Bramz ever changing fleet merry go round.

[holbeck]

On 1/30/2020 at 9:49 AM, The Mighty Quinn said:

A friend has one coming up as part of a massive clearout. It's a silver one, about a T/V plate and a 1.9 316i with rear discs. It's unbeliveably tidy but has a crack in the screen, insurance job. Anything decent starts at 500 quid which is sod all really. He's near Slough.

I might be interested in that.

Apologies for the thread hijack Bramz. 

[bramz7]

A tease of what I collected today. 

Driving the 760 for the last time was nice, it's a shame I didn't properly gel with it but I still want a diesel 6 pot 700/900.

[Jamie]

7 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

A tease of what I collected today. 

Driving the 760 for the last time was nice, it's a shame I didn't properly gel with it but I still want a diesel 6 pot 700/900.

yes! Is it that one you had a px deal going on with a few pages back?

[bramz7]

Yes it is. It feels quite tight, good clutch and gear change and responds well to a light thrash. 

Unfortunately the exhaust is blowing terribly and sounds hilarious. 

 

[bramz7]

Seems pretty damn tidy. Certainly a lot less rusty than the E46 coupe I had, and the last E36.

Condensation on the headlights is a bit annoying though, but I'm sure it's easily remedied. 

As this is a shared ownership car with my BMW obsessed friend, this probably will stay on fleet, of sorts, for a while. 

[SRi05]

Ooft, love a 3 door e36. 3 randoms 

[320touring]

53 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

Seems pretty damn tidy. Certainly a lot less rusty than the E46 coupe I had, and the last E36.

Condensation on the headlights is a bit annoying though, but I'm sure it's easily remedied. 

As this is a shared ownership car with my BMW obsessed friend, this probably will stay on fleet, of sorts, for a while. 

Looks clean enough!

 

Leave the covers on the rear of the headlights off to clear the condensation

[bramz7]

Took the BMW around some country lanes this evening, sticks to the road like glue and is a lot of fun. I forgot how good these E36s feel, quite glad it's a manual as automatics are nowhere near as good on twisty bits of road. 

It comes alive around 3k revs and seems very eager to want more. You can tell the difference between this and the less powerful 1.8 (like the 518, although that was a touch heavier). Very responsive on the throttle too. 

Just need to get that involuntary fart cannon sorted out. 

[bramz7]

So I broke my Vauxhall cherry the other day and got this from Norwich, from Wuvvum. 

I'd just dropped off the S80 with Mr B, and got a torturous train from Chesterfield to Norwich, and then another a short way back out. 

Overall, I'm quite impressed with how it is for a nigh 200k car. Some predictable signs of wear to some plastics inside but nothing over the top, with the seats and carpet all pretty tidy, and importantly most, if not all, the toys work. Heated seats, cruise control, stereo sounds great and all that. I did risk the sunroof last night to see if it worked and nearly got a dose of ' you shouldn't have touched that' syndrome as it took a lot of fiddling for it to properly close again! 

Other than the occasional EML at standstill, cracked windscreen and possibly dodgy thermostat, it drives fine. It doesn't even feel grossly underpowered or anything. 

Sadly I had a huge bill come through the other day so I had to abandon a ZX purchase which was sorely disappointing. I still have money sat around but I want to get out of the stage where I'm constantly dipping into money I can't keep squandering on cars. I think the fun has finally stopped. It's all well and good having a hobby but when it effects you mentally and financially it's best to get out.

 

Obviously I'll still buy stuff but I have to be serious and just wind it in.

 

[Kringle]

As the adverts say,

When the fun stops, buy only roffle tickets.

[Steve79]

On 1/30/2020 at 9:49 AM, The Mighty Quinn said:

A friend has one coming up as part of a massive clearout. It's a silver one, about a T/V plate and a 1.9 316i with rear discs. It's unbeliveably tidy but has a crack in the screen, insurance job. Anything decent starts at 500 quid which is sod all really. He's near Slough.

If this is still available @rwd might be interested.

[Steve79]

2 hours ago, Kringle said:

As the adverts say,

When the fun stops, buy only roffle tickets.

For huggy ?

[bramz7]

Not the name I expected to see stamped on the Omega rear wing. 

Fair. 

Had an interesting one today, the drivers side doors kept bouncing off the locks. Turns out the rubber seal that sits on top of the sill cover had worked loose and bent upwards, stopping the doors closing. Not sure how or why that happened. 

Otherwise it's still fine. Really liking how it drives, albeit not rapid but not slow. Sort of in the middle....unless the EML comes on!

[bramz7]

And here makes number six (well seven technically but the other one needs work before I'll start mentioning it, it turned 30 this year). 

Just needed a simple car for day to day use really. £400 later and I've got this. I know it'll drink a touch of oil but I'll try to keep on top of that. Remarkably easy to drive and comfortable too. 

[big_al_granvia]

Think i have worked out car 7, frog from your mate wuvum

[bramz7]

Ah it's not been bought from someone on here but someone on here is looking after it for me after getting it on my behalf. 

It is French. 

[bramz7]

Took it on the motorway today. Yeah it's boring. It's quite alright around town though. Boring is good I guess. Shame it doesn't have cruise though. 

45mpg out of a petrol!!?!!

Outstanding recall according to the DVLA. Curious. 

[bramz7]

Anyone fancy the Avensis? Well panic no more, as it's FOR SALE!!!!!!

I have posted it in the for sale subforum for £325. No bad offer refused, even open to weird swaps.

It's weird that I haven't bought anything to update this thread with. Unfortunately as I am an idiot, I left the battery connected in the E36 and it is now dead. I checked underneath yesterday, and 3 out of 4 jacking points are solid, but one is a bit crunchy around the rubber. The rear end also desperately needs a wire brush and coating of something, as it's looking pretty much like an E36 that is now a quarter of a century old. Knew it wouldn't just be an exhaust eh.

 

The other fleet member (curiously Peugeot shaped) is still with our favourite AS member in Brighton. 

 

I came across these two photos during my boredom. 

This was the day I picked up my former Tipo from dry storage, where it sat for TWELVE months at £100 a month. Insane. Still, it was (and still is) low mileage, the person who bought it off of me resprayed it and restored the small bits of rust it had, and it's now with pretty much the best Fiat owner in the UK so I like to think I contributed, a touch. Hopefully the full set of new tyres I had fitted are still on it (Avons). 

 

And this:

This was an LHD Tipo I won on eBay for not a lot, picked it up off of a German lady who bought it new (in Germany) and brought it over with her. Unfortunately it was utterly rancid with dog stink, the interior was gross, plus it had a gigantic oil leak. I wish I had kept the wheels, and everything else not damaged. Scrapped it in the end as no one wanted to buy it, even as a running concern. Think the boot is still at my other halfs parents house. 

I really want something old, Italian and petrol powered again. I was tempted by that TD Tipo but not really into old diesels at the moment. 

 

More ramblings eventually, I am sure. 

[bramz7]

I did a collection yesterday, but it's okay as I didn't quite get to Durham so should see no recourse. 

 

It's a big old house of a car, for my usual standards. 

I've never owned a Renault this modern, or really anything this new. It seemed content just consuming the miles yesterday, the six speed box really helping. It also has probably the smallest fuel gauge I've ever had on a dashboard.

Now it may just be me, but it smells more like BMW leather in there, not the French stuff. Build quality is okay, not quite up there with Germanic in my opinion but better than the curiously poor materials in the C5, which I guess was a rival. 

My only two issues so far is that it seems loud. Louder than I'd expect it to be, maybe an air filter? Annoyingly the cruise doesn't work either, it lit up once on the dash and then went straight off. To be fair, for what I paid, it's not the end of the world and it holds onto speed better than most. 

Disappointingly the Avensis disgraced itself on the final drive yesterday by suffering what appeared to be alternator failure. At least it had the good grace to keep going and not cut out. 

[HMC]

Nice. What’s the ride like in these? Still french I hope. 

[bramz7]

Yes and no, it rides well for a modern car but the bigger alloys make some of the deeper holes crash through the car, not that I aim for them. 

 

[wuvvum]

Ooh, a posh one!  I actually like Gooner Twos, although I've never owned a facelift one due to my general dislike of electronic handbrakes.  They are a nice steer though, and they ride well enough as long as the bushes are all in good order.  What does the 2.0 dCi go like?  I'd imagine it's quite nippy as they're not a massively heavy car.

[bramz7]

Yeah I was a bit unsettled about it to begin with but it works fine. I have a feeling the rear bushes are probably causing the harsher elements of ride as they were advised an MOT or so ago and then weren't. Tyre wear all even though. 

Yeah the 2.0 is quite fast. Not blistering but it seems quite free revving for a diesel, and there is the distinct impression that at 70ish there is a lot more to give. I still think first gear is too short! 

[theshadow]

another alternator from mr mustaphas finest empiriom in bradford winging it way from bradford later this week,will do alt belt aswell.cracked ,so due change,still driving ok,portable jump starter in glove box just in case,have found the service history etc for it.found a small hole under radiator,wirebrushed,wobbed on some fibreglass mush,than painted it with aldi finest black metal paint,,excellent service from bramz7.first class shiter as allways...

[andyberg]

So my Laguna got up north then is back down south again? I may even pass it on the way to see my son who lives in Tiddy.  It did munch miles really well and I would have kept it but for the sake of purplebargekens auto tacuma for my wife. I thought it was a nice place to be, comfy and airy with the big sunroof. 

[bramz7]

The sunroof is brilliant, absolutely on par with the wonderful dual sunroof Multipla. 

So that is one Laguna collected, another yet to collect, again from the North. I actually enjoyed traipsing the rural lines between Blackburn and Burnley, it really is a beautiful place. And then I have to sort out the 205 on Barretts drive. I also sort of want an Uno but I think that ship sailed. Oh and get the E36 running again. Plenty to do. 

 

 

[angle]

Has yours got a cloudy drivers headlight too? At one point three facelift Goona 2 Initiales were parked on my road (mines the only one left now) and they all had it. I've got a decent one from a breaker ready to go on now but it always seemed to let in water when there was a lot of rain - if it looks wet and the weather's decent it's worth running it without the rubber cap on the back to dry it out so the xenon ballast doesn't get flooded (the one in the new headlight will be my third...) 

[bramz7]

Yes it does, I'll probably get a replacement cluster instead of fussing with cleaning. I'm sure I'll end up regretting that. 

I'm positive it shouldn't sound as coarse as it does when cold. It genuinely sounds similar to my old BX19 which was found to have no air filter. Judging by the history provided, this one hasn't had a filter (air) change in nearly 80k. 

[bramz7]

A couple of questions for the AS Laguna 2 hive mind. 

- when the car locks, it makes a brief and light toot toot with the horn, as if it's alerting me to something being open. When it unlocks, the alarm goes off briefly. Nothing is open. Is this normal behaviour?

- I've started to notice a smell like burning balloons when parking the car up. It's not noticeable from the cabin but is from outside, for a minute or two after as well. It's not acrid but it's noticeable. What is this likely to be? No clutch issues evident (apart from a judder in first when cold). 

 

Thanks. 

[andyberg]

When locking the car should give 1 toot and 2 toots when unlocking, from what I can remember. Sometimes, and it's a known problem with these cars, the air comes in from the air vents and sets off the alarm. When you unlock I believe the alarm goes off briefly to warn you this has happened. It happened a couple of times with me.  There is a way to turn off the interior sensor, it involves inserting and removing the card from the car 4 times, before opening the door and after switching the engine off It's in the handbook somewhere. 

The balloon smell? No idea.