HMC- Lada back from exile

[HMC]

@Dan_ZTT

A Glyn johns biography also comes with it

[Split_Pin]

Good honest advert by panhard65.

Hopefully you'll get back what you paid for it.

[gadgetgricey]

Really sorry to hear this Matt. Hope you get most if not all of your money back.
Kudos on being the better seller so next person goes into Bentley ownership with eyes open.

[RoadworkUK]

On 9/21/2022 at 9:21 AM, Schaefft said:

I like the E65... Bangle thought that bmw was at risk of becoming too evolutionary with it's design, and therefore blending in too much, offering little new, something that very much was the case for the next generation F01 7-Series where BMW clearly played things extra safe.

The post-modernist approach of the E65 might be divisive, but it was unmistakable and bang on in trend at the time (almost the entire lineup of Renault and Nissan adapted the idea, plus countless more cars), and happened to sell brilliantly. I still consider a pre-facelift 745i once in a while, and then remember why I don't want to expose myself to the reliability nightmare of this generation bmw V8...

I concur exactly. Post E65, the 7 Series went back to something closer to the massing and detailing of the glorious E38, but in a manner that ended up dull as dishwater. The E65's slightly Landcrabby shape did make for a spacious machine, too. Proportionally, the E65 is to the E39 as the Rolls Royce Phantom is to the Seraph, and I don't think that's a coincidence. It's terrific inside, too. The column shift, the seat controls on the raised centre armrest, the LCD / Analogue dials, the storage drawers in the centre stack and the pop-out phone keypad worked really well. An awful lot of thought went into it, and its influence on the W221 S Class is clear.

I'm exceedingly jealous of HMC for having this, but my envy is tempered a little by it being a facelift car. I actually prefer the braver looks of the original.

[Crackers]

On 20/09/2022 at 14:41, HMC said:

So with the mulsanne turbo in disgrace I was down to the tt as the only car. Actually it was brilliant but it was not great even for kids in the back. I’m on a self enforced 2 car limit. In the end I used this as an excuse to replace it with a way more “practical” daily. I breifly considered a Maserati qp but a cheap one of those is probably a stylish way to get very poor. Plus there seem to be no specialists for those anywhere remotely near to me.

In the end I decided rather than a cheap ish, expensive, pretty car, get a cheap, ugly one instead. Ugly and sinister looking in black with dents. I’m not sure what the design team were into in the late 90s but it must have been good.

E65 730d

 

That's the cheapest way to get 90% of the comfort of Rolls-Royce Ghost whilst keeping 100% of the running costs.

Well done that man.

[sierraman]

How many banger racers have replied to the Ad? In fairness it’s probably the best outcome if the problems are much to go by, the good bits keep another on the road and race the shell, unfortunately when things like this hit the bottom of the curve it’s the frequent outcome when presented with a series of big bills. 

[83C]

2 hours ago, gadgetgricey said:

Really sorry to hear this Matt. Hope you get most if not all of your money back.
Kudos on being the better seller so next person goes into Bentley ownership with eyes open.

Very much this. I did read the ad and debated having a look, but ultimately suspension/brake issues are the off-putting bit for me. The bodywork I could live with and just smoke around in it for a while, the other fluid leaks I could deal with as and when. 

[Bren]

Very honest ad. Sadly it sounds like it needs putting out of it's misery.

[hairnet]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:02 AM, Kiltox said:

I really want to try one of these to see how it compares to the A8.  Always been more of a BMW wanker than an Audi one.

Do it 

And a modern heroes too

Easy blip down the goat track to Exeter no?

[HMC]

Well this sold the day after the ad was listed for close to the asking.

I’ve got to give a massive thanks to @panhard65 for saving my bacon with that old Bentley. He sussed out the things needing attention, advised against putting much money into it, did the ad and handled the sale. 

What a brilliant guy.

[loserone]

Has he sold you a different one yet?

[Six-cylinder]

7 hours ago, HMC said:

What a brilliant guy.

He helped me tremendously finding a crankshaft, bring it from France and fitting it to my Peugeot 103 moped.

[HMC]

On 9/23/2022 at 6:37 PM, RoadworkUK said:

I concur exactly. Post E65, the 7 Series went back to something closer to the massing and detailing of the glorious E38, but in a manner that ended up dull as dishwater. The E65's slightly Landcrabby shape did make for a spacious machine, too. Proportionally, the E65 is to the E39 as the Rolls Royce Phantom is to the Seraph, and I don't think that's a coincidence. It's terrific inside, too. The column shift, the seat controls on the raised centre armrest, the LCD / Analogue dials, the storage drawers in the centre stack and the pop-out phone keypad worked really well. An awful lot of thought went into it, and its influence on the W221 S Class is clear.

I'm exceedingly jealous of HMC for having this, but my envy is tempered a little by it being a facelift car. I actually prefer the braver looks of the original.

Very perceptive re the landcrab thing. Wierdly I can’t Un-see that so when I climb aboard I’m at the wheel of a wolseley six.

[HMC]

So having been saved from a Bentley disaster by @panhard65 as related above, i ve realised I’ve not introduced my “other” bmw.

An e46 330ci  convertible. This and the 730d are my only cars. The e46 with the 3 litre 6 was something I’ve wanted to try for a while. This one was cheap as it was previously a cat D.  It was also silver with grey interior, a pretty dull boring combo which to be honest isn’t really what I’d go for, but my arm was twisted by the price. Ditto the auto gearbox. To be honest it sort of suits it as a laid back cruiser. Presumably most “sport” ones had a manual box and were more appealing to owners who like to cane it a bit?

As  acquired it had been attacked with m badges. It actually is an “m - sport” but I’m pretty sure it left the factory without fake carbon wrap on the kidneys and a crooked M…….

 

Anyway that was swiftly binned, and sure enough under the peeling black stuff on the grille is the normal chrome. I also slapped a cheap cheap number I’d squirrelled away on it (1963 derby reg IIRC) to try and add some more class*. These things need all the help they can as to my eyes they do have a bit of an iffy vibe- although as they get older people have tended to move into the newer shape ones.

 

[colino]

My wife has suggested I better be at the front of the queue when you tire of that beemer!

[83C]

E46s are just starting to come out of the doldrums in my opinion. Especially the nicer spec models, the rough ones are disappearing fast and with E36 prices following E30s skywards an E46 is a sensible choice.

[HMC]

I didn’t wake up today intending to get a car, but this sort of thing tends to happen all too often.

 

[gadgetgricey]

Just now, HMC said:

I didn’t wake up today intending to get a car, but this sort of thing tends to happen all too often.

 

I'll take it please. Just to avoid any confusion in future  

[hairnet]

More cars than motorpoint

[HMC]

[HMC]

[HMC]

Any guesses so far? 

[gadgetgricey]

 

[timolloyd]

Maybach with EML light on.

[HMC]

@gadgetgricey

 

[HMC]

[HMC]

[Marm Toastsmith]

best thing you've bought in weeks

[HMC]

[gadgetgricey]

12 months ticket and 63K.

Where do you find them. Need to move south