how bout this for an idea

Well the 325 bits must be worth doing! Those parts from scrappers will cost you only a few quid. We used partsgateway online to get an AC compressor for my parents Mondeo, it was quick and easy an we had the bits in a couple of days :-)

Reply to
DanB
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Yup. The manifold/throttle body from an M50 is an easy upgrade for an M52. Done several on both E34 and E36s. Both need a 'free flowing' exhaust to get the full 220bhp though. JB

Reply to
JB

Won't work. Been there, done that, fell into the trap again with this one.

Basically the "weekender" spends many weekends not being used. With my last Capper, I sold my main car and used the Capper as a daily as it was the only way it got used outside going to shows. The car was a whole lot better for it and a lot of the gremlins it had disappeared with regular use.

Reply to
Conor

*ding*
Reply to
Doki

Vamp, answer me (and yourself) this: Are you bored with your car or bored with your life?

I've noticed about myself that when I'm feeling a bit frustrated or bored I reach for the Autotrader. Then I realise the extra costs and hassle of changing car, such as your insurance company not giving you a competitive premium for the new car and slapping on an administration fee or if you cancel and take out a new policy, you lose x months of earned NCB and whatever cancellation fee the bastards charge you. Plus you might need a new tax disc and so-on.

All this doubles if you think about owning two cars.

Then a couple of months down the line the novelty has worn off and you're reaching for the Autotrader again and the cycle continues.

Then again you have had that BMW for so long, which is quite admirable. But think twice, if not three times about whether you can really afford to change, really justify the cost or whether you are better off putting that money towards some bigger, more life-changing goal than trying to eke out a bit more fun from very modest source materials.

Reply to
fishman

food for thought... maybe a cheaper boring car and saving for the furture might be the answer as i am 26. do like the idea of a mess around car though. starting to think a bit like the BM isn't really the car to mess about with as it can be a bit costly.

i was thinking maybe get something from each end of the scale? like a 1.4 diesel 206 at 35 quid a year tax and maybe £1000-1500 quids worth of MX5 for when the sun is out, could probably run both for not a lot more than what the 328 costs me. also if i decide the having 2 cars is a bit more hassle i could always sell the MX5 and not lose a lot, but if i mess with the BM and change my mind it'll probably be worthless. not going to rush into any car buying till my brain can decide what i feel is best for me.

Reply to
Vamp

I know a girl who has a 1.4 HDi 206. I'm not sure what year it is, but it's high spec SE or something with climate and stuff. Anyway last time I went in it, the fuel computer reckoned 61mpg, and she only drives it like 2 miles a day, part through town, and very very rarely goes on long runs. Now and again she drives her and all her mates to Hull to go shopping. So about

45-50 miles and it's always 4 or 5 up, and then comes home with the boot, back seat, their knees, the footwells all crammed with shopping bags hehe!

That's not bad in my book, it probably never gets warm, the climate is always on, along with the A/C obviously, and she doesn't drive that gently. Ok she doesn't exactly drive as me, but she does rev it a bit. It's never gone wrong either, at all. I think it might be a 'Sport' actually with half the option book thrown at it now I think about it, cos I'm sure it has the GTi bumpers and stuff. I think it's a 53 plate, and she's had it from new. She'll probably not change it till it starts having elderly car problems.

Reply to
DanB

it's totally boring but i could use it for work and fill up like once a month in one of them lol and 35 a year tax doesn't break the bank plus insurance is like under £300 for me even with my previous. they are a crappy little car but probably one of the cheapest crappy little cars and i don't do long journeys, might just get one and think about the MX5 for a bit would save a bit in just a few months.

Reply to
Vamp

Well, the 'Sport' models have GTi 138 looks and they're are bit lower and stiffer heh. The 206 is a fun little handler, well, my XSi was, and you can get the little HDi remapped hehe, I think it goes to 90ish bhp and 200nm, which isn't bad at all. I reckon it would be alright, I mean, you could do much worse. At least in the bends it'll be a laugh, and you'll get the slow car fun of trying to maintain momentum hehe!

Reply to
DanB

Bloody hell, you're even almost tempting me into getting something like that. Though ages back I vaguely looked researched 206 HDIs and the figures seemed to say that the 90bhp 2.0 ones were virtually no different, mpg-wise, to the 1.4s. Maybe the 1.4s are better on fuel on tiny journeys like that, but overall (40 mile round trip/day commute) methinks a 2 litre one would probably be the better bet, and when caned a bit, possibly slightly better. And probably cheaper to buy as it's the less modern engine of the two....

Reply to
AstraVanMann

Well it wouldn't feel as light footed in the bends, cos I imagine that big derv lump is quite heavy. But of course, if you just wanna be economical, you're not gonna care about that. The only thing I could say against my 206 was that we did a LOT of miles to Leeds and back when I was on treatment, and it would've been awesome to have cruise control, especially at night on the way home. The 206 was never offered with CC though, not even the 180. The CC was a godsend on the Europe trip, especially on the way home, cos I had to concentrate on the film we were watching on my laptop as well, and occasionally consume snacks/drinks.

Reply to
DanB

Why not just get an MX5 with a hard top for the winter and forget about the

206? It'll cost less to pay for the extra fuel in the MX5 than it'll cost you for depreciation, tax, insurance and maintenance to run the 206.
Reply to
Homer

That's not a bad idea. But of course, he'd never have the 5 seat use, or the cheap tax (of course over a year of motoring that is a minimal concern), cheaper running - but as you say, this would be blotted out by tax/insurance/routine servicing and consumables, tyres etc.

The MX5 will be ok on fuel though I'd have thought, but he couldn't afford to have it off the road, for a work POV, unless he can get lifts. I think he was thinking a project MX5 wasn't he, with a £1k-1.5k MX5? Or can good ones be had for that? But I got the impression it was a project, replace worn bits with upgrades (that'll probably be cheaper than the genunine Mazda parts from the odd price DougP has told me heh!), and generally tinker around, maybe new seals/gasket(s) in the engine an stuff, or any other bits you can renew in your garage to make it like new :-)

Reply to
DanB

basically the 206 would be the daily run about to work going out with mates car that i wouldn't have to worry a lot about and the MX5 would be the mess about car. i guess they do cancel each other out but it would be cheaper than driving something fast every day plus this way i could tinker. i'm well tempted by the 206 but might keep the MX5 as a second idea, if insurance is cheap enough on a limited millege policy i might really consider it.

Reply to
Vamp

Well small DERV cars are always gonna be in demand now, especially the cheap tax ones, so it'd be worth looking after the 206 if for it's resale when say, the MX5 is finished and you're happy to drive it to work and stuff. Probably a good chance you'll do that I'd have said, 'cos it'd be much more fun to drive, and driven gently, surely they'll do 35mpg?

Reply to
DanB

my MK1 MR2 used to do bout 34mpg and that was with me ragging the bollocks out of it

Reply to
Vamp

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