I finally bought one.....

Just because something has been superseded, it doesn't necessarily make it 's*it'

-- JackH

That last statment was meant more of a joke than a serious comment (should of added a smily ;)) Was merely defending the fantastic 4 pot engine used in the old M3 drooooool

Really? Always liked the E30 beemers, and a 318i shouldnt be too bad on insurance. Any idea of groupings. I smell a daily driver coming on.... :)

Er, is it broken ?

That's a RIDICULOUSLY low time, for a car with that much power/torque !

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHA...

Never heard of it!

Well at a fraction over 16 stones (couldn't believe it myself!) and only

Peter

Elastic band transmission? Are we talking some proprietary form of CVT here?

What about the diabolic design of Metro gearboxes (well the ones fitted to K-series engines anyway) - wasn't the crown wheel held to the differential with a very strong glue? Hence why so many metros are advertised with faulty gearboxes!

Peter

But there's still profit to think about...

Peter

And in other news AstraVanMan is quoted as saying:

Bet your taller lyin down ;)

I believe it was called DAF Variomatic or somesuch. Spinny wheels throw springy weights that gradually tighten against rubber bands. 3xx volvos were the only ones to get it AFAIK. My grandparents had several over the years. They were horrid. I believe later ones had steel bands.

Douglas

Douglas Payne waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

best thing about a Daf Variomatic was they'd go the same speed in reverse as forwards. Not a high speed, but 70 in reverse in amusing.

Pete M

Yeah but who cares... I'd have a nice shiny car ;-)

-- JackH

Heh!

Get something with a bit of class like an A6 Avant TDi!

Peter

Yup... awful cars, whatever the transmission fitted, mind.

Dunno... I do know that the A series combined engine and gearbox equipped earlier ones were bloody awful in this respect though.

-- JackH

Tempting!

A HDI Multispace makes far more sense though, unfortunately.

-- JackH

Aye.

Well make sure its an 'iS', cos the 8v ones are a bit tepid by comparison.

Erm, probably around 13 I should think, but bear in mind some insurers love BMWs compared to other manufacturers in the same group; my mint 525i SE (group 15) was less to insure than my Ecotec Cav SRi (group 12)!

-- JackH I smell a daily driver coming

heh! Alright for some......

Peter

Thats the baby.

Two expanding wheels/cones that infinatley varied the gearing as you accelerated, until you were at the max gearing available.

Basically you had forward and reverse I think, and reverse could be as fast as forward. :)

Daf used it in several of their own small saloons/estates as well, before hand.