I'm seriously starting to feel the pinch recently with my car, I put it into an independant specialists for a new clutch yesterday as the old one feels a bit saggy and sometimes I get a judder through it, I also asked them to check the handbrake as despite a main dealer Inspection 2 it still wasn't working right on one side of the car.
The garage were excellent and called me within an hour to say that they think that I'm being premature with the clutch but that they've looked at the rear brakes and they need replacing completely, new discs, handbrake shoes (it was totally non-operational on one side of the car) and a recommended new set of brake pads as the ones that were on were very cheap. I got the whole lot done and I've noticed the car does seem to brake a little better now, and the handbrake works correctly, which is a novelty for me. :-)
However, they've checked the rest of the car whilst it's in, and for the MOT it's going to need new front wishbone rear bushes, new brake lines from the front right to the rear, and new rear suspension top mounts. Total cost of all of that work will come to around £500, plus the cost of an MOT, it's going to be an expensive month! :-(
Oh, whilst it was in he also mentioned that my front brakes were worn but still serviceable, apparently they're fitted with very cheap quality components, which came as a suprise to me as I put it in at another (no longer recommended) local garage recently and asked for OEM fit replacement front brakes. I'm not a happy bunny!
Anyway, there's no particular point to this post, I just wanted to ramble about how unfair it is that everything seems to always go wrong at once! :-)
Actually, now that I think about it, Aprilia may be able to help with this one - The guy at the garage said that he has M3 wishbone bushes available which can be fitted to lesser models, he believes that they will prove to be more durable in use than the standard ones. Do you think it's worth trying this or could it have adverse affects on the geometry of my front wheel alignment given that the bushes aren't meant to go onto a 323Ci wishbone?
Blue
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Scrap it. You'll get fifty quid, and you can buy another old banger for £300 with 12 months MOT ticket.
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However, they've checked the rest of the car whilst it's in, and for the MOT it's going to need new front wishbone rear bushes, new brake lines from the front right to the rear, and new rear suspension top mounts. Total cost of all of that work will come to around £500, plus the cost of an MOT, it's going to be an expensive month! :-(
Who were the garage that did this inspection for you, is this the same place you are going to have it MoT'd? I would take it to an MoT-only place to get an unbiased test done. Hopefully some of the items may get flagged up as advisorys rather than failures, then you can have the less important items replaced later and spread the cost over several pay packets.
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As it happens they are where I've decided to get it MOTd but they wouldn't have known that when i took it in as they're aware that I live 30 miles away!
To be honest, I know the work needs doing as he described the symptoms that the worn suspension components would exhibit and my car fits with his description exactly, right down to the last knock and thump, I guess I've just been tuning them out over the last 6 months!
Fortunately I've just had a decent pay rise which I will be putting towards running the car rather than spending on anything else at the moment.
If the car needs any other major work for the test (such as a Cat for example) then I think it will be time to chop it in for a replacement whilst it still has a few weeks left on the test, i've never spent money to keep a car on the road before normally electing to change them every 10 - 12 months instead, but I really like this car so am prepared to leave my normal comfort zone!
Blue
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Maybe look at it like this.
For 500 notes or so you are going to get a new motor that you know personally as opposed to spending the same on a banger that you don't know.........
dvd
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Oh I appreciate that there's huge logic in the "better the devil you know" argument. Although if I chopped it in I wouldn't spend 500 notes on a replacement, I'd get about £3,500 trade in for the BMW with a few weeks left on the MOT and I'd add another £1K or something to that and get into something a little younger.
In my more crazy/drunken/intoxicated moments I've often fancied an MG ZT 2.5 V6.
Maybe I'd better get the Beemer fixed before I do something silly....
Blue
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Maybe I'd better get the Beemer fixed before I do something silly....
>>Can often be seen bombing around Sunderland in my little blue Fiesta! I'm a full time student and work part time to pay for the car and stuff, usual student interests apply.
??????
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Nothing wrong with the MG ZT. Still miss mine after two years of fault free motoring. No rattles or creaks. A car with lots of character. Always scores well in motoring surveys as well! :)
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MLC - Very true, I remember you being very happy with yours, however, you owned it whilst MGR were still trading. My mate's MGTF was off the road for 5 months following an accident, he needed some components to help replace the front end!
I may still be tempted into a pre-facelift one as a next car if I don't keeo the Beemer more than another year...
Blue
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You have to be drunk to stomach the cost of a 90k miles cambelt change on a 2.5 kv6 MG ZT...................
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I would have thought you'd lose quite a bit in the buying and selling of your cars if you're changing your car every 10-12 months? i.e. in a short space of time you often lose a bit if you re-sell.
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To be honest, I know the work needs doing as he described the symptoms that the worn suspension components would exhibit and my car fits with his description exactly, right down to the last knock and thump, I guess I've just been tuning them out over the last 6 months!
I had the same thing with my Galant a few weeks ago. Took it in for its service and MOT. They said "it needs new tie rod ends on both sides" and I thought, "yeah, thinking about it, it probably does"
You don't notice when things wear-out gradually, but when they get fixed suddenly you really notice the difference. My car handles like a dream now (in as much as it's possible for a large mushy Japanese saloon to handle like a dream).
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Henry - Good point, I haven't updated my profile for a while, it should now read:-
"Can often be seen bombing between filling stations in my little blue 3 Series, I'm a full time student who for some bizzare reason took on a full time job alongside my course, oh wait, I know why I did it, greed. :-)"
I have to admit that I'm quite looking forward to noticing an improvement in handling as I've often felt that the car tends to "wander" a bit on motorways, and braking when on a full lock at low speed produces noticeable pull in the steering wheel as the road wheels pull on the wishbone just at the moment the car comes to a stop.
Blue
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"Can often be seen bombing between filling stations in my little blue 3 Series, I'm a full time student who for some bizzare reason took on a full time job alongside my course, oh wait, I know why I did it, greed. :-)"
That all makes perfect sense. Keep taking the courses ;-)
Re replacing the cat. I was very surprised at the relatively low cost of a replacement cat (at a main dealer so assumed OE) for my Mondeo at about £200 for the box & £15 for gaskets so all might be lost even for a BM - IF you need one.
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Surely it can't only be worth £3500 tradein? It's an E46, right?
And lol @ the comments on your profile :p
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Unfortunately, yep, an E46 like mine with my sort of mileage would fetch about £4,999 - £5,499 on a forecourt, by the time a dealership has added a profit margin it really is only worth about £3,500 as a part-ex. Sad but true :-(
As for the cambelt change cost, that's a good point, at least that's one expense I don't have with the Beemer. :-)
Blue
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When I read posts like this, I'm always amazed how expensive vehicle maintenance seems to be in the UK. The front suspension bushes on a BMW E46 are basically considered wear and tear items in Germany (actually a continual point of criticism by the motoring magazines there). You might want to consider a short trip to Germany though, blast up and down the Autobahn to try out the capabilities of the car;-), get the work done at a franchised dealership for considerably less than 500 quid and then drive home. This would not only save money but give you an adrenalin blast as well.
I would stick with the car though. You'll be pushed to find anything that drives like a well set up, well maintained E46. Get the bushes changed and prepare to be amazed at the difference.
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Yeah, I've sort of decided to keep the car for the foreseeable, I had it out in the afternoon sun today and it looked a treat, and was a joy to drive home from work with the windows down and a lovely burble coming from the exhaust. :-)
BTW, the £500 was for bushes, both rear suspension top mounts and new brake pipes from front to rear. The bushes themselves are only costing about £155.
Blue
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Anyway, there's no particular point to this post, I just wanted to ramble about how unfair it is that everything seems to always go wrong at once! :-)>>
This statement, for me, defines the difference between running a banger and a non-banger. My old Mondy is a banger - and I just wish that everything would go wrong at the same time so that I could make the easy decision to throw it away! It was a new battery last month, new tyres this month, new cambelt/service in two months time and goodness only knows what the MoT test will throw up in August.
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