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General => General discussion => Non-Golf gallery => Topic started by: bobbarley on 08 April 2012, 21:56
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My mate and I spent most of Saturday going around all the local garages looking for a car to use for our rally. Unfortunately no luck, cars for £333 just don't seem to show up in car lots, probably because they are worth nearly that in scrap value. Plus they take up valuable space that could be used for more expensive cars. We even tried main stream dealers in case they had received any part ex's they wanted to get rid off. More bad luck, they're not allowed to sell them to the public because they are legally obliged to offer a warranty, and they don't want to.
We thought about going to a car auction, but they're mainly in the week and neither of us wanted to waste a day off work. That left of course, the good old Bay of E. We did a local search for cars up to £400, few nice cars popped up, one in particular seemed to tick all the boxes tough. We popped over today to take a look it, an hour later we parted with our crispy £333 and have the below to show for it.
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/photo2.jpg)
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/photo5.jpg)
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/photo6.jpg)
1995 BMW 520i Tourer Automatic
159k on the clock
16" alloys
Tow bar
Climate control
Power steering and ABS
Electric windows
CD player
Front/rear fog lights
Sport/winter modes
MOT until June 12
Two tyres have recently been replaced and the other two have a good few thousand miles left in them. The spare is a full size 16" alloy with decent tyre. New front brakes. Drives tight as a drum, feels like a saloon when hammering it around the corners. We would have preferred a manual, but beggars can't be choosers. The auto box isn't perfect, but it does the job. As the rally involves 2,500 miles of driving, I think we'll be thankful we don't have to change gear! It came with a bit of service history, not too much, but enough.
Now the bad points. There's some rust on the front passenger door and both rear arches, but not enough to fail an MOT over. The front windscreen has a huge crack in it though, so needs to be replaced as soon as possible. That's it really.
Immediate plans are for us to get the windscreen replaced, then give it a service. For £333 we're really pleased with it!
Please look here for more information on the rally and why we're doing it - https://www.facebook.com/teamgraysonrally
Please donate here, you'll be helping change lives - http://www.action.org.uk/sponsor/teamgraysonrally
Our route for the rally - http://tinyurl.com/d4bl3nf
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Looks a cracking buy :afro:
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Inside
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/photo3.jpg)
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how far are you travelling in it :smiley:
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how far are you travelling in it :smiley:
About 2,500 miles in total, eek!
Here's the route - http://tinyurl.com/d4bl3nf
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how far are you travelling in it :smiley:
About 2,500 miles in total, eek!
Here's the route - http://tinyurl.com/d4bl3nf
loved my old 5series if it wasnt for fuel prices i would still have it :sad:
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First result. Just spoke to a guy breaking an E34 5 series on eBay. He's going to let me have the rear offside light cluster for free to replace our cracked and broken one :afro:
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Looks great!! :cool:
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Love this! :cool: And it's all for a good cause!
Do you have to sell/donate the car when you get over there??
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Do you have to sell/donate the car when you get over there??
It's up to us really. Some people are scrapping their car and flying back, others are bringing their car home. We're going to bring the car back then decide what to do with it after :smiley:
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Good stuff Mr barley what a bargain :cool: :cool:
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I'll give you £334 for it when you're done with it :wink: :grin:
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First of many bits.
Free rear cluster supplied by a local eBay seller, banshees11 (http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/banshees11/?_trksid=p4340.l2559). don't hesitate to use him, he's a top guy :afro:
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/rearlight.jpg)
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First of many bits.
Free rear cluster supplied by a local eBay seller, banshees11 (http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/banshees11/?_trksid=p4340.l2559). don't hesitate to use him, he's a top guy :afro:
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/rearlight.jpg)
How did you blag that? Did you pull the 'but it's for charity' card?
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He was breaking a whole 5 series. I enquired about how much he wanted for the light. He said to make him an offer. I sent him a link to the rally Facebook page and said that the car was for charity and I didn't know the going price. He said I could have it for free :smiley:
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Buying a few stickers to pimp the beemer up a bit :grin:
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTI5WDYyNw==/$(KGrHqIOKokE5lKJ2jf9BOndl439)Q~~60_12.JPG)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA3OFgxMzgy/$(KGrHqJ,!pgE8Wq6G6S0BPW-4se3FQ~~60_12.JPG)
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my dad used to have the 530i Touring one of these.. very very good motor
just be hopeful that you don't have to change the oil gasket! 13 hours labour!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guyfrankland/sets/72157625506486862/with/5223126909/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/guyfrankland/sets/72157625506486862/with/5223126909/)
they're heavy though... are you going to strip anything out before you go to save your fuel costs?
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I want to strip it down a bit, my mate thinks it would effect insurance as it would count as "modification". I think he's talking rubbish :smiley:
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We had the chance go have a good look around the car today.
Rear brakes are worn - Enough to last the rally though
All bushes are worn - Again it'll last until we're done with it
Biggest problem though...
Two of the 6 spark plug cylinders are full of water and oil. Looks like slow gasket head and piston ring leaks :undecided:
We've checked and it's running in all 6. Plan is to clean it all out later in the year and go for a big drive. Then after we'll see if they fill up again or not.
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head gaskets are common on these but easy to fix :smiley:
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Almost forgot, rear part of the exhaust is rusted extremely badly and needs replacing for the MOT.
Head gasket easy to do you say?
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Almost forgot, rear part of the exhaust is rusted extremely badly and needs replacing for the MOT.
Head gasket easy to do you say?
mine was a 535i an it took my wee mate an hour an a bit to strip it an parts wer not a fortune :smiley:
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We got an e-mail from Autoglass today, they're going to replace our cracked windscreen for free! :afro:
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We got an e-mail from Autoglass today, they're going to replace our cracked windscreen for free! :afro:
nice one!!
have a look at this months (May) Total BMW magazine, page 34, there's a feature on a banger rally project for a £150 1989 520i which is taking part in 'staples2naples'.
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We got an e-mail from Autoglass today, they're going to replace our cracked windscreen for free! :afro:
Result!
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http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/e34/520i_(M50)_SAL/Engine/Engine,_general/
some reason it doesnt show up R+R head, they arent too bad but its always best to have the instructions i find.
I do have the BMW TIS (the dealer one, not the online one) at my disposal, i could send you a copy if need be. just give me a shout
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Just checked your donation page, £500 from autoglass :shocked: :shocked:
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Indeed, we're after corporate sponsors at the moment. Autoglass are replacing the windscreen on the Beemer as well, free of charge.
We spoke to eTyres the other day, they're kindly replacing the tyre on our spare with a new one, also for free! Weirdly the car uses special R390 tyres, that is they're 390mm, 15.35"!! Only Dunlop make that sort of tyre, £160 each! :shocked:
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We spoke to eTyres the other day, they're kindly replacing the tyre on our spare with a new one, also for free! Weirdly the car uses special R390 tyres, that is they're 390mm, 15.35"!! Only Dunlop make that sort of tyre, £160 each! :shocked:
They did have this stupid idea of using metric tyres for a while, that is why so many have switched to 15" or 16" alloys.
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-BMW-ALLOYS-E34-5-SERIES-SET-5-CENTRE-CAPS-AND-TYRES-/261011367418?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CPlat_Gen%3AE34#ht_569wt_1265
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Nice bit of progress today!
Autoglass came to visit and kindly replaced our cracked windscreen for free. Top guys! :afro:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/471405_422977667723975_1954076464_o.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/459038_422977797723962_354462284575514_1388325_37062230_o.jpg)
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?
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Lol, that was Alistair I believe, I wasn't there when they did it.
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Yeah, we could have normal or with a green tint at the top. We went for tint as it's more expensive and we weren't paying!
We've got to MOT it this month. Got a sinking feeling... :undecided:
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Well the beemer is taxed and insured, going in for her MOT and service on Wednesday.
Today we decided to take her out for a good run to see how she would perform. We set off from Crewe, Cheshire, and headed towards Wales for some exciting roads. We headed over to the Evo Triangle, some amazing scenery around there! We did a circuit of the triangle each, so much fun! Then on the way back we went down the horse shoe pass.
All in all we covered 183 miles and the car didn't miss a beat. On the road the steering is responsible and there's good feedback. We tried throwing it around some corners much faster than we should, no understeer or oversteer, it just going around or slides completely. For a big fat estate it's really impressive, there's no body roll at all.
Engine and gearbox performed fine. It's an automatic so obviously not perfect, yet was more than enough to propel us around the twisty roads with vigour! We did a LOT of over taking and again, she took it in her stride.
The best part is after all that driving we got out feeling like we'd barely done any distance at all. She just eats up the miles, the perfect touring car!
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/527755_433661246655617_2061544756_n.jpg)
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Looks great mate :cool:
Sell the Golf and keep that! :tongue:
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I did consider it. It's not fast enough though and has no ISO points for a child seat. I hate automatics too as a general rule.
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I did consider it. It's not fast enough though and has no ISO points for a child seat. I hate automatics too as a general rule.
Seatbelt seats are just as good as ISOFIX; you just need to know how to fit them properly. Linzi has a child seat safety day on Thursday so we'll get the full info :nerd:
Its quite scary how many people fit the seats incorrectly :sad: or are unaware that the seat is not even suitable for their car
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Using the seat belts absolutely did my head in, I was fuming after a few attempts. Seat belt just isn't long enough and getting it in and out was a nightmare. Every time you try to get it round it locks then will only retract not pull out.
ISO is at least a million times quicker and easier. Plus it seems safer, taking no risks :smiley:
A BMW Touring is a serious contender for my next car though, it's only competition is an A4 Avant.
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Look at the A6's too, more legroom and available in diesel if you so wish :wink:
I'll be adding ISOFix to the Passat because it does make things easier.
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Cheers Jay will look at them too :smiley:
For sure. It takes me about 5 seconds to pop Myla into the car with isofox, just clips in and it's done. When the weather is awful it's a god sent being able to have her in the car and gone in seconds.
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Our child seat comes out and clips into the frame for the push chair, so we needed to be able to get it in and out with ease. Isofix is definitely the best baby related thing we've bought to date, even Jules agreed :grin:
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We spoke to eTyres the other day, they're kindly replacing the tyre on our spare with a new one, also for free! Weirdly the car uses special R390 tyres, that is they're 390mm, 15.35"!! Only Dunlop make that sort of tyre, £160 each! :shocked:
They did have this stupid idea of using metric tyres for a while, that is why so many have switched to 15" or 16" alloys.
my old man had exactly this problem...
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Well the beemer is taxed and insured, going in for her MOT and service on Wednesday.
Today we decided to take her out for a good run to see how she would perform. We set off from Crewe, Cheshire, and headed towards Wales for some exciting roads. We headed over to the Evo Triangle, some amazing scenery around there! We did a circuit of the triangle each, so much fun! Then on the way back we went down the horse shoe pass.
All in all we covered 183 miles and the car didn't miss a beat. On the road the steering is responsible and there's good feedback. We tried throwing it around some corners much faster than we should, no understeer or oversteer, it just going around or slides completely. For a big fat estate it's really impressive, there's no body roll at all.
Engine and gearbox performed fine. It's an automatic so obviously not perfect, yet was more than enough to propel us around the twisty roads with vigour! We did a LOT of over taking and again, she took it in her stride.
The best part is after all that driving we got out feeling like we'd barely done any distance at all. She just eats up the miles, the perfect touring car!
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/527755_433661246655617_2061544756_n.jpg)
those BMW Tourers are brilliant... my old man had a 530i Touring on similar mileage and it was rock solid... the only thing that ended was the sump gasket going as that needs silly amounts of labour to change it..
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Christian from eTyres popped over today with the new tyre for the BMW, making us two very happy bunnies!
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/380666_435016216520120_1337921665_n.jpg)
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I did consider it. It's not fast enough though and has no ISO points for a child seat. I hate automatics too as a general rule.
Seatbelt seats are just as good as ISOFIX; you just need to know how to fit them properly. Linzi has a child seat safety day on Thursday so we'll get the full info :nerd:
Its quite scary how many people fit the seats incorrectly :sad: or are unaware that the seat is not even suitable for their car
Have you paid for this safety day? Lorna can show you how to fit correctly FOC??
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I did consider it. It's not fast enough though and has no ISO points for a child seat. I hate automatics too as a general rule.
Seatbelt seats are just as good as ISOFIX; you just need to know how to fit them properly. Linzi has a child seat safety day on Thursday so we'll get the full info :nerd:
Its quite scary how many people fit the seats incorrectly :sad: or are unaware that the seat is not even suitable for their car
Have you paid for this safety day? Lorna can show you how to fit correctly FOC??
No its a free service offered by our council :tongue: And as she works for the council..... :grin: :grin:
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I'm happy to say that the BMW passed it's MOT on Wednesday with flying colours, not bad for a £333 17 year old car with 158k on the clock!
The only issue was a loose hand brake with the mechanic sorted for us. Only minors were slightly corroded brake lines, however they've been on the last few years MOT's, mechanic said it was nothing to worry about, very minor.
He serviced the car as well and found no issues. Cleared out all the standing oil when he replaced the spark plugs. Said the oil was nothing to worry about, common with high milers like this one. Brakes are also sound, everything is as it should be.
All of this done for free by the excellent people at Grosvenor Garage, Crewe. Telephone 01270 662505 for excellent service :afro:
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This really has shown that people are still willing to help out a charity and it's great to see! :cool:
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The vinyls are going onto the car this weekend, it's going to look great. Photo shoot being done on Sunday too, so pictures to follow :smiley:
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Unfortunately we were rained off for the majority of the day. We got some vinyls onto the car but not as many as I'd have liked :sad:
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A cheeky shot from our 1am vinyl sticking session from last night :grin:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/530228_450096535012088_2098976414_n.jpg)
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had a nose round earlier, looks very clean for the amount you paid! :wink:
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Few shots of our charitymobile.
We got her onto the rollers. She has 150bhp when she was new, now down to 128bhp :sad:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s720x720/547911_450541058300969_684127293_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/424214_10151343906747785_1092953575_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/580891_450539631634445_1703992132_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/556973_450539704967771_1128283147_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/394744_450539681634440_1099488296_n.jpg)
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Went for a photoshoot with the car earlier. Just a cheeky shot I took with the iPhone :smiley:
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/bobbarley/beemer.jpg)
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Sad times, the Beemer is now on eBay, 100% of the proceeds going to charity.
Please take a look and consider the opportunity to own this fantastic car :)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/230858514569?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_514wt_1139
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She went for £540 :smiley:
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She went for £540 :smiley:
Cool :smiley: