A colleague is offering me one of these - 2002, 130k (km), lots of goodies. It´s the automatic apparently and has all the toys.
It´s a bit early for us to get rid of the Astra (we´were going to wait til next Autumn), which is still running perfectly, but I thought I would have a look at it at least. Think it´s the 120bhp engine. We´re having a play in it tomorrow.
He´s offering it to us at about 2.5k less than comparable examples on mobile.de (German autotrader) and it will come in at about 10k (euros) less than I was thinking of investing in our next car - which will buy alot of red wine, pay for a trip to Oz etc etc.
Looks quite a lot bigger inside than the Astra estate.
Plus the steering wheel is on the right (left hand) side...!
Anyone drive one of these, got any thoughts? I´m not expecting the last word in diesel technology, but maybe that´s no bad thing (thinking of potential common rail expensive repairs....sorry Cheddar). As I´m not the most enthusiastic of drivers, a biggish lazy diesel wouldn´t bother me that much.
I´m a wee bit concerned about future electrical fraility, and the fact that he´s not the most sympathetic of drivers.
His reason for sale is that a mate has offered him a Jag XJ that he really fancies and would like a quick sale etc etc.
Thanks all for any advice,
Barchettaman
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PS I´ve checked HJ´s CBC list BTW.
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IIRC, the Omega is pretty sound and well screwed together. No direct experience, but if you're buying an estate, presumably you want to lug stuff around, and I remember being surprised when comparing internal capacities in my daughter's Uni carpark (as you do) that it had a very high loading floor, in contrast to our (then) GS's almost ground-level affair. If that doesn't bother you, then it could be a decent buy. Mind you, I saw a Toyota Camry estate (3-litre, all the toys) on Ebay for under a grand recently...
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I would be very keen, except there was only a BMW 2.5TDi or a GM 2.2DTi, the latter to the best of my research was only available with manual transmission, and that was a deal breaker for me when I wanted a late diesel Omega Auto. Maybe they were available on the continent?
Also, what trim spec is it, they increase in desirability the higher the spec.
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Not sure. I´ll report back tomorrow after we´ve had a spin around in it.
I´ll check the boot out too, although with the roof box we´re pretty much sorted with the Astra as things stand for lugging capacity.
Am pretty sure it´s an auto.
Upsolute will chip it to 145BHP too.... :-)
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Had my Omega 2.5CDX, just ovewr 2 years now & it's proven to be excellent value for money, as well as a fine car. As you mention lots toys, they're certainly well speced vehicles.
OK, it's petrol, so mid-late 20mpg, isn't great, but then it'll be 10years & 140k this year. So only real problem will be finding another, as good & genuine to replace it with.
There are verrrrry few GOOD estates around, so you could be getting yourself a good deal.
& I'd have had an Astra estate, instead, if I could have put up with the poor seats. Omeggfa on my model are somewhat better, but not perfect. The facelift model you're looking at has an improved design, too.
VB
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I had an Omega 2.5 from new and kept it for 9.5 years. Best car I've ever owned, and the oldest. It still drove like a new car when I traded it in for my Accord.
Despite what some people say about them, it was the most reliable car that I've owned. In the time I owned it I had three sets of tyres, one new battery, rear shock absorbers, silencer, two sets of front pads and a new copper pipe that had split and was connected somewhere to the mainifold.
Travelled all over France with it and it drove like a dream. Pity GM never replaced it with a RWD model.
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Right, well, we´ve had a spin in it.
There was a certain amount of ´wire crossage´ between me and the owner - it´s actually the 2.5 straight six diesel, in its lower state of tune (130 bhp). This lowish output combined with the heavy estate body and auto box means that it ain´t exactly a ball of fire - in fact the Astra (1.8 16v petrol) feels miles faster.
Nothing that a quick trip to Upsolute couldn´t sort out though (would bring it up to 173 brake).
Very high spec - cruise, Navi, individual climate zone thingies, nice ´melted Mars bar´ effect plastic wood.
Nice big boot (obviously) but as mentioned a high floor.
But it is a very comfy beast. Lovely driving position, big wide seats for ze Cherman bottoms, and at 140KMH it was ticking over at 2750 rpm - so relaxing. Very much a Brier pipe and slippers on wheels, IYKWIM.
Mrs Barchetta doesn´t like it though, as she wants an Octavia VRS next.
We´ll see.
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I have the 2.5 diesel auto, a great car. Lovely smooth box, very comfortable, great sound system. 40 MPG on a good run.
This is the BMW straight six turbo engine, chain drive to camshaft, no worries about belt changes. Also you access the oil filter from the top.
One of motorings best kept secrets. Keep it quiet, or everyone will want one
--
Alyn Beattie
I\'m sane, it\'s the rest of the world that\'s mad.
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Trouble with BMW's 2,5 diesel is the service interval which i believe is 4.5k miles
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Oil service interval was 5000miles on this Omega, but they could extend to 10,000 on later ones if the dealer used the fully synthetic GM oil. I had one of these in Elite guise and it was the best car I have owned.
I had a pair of microchips from a German company for about £40. Some companies only replace one chip, but there are two that should be done, one for fuelling and one for turbo. These cars also run like a dream on 50% cooking oil which means it will pay for itself in 4 years. If you get a chip for these, it is like you were dragging a weight which has suddenly been cut free.
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Can you remember which company Ashok?
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cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3200809...0
It was from ebay, I can't remember the seller, it wasn't this one, but looks a similar sort of thing.
The only bind is that you need the code numbers off both chips before you order the chips.
You need to remove the ECU from the car, and take it apart to do this. this takes about 30 mins and is a bit fiddly, you then need to do it again when you get the chips.
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Ok, I may interested in one of these.
Anyone know if the 2.5 bmw can be remapped, rather then tuned (which the 2 chips change is I presume)?
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Oil change is a ten minute job. Oil filter on top makes it very easy.
--
Alyn Beattie
I\'m sane, it\'s the rest of the world that\'s mad.
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Mrs Barchetta has decided it´s an old man´s car, and wants to wait til next autumn and get an Octavia vRS estate (with just a little prompting from me).
Thanks all for the advice. Roll on autumn 2008 ;-)
Regards,
Barchettaman
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