Look great in solid red!

[skattrd]

I do own a bora, but mines manual and an early one, so 5-spd & pre-pd never mind common rail.

Personally I prefer the pre-pd motor as it's veg friendly, none of the others are. That means 90 or 110bhp stock, however the 110's can be modified very easily to 135bhp & 300Nm torque, which is reasonably quick, and still returns good mpg (see sig).

Lots of people like the pd's 115/130/150 but I'm not one. To be honest I don't think there's much difference between the three in terms of reliability, and any issues with worn camshafts should* have been sorted by now.

Auto/tiptronic - I've never driven one, so can't comment.

Comfort - they are reasonably comfy, but nothing special. I fitted an A3 interior in mine as I didn't like the std seats. I've also replaced virtually all of the suspension bushes and fitted Bilstein B6 shocks.

Parts are generally cheap & readily available.

 

Personally I'd be looking at VAG counterparts as suggested by others, specifically Skoda Octavia as they got the pre-pd engines for longer and have a large hatchback as I do find the size of the boot entry a bit small on the boring.

 

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums - is a very handy forum for info on the Bora/mk4 golf/etc

[Pillock]

They have all the good points of a Mk4 Golf (good spares availability, decent diesel engine, decent build quality) without the risk that it's been modified by a knuckle dragger. Most Boras I've ever seen were giffer owned, a Golf on the same plate will have been round the ring road 100 times a night.

 

There's a lot said about the PD engines, they're not that bad if you use the right oil. More durable than the later 2.0 ones, admittedly the earlier mechanical pump ones are more bulletproof but as said you don't get those in most Boras.

 

A colleague has a 130 one, looks quite nice from the outside (GTI wheels, black and subtle) but it's got crappy fugging wood trim on the console.

 

Another vote for the Toledo.... I had a Leon instead of a Golf and it was just a nicer place to be. Better specs and less abused for the price usually. SE spec Seats get climatronic and all electric windows, same spec Golf was keep fit rear windows and bog standard air con.

 

[carlo]

Well the SE seats certainly look comfy, although I'd be more concerned about the ride quality.

 

 

 

[Lacquer Peel]

I have a Skoda Octavia TDI (distributor pump) based on the same platform. The ride/handling compromise is good (not on the level of a Peugeot, mind) but I find the seats like washboards - I'm looking for a posher set, because they seem a lot better.

 

My friend's had a couple of PD Boras, both beset with head/cooling issues. The current one is thought to have a porous head.

Another friend has a Transporter pickup with a PD engine and it needs a new camshaft. I think they need to be maintained on the dot.

[trigger]

Both my old Passat and Bora's were PD engines and I couldn't fault them, Skoda Octavia are also worth a good look

[skattrd]

The SE seats are ok, I had them in mine for the first 10-20k I did in the car. There are loads of options for replacements and they're very  easy to change.

Ride quality is ok, but it's nothing special. I found replacing all of my suspension bushes and shocks improved the handling considerably, but did very little to the ride quality.

If there is a clunking from the rear it is likely to be worn rear beam bushes, they're cheap, but removing the rear beam is a PITA.

[jonathan_dyane]

That's interesting, is there such a thing on the 405?  I've got a loud buzzing motor sounding thing behind a small vent in my 405 dash (not the re-circulation flap motor as that's been disconnected)  On removing the centre dash I found a small cigar lighter shaped motor behind the vent with a spinning fan on the top - that was what was making the noise.  Also says 'Bitron' on the side.  I wondered if this might be something to do with the climate control.  Was going to rip it out/disconnect it but chickened out!  A right pig to get at aswell

 

That 'thing' is what reads the in car temperature and so makes the climate control operate. If you remove it I imagine your heating will be set to either 'freeze' or 'roast' permanently...

[carlo]

That 'thing' is what reads the in car temperature and so makes the climate control operate. If you remove it I imagine your heating will be set to either 'freeze' or 'roast' permanently...

 

Another puzzle sorted!  Bloody good job I didn't rip it out then..

[Cavcraft]

Actually, I forgot. Chris's doesn't half go some, I drove it back from East Mids(?) airport to his house.

[garethj]

I've got a pre-PD engine Octavia, mine's a 110 but as said they can be remapped to 135 allegedly, for about £50.  I found the ride better on the Skoda than on the Golf but I didn't find a Bora to compare against.  The Octavia has a hatchback which looks like a boot and it's farkin massive.

 

I do a long commute and get a genuine 60mpg, longer runs will beat that by 5+mpg

 

As they get older I think the better refinement of the PD engines or the fancy injector versions falls away against the toughness of the older 90, 110 or 130 diesels.  The garage I bought mine from did a roaring trade to the local taxi firms, they take them to 300,000 miles

 

An involving drive it is not.  But it's got aircon, 4 electric windows, alloys and other stuff that impresses the proles.

[skattrd]

Actually, I forgot. Chris's doesn't half go some, I drove it back from East Mids(?) airport to his house.

 

Yes you did drive it back to mine from East Mids, and it kept up with the Storia without too much trouble

 

Cheap DIY re-maps for the brave/foolhardy - http://www.blacksmoke.co.uk/index.htm

[Talbotman]

Tipronic autoboxes on these are made of cheese and definately to be avoided if your looking for long term usage your lucky if they last 100k without major work...trawl through eBay and look.at the numbers of Vag stuff with this gearbox spares or repairs.Otherwise lookout for usual mk 4 golf stuff like duff climate control,windows regulators..etc etc. Would seem.that the bora is now beginning to attract the Vw scene crowd and although there are tidy ones around...there are plenty of rough ones too. Their nice enough but aint no 405 to drive to be honest in either comfort or handling.

[binhoker668]

Hey Skattrd, I just bought a MK4 Golf GT Tdi 1.9, after several mishaps of the French variety. Nice and fairly clean thing so far. Only worries so far are - ESP warning light coming on (disappears again for a while when engine turned off then restarted) and the fact that I have only one key! Had any ESP light adventures? Also, any cheap remedies for getting a spare key? Certainly not putting up a separate thread for it and getting flamed by usual suspects!!

[Dave_Q]

Get one of these and you can find out why the ESP light is on yourself.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAG-COM-16Pin-OBD2-1-5M-USB-Cable-Auto-Engine-Diagnostic-Tool-VW-Audi-Seat-Skoda-/221957126986?hash=item33adacfb4a:g:6HgAAOSwRQlXdOM7

 

Key coding can also be done DIY believe it or not, if your car came with the SKC (key code) a 4 digit number that would have been with the keys originally you can do it with VAGCOM.

 

You can use a second hand key but it must be the same part number as your existing key, and you need a virgin IMMO chip like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ID48-T6-CAN-BUS-Transponder-Immobiliser-Chip-For-VW-Beetle-Golf-Polo-Bora-Seat-/152284051444?hash=item2374d637f4:g:ly8AAOSwZJBYBL83

 

Or you can buy a new key with chip for £40ish http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-3-BUTTON-REMOTE-FLIP-KEY-FOB-for-VW-GOLF-Mk4-PASSAT-BEETLE-POLO-434Mhz-/152015443701?hash=item2364d396f5:g:mPkAAOxyJX1S~1nd

 

If you don't have your SKC, you need VAGtacho to extract it from the car: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAG-TACHO-3-01-Opel-Immobilizer-Reader-Interface-USB-COM-OBD2-II-Scanner-/401124515451?hash=item5d64e25e7b:g:lywAAOSw71BXQN-b

 

Overall, with a used key and buying all the wires it should cost <£50 all in to acquire and code a new key.

 

A shonky old laptop running XP is useful as the VAGtacho on ebay is a pirate version and doesn't play nicely with new Windows.

 

PM me if you need assistance as I've coded used keys to this type of car before.

[binhoker668]

Nice one Dave - cheers for your reply! Have to live with it for a while and see what happens, but I think I will be in touch about the key thing for sure. Having only one key fills me with dread! Will check out the paperwork etc and see if I have an SKC...

[overrun]

Every Bora I see these days is OhSoFresh and running a straight pipe for the coal burner.

 

My mate used to have a 130, years back (18" S8 reps and pound shop coilovers obvz) and he used to slip the clutch to make OMG COMPRESSOR STALL noises.

[Dave_Q]

Every Bora I see these days is OhSoFresh and running a straight pipe for the coal burner.

 

My mate used to have a 130, years back (18" S8 reps and pound shop coilovers obvz) and he used to slip the clutch to make OMG COMPRESSOR STALL noises.

There's one near me that's pretty much a full house for vagtwat bingo.

 

Camo/rust paint

Shit 18" Audi reps

Number plates on roof rack

Dizzler with excessively loud side exit exhaust

Yellow headlights for some reason

Script at the bottom of the screen saying something like "Scraping Dubs"

Driver with beanie hat

 

WTF is with the number plates on the roof rack? Seems increasingly common round here.

[Pete-M]

Hmm VAG Tacho. I've been looking into this lately as I've got a set of Bora Sport clocks to go into a GTI - so need coding to match the SKC. I also want to enable the miles to empty display on my Golf (which isn't a GTI or a diesel)

 

So, if you buy VAG Tacho, Chris, let me know!

[DVee8]

Dave you have to get some photos of this quality car.

[Dave_Q]

Dave you have to get some photos of this quality car.

I'll see what I can do, the last I saw of it was on a Facebook selling site so it may have left the area.