Anybody want to buy a one off HDi estate?

[waue1978]

Dropped the car off this morning to get the air con problem fixed. At 2:30pm it was still a "work in progress" as the guy was trying to work out the "whys". Used to love this car, but I'm slowly starting to go off it with all these little quirks.

Just last week Mr Wasp plugged his Pug Planet in to turn on the door card puddle lights & although the BSI recognised them & enabled them, we still have no bloody light coming from any of them - & nobody seems to have any idea why! Last week I totted up what I've spent in maintenance over the past year & a bit & the total was over £1000! Plus I'll still have to pay out for anti-roll bar bushes & subframe bushes for the next MOT. Probably not a good idea to add the cost of all the upgrades to that.

Especially depressing as both the cars I gave my parents have been exceptional over the past 18months. Using Mum's Mondeo at the mo & apart from having to change a resistor that controls the heating a couple of days after we got it, my Dad's 523i hasn't missed a beat - & still returns over 35mpg on a decent run! Worked out what fuel I'd use over a year the other day & found that it would cost me £600 a year more to run my Dad's straight 6 Beemer than it does my diesel Pug, but the Pug is currently using up it's fuel savings (& then some) on maintenance.

If the damn thing doesn't start behaving over the next few weeks it'll be getting replaced by this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEDWX:IT

[Gary406]

2.2 petrol and auto

defo a fuel guzzler.

its a shame on the 406 mate you have got it looking very nice. personally i would stick with the 406 and get it sorted.

after all . which car doesnt have niggly faults. so the beamer you replace it with could end up costing you even more to maintain.

[rwb]

Registered Feb 2001
Expensive tax from March 2001


£2500 seems expensive though. I've been watching early E46 328i and they're winable for £1200

[wasp]

[
Just last week Mr Wasp plugged his Pug Planet in to turn on the door card puddle lights & although the BSI recognised them & enabled them, we still have no bloody light coming from any of them - & nobody seems to have any idea why!

just an idea,maybe a fuse needs to be added/replaced to one of the bsi's fuse slots..they are standard blade fuses but ive no idea what fuse does what.
just need to look behind your mainfuseboard to see bsi and check
any joy with cruise stalk location plug thing we looked for?
i will check and photo mine to show where.., also ill plug planet in to see if it was listed in bsi.and not just engine ecu
Btw i still dont believe you rear subframe have buggered!!!
Dave

[waue1978]

2.2 petrol and auto

defo a fuel guzzler.

its a shame on the 406 mate you have got it looking very nice. personally i would stick with the 406 and get it sorted.

after all . which car doesnt have niggly faults. so the beamer you replace it with could end up costing you even more to maintain.

Based on the reliability of my Dad's 523i over the past year & how much fuel he uses, we would have been £400 better off with his Beemer than we were with our Pug. If I was going to get another 5 series, I'd want an auto as it's so much nicer when sat in the queue of traffic after dropping the older boy off at school.

Registered Feb 2001
Expensive tax from March 2001


£2500 seems expensive though. I've been watching early E46 328i and they're winable for £1200

That's why I would specifically go for an X plate. They did the facelift & improved engines in 2000 so you have a very narrow window of getting the better model without the emissions based tax. Even the diesel models are stung by that now. When the emissions based tax started, 530ds & 525ds were cheaper on the newer rate, but because the government keeps "tweaking" the emissions tax, but leaving the older rate alone it's now cheaper to get an older one.

£2500 not bad for a facelift model with that low mileage. Pre-facelift will probably save £500 on the buying price though so I wouldn't turn down a W or pre-face X plate if it was cheap enough, but can't go older than W because of my private plate. Wouldn't touch an E46 personally as it's too small. Drove a 2002 318i a couple of years ago & my knees were very close to the underside of the dash & the rear had no legroom. Not to mention the pathetic boot - & this was a Touring!

just an idea,maybe a fuse needs to be added/replaced to one of the bsi's fuse slots..they are standard blade fuses but ive no idea what fuse does what.
just need to look behind your mainfuseboard to see bsi and check
any joy with cruise stalk location plug thing we looked for?
i will check and photo mine to show where.., also ill plug planet in to see if it was listed in bsi.and not just engine ecu
Btw i still dont believe you rear subframe have buggered!!!
Dave

It's only the bushes & they said they're not too bad, but reckon after another year of our speed bumps they will be shot. Worth checking for that fuse, but to be honest, the thought of getting that close to the BSI is a bit scary (fear of what damage I may do). Can it be checked while it's still in the car?

Not checked for the cruise plug yet as I've got that lined up for my 4 week hols from next week as hopefully I'll be able to get the rest of the required bits from Silverlakes. If she behaves I may even treat her to the chrome ringed dial front you left with me. Don't think the LED/bulb thing will make a difference with that bit - should work fine once clipped to my clocks.

[sirwiggum]

2.2 petrol and auto

defo a fuel guzzler.

its a shame on the 406 mate you have got it looking very nice. personally i would stick with the 406 and get it sorted.

after all . which car doesnt have niggly faults. so the beamer you replace it with could end up costing you even more to maintain.

Based on the reliability of my Dad's 523i over the past year & how much fuel he uses, we would have been £400 better off with his Beemer than we were with our Pug. If I was going to get another 5 series, I'd want an auto as it's so much nicer when sat in the queue of traffic after dropping the older boy off at school.

That's why I went for an auto. Living in the city and a 30 minute commute across town, stopping and starting, an autobox makes it all the more bearable. The 406 was lurching and jerking on the clutch just as you dabble a tiny bit of throttle, made the commute hell.

I'm hoping the Honda works out similarly that repair costs will offset the fuel use. Obviously going to need bits and pieces here and there, as well as regular servicing. Will see how it works out.