Hateful BMW 320d compact

[Youngteam]

Yeah, that's the Clio. I can't believe what it's bid up to already, should've just sold it myself. 

I'd be more than happy for DavidB to respond as he's ignored every method I've tried so far. 

[sierraman]

Sounds like a bag o’ shite. But not a lot that can be done now. 

[HMC]

Do these have cats- blocked cat? Or my go to parts darts first shot- dodgy MAF. 

Actualky in this case some of the symptoms described could fit with this. Try disconnecting the MAF and driving it. This makes engine management use a pre determined set of values rather than “live” data from the MAF; if it improves like this that’s the MAF

[HMC]

Having said that boost leak/ knackered intercooler house sounds likely too.

[sierraman]

I remember reading the advert it seemed to have had a lot done to it repairwise. Haven’t you got his number to contact him, not sure you’ll get much resolution because it’s a £700 car that’s packed up, that’s the name of the game but he could have been honest about the limp home bollocks. The scratches etc are immaterial, it’s a 15 year old diesel car, it’s literally one step from serious mechanical failure rendering it scrap so the scratches are least of your worries. 

In interests of fairness though he ought to have his side of the story heard. 

[Supernaut]

Funny.

I knew somebody on barryboys with the exact same username, DavidB, and he was a twat too.

[Youngteam]

In case anyone's interested in the latest edition of "long term lurker comes out of the shadows to moan", here's an update. 

As I'm obviously stuck with this now I've started to look into the issues. Once I'd finally got my lad to sleep and some time to myself, I set out stripping off all the undertrays. BMW obviously love undertrays. 

The exhaust leak is coming from where the cat/downpipe joins to the turbo, clearly been leaking for some time as the area is very sooty. Looks like someone's tried to seal this with sealant before but failed. I can't get the nuts to turn on this to get it off despite using a massive breaker so before I round them off or snap the studs I may as well take it to an exhaust place and get them to do it. Looks like the flexi join may be leaking to so a new cat/downpipe may be the only option here.

I can't detect any play in the turbo shaft so that's at least t some good news, but investigating further I could see the intercooler pipe that bolts to the top of the turbo was loose. In removing it I can see that someone's mullered the thread in one of the mounting holes, looks like they've lost the original fastener and used a coarse thread fastener in a fine thread hole. Gonna plug the turbo with a rag and try running a tap through it to see if it can be revived otherwise I guess drill it out a bit bigger and tap. Fun times. 

It also likes to leak oil, a lot. The wife's gonna be chuffed when she sees the state of the drive. One of the leaks was fixed by tightening up the sump plug beyond finger tight but there's a major one coming from around the area of the turbo which I've not tracked down yet due to fading light. 

New pulley for the power steering on order as that's chipped and cracked so could very well be the cause of its penchant for shredding belts. Spent a good while picking bits of old belt from behind the power steering pump pulley mount but it appears to spin free and true so hopefully it'll be OK with a new pulley. 

[Pat Earrings]

Genuinely sorry to hear what you've gone through. Agree with the sentiments, that the main reason I buy/sell on here now only is due to the honesty and good spirit members show each other.

I was interested in this at one stage too and I'm glad I've dodged the bullet. 

[bigfella2]

12 hours ago, Youngteam said:

Yeah, that's the Clio. I can't believe what it's bid up to already, should've just sold it myself. 

I'd be more than happy for DavidB to respond as he's ignored every method I've tried so far. 

It's probably doing so well because it's an 06 plate which must be one of the last ones made, I didn't even know they made them that late and I own an identical one myself, also it appears to be a full fat version, i.e has both cup packs.

[Split_Pin]

Crank pulleys are a bugger on these, can be really tight.

Turbos, injectors, glow plugs are all lifetime items on the M47 and once you have the niggles sorted it will go forever.

Just needs to be turned 90 degrees and have a Rover 75 body around it!

[Split_Pin]

Crank pulleys are a bugger on these, can be really tight.

Turbos, injectors, glow plugs are all lifetime items on the M47 and once you have the niggles sorted it will go forever.

Just needs to be turned 90 degrees and have a Rover 75 body around it!

[stripped fred]

The fact that DavidB has not been on to give his side says it all in my opinion, together with listing it quite soon on eBay.

I hope you manage to turn this BMW round and get some use out of it for you and your family.

[New POD]

As my wife said to me about the people I work with

 

. Trust no-one. They are n o t your friends. 

I suppose she'd say the same about random STRANGERS  off the internet. 

 

Unlike the masons anyone can join.  

[Youngteam]

Cheers for all the support chaps. 

I guess I've come across as a complete newb to the world of shite cars but I'm not really, this has just been a moment of madness whilst tired from working two jobs. Genuinely just needed something more economical and trouble free so why the hell I didnt check it better I don't know. 

Whilst the Clio appears to be a full fat, it isn't. It doesn't have the cup suspension, I measured it out when looking for replacement parts and it's standard. The wheels have been poorly sprayed anthracite and are all peeling. I'm fairly sure the cup spoiler was added by a previous owner. 

[Minimad5]

It's interesting that you've not added any pictures as of yet.

I've driven the BMW in question, and it drove well to me, was able to get to 70 and infact when I 'gave it some' coming off the slip way onto the motorway I managed to pop a boost hose off due to an old clip giving up - New clip and all was good.

 

Yes I'm a friend of Daves, and no I'm not covering his ass just because he's a mate, I'm giving my personal opinion.

He will not be on here for a while, I'm not here to explain why - His personal life doesn't need to be on here. But I'm sure as soon as he can he will P.M all involved.

Dont get me wrong knowing when people get fingered is a good thing, I've been burnt off here too - Yet never publically shouted about it.

So before everyone gets on the bang wagon (and only take into account one side of the story) is it worth Admin / Mods locking the thread ?

 

Edit (again because I'm an idiot and can't spell)...

Also, did you not test drive it beforehand ?

[Youngteam]

I did drive it for a minute or two in the business park where we met. It felt sluggish but I foolishly assumed that was because I'd just stepped out of my 182. As I say, I should've checked it better but I trusted Dave's assessment of the car. 

There's no way David didn't realise the state of the thing, he drove it from Chester to Stoke to meet me and changed the belt before doing so. 

He's also fully aware of the CAT marker on the Clio but doesn't mention it in his ebay listing. I'm sure the buyer will be pleased when they get the V5 with the salvage marker on it. 

I'll post some photos of the BMW later if people are interested. 

[Split_Pin]

30 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

He will not be on here for a while, I'm not here to explain why - His personal life doesn't need to be on here. 

I've been burnt off here too - Yet never publically shouted about it.

 

No disrespect to your mate and whatever may be going on in his personal life but this begs the question a bit.

If he is still able to administer an ebay auction then why can't he contact Youngteam and sort this out privately?

I was thinking last night there are 2 sides to every story but if there has been no explanatory response from David to PMs, even to defend himself and confirm the car was indeed fine, then Youngteam is perfectly entitled to shout about it if he wants to, in my opinion.

Hopefully all will be sorted amicably.

[Youngteam]

These photos are enormous in afraid as posting from my phone. 

Not very exciting but these show the bodged intercooler pipe now replaced, chipped power steering pulley, shredded belt, turbo leak and mullered thread on the turbo. All resolvable of course, just somewhat annoying. 

[Split_Pin]

Not sure what I'm looking at in some of the photos tbh but the shredded belt is concerning.

Crank pulleys on these usually rattle their tits off before bits of things start going flying but on this particular car I would be speculating.

Not clear what's happened with the turbo and pipework but it could have been an old bodge that's simply let go.

Without input from the PO though, we will never know.

I hope you get it sorted, these engines are normally very strong.

Actually, while you're about it, check the swirl flaps. Something about them having a weakness where they get loose and can be ingested by the engine. These were delete on the Rover adaptation of the M47.

[bramz7]

AFAIK original advert said the car had had a swirl flap delete already. 

 

[Split_Pin]

Ah grand, nowt much to worry about going forward then!

[sutty2006]

Check the breather filter in the top of the engine, they have a tendency to clog up and cause all sorts of issues with the engine.

[Youngteam]

Yeah, original advert mentioned swirl flap delete and vortex filter so fingers crossed on that. Will check the filter anyway as I have that area in pieces at the moment. 

[Wingz123]

Give engine a proper tfr and pressure wash once done ?

[Split_Pin]

As said PCV filter is a must but I believe some examples have a maintenance free filter, you did mention vortex which is what I think the upgraded filter is.

[Youngteam]

For anyone still interested, I've just received a text from David saying he's out of the country but will ring when he's back. Not sure what can be done now but at least he can explain his side of things. 

[Steve79]

1 hour ago, Youngteam said:

I did drive it for a minute or two in the business park where we met. It felt sluggish but I foolishly assumed that was because I'd just stepped out of my 182. As I say, I should've checked it better but I trusted Dave's assessment of the car. 

There's no way David didn't realise the state of the thing, he drove it from Chester to Stoke to meet me and changed the belt before doing so. 

He's also fully aware of the CAT marker on the Clio but doesn't mention it in his ebay listing. I'm sure the buyer will be pleased when they get the V5 with the salvage marker on it. 

I'll post some photos of the BMW later if people are interested. 

I sent him a friendly reminder on ebay that he hadn't declared on the listing that it is a CAT-C just in case he "accidently on purpose" forgot!

He also quite clearly knew that the BMW had major issues and didn't stand a chance of selling at a sensible price, so instead on the face of it, decided to "do over" a fellow shitter and swap so he could make money on the clio instead!

Moral compass wayyyy off!

[sierraman]

To be honest it sounds no worse than most £600 diesels. But he could/should have told you what the craic was with it.

[smellypoo]

Sorry to hear you've had a bad experience with a member on here. It's a shame as the general camaraderie is one of the key reasons I lurk on here, occasionally pitching in when I have something useless to say. 

There have been a lot of cheap cars go through here, sound of which have been remarkably trouble free, others less so - but usually, both the seller and buyer have genuinely known the score upfront.

I hope you get to a state where you are happy with the car, despite the additional time cost and effort you're having to put in - it sounds like you're making good progress.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

3 hours ago, sierraman said:

To be honest it sounds no worse than most £600 diesels. But he could/should have told you what the craic was with it.

Selling and buying old snotters still involves an element of trust. I don't know either of the fellas involved in this deal, but it speaks volumes that the bloke who took on the Clio has failed to mention the CAT C marker despite being fully aware of it. It certainly correlates with him advertising the Compact with all the positives listed whilst failing to mention the issues that most of us would like to be told of prior to a viewing. 

I remember the advert which portrayed it as a good little car. I even toyed with the idea of taking it on - no offence to Youngteam, but I'm bloody glad I sacked off that idea. 

Fingers crossed the chap in question is able to give Youngteam a few quid back for his efforts. It shouldn't be an issue - the Clio is blatantly the better car and is looking to be pulling decent money on ebay already. 

Personally, I'd be downing tools, taking the Compact straight back to him and demanding for the keys to the Clio again. I'd also be dubious about the whole 'I'm out of the country' chestnut. I'm sure he'd be 'back' soon enough if you drove to his house and started banging on his door shouting the odds.