HMC architecte britannique

[cort16]

16 minutes ago, HMC said:

I remember you sorting the rear wings. The ones on this one are bubbling up. I think they suit dark metallics best 100%

I bought 2 new second hand rear wings and had my mate paint them. I fitted one of them but he "carefully" left the other out to cure on the ground in the car park and the guy who owned the garage drove over the top of it.

How I laughed*

[scooobydont]

Another previous z4 owner here, was actually looking at them again the other night. Loved mine. You cannot mistake it for any other car, the styling I think looks really slick now. Mine was the 3.0 with a custom stainless back box, it really growled (and droned a bit, but lets forget that part). I agree with others on here, BMW, convertible, fantastic engine, great looks...fantastic prices given how everything else seems to have changed.

[HMC]

Lop sided Vdp1300 now on its journey to the new owner. Always a good one for people of a certain age to reminisce…..

 

[Hertz]

Are they a bit tight for space for the taller chap those Z4's? They were on my radar until I sat (or tried to sit) in one but just couldn't get comfy. I'm 6ft 6" and a heavy build lol. 

[HMC]

5 hours ago, Hertz said:

Are they a bit tight for space for the taller chap those Z4's? They were on my radar until I sat (or tried to sit) in one but just couldn't get comfy. I'm 6ft 6" and a heavy build lol. 

Im a fair bit shorter (6ft) and whilst i found the z3 seat too high (felt like i was sitting on rather than in the car) the z4 has a more spacious cabin and more adjustable driving position (the wheel also adjusts for rake and reach) 

[HMC]

7 hours ago, scooobydont said:

Another previous z4 owner here, was actually looking at them again the other night. Loved mine. You cannot mistake it for any other car, the styling I think looks really slick now. Mine was the 3.0 with a custom stainless back box, it really growled (and droned a bit, but lets forget that part). I agree with others on here, BMW, convertible, fantastic engine, great looks...fantastic prices given how everything else seems to have changed.

Yours and @cort16 ‘s look fantastic! 

On the styling, i read one review that thought the styling has dated badly, whereas i think they look better now than they did new- that might just me getting used to the lines?

[Crackers]

8 hours ago, HMC said:

Lop sided Vdp1300 now on its journey to the new owner. Always a good one for people of a certain age to reminisce…..

 

Hang on a second, I recognise that flatbed... 

Don't tell me he's done it again! 

[HMC]

3 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Hang on a second, I recognise that flatbed... 

Don't tell me he's done it again! 

Hes aiming for a full set!

[scooobydont]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Yours and @cort16 ‘s look fantastic! 

On the styling, i read one review that thought the styling has dated badly, whereas i think they look better now than they did new- that might just me getting used to the lines?

Thanks. 'Styling' is subjective, you either like how they look or not, I personally think they look really good, the lines down the sides flow over the car (hopefully a better pic below), the front maybe look a little droopy with the shape of the headlights but again, subjective. You don't really see the lines too much, certainly I didn't until I detailed within an inch of it's life! Ironically I found my very car up for sale just the other day looking a complete shadow of its former self, such a shame the next owner never kept on top of it (although he is still asking more than I sold it for...)

[sierraman]

I loved the 1.25 Fiesta we had, it was fucking fucked but it kept going. Sounded pretty good when you gave it some beans. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 16/10/2023 at 11:16, cort16 said:

One of the great things about Z4's is the low parts prices.  I had one with the 2.5. I did shit loads of work to it including replacing the rear wings and removing the roof neither of which I would recommend.  After enjoying it over a couple of summers I sold it and instantly regretted it. 

Another victim of The Electric Brae?  

p.s. I went to school with a girl called Ailsa Craig (honest)

[cort16]

20 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Another victim of The Electric Brae?  

p.s. I went to school with a girl called Ailsa Craig (honest)

It is indeed, just above Dunure. Always delivers on a sunset picture. 

[tooSavvy]

On 16/10/2023 at 12:07, HMC said:

Lop sided Vdp1300 now on its journey to the new owner. Always a good one for people of a certain age to reminisce…..

 

EFA... 'reminisce' = front wing needs to be lashed to roof 🤔

🤣🤣

[HMC]

Not a lot of news to report, the only vehicle on the much reduced fleet in this 215k passat

Its got very little (ie none) history, but the front suspension isnt knackered, it doesnt fill with water and all the door locks work. So as a banger b5 goes its not bad. I quite like the dark green. A fastidious* former keeper has replaced the drivers door, from a blue one, then done no prep and rattle canned the door; so the paint is flaking off when you touch it. Bad match anyway. Rocking the banger vibe.

Its one of the “highline” models so you get heated leather. it also has circa 2003 sat nav

And it still works! although not updated so things that were industrial units/ petrol stations on the map are sometimes now housing estates.

So this has gone steadily down the food chain until it has been userped by the b6 as the banger passat of choice. But with the TDI PD AWX lump in it its  practical, swift, economic and from the era of possibly the apex of turbodiesel development. feels a long time ago! For some reason i find these very comfortable and very relaxing to drive so i just cruise about everywhere guided by my vintage “road navigation system”

[hairnet]

thats a bit not weird or scary

are you feeling ok

 

[grogee]

Yep. Needs to be a CX next to rescue this thread. 

I always thought that era VW was quite nice to sit in and the TDI engines went well. Bit boggy to drive but at this age it matters not. Well done finding a waterproof one. 

[Schaefft]

Great to see an update, its always exciting to see whats showing up next, even if its Passat #28. This one certainly looks the part.

[bunglebus]

I do like a B5. have the front wings started rusting at the top of each arch yet?

[timolloyd]

I opened this thread expecting an update to say you’d swapped it for a Reliant Robin or a Hummer.

[Bren]

If the box is still fine then I wouldn't worry - both of ours developed gearbox issues which meant it was time to go.

[HMC]

I spent last week slithering around on front tyres that had no right to belong on a car with a ticket.

I decided to go for some all season covers. My budget disnt stretch to cross climates, as this is a banger, but Nankang’s  cheaper version had decent enough reviews, so they were fitted a few days ago. 

I got a bit more confident pushing the car- which revealed something else- limp mode.  Turns out full boost is quite pokey, but if you stray over 3500rpm it cuts the boost until you restart the engine. There isnt much point visiting those rpms, but every so often i like to get diesel cars properly hot and cane them about in my shiter version of an italian tune up. 

Anyway, some more detail of the dodgy bits…

3 alloys on my wagon (!)

Wonderful paint job- why bother?

But despite all that its a nice steer and STILL*  my only car at present

*3 weeks in or something like that

[bunglebus]

Mine does that ^ I believe it's a stuck turbo actuator so the ECU sees overboost and cuts power 

[Schaefft]

That door respray boggles my mind. My only guess is whoever did this said fuck it half way in as he might as well finish the job. If you could be bothered it shouldn't be hard to find a replacement door and wing in the right color. I'd try and get a replacement alloy for 30 quid at least.

[Bren]

Our old estate is still on the road.

My brothers' saloon which my dad inherited - looks to have been scrapped.

The saloon's gearbox failed big time - even getting first gear to get it on a low loader took some doing.  Guy who bought it put a box in it but it only lasted another few years.

3rd gear on our estate started to baulk - I dropped the gearbox oil and replaced it with fuchs titan sinto fluid ( used on later passats) which made a hell of a difference. However no oil will fix worn parts so it was punted on.

I would look on marketplace for a used alloy - but a car that age I would do nothing more than that.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

I spent last week slithering around on front tyres that had no right to belong on a car with a ticket.

I decided to go for some all season covers. My budget disnt stretch to cross climates, as this is a banger, but Nankang’s  cheaper version had decent enough reviews, so they were fitted a few days ago. 

I got a bit more confident pushing the car- which revealed something else- limp mode.  Turns out full boost is quite pokey, but if you stray over 3500rpm it cuts the boost until you restart the engine. There isnt much point visiting those rpms, but every so often i like to get diesel cars properly hot and cane them about in my shiter version of an italian tune up. 

Anyway, some more detail of the dodgy bits…

3 alloys on my wagon (!)

Wonderful paint job- why bother?

But despite all that its a nice steer and STILL*  my only car at present

*3 weeks in or something like that

What happened to your E91? 

[HMC]

On 26/11/2023 at 19:18, Dick Longbridge said:

What happened to your E91? 

I sold it locally- it was smoking at warm idle, i decided to change the crankcase breather to aim for a cheap fix but it made no difference. I decided to bail out before committing to anything more.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

4 hours ago, HMC said:

I sold it locally- it was smoking at warm idle, i decided to change the crankcase breather to aim for a cheap fix but it made no difference. I decided to bail out before committing to anything more.

Ah shame. The M57 lump is generally pretty tough I think; sounds like yours was an unfortunate one.

[sierraman]

On 26/11/2023 at 17:40, bunglebus said:

Mine does that ^ I believe it's a stuck turbo actuator so the ECU sees overboost and cuts power 

Most likely the vanes clogged up causing the actuator to crap out. 

[wuvvum]

On 30/11/2023 at 16:48, sierraman said:

Most likely the vanes clogged up causing the actuator to crap out. 

That's what was sending my old Dodge Caliber into limp mode.  I drove it all the way back from north Wales last year with a code reader plugged in, hitting "clear codes" as soon as the EML came on.  That was fun*.

Then it shat its oil cooler and dumped all the engine oil into the cooling system, which finished off the turbo.  That was the later 2.0 TDI though, which isn't quite as robust as the 1.9.

[sierraman]

22 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

That's what was sending my old Dodge Caliber into limp mode.  I drove it all the way back from north Wales last year with a code reader plugged in, hitting "clear codes" as soon as the EML came on.  That was fun*.

Then it shat its oil cooler and dumped all the engine oil into the cooling system, which finished off the turbo.  That was the later 2.0 TDI though, which isn't quite as robust as the 1.9.

The older Ford based TDCI with the VNT so the 130hp ones were really prone to it, throw into the mix an EGR that was constantly clogging and they were a nightmare. An ‘in service mod’ was to drill a hole and tap it in the turbo to allow you to spray a shot of Mr Muscle in.