surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #226
Pretty!
The Continuous Car Thread of S_S - Skodas, BMWs, Austins...
- Thread starter surprising_skoda
- Start date
-
- Tags
- bmw
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #227
I don't think I ever actually showed the refurbed Supersports, did I?
Subaru was finally fixed.
Can you see the issue here? Not just a little blowout as was presumed...
Every bolt was seized or rung and the thing was a nightmare. We (I had to draft in help to get it done quicklier) ended up taking the exhaust off the engine (I didn't know Subaru boxers had the exhaust flanges bolting to the bottom of the engine, thanks Subaru! On a lift it's easy peasy to remove them). Once off, it was cleaned up a bit and I tried welding it back together without blowing holes in the metal.
Which I managed in the end. I'd much rather have got a nice crisp run all the way but I tried that and the heat would just blow through. So ignorant little plips it was. Either way going over it carefully for about 20-30 minutes and it was done, and only two tiny pinholes to plug. Success!
Well, until we bolted it all back up, and moving it around and whatever had caused a massive leak at the joint further forward than that which we'd opened up and then re-bolted when re-fitting. So, opened that joint up again, and fixed that too.
Anyway, the exhaust noises come out the back of it now, not the middle, which is much more like it should be. If it was up to me, this would have been the perfect excuse for a big blappy pipe, but the Subaru is going up the road to make way for the next big wow.
Subaru was finally fixed.
Can you see the issue here? Not just a little blowout as was presumed...
Every bolt was seized or rung and the thing was a nightmare. We (I had to draft in help to get it done quicklier) ended up taking the exhaust off the engine (I didn't know Subaru boxers had the exhaust flanges bolting to the bottom of the engine, thanks Subaru! On a lift it's easy peasy to remove them). Once off, it was cleaned up a bit and I tried welding it back together without blowing holes in the metal.
Which I managed in the end. I'd much rather have got a nice crisp run all the way but I tried that and the heat would just blow through. So ignorant little plips it was. Either way going over it carefully for about 20-30 minutes and it was done, and only two tiny pinholes to plug. Success!
Well, until we bolted it all back up, and moving it around and whatever had caused a massive leak at the joint further forward than that which we'd opened up and then re-bolted when re-fitting. So, opened that joint up again, and fixed that too.
Anyway, the exhaust noises come out the back of it now, not the middle, which is much more like it should be. If it was up to me, this would have been the perfect excuse for a big blappy pipe, but the Subaru is going up the road to make way for the next big wow.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #228
Debated whether to post such an inane update, but here we are, for better or worse.
Subaru is sold.
Flights are booked.
This time tomorrow I'll be behind the wheel... of...
Subaru is sold.
Flights are booked.
This time tomorrow I'll be behind the wheel... of...
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #229
Thankfully nobody sideswiped me on the M6 so no bumper-car tales.
What are you people like for a good yarn anyway? Do you like a good oul story about picking a new car up? Or do you just want pictures and to pot with the background?
Well, be prepared, I am going to write a lengthy essay...later. Right now I'm tired, very tired.
Here it is...
Well, a bit of it anyway. But Oh Noe! It's been debadged, so this perfect shot of the badge area is utterly useless. Oh well, some more equally foggy pics later.
What are you people like for a good yarn anyway? Do you like a good oul story about picking a new car up? Or do you just want pictures and to pot with the background?
Well, be prepared, I am going to write a lengthy essay...later. Right now I'm tired, very tired.
Here it is...
Well, a bit of it anyway. But Oh Noe! It's been debadged, so this perfect shot of the badge area is utterly useless. Oh well, some more equally foggy pics later.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #231
We could be in for a lengthy story here, so settle in.
The back-story all began when several years ago, I had a black BMW E34 540i manual, one of only 249 RHD examples made, in the most common (!) colour of Cosmos Black. I bought that car off ebay as a high miler (high 160s) that had lived a few years as a track car, and had the battle scars to match, and spec to match with Leda coilovers, Eibach ARBs and some kind of big bore single pipe exhaust. I loved all those mods but clearly nobody else did as I won it on ebay for a downright bargain, even then.
Over the next year and a bit, I added some extras - replacing the standard black comfort leather with a champagne sports set out of an M5 LE - of which only 50 were produced - which i bought from the most Easterly bits of England in pieces and re-assembled back here. Another time I traveled again to England's east coast for the sole purpose of picking up a rare Sport black headlining for it. I had a custom trim done on a steering wheel to match the interior, and replaced the worn out diff with a 3,91 LSD from an M5 which made the acceleration insane. It would easily outrun an E39 M5 (which I also briefly owned one of concurrently, one of 22 IIRC in Estoril Blue). In addition I replaced the worn and rock-hard LEDA suspension with something else, I forget now. The car was a little bit tatty but I loved it, and it drove fantastically. I'm sure it may well have been partially polybushed also.
After a while I came across my black E28 M535i, which was obscenely loud and equally tatty, which I loved even more, and also fell across my first black E39 535i manual Sport. For some reason I decided I couldn't have all these similar cars and opted to keep the E28 and E39 and sell the E34. Not long after I sold the E39 as I just didn't gel with the driving experience of an E39 manual V8, and I never have since, even though I think E39s make the perfect daily.
But sell the E34 I did. And I knew from the moment the eventual buyer said "I'll take it" that it was a bad call. I almost gave him his money back before the car was even collected as I felt the old heartstrings go, but I reasoned that I wasn't using it any more and it needed to go. The fact that I sold it in August (I think) with barely a couple of days use since the MOT six months prior was testament to how much I preferred the E28. However, the fact that I was still playing around with wheels on it, and bought a near £500 "private" plate only weeks before selling it, showed that I wasn't quite done with it yet. TUI 1540 was the plate and I paid far too much for it, I know. That six months lay-up had done the car no favours though, and unfortunately it had developed rust on the underside I was unaware of, such as behind the side-skirts and above the fuel tank - places I could not have found without removing bodywork or parts. I peeked underneath the floor (this was before I had a lift installed in work) and took pictures and sent them to the buyer, and neither of us spotted anything, until later when the car was delivered to him. I initially responded with disbelief when i was told it was rusty, having had plenty of people try pulling that one before, but once pictures were sent, there was no answer. So I offered him a straight up full refund - but that was instantly rejected. I did ask what else i could possibly do - that was then the demand for me to pay to have the car restored came about. I promptly exited the "discussion" stage left, as the buyer (unsuccessfully) tried to imply many things (including lying to several parties inc. TS), all of which they made very public - feel free to go and read that if you want.
Anyway I have not spoken about it much since and I didn't come here to do so now, but I feel it's better to put that out in the open as I attempt to enjoy a second spell at long-term ownership of a manual E34 540i, as I likely will refer back to "my black one" as I compare the things I've planned for this one. I have unfinished business with the E34 540i and ever since then it's been one of my regular searches through the classifieds, along with a Gen 3 Camaro, MkIV Supra, and R34 Skyline (got to have dreams, right?)
This time however, we are taking that rarity level up a notch. 1 of only 62 RHD 540i Touring manuals, in what feels like it should be a more common colour of Avus Blue. In fact, surprisingly, it is the only one of those 62 made in this hue.
I was traveling over to England to collect a diesel E34 for someone recently, and an E39 Touring for a conversion, and said to one of the guys in work, find me something to buy when I'm over there - thinking, I have an empty touring to fill, we can stuff some wheels or bits in it. But no, he doesn't find me any wheels, he sends me a link for a 540i Touring that's just popped up on ebay.
The pictures were mostly of rust repairs, before and after, and the description reads like a project to-do list, but reading between the lines, all the major stuff was taken care of and it was all the niggly things remaining. I popped it on my watch list and just then one of the younger staff popped his head round the corner wondering why I was so intently looking at my computer. So I showed him and told him about how E34s are brilliant and how much I missed my black one - and talked myself into it. Then I tried to reason myself out again, and in a sudden impetuous moment, unlike me, I said, "don't think, just bid" and stuck in the opening figure, which was as much as I would even consider spending on a car I didn't need, far too much for a project example but cheap for a good road-going one, so a weird intermediate price. I figured if anyone else wanted it, they'd pay more than me, and at least I'd had a go.
Seven days later and nobody else had bid. I purposely found something else to do all afternoon and aforementioned workmate was keeping an eye on it. Along came the news that I'd "won", as much as you can rely on any ebay sale, and I had mixed feelings, on one side of being happy that I was about to drive an E34 again, the other side of concern that I'd just laid down a lump of money on another unnecessary car when I have a mass of unfinished project cars and several dailys already.
Now I knew of the car already from E34 circles, and I knew who the seller was going to be, someone I'd had many happy dealings with before, and by the time I'd arrived in England a couple of days later, several mutual friends and acquaintances already knew, and it was one of them that called the seller up for a chat and effectually sounded out the deal first, before I cruised up to see it later that day. I'd conveniently, co-incidentally bought a set of wheels that were located just off the next junction of the M6 motorway. Handy that.
When I got there, we instantly got off on the right foot as he's an exceptionally friendly chap, and a good look over, long chat, and so on, interspersed with all the right noises "its important to me it goes to someone who's going to look after it" etc - so after reassuring him of my intentions, and talking E34 history, we started concluding the deal. I could see his hesitancy though, and he was open to admit he didn't want to sell, but he wasn't using it and it needed some fettling. A-ha! Where have we heard that before? That's right, and so i said to him, "look, I've been exactly where you are, and made the wrong call, so I know how it feels." I said, "if you want, you can keep the car, and there will be no hard feelings and I will wait for another one to come up". So he thought, and thought, and a little while later, decided, "no, I have to sell it, otherwise it will just sit here and not be used and none of the little jobs get done".
So we shook. I handed him a deposit, and started mentoining that I would look at transport options to get it home. "Well", says he, "I'll put an MOT on it for you if you want? I was trying to get one for you today before you came but the garage was all booked up until Monday" !!! So, erm, yeah, this wasn't so much a project car after all, as one with a lapsed MOT and a list of non-fundamental issues.
So yes please, and I agreed also to buy a set of wheels off him too.
He said he would MOT it then let me know when suited to collect as he worked shifts, and off I trundled with a smile on my face...
The back-story all began when several years ago, I had a black BMW E34 540i manual, one of only 249 RHD examples made, in the most common (!) colour of Cosmos Black. I bought that car off ebay as a high miler (high 160s) that had lived a few years as a track car, and had the battle scars to match, and spec to match with Leda coilovers, Eibach ARBs and some kind of big bore single pipe exhaust. I loved all those mods but clearly nobody else did as I won it on ebay for a downright bargain, even then.
Over the next year and a bit, I added some extras - replacing the standard black comfort leather with a champagne sports set out of an M5 LE - of which only 50 were produced - which i bought from the most Easterly bits of England in pieces and re-assembled back here. Another time I traveled again to England's east coast for the sole purpose of picking up a rare Sport black headlining for it. I had a custom trim done on a steering wheel to match the interior, and replaced the worn out diff with a 3,91 LSD from an M5 which made the acceleration insane. It would easily outrun an E39 M5 (which I also briefly owned one of concurrently, one of 22 IIRC in Estoril Blue). In addition I replaced the worn and rock-hard LEDA suspension with something else, I forget now. The car was a little bit tatty but I loved it, and it drove fantastically. I'm sure it may well have been partially polybushed also.
After a while I came across my black E28 M535i, which was obscenely loud and equally tatty, which I loved even more, and also fell across my first black E39 535i manual Sport. For some reason I decided I couldn't have all these similar cars and opted to keep the E28 and E39 and sell the E34. Not long after I sold the E39 as I just didn't gel with the driving experience of an E39 manual V8, and I never have since, even though I think E39s make the perfect daily.
But sell the E34 I did. And I knew from the moment the eventual buyer said "I'll take it" that it was a bad call. I almost gave him his money back before the car was even collected as I felt the old heartstrings go, but I reasoned that I wasn't using it any more and it needed to go. The fact that I sold it in August (I think) with barely a couple of days use since the MOT six months prior was testament to how much I preferred the E28. However, the fact that I was still playing around with wheels on it, and bought a near £500 "private" plate only weeks before selling it, showed that I wasn't quite done with it yet. TUI 1540 was the plate and I paid far too much for it, I know. That six months lay-up had done the car no favours though, and unfortunately it had developed rust on the underside I was unaware of, such as behind the side-skirts and above the fuel tank - places I could not have found without removing bodywork or parts. I peeked underneath the floor (this was before I had a lift installed in work) and took pictures and sent them to the buyer, and neither of us spotted anything, until later when the car was delivered to him. I initially responded with disbelief when i was told it was rusty, having had plenty of people try pulling that one before, but once pictures were sent, there was no answer. So I offered him a straight up full refund - but that was instantly rejected. I did ask what else i could possibly do - that was then the demand for me to pay to have the car restored came about. I promptly exited the "discussion" stage left, as the buyer (unsuccessfully) tried to imply many things (including lying to several parties inc. TS), all of which they made very public - feel free to go and read that if you want.
Anyway I have not spoken about it much since and I didn't come here to do so now, but I feel it's better to put that out in the open as I attempt to enjoy a second spell at long-term ownership of a manual E34 540i, as I likely will refer back to "my black one" as I compare the things I've planned for this one. I have unfinished business with the E34 540i and ever since then it's been one of my regular searches through the classifieds, along with a Gen 3 Camaro, MkIV Supra, and R34 Skyline (got to have dreams, right?)
This time however, we are taking that rarity level up a notch. 1 of only 62 RHD 540i Touring manuals, in what feels like it should be a more common colour of Avus Blue. In fact, surprisingly, it is the only one of those 62 made in this hue.
I was traveling over to England to collect a diesel E34 for someone recently, and an E39 Touring for a conversion, and said to one of the guys in work, find me something to buy when I'm over there - thinking, I have an empty touring to fill, we can stuff some wheels or bits in it. But no, he doesn't find me any wheels, he sends me a link for a 540i Touring that's just popped up on ebay.
The pictures were mostly of rust repairs, before and after, and the description reads like a project to-do list, but reading between the lines, all the major stuff was taken care of and it was all the niggly things remaining. I popped it on my watch list and just then one of the younger staff popped his head round the corner wondering why I was so intently looking at my computer. So I showed him and told him about how E34s are brilliant and how much I missed my black one - and talked myself into it. Then I tried to reason myself out again, and in a sudden impetuous moment, unlike me, I said, "don't think, just bid" and stuck in the opening figure, which was as much as I would even consider spending on a car I didn't need, far too much for a project example but cheap for a good road-going one, so a weird intermediate price. I figured if anyone else wanted it, they'd pay more than me, and at least I'd had a go.
Seven days later and nobody else had bid. I purposely found something else to do all afternoon and aforementioned workmate was keeping an eye on it. Along came the news that I'd "won", as much as you can rely on any ebay sale, and I had mixed feelings, on one side of being happy that I was about to drive an E34 again, the other side of concern that I'd just laid down a lump of money on another unnecessary car when I have a mass of unfinished project cars and several dailys already.
Now I knew of the car already from E34 circles, and I knew who the seller was going to be, someone I'd had many happy dealings with before, and by the time I'd arrived in England a couple of days later, several mutual friends and acquaintances already knew, and it was one of them that called the seller up for a chat and effectually sounded out the deal first, before I cruised up to see it later that day. I'd conveniently, co-incidentally bought a set of wheels that were located just off the next junction of the M6 motorway. Handy that.
When I got there, we instantly got off on the right foot as he's an exceptionally friendly chap, and a good look over, long chat, and so on, interspersed with all the right noises "its important to me it goes to someone who's going to look after it" etc - so after reassuring him of my intentions, and talking E34 history, we started concluding the deal. I could see his hesitancy though, and he was open to admit he didn't want to sell, but he wasn't using it and it needed some fettling. A-ha! Where have we heard that before? That's right, and so i said to him, "look, I've been exactly where you are, and made the wrong call, so I know how it feels." I said, "if you want, you can keep the car, and there will be no hard feelings and I will wait for another one to come up". So he thought, and thought, and a little while later, decided, "no, I have to sell it, otherwise it will just sit here and not be used and none of the little jobs get done".
So we shook. I handed him a deposit, and started mentoining that I would look at transport options to get it home. "Well", says he, "I'll put an MOT on it for you if you want? I was trying to get one for you today before you came but the garage was all booked up until Monday" !!! So, erm, yeah, this wasn't so much a project car after all, as one with a lapsed MOT and a list of non-fundamental issues.
So yes please, and I agreed also to buy a set of wheels off him too.
He said he would MOT it then let me know when suited to collect as he worked shifts, and off I trundled with a smile on my face...
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #233
A couple weeks passed, then another, then another. I was starting to wonder, but then a text came through. If I was not 100% for buying it, he wouldn't mind keeping it...
This sparked off a week of internal debate for me.
Going for it: I get a 540i/6. I want one. it's still attainable, I can afford it. I can sort out the issues it has.
Backing out: I'd have to keep on looking. That's a right lump of money to go elsewhere (paintwork on the Caddy may have been mentioned..). I don't need it. In a month I'd been unable to decide what wheels/look to go for. It'll cost me another load of money by the time I bring it up to scratch. I don't need it. Ideally I'd want a saloon in black or red anyway. Did I mention I don't need it?
So there was a strong leaning towards agreeing to not go ahead, but this thought kept coming back. If I say no to this 540i, which is essentially mine already, I have no claim to ever say "i want one" again. How can I ever credibly say I want one if I let one, literally in my grasp already, go? with that in mind I gave him the bad news and finalised the sale of my Subaru.
Now the Subaru - when it was bought, it filled the role of my outgoing Alfa. Shortly I will have had my 156 V6 for seven years. That's mental. I do not use it, at all, so eventually after several years of hardly being driven, I am selling it. The role of thirsty daily estate was then taken over by the Subaru, despite the fact that I never drive my 'thirsty daily estate'. For all that time I've had but not used the Alfa, I've used some decrepit old diesel as well detailed here - many 320d, 330d and 530d buckets and we did have that brief spell with a red MG kettle as well. But I always had the knowledge of the utterly reliable Alfa in the background if all else failed, and the Subaru was apt for that role, and the towbar, AWD and large boot all made it ideal.
But now it is off, to make way for this 540, which is practical, but too rare and valuable to abuse like the Subaru by firing dirty wheels or lengths of timber into. It's as thirsty as the too-thirsty Alfa, doesn't have a towbar, unlike both the others, and is too low to go up country lanes, unlike the others.
Do you see how it's totally impractical for me now? Not to mention I still haven't got the Alfa ready for sale.
Maybe then, I could use the 540 as a nice weekend car? Well, yeah, but that role belongs to the MG ZT, and I did consider, for 1.35 seconds, whether I should sell it too, but it has ingrained itself too deeply. I could not bear the thought of parting ways with it at all! The Subaru was hard enough, it was only that it had not been here long enough to do the same, but I'm sure in time i will undoubtedly revisit the Subaru stable for another long term purchase.
OK, internal debate aside, it came time to actually go buy the thing and drive it home.
Well planned as ever, once he had accepted that the sale was going ahead and I was depriving him of his baby, we agreed Friday past, and I booked the plane on Wednesday evening - forward thinking as ever. My dad stayed Thursday night and drove me down - plenty early this time after the fiasco last time I tried to catch a Flybe plane - and I set off on the one daily flight from George Best to John Lennon.
On the far side, I hopped on the first bus I saw which was the right one, and got carted off to Liverpool Parkway. A zoom over to Liverpool Lime Street (delayed) and then a wait for the next leg. Which was cancelled. No worries, I'd worked in a little bit of room for error. Next one cancelled. I let our amicable vendor know. He's a train driver so he knew the score. Next one was a 35 minute wait so I got something to eat and kept an eye on the billboard. And then the tannoy rattled up once again with another cancellation notice "This train is cancelled due to a member of staff being unavailable" was the notice given for each one. That's very unprofessional I thought. And two minutes later they announced the same for the one after that.
Now I had plans for the rest of the day, and so did he, so he told me where i could get another train that would go vaguely in the right direction. So I quick-marched across to another station in Liverpool - another station a five minute walk but no connections between the two - odd? - and made it in time for the next one out.
That ran fine and after he found his way around the one-way system he picked me up from this station about 20 minutes away from his house, as I couldn't get to the one in his town (and so missing my chance to experience my first attempt at using an Uber taxi!) - and as he knows the train system, was explaining to me that it's cheaper for the train company running that service to pay the cancellation fines than the pay for the staff! Well that explains the unprofessional announcements then, as it sounds like a pretty unprofessional company altogether. In all likelihood they knew from that morning, or maybe even before that, that they would not have the staff in place to run that service, but they care so little about the passengers that that's how they handle it. he was telling me as a driver he sees it constantly in the area, and he has to drive past platforms full of despondent people missing connections and potentially job interviews and flights and whatever else - and people going to pick up old BMWs, of course.
So another long chat, and a sort-out of what I want to keep from his spares pile. I've to go back sometime and pick up the original bumpers and a spare tailgate which all comes with it but didn't fit in the boot, which is full of wheels and new tyres which also came with it.
I did mention that I would at some point, feel compelled to do a massive burnout in it. "Well", he grinned, "those back tyres are old and hard now". I suggested that I would wait until I got home first! Not sure if he wanted me to screech the car up the road or not!
So out I went onto the motorway, in to... gridlock. Miles of it. And here we can start to employ some of the pictures that, ahem, someone took on my phone.
This was the view most of the afternoon, with all the windows down as I was cooking nicely in that all black interior.
Let's talk trim.
The car was initially sold with (according to the VIN check) electric Light Silver-Grey leather seats, which would have meant a grey dash and carpet. He swapped all of that out for black. He broke an M5 years ago and some of it ended up in here. The dash and lower parts are all early E34, on account of no wood trim, but the door cards have wood trim, as the black leather is all later stuff. They have the comfort spec arm-rests, and while not electric, they have lumbar support which is very rare.
The black leather M5 gearstick surround (a very rare item now) made it into the car, which is good. So did the kick trims on the sills.
I didn't get it really up to speed for many miles, and the E60 quick-shift was more annoying than amazing in this kind of traffic. I was reminded how heavy an E34 clutch can be too, my leg getting weary after 90+ minutes of this. Also unused was the not-quite-standard exhaust, which is actually really quiet. I'll need to do something with that to open up some burble. It has a weird over-run chatter which is internal to the pipe (unlike my black one) and so I genuinely thought the diff was making noises but it was actually just the exhaust. I'll make it roar and pop properly later. The diff has been replaced from the standard 2.93 with a 3,46 LSD. Now, on my black one, i ran the M5 3,91, which was entirely too short. It was a rocket all the way to 125, but it went no further. Junction exits were 3rd in the dry or 4th in the wet otherwise you'd spin. I took that out for a 3,46 when i sold it as it would have easily caught out an unaware driver. However, the 3,46 in this one is not ideal. Maybe it's because it's a Touring? I find it too short, with 80mph being 3k rpm in 6th. I had no confidence in the corners either, so a ARB upgrade is definitely due. The car does have Bilsteins fitted though - another good point. See, when I was measuring it up earlier, I had reckoned on all the M5 bits, LSD and Bilsteins being exactly the kind of way I would modify it, so it was kind of ahead of the curve for me rather than buying a totally stock car.
Now the wheels. It has fitted to it a set of Style 16s, which are a flat 5 pointed star kind of deal. I detest them. Some people get all misty eyed over them, but to me they are a heavy, brutish thing with no real style. Apparently they are rare and worth a few quid (which is good given I have another set or two getting refurbed) so they will be for sale ASAP.
As I sat in the queue getting my head around everything, already well behind schedule, I calculated that there was no way of making it to London that night where I was due to pick up some other bits for another car, so I pulled off before getting totally exasperated and blatting it down the hard shoulder at 140. I can't stand queues. I was using my Ipad - actually, it's a Samsung Galaxy Andorid tablet, but that sounds stupid, so I call it an Ipad - as the Satnav, but the Blaupunkt stereo in the car, while nice looking, was not charging the Ipad thorough the USB lead. I tried a phone too and it didn't charge either. I wondered if it was the lead or the radio - and of course this meant I was stuck with useless daytime radio instead of the old-school anthems and fast paced gospels on my phone. (I checked the lead when I got home and its fine so the radio might be making it's way toward the bin...)
Where was I? Oh yeah. Couldn't tell, as the battery was drained, so no more Sat-Nav! I told the guy I was to meet in London that there wasn't a hope I'd make it, never mind the sign I had just seen for more roadworks coming up, and we were into rush-hour now, so I turned the car westerly and headed straight for my exit-point.
This sparked off a week of internal debate for me.
Going for it: I get a 540i/6. I want one. it's still attainable, I can afford it. I can sort out the issues it has.
Backing out: I'd have to keep on looking. That's a right lump of money to go elsewhere (paintwork on the Caddy may have been mentioned..). I don't need it. In a month I'd been unable to decide what wheels/look to go for. It'll cost me another load of money by the time I bring it up to scratch. I don't need it. Ideally I'd want a saloon in black or red anyway. Did I mention I don't need it?
So there was a strong leaning towards agreeing to not go ahead, but this thought kept coming back. If I say no to this 540i, which is essentially mine already, I have no claim to ever say "i want one" again. How can I ever credibly say I want one if I let one, literally in my grasp already, go? with that in mind I gave him the bad news and finalised the sale of my Subaru.
Now the Subaru - when it was bought, it filled the role of my outgoing Alfa. Shortly I will have had my 156 V6 for seven years. That's mental. I do not use it, at all, so eventually after several years of hardly being driven, I am selling it. The role of thirsty daily estate was then taken over by the Subaru, despite the fact that I never drive my 'thirsty daily estate'. For all that time I've had but not used the Alfa, I've used some decrepit old diesel as well detailed here - many 320d, 330d and 530d buckets and we did have that brief spell with a red MG kettle as well. But I always had the knowledge of the utterly reliable Alfa in the background if all else failed, and the Subaru was apt for that role, and the towbar, AWD and large boot all made it ideal.
But now it is off, to make way for this 540, which is practical, but too rare and valuable to abuse like the Subaru by firing dirty wheels or lengths of timber into. It's as thirsty as the too-thirsty Alfa, doesn't have a towbar, unlike both the others, and is too low to go up country lanes, unlike the others.
Do you see how it's totally impractical for me now? Not to mention I still haven't got the Alfa ready for sale.
Maybe then, I could use the 540 as a nice weekend car? Well, yeah, but that role belongs to the MG ZT, and I did consider, for 1.35 seconds, whether I should sell it too, but it has ingrained itself too deeply. I could not bear the thought of parting ways with it at all! The Subaru was hard enough, it was only that it had not been here long enough to do the same, but I'm sure in time i will undoubtedly revisit the Subaru stable for another long term purchase.
OK, internal debate aside, it came time to actually go buy the thing and drive it home.
Well planned as ever, once he had accepted that the sale was going ahead and I was depriving him of his baby, we agreed Friday past, and I booked the plane on Wednesday evening - forward thinking as ever. My dad stayed Thursday night and drove me down - plenty early this time after the fiasco last time I tried to catch a Flybe plane - and I set off on the one daily flight from George Best to John Lennon.
On the far side, I hopped on the first bus I saw which was the right one, and got carted off to Liverpool Parkway. A zoom over to Liverpool Lime Street (delayed) and then a wait for the next leg. Which was cancelled. No worries, I'd worked in a little bit of room for error. Next one cancelled. I let our amicable vendor know. He's a train driver so he knew the score. Next one was a 35 minute wait so I got something to eat and kept an eye on the billboard. And then the tannoy rattled up once again with another cancellation notice "This train is cancelled due to a member of staff being unavailable" was the notice given for each one. That's very unprofessional I thought. And two minutes later they announced the same for the one after that.
Now I had plans for the rest of the day, and so did he, so he told me where i could get another train that would go vaguely in the right direction. So I quick-marched across to another station in Liverpool - another station a five minute walk but no connections between the two - odd? - and made it in time for the next one out.
That ran fine and after he found his way around the one-way system he picked me up from this station about 20 minutes away from his house, as I couldn't get to the one in his town (and so missing my chance to experience my first attempt at using an Uber taxi!) - and as he knows the train system, was explaining to me that it's cheaper for the train company running that service to pay the cancellation fines than the pay for the staff! Well that explains the unprofessional announcements then, as it sounds like a pretty unprofessional company altogether. In all likelihood they knew from that morning, or maybe even before that, that they would not have the staff in place to run that service, but they care so little about the passengers that that's how they handle it. he was telling me as a driver he sees it constantly in the area, and he has to drive past platforms full of despondent people missing connections and potentially job interviews and flights and whatever else - and people going to pick up old BMWs, of course.
So another long chat, and a sort-out of what I want to keep from his spares pile. I've to go back sometime and pick up the original bumpers and a spare tailgate which all comes with it but didn't fit in the boot, which is full of wheels and new tyres which also came with it.
I did mention that I would at some point, feel compelled to do a massive burnout in it. "Well", he grinned, "those back tyres are old and hard now". I suggested that I would wait until I got home first! Not sure if he wanted me to screech the car up the road or not!
So out I went onto the motorway, in to... gridlock. Miles of it. And here we can start to employ some of the pictures that, ahem, someone took on my phone.
This was the view most of the afternoon, with all the windows down as I was cooking nicely in that all black interior.
Let's talk trim.
The car was initially sold with (according to the VIN check) electric Light Silver-Grey leather seats, which would have meant a grey dash and carpet. He swapped all of that out for black. He broke an M5 years ago and some of it ended up in here. The dash and lower parts are all early E34, on account of no wood trim, but the door cards have wood trim, as the black leather is all later stuff. They have the comfort spec arm-rests, and while not electric, they have lumbar support which is very rare.
The black leather M5 gearstick surround (a very rare item now) made it into the car, which is good. So did the kick trims on the sills.
I didn't get it really up to speed for many miles, and the E60 quick-shift was more annoying than amazing in this kind of traffic. I was reminded how heavy an E34 clutch can be too, my leg getting weary after 90+ minutes of this. Also unused was the not-quite-standard exhaust, which is actually really quiet. I'll need to do something with that to open up some burble. It has a weird over-run chatter which is internal to the pipe (unlike my black one) and so I genuinely thought the diff was making noises but it was actually just the exhaust. I'll make it roar and pop properly later. The diff has been replaced from the standard 2.93 with a 3,46 LSD. Now, on my black one, i ran the M5 3,91, which was entirely too short. It was a rocket all the way to 125, but it went no further. Junction exits were 3rd in the dry or 4th in the wet otherwise you'd spin. I took that out for a 3,46 when i sold it as it would have easily caught out an unaware driver. However, the 3,46 in this one is not ideal. Maybe it's because it's a Touring? I find it too short, with 80mph being 3k rpm in 6th. I had no confidence in the corners either, so a ARB upgrade is definitely due. The car does have Bilsteins fitted though - another good point. See, when I was measuring it up earlier, I had reckoned on all the M5 bits, LSD and Bilsteins being exactly the kind of way I would modify it, so it was kind of ahead of the curve for me rather than buying a totally stock car.
Now the wheels. It has fitted to it a set of Style 16s, which are a flat 5 pointed star kind of deal. I detest them. Some people get all misty eyed over them, but to me they are a heavy, brutish thing with no real style. Apparently they are rare and worth a few quid (which is good given I have another set or two getting refurbed) so they will be for sale ASAP.
As I sat in the queue getting my head around everything, already well behind schedule, I calculated that there was no way of making it to London that night where I was due to pick up some other bits for another car, so I pulled off before getting totally exasperated and blatting it down the hard shoulder at 140. I can't stand queues. I was using my Ipad - actually, it's a Samsung Galaxy Andorid tablet, but that sounds stupid, so I call it an Ipad - as the Satnav, but the Blaupunkt stereo in the car, while nice looking, was not charging the Ipad thorough the USB lead. I tried a phone too and it didn't charge either. I wondered if it was the lead or the radio - and of course this meant I was stuck with useless daytime radio instead of the old-school anthems and fast paced gospels on my phone. (I checked the lead when I got home and its fine so the radio might be making it's way toward the bin...)
Where was I? Oh yeah. Couldn't tell, as the battery was drained, so no more Sat-Nav! I told the guy I was to meet in London that there wasn't a hope I'd make it, never mind the sign I had just seen for more roadworks coming up, and we were into rush-hour now, so I turned the car westerly and headed straight for my exit-point.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #235
Yep, got home on Saturday morning. My church meets on Molesworth St. at the minute.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #236
I had loads of time so I stopped in for a brew with an old buddy in Wales and swapped stories for a wee while. Just as I was pulling up to park a lit up X5 pulled in behind me and I got questioned over the trade plates, but all was kosher. The officers told me they get loads of cars driving to the boat that aren't properly legit, which I can understand.
Still made it to Holyhead for the ferry well early. Stopped off for fuel at the 24hr stations there. Morrisons was closed, don't think it's 24hr anyway, but the pumps said "pay at kiosk only" except the kiosk was in darkness. Went to Tescos and as I pulled up I saw the attendant walk off towards the main shop. Pulled out my card and went through the process until we got to the "payment accepted" "take fuel now" well I couldn't for she had only gone and padlocked all of the nozzles down - but left the machines on and working? Who does that? And she hadn't even the gumption to say to me as I pulled up.
The Stena Line Nautica leaves at 2.30am and starts loading from about 1:30 so at 1:45 I was on-board and wandered around until I settled on a snoozing spot and it was lights out from me.
Woke at 5:10 just before the ship crossed the breakwater and went for a cup of tea. "Large one please" I said to the stewardess. "There only is one size." she said in the flattest baritone going. "I guess it'll be that size then!" I joked. Obviously she was at the end of her graveyard shift as there was zero banter in her, she just turned around, lifted tea, and plonked it back in front of me.
As I walked down to the car then I started noticing how hot it was. I bet she didn't even put milk in it I reckoned. When I sat down and checked, yup, no milk. She had stood and looked at me in silence as I'd picked that cup up. I must have simply been to perky for dawn.
I drove straight to the port-side 24hr station as I was getting low by now. Actually, I firstly drove as far as the nearest red light. All the trucks and a ropey looking Polish Mercedes Sprinter all started beeping at me and then started shouting as one set of lights turned green and I didn't move. If they'd of been paying attention they would know there were two sets of lights at this particular port junction and the main ones were still on red.
I didn't fancy waiting on all the truckers using the hot drink machines at the fuel stop so I grabbed a bottle of juice and made headway through 6am Dublin traffic. I usually avoid the tunnel as it's full of trucks, and because it's tolled, and I can be on to the M1 just as quick through the city when it's early.
Up until this point the car had averaged out on 23.9mpg. I found the arch enemy of the V8 on the road out
I headed off up the N2 and once into the countryside the fog got pretty dense. The amount of idiots with silver cars and no lights on in thick fog never seems to change no matter where you are.
I had planned to stop at a couple of scenic spots along the way but none of them were open/visible.
So you'll have to make so, as I did, with the side of the road on a sweeping corner.
Yes, it does sort of look like an M5. Avus was a popular M5 colour, and these are genuine M5 bumpers off the one that the seller broke up for parts (original ones to be collected later).
I picked the car up on 201065 miles (yeouch!) and it had 201408 by the time I parked it up at work on Saturday morning around 8am.
After driving it for a bit I can tell a few things. Mechanically it's not bad. Cornering is tetchy, I will wait until I have new tyres on before making judgements but I may do the subframe bushes too. It makes altogether too much engine noise - fan may be permanently on - which needs addressed, as does the lack of exhaust noise. The engine makes a familiar rattle when it starts up, just for a second, which I'd rather not have. I'll do a full service right away, and check the oil pump bolts which are a common sore spot for rattling loose. There is a quarter turn of free play in the steering box, not ideal, and the wipers also have a little bit of slack in them - all common E34 stuff. There's a couple of patches needing welded, which is no big deal - welding is easy at the end of the day - and the paintwork isn't the best any more. Well, the paint looks like its done over 200k, so I would not expect show winning. I know I've bought a project, so I'm not going to expect a mint car that needs nothing. I know it's been laid up for 6 months not moving, so I'm not going to blame the seller for anything else I find, I'll be going over it and bringing it to a standard that I'll be happy with - actually probably past that level, as BMW folks get a little bit, erm, over their cars, and I've already had enough strange looks about refusing to "restore" my M535i. It's mechanically sorted, and cosmetically challenged, and that suits me well, but this 540i might get a little bit of fixing up top as well. But, with 201k, already a few modifications, and needing a fair list of fixes - it's just about at a point where I can do what I like, it's not in need of a concours restoration, not with high miles and mechanical alterations. And anyway, why would you want stock, when you can make it better? Yeah. I'm going to make it better.
Throwing stars and sports seats, you're up first.
And ride height. Less of it. DOWN!
Still made it to Holyhead for the ferry well early. Stopped off for fuel at the 24hr stations there. Morrisons was closed, don't think it's 24hr anyway, but the pumps said "pay at kiosk only" except the kiosk was in darkness. Went to Tescos and as I pulled up I saw the attendant walk off towards the main shop. Pulled out my card and went through the process until we got to the "payment accepted" "take fuel now" well I couldn't for she had only gone and padlocked all of the nozzles down - but left the machines on and working? Who does that? And she hadn't even the gumption to say to me as I pulled up.
The Stena Line Nautica leaves at 2.30am and starts loading from about 1:30 so at 1:45 I was on-board and wandered around until I settled on a snoozing spot and it was lights out from me.
Woke at 5:10 just before the ship crossed the breakwater and went for a cup of tea. "Large one please" I said to the stewardess. "There only is one size." she said in the flattest baritone going. "I guess it'll be that size then!" I joked. Obviously she was at the end of her graveyard shift as there was zero banter in her, she just turned around, lifted tea, and plonked it back in front of me.
As I walked down to the car then I started noticing how hot it was. I bet she didn't even put milk in it I reckoned. When I sat down and checked, yup, no milk. She had stood and looked at me in silence as I'd picked that cup up. I must have simply been to perky for dawn.
I drove straight to the port-side 24hr station as I was getting low by now. Actually, I firstly drove as far as the nearest red light. All the trucks and a ropey looking Polish Mercedes Sprinter all started beeping at me and then started shouting as one set of lights turned green and I didn't move. If they'd of been paying attention they would know there were two sets of lights at this particular port junction and the main ones were still on red.
I didn't fancy waiting on all the truckers using the hot drink machines at the fuel stop so I grabbed a bottle of juice and made headway through 6am Dublin traffic. I usually avoid the tunnel as it's full of trucks, and because it's tolled, and I can be on to the M1 just as quick through the city when it's early.
Up until this point the car had averaged out on 23.9mpg. I found the arch enemy of the V8 on the road out
I headed off up the N2 and once into the countryside the fog got pretty dense. The amount of idiots with silver cars and no lights on in thick fog never seems to change no matter where you are.
I had planned to stop at a couple of scenic spots along the way but none of them were open/visible.
So you'll have to make so, as I did, with the side of the road on a sweeping corner.
Yes, it does sort of look like an M5. Avus was a popular M5 colour, and these are genuine M5 bumpers off the one that the seller broke up for parts (original ones to be collected later).
I picked the car up on 201065 miles (yeouch!) and it had 201408 by the time I parked it up at work on Saturday morning around 8am.
After driving it for a bit I can tell a few things. Mechanically it's not bad. Cornering is tetchy, I will wait until I have new tyres on before making judgements but I may do the subframe bushes too. It makes altogether too much engine noise - fan may be permanently on - which needs addressed, as does the lack of exhaust noise. The engine makes a familiar rattle when it starts up, just for a second, which I'd rather not have. I'll do a full service right away, and check the oil pump bolts which are a common sore spot for rattling loose. There is a quarter turn of free play in the steering box, not ideal, and the wipers also have a little bit of slack in them - all common E34 stuff. There's a couple of patches needing welded, which is no big deal - welding is easy at the end of the day - and the paintwork isn't the best any more. Well, the paint looks like its done over 200k, so I would not expect show winning. I know I've bought a project, so I'm not going to expect a mint car that needs nothing. I know it's been laid up for 6 months not moving, so I'm not going to blame the seller for anything else I find, I'll be going over it and bringing it to a standard that I'll be happy with - actually probably past that level, as BMW folks get a little bit, erm, over their cars, and I've already had enough strange looks about refusing to "restore" my M535i. It's mechanically sorted, and cosmetically challenged, and that suits me well, but this 540i might get a little bit of fixing up top as well. But, with 201k, already a few modifications, and needing a fair list of fixes - it's just about at a point where I can do what I like, it's not in need of a concours restoration, not with high miles and mechanical alterations. And anyway, why would you want stock, when you can make it better? Yeah. I'm going to make it better.
Throwing stars and sports seats, you're up first.
And ride height. Less of it. DOWN!
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #239
And a snippet more.
When I was making to leave, I turned round and said to him, shouldn't we sort out the V5 then? And he says, oh yes, and goes into his front room, only to return with 3 stuffed folders full of history. Pretty much everything is there, and I've not even really managed to get through it all yet. So we'll call that a full s/h.
Because I'm interested in details (sometimes), I worked out the cost of bringing it home.
72.99 flight + 171 ferry + 9.75 trains (all of which were late or cancelled) and the rest on fuel and snacks - mostly fuel! - and the total is £355.77 to bring it back. I'm sure it would be much more if it wasn't attempted in a single day, and if I'd paid for a cabin instead of sleeping on the ferry seat like a hobo (to be fair, pretty much everyone on the night ferry does it, and I'm not paying for a cabin for 3.5hs) and I did also lose half of the next day as I collapsed from exhaustion. I think that's as much to do with the heat as anything, as I was roasting like a good'un on the M6 that day.
And future fixes must include:
All the warnings that flash up on the dash - most noticeably, the one for the (deleted) self levelling
The pingy bong sound thing that's obviously disconnected due to the errors constantly going off - as it sounds the lights-on warning too
The constant on traction control light (disabled due to the M5 shift surround requiring the plug to be moved or removed)
The non-functional RCL
The crappy juddery wipers (think new blades will help this)
The inoperative boot handles
The rev surge on startup
The (diff bush?) clunk on downshift
The (beam bushes?) clunk on medium-to-hard launch
It's not nice to drive yet. Which is OK as I have something else to drive now, see next post!
When I was making to leave, I turned round and said to him, shouldn't we sort out the V5 then? And he says, oh yes, and goes into his front room, only to return with 3 stuffed folders full of history. Pretty much everything is there, and I've not even really managed to get through it all yet. So we'll call that a full s/h.
Because I'm interested in details (sometimes), I worked out the cost of bringing it home.
72.99 flight + 171 ferry + 9.75 trains (all of which were late or cancelled) and the rest on fuel and snacks - mostly fuel! - and the total is £355.77 to bring it back. I'm sure it would be much more if it wasn't attempted in a single day, and if I'd paid for a cabin instead of sleeping on the ferry seat like a hobo (to be fair, pretty much everyone on the night ferry does it, and I'm not paying for a cabin for 3.5hs) and I did also lose half of the next day as I collapsed from exhaustion. I think that's as much to do with the heat as anything, as I was roasting like a good'un on the M6 that day.
And future fixes must include:
All the warnings that flash up on the dash - most noticeably, the one for the (deleted) self levelling
The pingy bong sound thing that's obviously disconnected due to the errors constantly going off - as it sounds the lights-on warning too
The constant on traction control light (disabled due to the M5 shift surround requiring the plug to be moved or removed)
The non-functional RCL
The crappy juddery wipers (think new blades will help this)
The inoperative boot handles
The rev surge on startup
The (diff bush?) clunk on downshift
The (beam bushes?) clunk on medium-to-hard launch
It's not nice to drive yet. Which is OK as I have something else to drive now, see next post!
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #240
Right this is what I tackled on Sunday evening once the sun had settled down a bit.
The cover off the top of the ZT V6.
I'd read a bit about the "keyhole method" which is basically sticking your hand under the inlet manifold instead of taking it off, which is quite the effort.
Wait, you mean, in there?!
SRSLY?
Well, OK, I'll try it.
First jobs were to take off the coolant hoses of course, then the TB for a bit more access. Nothing too hard yet, all accomplished with home tools which are much less complete and comprehensive as what's in work.
Looking a bit gungy though. I might come back to that.
I had to remove some hard plastic vacuum piping. All unclipped ok at the TB side. On the belt side,
Not so much!
That's heat damage for you.
You can also see my access hole there for the bolt on the back of the thermostat housing which was STUPID tight.
Yeah, in here
I tried to get to it through a variety of means
I couldn't get purchase on it at all. Remember each time I tried anything I was squeezing my hand through a hole that didn't actually appear to exist across the top of the housing, under the manifold. So I was guiding the socket on with my right hand and trying to make the extensions stay straight with my left hand while lowering them down. Anyone ever tried to keep those swivel joints straight? not a hope.
I gave up on that, and remembered my little 8/10mm ratchet spanner, a great wee tool.
See it there?
So I got that on - and could NOT move it. I was using finger power only as there was no swing room to use wrist or arm strength, but still.
So back to the extensions, and with much fiddling, getting out an adapter and using 1/4 drive for part of it so I could get through a smaller hole, and I eventually got it on, and with a great deal of effort, cracked the 10mm bolt off.
After much faffing about, got the thermostat and the associated plastic pipes off (which I also got news ones of in the kit)
Done much?
Looks like someone had been in there before trying to seal something.
So, I stuck it all back in, Fitting, as they say, is the reverse of removal. Aye!
The 10mm bolt was a pain to line up. Then it didn't want to go in. Then it was a real ache to get it tight, or even near tight. The other pipes rely on the stat housing being tight to stay in. I'm really not convinced by the centre pipe under the manifold. It connects to the water pump and the stat by just a not-that-tight seal on each end. No clips, nothing to tighten it. Just a loose press fit with a thin O-ring on either end!
I put the hoses back on and again I wasn't happy. The new stat seems to move an awful lot when I push the pipes on to it. Like, maybe rocks back 10 or 15mm. That's a lot of movement. One 10mm bolt is all that holds it down and another press fit and seal into the block. Also, it sits higher than the original did, so I can't get my hand in past it. So, I'm not going to be taking this one off with the keyhole method, no way. Unless my hand swelled up and I didn't notice! Thankfully I managed to do all this without drawing blood, and usually I catch every pointy thing in a four metre radius.
To think, my hand was squeezed in there, along with tools!
So I went for broke and topped up (refilled) the coolant tank. And then charged the battery up as it was flat. And then I could test run it.
And it only went and idled merrily away up to temperature and stayed there. So, erm, it must be OK then?
Not the worst job ever, but a slight feeling of unease with those new parts fitted - which were aftermarket, but supplied as OE replacements from one of the firms supplying in place of the defunct dealer network, so not complete garbage (I hope!). And I really hope they work as, like I said, I can't fit my hand in there now to get at that bolt again, although it might be more possible now with extensions given it isn't at a million lb/ft any more, more like 0.5 (nowhere near enough).
So with slight hesitancy, slight trepidation, I'm going to call that one done.
A quick test-drive round the block also took it up to temp and no further. I will try it on a longer run once I pump up that near flat tyre I didn't notice...
The cover off the top of the ZT V6.
I'd read a bit about the "keyhole method" which is basically sticking your hand under the inlet manifold instead of taking it off, which is quite the effort.
Wait, you mean, in there?!
SRSLY?
Well, OK, I'll try it.
First jobs were to take off the coolant hoses of course, then the TB for a bit more access. Nothing too hard yet, all accomplished with home tools which are much less complete and comprehensive as what's in work.
Looking a bit gungy though. I might come back to that.
I had to remove some hard plastic vacuum piping. All unclipped ok at the TB side. On the belt side,
Not so much!
That's heat damage for you.
You can also see my access hole there for the bolt on the back of the thermostat housing which was STUPID tight.
Yeah, in here
I tried to get to it through a variety of means
I couldn't get purchase on it at all. Remember each time I tried anything I was squeezing my hand through a hole that didn't actually appear to exist across the top of the housing, under the manifold. So I was guiding the socket on with my right hand and trying to make the extensions stay straight with my left hand while lowering them down. Anyone ever tried to keep those swivel joints straight? not a hope.
I gave up on that, and remembered my little 8/10mm ratchet spanner, a great wee tool.
See it there?
So I got that on - and could NOT move it. I was using finger power only as there was no swing room to use wrist or arm strength, but still.
So back to the extensions, and with much fiddling, getting out an adapter and using 1/4 drive for part of it so I could get through a smaller hole, and I eventually got it on, and with a great deal of effort, cracked the 10mm bolt off.
After much faffing about, got the thermostat and the associated plastic pipes off (which I also got news ones of in the kit)
Done much?
Looks like someone had been in there before trying to seal something.
So, I stuck it all back in, Fitting, as they say, is the reverse of removal. Aye!
The 10mm bolt was a pain to line up. Then it didn't want to go in. Then it was a real ache to get it tight, or even near tight. The other pipes rely on the stat housing being tight to stay in. I'm really not convinced by the centre pipe under the manifold. It connects to the water pump and the stat by just a not-that-tight seal on each end. No clips, nothing to tighten it. Just a loose press fit with a thin O-ring on either end!
I put the hoses back on and again I wasn't happy. The new stat seems to move an awful lot when I push the pipes on to it. Like, maybe rocks back 10 or 15mm. That's a lot of movement. One 10mm bolt is all that holds it down and another press fit and seal into the block. Also, it sits higher than the original did, so I can't get my hand in past it. So, I'm not going to be taking this one off with the keyhole method, no way. Unless my hand swelled up and I didn't notice! Thankfully I managed to do all this without drawing blood, and usually I catch every pointy thing in a four metre radius.
To think, my hand was squeezed in there, along with tools!
So I went for broke and topped up (refilled) the coolant tank. And then charged the battery up as it was flat. And then I could test run it.
And it only went and idled merrily away up to temperature and stayed there. So, erm, it must be OK then?
Not the worst job ever, but a slight feeling of unease with those new parts fitted - which were aftermarket, but supplied as OE replacements from one of the firms supplying in place of the defunct dealer network, so not complete garbage (I hope!). And I really hope they work as, like I said, I can't fit my hand in there now to get at that bolt again, although it might be more possible now with extensions given it isn't at a million lb/ft any more, more like 0.5 (nowhere near enough).
So with slight hesitancy, slight trepidation, I'm going to call that one done.
A quick test-drive round the block also took it up to temp and no further. I will try it on a longer run once I pump up that near flat tyre I didn't notice...
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #242
This is the thread on it!
I got my Alfa parts back from the painter - given they'd been there for weeks and were still only in primer... and I'd given him the paint.
In exasperation I sent them off to someone halfway across the country that a friend had used before.
So I got them back (for the second time) and when i got a chance, started to fit...
only to find, well, just look at it.
Seems that my Alfa was WAY more faded than I thought.
Turned to wheels on the 540i. Trying to quickly get some wheels on because I realised I don't really like this car. It doesn't drive all that well, and also, I spent some time this week trying to figure out what I want, because this should be it, but it's just, well, not. I want something rougher, more aggressive. I want a muscle-car with race overtones and beefy stance. Something with pop-riveted on canards and plexiglass and stupid flip up spoilers. My E28 has that vibe. And sometimes I want a decked, gleaming, pristine car I can cruise around in. The Cadillac will eventually fill that role. Sometimes I want something a bit nice but somewhat sensible, which is the MG. And I need a daily I can just abuse which will cart stuff around and never get cleaned, but still reasonably pacy (which is why a 530d fits the bill so well). The Subaru was that, but it made way for the 540i, which doesn't fit there. I can't make a nasty race-car out of it, so it doesn't qualify for that category (yeah, d'ya get it?). So either it becomes a second semi-normal weekend car, or it gets dropped and cleaned up - but I've got loads of cars like that. Either way I need to do something with it pretty sharp-ish so it doesn't end up without a role any more and sit about wasted - which is the way of the Alfa, after it went from being the nice semi-normal weekend car, to a daily which it wasn't suitable for and was thereafter just sitting about unused most of the time.
So, let's find some wheels to spice this thing up.
Straight to the top of the pile - 17" x8.5/9.5 B12 Alpina wheels and 17" x8/9 or 8/8 Style 21 Throwing Stars (naked)
Alpina-Star
Or, T-Star on rear and a 17" x8/8 or 8/9.5 Style 5 BBS RC090 / 009/010
Star-BBS
Trying a few other options out; 18" x8.5/9.5 Jade-R and Alpina
Jade-Alpina
Stilauto 15" x7 splits and 17" x8/8 or 8/9 Style 66 M-Parallel
Stilauto-66
The T-Star with it's cover (well a LHS cover) and that Stilauto wheel again. I know they're small - too small - but I really quite like it. Imagine it with a fat slick and white lettered tyre mounted. My Oh My.
Star-Stilauto
This was a happy by-product of setting a 17" Throwing Star (naked) over the front of a 17" Style 16 wheel - that's pretty cool.
Star-Star
Any thoughts? Nothing really got me excited so I think it's likely it'll end up on a set of Throwing Stars just for now to complete the psuedo-M5 looks, anything will be better than the current shoes, but it's not really setting a new bar or anything.
Oh and I finished the Alfa off afterwards.
Some buffing needed. Back end isn't so far off after washing it today and looking it over, it's mainly the front end that's faded, but oh-so-badly.
All in all a week full of "hmm" and "erm" and "umm".
Speaking of which, the MG has been spot on over the last couple of days with the temperature. Seems ill-fitting plastic pipes with no seal save a rubber O ring is sufficient for a revvy engine which (lets face it) has a notoriety for coolant-related failures. Who'd have thunk it?
I got my Alfa parts back from the painter - given they'd been there for weeks and were still only in primer... and I'd given him the paint.
In exasperation I sent them off to someone halfway across the country that a friend had used before.
So I got them back (for the second time) and when i got a chance, started to fit...
only to find, well, just look at it.
Seems that my Alfa was WAY more faded than I thought.
Turned to wheels on the 540i. Trying to quickly get some wheels on because I realised I don't really like this car. It doesn't drive all that well, and also, I spent some time this week trying to figure out what I want, because this should be it, but it's just, well, not. I want something rougher, more aggressive. I want a muscle-car with race overtones and beefy stance. Something with pop-riveted on canards and plexiglass and stupid flip up spoilers. My E28 has that vibe. And sometimes I want a decked, gleaming, pristine car I can cruise around in. The Cadillac will eventually fill that role. Sometimes I want something a bit nice but somewhat sensible, which is the MG. And I need a daily I can just abuse which will cart stuff around and never get cleaned, but still reasonably pacy (which is why a 530d fits the bill so well). The Subaru was that, but it made way for the 540i, which doesn't fit there. I can't make a nasty race-car out of it, so it doesn't qualify for that category (yeah, d'ya get it?). So either it becomes a second semi-normal weekend car, or it gets dropped and cleaned up - but I've got loads of cars like that. Either way I need to do something with it pretty sharp-ish so it doesn't end up without a role any more and sit about wasted - which is the way of the Alfa, after it went from being the nice semi-normal weekend car, to a daily which it wasn't suitable for and was thereafter just sitting about unused most of the time.
So, let's find some wheels to spice this thing up.
Straight to the top of the pile - 17" x8.5/9.5 B12 Alpina wheels and 17" x8/9 or 8/8 Style 21 Throwing Stars (naked)
Alpina-Star
Or, T-Star on rear and a 17" x8/8 or 8/9.5 Style 5 BBS RC090 / 009/010
Star-BBS
Trying a few other options out; 18" x8.5/9.5 Jade-R and Alpina
Jade-Alpina
Stilauto 15" x7 splits and 17" x8/8 or 8/9 Style 66 M-Parallel
Stilauto-66
The T-Star with it's cover (well a LHS cover) and that Stilauto wheel again. I know they're small - too small - but I really quite like it. Imagine it with a fat slick and white lettered tyre mounted. My Oh My.
Star-Stilauto
This was a happy by-product of setting a 17" Throwing Star (naked) over the front of a 17" Style 16 wheel - that's pretty cool.
Star-Star
Any thoughts? Nothing really got me excited so I think it's likely it'll end up on a set of Throwing Stars just for now to complete the psuedo-M5 looks, anything will be better than the current shoes, but it's not really setting a new bar or anything.
Oh and I finished the Alfa off afterwards.
Some buffing needed. Back end isn't so far off after washing it today and looking it over, it's mainly the front end that's faded, but oh-so-badly.
All in all a week full of "hmm" and "erm" and "umm".
Speaking of which, the MG has been spot on over the last couple of days with the temperature. Seems ill-fitting plastic pipes with no seal save a rubber O ring is sufficient for a revvy engine which (lets face it) has a notoriety for coolant-related failures. Who'd have thunk it?
Paul.
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 1,384
I like the Stilauto wheels, fitted in exactly the same way you suggested. I'm in the mood for beefier fitment on cars with tyres having proper sidewalls. A 540i should carry the look off perfectly, even if it is a touring. I suppose the other option, seeing as you've no shortage of wheels, could be to take a leaf out of Australia's big book on burnouts and go asymmetrical for the loud and lairy racecar look? You already have the V8 soundtrack needed to replicate the Summernats experience.
j44nty
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 8,167
Style 5 gold centers and polished lips.
They have the ability to make the most mundane non face lift se 46 shed look acceptable so thats gotta look ace.
They have the ability to make the most mundane non face lift se 46 shed look acceptable so thats gotta look ace.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #248
Nope! I don't like Style 5s either. Not because they're awful, just because they're the go-to, and so popular, and so boring.
I don't like Parallels either. Or Schnitzers. I detest all ACS wheels, ever.
Give me some nice Zenders and I'm all over them though. A set of 17" Zender Stars would just do it for me...
I don't like Parallels either. Or Schnitzers. I detest all ACS wheels, ever.
Give me some nice Zenders and I'm all over them though. A set of 17" Zender Stars would just do it for me...
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #249
So I started to change over the wheels on the 540i last week. I got as far as ONE wheel which was the only wheel without a locknut. Then I started on the others, the ones with a locknut. With a rusty, worn, seized locknut. They were very tight and very rusty and very worn so even though I managed to get a lock-nut bit out of my very handy big box of spare bits into them, it immediately spun round and stripped all it's threads. I ended up doing that to about four of them before I conceded.
I couldn't use the lock-nut remover for them as I recalled when i went to get it that I still hadn't got a replacement for it after it shattered one day and went through my hand. Much blood was used up that day.
So eventually when I remembered to go get a new one I got offered these screw on ones with a reverse thread, which seemed much more civilised than the hammer on type. I wasn't convinced but I took them to try anyway - well, I'm convinced now. Line it up, screw it on a turn or two with the ratchet, then set on the impact gun. It bites in until it locks, then as it's already going in reverse it whizzes them right out. Getting the old lock-nut back out is the hard part, unless you have an old hub lying around (handy) and then you can whizz them into that and when they tighten the screw-on remover bit just unscrews off.
Which it did, faultlessly, so now the four wheels are all throwing stars.
Well, except they're not, because I didn't put the covers on. Going to run them 'naked' for a while - more interesting than with the covers on. More race. I bought this set recently for spares and they came with good tread and Falken tyres so methinks that also solves the bad old tyres problem from before.
Unfortunately I broke the screen of my phone so the picture of the wheels on will have to wait. Or, just imagine it in your head for now.
As will the picture I took of the Alfa front end. Now that it's back together and the car is driving nice again, while it was running in my drive (so the lights were on) and I was moving the MG back in, I got this head on look at the Alfa and it just sat there looking menacing, poised, the right amount of angry - the look all car designers want to put into their performance saloons these days, and just for a second, it almost made me think about keeping it.
But, the head must rule the heart on this one.
So the last of my junk is cleared out of it, ready for sale preparation - just got to find the missing interior panels that have fallen off now. It's an Alfa you see, it's a racing car. Self lightening.
I couldn't use the lock-nut remover for them as I recalled when i went to get it that I still hadn't got a replacement for it after it shattered one day and went through my hand. Much blood was used up that day.
So eventually when I remembered to go get a new one I got offered these screw on ones with a reverse thread, which seemed much more civilised than the hammer on type. I wasn't convinced but I took them to try anyway - well, I'm convinced now. Line it up, screw it on a turn or two with the ratchet, then set on the impact gun. It bites in until it locks, then as it's already going in reverse it whizzes them right out. Getting the old lock-nut back out is the hard part, unless you have an old hub lying around (handy) and then you can whizz them into that and when they tighten the screw-on remover bit just unscrews off.
Which it did, faultlessly, so now the four wheels are all throwing stars.
Well, except they're not, because I didn't put the covers on. Going to run them 'naked' for a while - more interesting than with the covers on. More race. I bought this set recently for spares and they came with good tread and Falken tyres so methinks that also solves the bad old tyres problem from before.
Unfortunately I broke the screen of my phone so the picture of the wheels on will have to wait. Or, just imagine it in your head for now.
As will the picture I took of the Alfa front end. Now that it's back together and the car is driving nice again, while it was running in my drive (so the lights were on) and I was moving the MG back in, I got this head on look at the Alfa and it just sat there looking menacing, poised, the right amount of angry - the look all car designers want to put into their performance saloons these days, and just for a second, it almost made me think about keeping it.
But, the head must rule the heart on this one.
So the last of my junk is cleared out of it, ready for sale preparation - just got to find the missing interior panels that have fallen off now. It's an Alfa you see, it's a racing car. Self lightening.
