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Bramz ever changing fleet merry go round.


bramz7

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I'm conscious the Mercedes I have won't pass another MOT.

 

I think it should, it just needs the hole fixing where I put the jack through the sill/missing jacking point rubber … The advisories on the last MOT, exhaust and brake pipes, were fixed on the same day as the test.

That is unless things have deteriorated since the summer.

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9000s drive grand and handle absolutely fine, unless you're the type of bellend who drives everywhere ON THE RAGGED EDGE, uses terms like 'ten tenths' and 'scraping the door handles', and who shouts at lollypop ladies and school kids for ruining their potentially record time for getting to Yates's for cheeky afternoon drinkies and bants with the boys.

It won't corner like a Lotus Rocketclogs or whatever but for actual real normal driving they are more than sufficient.

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9000s drive grand and handle absolutely fine, unless you're the type of bellend who drives everywhere ON THE RAGGED EDGE, uses terms like 'ten tenths' and 'scraping the door handles', and who shouts at lollypop ladies and school kids for ruining their potentially record time for getting to Yates's for cheeky afternoon drinkies and bants with the boys.

It won't corner like a Lotus Rocketclogs or whatever but for actual real normal driving they are more than sufficient.

Tbh I was probably that person when I was driving a 9000.

In isolation and at your own pace they drive fine, but it seemed like a dynamic mess trying to keep up with a lead footed colleague in an A4 V6 quattro who knew where he was going on twisty Morayshire back roads while I didn't.

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Okay.

 

So I've just my trusty laptop go kaput. I really don't want to waste the minimal free time I have stripping it and fitting a new hard drive...and with a landmark birthday, Christmas and then two more birthdays shortly after I need a bit of money!

 

I'm also offering the Saab up for £850. I really don't want to sell it but at this current time..I need the money more.

 

I've not had much interest in the R18 as it stands.

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Okay.

 

So I've just my trusty laptop go kaput. I really don't want to waste the minimal free time I have stripping it and fitting a new hard drive...and with a landmark birthday, Christmas and then two more birthdays shortly after I need a bit of money!

 

I'm also offering the Saab up for £850. I really don't want to sell it but at this current time..I need the money more.

 

I've not had much interest in the R18 as it stands.

Has the Saab got a fresh MOT?

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So I've just my trusty laptop go kaput. I really don't want to waste the minimal free time I have stripping it and fitting a new hard drive...

 

Sorry if you've already investigated and found that for some reason a full strip down is required, but every laptop I've ever had anything to do with has a flap on the underside to get at the HD. Changing them is literally a 10 minute job (if that), one or two screws for the cover, three or four to get the HD out of the laptop and/or out of the little frame they sit in. Reinstallation is the reverse of removal, obv. CEX or similar will flog you another 2.5" disk for a tenner or so, or new 120GB SSDs are down to around the 20 quid mark now.

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So...with a Rover 820 incoming in the coming days, I made the decision to cut down to one old car for the foreseeable.

As ever, I then saw an Audi 100 C3 going cheap on FB and nearly, nearly asked to put a deposit on it. Thankfully I've decided not to bother as it wouldn't really do much more than gather dust...plus it's another 3 speed auto.

 

The Merc is proving reasonably reliable...it's blown too bulbs in as many weeks though, probably through condensation. Bit rattly when cold too, and the fuel economy is dire. I'm averaging 25mpg to work and back...

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I don't think so?! I do like to get it up to speed pretty quickly but that puts it down to sub 20mpg...it then recovers to mid 20s.

 

 

It uses a quarter of tank in 120 miles which seems bad for a modern diesel?

These were motorway miles too.

 

This is partly why I'm in two minds about getting rid of it.

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I don't think so?! I do like to get it up to speed pretty quickly but that puts it down to sub 20mpg...it then recovers to mid 20s.

 

 

It uses a quarter of tank in 120 miles which seems bad for a modern diesel?

These were motorway miles too.

 

This is partly why I'm in two minds about getting rid of it.

That's fucking atrocious. I'll give you £200 for it ;)

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Bramz, can you do me a favour? The cubbies on each side of the boot in my C-class don't clip into place so they keep falling out which is annoying. I can't understand how they're supposed to work - the locking mechanism doesn't go anywhere near the clips on the cubbies, but I can't see anything that's obviously broken.

 

Assuming yours are ok, can you take some pics of the innards so I can see what they're meant to be like?

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20181124_135956.jpg

 

 

Okay so in a weird twist of fate I now own this.

It's a bit dog eared in parts (and the windscreen has a crack) but it seems to drive more or less fine.

 

Not sure I'm going to keep it though!

Class! So the bloke came through then?

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Okay, so pretty hectic car related weekend as per. I swear this is form of masochism.

 

As previously mentioned, I didn't really have anyone interested in the R18, until out of the blue, someone selling an E34 on eBay messaged me asking if they could swap theirs for mine. Oddly their car was also in my watch list. I basically said yes blindly, subject to test drive and the usual malarky. 

Compared to the gruff and tumble of the van like Renault, the BMW felt positively refined. 

 

post-20043-0-62927300-1543313874_thumb.jpg

post-20043-0-32711900-1543313915_thumb.jpg

post-20043-0-21449300-1543313950_thumb.jpg

 

Looks alright doesn't it? Obviously it's not mint, but it doesn't have any suspension knocks or sag as the previous owner had to spend a fair wedge getting a lot of it replaced on the last MOT...which was a few weeks ago. I love it when they spend the money...

The odometer lights up fine too, I have been told that's rare in itself too, didn't know that. However, to balance the good, the bad is:

-Windscreen has a huge crack in it. It will have to be replaced. Passenger mirror glass the same.

-I think the clutch release bearing is whining a bit.

-Fan seems to be stuck on

-Passenger side window needs assistance closing

-Some rust blebs, one by the rear arch (underneath a rubbing strip) and some light bubbles around the bottom of the filler. 

 

Otherwise, oddly all okay. Heater is fine, some wear to the drivers seat too, but nothing that makes me that bothered. Interior looks pretty good for the 163k it has done.

Performance is reasonable. It would never be any more than that would it? It gets around town pretty good, up to speed with some pace, the gearbox is well set up for it. It doesn't sound that horrendous for a four pot BMW either, although the six cylinder rasp is sorely missed. Apparently it's a good thing this one has the M43 and not the M40, according to the internet. Dunno how true that is.

 

 

And to pair the BMW for now, I have also got this:

 

post-20043-0-21656700-1543314303_thumb.jpg

post-20043-0-21654100-1543314333_thumb.jpg

 

Now there was a period in my life about....8-9 years ago where I was obsessed with the idea of owning a Rover 800. That feeling passed, but the intrigue never went away. When fellow forum member Steve79 offered his one up for sale for cheap, I had to have it.

It's not a bad old plodder. Some hilarious differences in trim between it and the BMW, but the seats are far better in the Rover, it has to be said. It's no speed machine but it will happily sit on a motorway for a while. I found the steering a bit light, and the airbag wheel is a travesty, but it's better than I thought it would be, and the stereo is obscenely good for a car of that age. 

Again, some well documented issues on this one. A believed blowing inlet manifold makes it sound like a fart when driven hard, so that needs some sorting. The passenger door handle was broken by some yobbo, but a replacement has been provided. Usually I am a car DIY dunce, but I am going to give this a try. I was told the front struts were a bit weak, and yes it does wallow a bit, but having been in a friends 309 which bounced for a good 20 seconds after speedbumps, I am used to far worse. 

 

 

I am pretty content with this fleet to be honest, and I can't see either of them heading off any time soon, unless any one of the incomers I have lined up (ugh) is better. I think the Rover is safe though, nothing else is classic insurance friendly. 

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Loving the 2 new additions to the fleet, however I’m somewhat distressed by the presence of that Matrix! Looks like you might’ve inherited some prime chod there?

 

 

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Oh yeah it's still there. It's been sat so long the brakes are rusting up. I'm sure my neighbours are aware if it was mine it would have gone ages ago...

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Oh yeah it's still there. It's been sat so long the brakes are rusting up. I'm sure my neighbours are aware if it was mine it would have gone ages ago...

Has he just got no interest in seeing it back? I know the Matrix is a bland car, but I’m not convinced I’d be able to actually completely forget about it...!

 

Yeah I don’t think you’ve any worries with the neighbours

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hopefully the Matrix is a 3 cylinder diesel one for ultimate grimness.

 

Presumably a base 518i would have been a price competitor to an 820Si. I like 800s but they're a bit rubbish and it looks like a facelifted mid 80s car (as it is). I really like the styling of 80s/early 90s BMWs but I'd prefer the extra power of the 800's gruff T series and its comfort, a real company car user's dilemma you have there Bramz.

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