Same here. Depending on whether I can afford I'm looking at a BX, 309 or
405TD in the near future. For £600 i can buy a decent one and insure it for a year. Seems silly not too, rather than putting all my commuting miles on the MR2. And also 2 2 seater cars isnt ideal - gotta borrow a car to go to Ikea on friday, such a pain in the arse!!!!
Ideally I don't want to spend more than £500 on a car now, it's only short term and only for motorway miles. I have a fiesta Si at the minute (it's been sat on the garden for months so I figured I may as well use it) but again it's not as cheap as a diesel to run/insure and frankly it's a bit pants. I'm not interested in people trying to "race" me all the time. It bores me.
We don't want to be using the BM for running around in as it's the show season comiong up and can't afford any more "mishaps" it's also not very cheap on fuel.
How does a T reg Seat Ibiza 1.9TDI (90bhp) strike you?
149k on the clock - full Seat service history (main dealer) - last stamp at
140k so due for an oil change - cambelt done at 120k so next one's a fair way off. 1 year's MOT, though it will need a pair of front tyres, er, basically now!! MOT bloke *just* passed it but said get the tyres sorted ASAP. Also currently out of tax.
One bad thing, and it's not proved to be a problem as yet, is that the glow plug light is constantly flashing when the engine's running - before you start it it goes on and almost immediately off as it should, and it's had no problems starting up on some bloody freezing mornings, so it hasn't affected its reliability - I bought it a little while back, and due to not having space for it, a mate of mine's been "babysitting" it for me, and has done about 2000 miles in it since then without problems (averaging 55-60mpg easily).
It gets up to 100 on back roads very easily, and even with Tim Kemp's driving it still managed 55mpg!
Bodywork and interior wise it's very good indeed - virtually no noticeable scrapes or dents on the bodywork - interior in good clean condition with no considerable wear or seat knackerage. It drives absolutely spot on - clutch and brakes are good, suspension feels tight - definitely feels very well looked after and not a knackered out high mileage clunker.
The price for this fine piece of Spanish-German joint engineering history? A mere £1350 (no offers).
17" wheels (kahn RSR anthracite) "silly" paint job with everything colour coded Immaculate bodywork. No rust, marks etc etc (bar the obvious thats getting fixed.) De-locked
325i exhaust system (twin pipe backbox rather than single) ECU remap M-spec bumpers and splitter M-spec leather interior (full interior inlcuding doorcards, all seats etc etc) in black leather BMC carbon enclosed induction kit Lowered 30MM Tinted windows Short shift kit (B&M i believe)
325i Rear axel with LSD Just over 100k on engie with FSH (not a mod i know but she's in really good condition. it's an '89 F reg) Schrick CAMS (282 I think but TBH I forget)
I can't be bothered to think any more but i'm sure there is more.
Agreed a 325i would have been a better base model....BUT
In the condition we got offered this car in and the price it was at made it a no-brainer, she has also considered an '25 or M3 engine conversion but with the condition of this engine, coupled with the fact it'd be a big risk to take on such a mint car means she'll keep this as is until it's time to move on and then simply buy an M3.
A bit about the car and you may understand...
The bloke we brought the car from sprays cars (very well) for a (very good) living. Consequently he gets through a fuckload of cars like this (he buys them simply as toys grows bored and sells them on). He is a good friend of ours and Sarah had always liked the BMW.
This is why the car has mint bodywork and paint.
So we got a car with circa 2grands worth of paint on it, with a stunningly maintained engine and perfect bodywork for not much at all. Couple this with the fact that Sarah loves the paint and it was pretty much a done deal.
To buy an M3 (E30) in equally good condition would have cost double the money (if not more) not to mention silly insurance for two young (ish) drivers on a LHD "high performance" car made an M3 simply not viable, lets not forget we are both fairly young so aren't at the peak salaries we are ever likely to see, we have a wedding and an *ok* lifestyle to pay for so the M3 had to wait for a year or so. It is still what we both want and I can see us having at least one in the family within the next year (i'll settle for an M3 as my last insurance quote on a B10 alpina was laughable :o) and ditto with the running maintenance costs of an M5 of any era)
So really we got the best base car I have ever seen, most of the expensive/hard work was allready done for use.
FYI it sailed through it's MOT last week too (needed two new rear tires
@ the modified nationals last year with our neighbours Evo. Picture does the paint no justice...oh and the painters name is Darryl (sp?), hence the "daz" number plate. We kept that on the car as he didnt want it back.
All of the Better Halfs fotopic account. i'm at work and can't lay my hands on any more.
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