And another year rolls by. Just booked online with KwikFit @£30 on a day off next week. Will pass the time eating heart attack on a plate at the local Toby, which will make a change to the normal Flahavans porridge.
Surprisingly few miles this year, until I remembered that I was running the ex's daughter 's A3 Tdi for quite a while, whilst I hummed and haad about keeping it as a second car. Will check it over before then...lights, tyres, but all seems ok. Boringly reliable as usual, but then it's only 11 yo.
Just wait for something to go wrong now!
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E46 3 series, surely :) though I have to say even my 1988 E30 325 never had any issues at MOT time. Should have kept that car, they've shot up in value in the last few years. I sold it 4 years ago...
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Any petrol straight six BMW will be good and make a nice noise, 3 series ideally except by repute the 323.
Little svelte 330, even a diesel at a pinch, yum yum.
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Do it AC. Sell something and do it !
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I'm seriously thinking of a 6 pot E36 as my next bangernomics vehicle, get a nice 2003 320 or 325 for around 3 grand round my way. Fancy a change from my endless stream of Vauxhalls. Not thrilled by the prospect of a DMF, but pretty hard to avoid these days I suppose, on anything of 2 litres plus.
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Try a slusher before you buy, no DMF and with a proper engine they're great.
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I have no idea what the auto box is like on BMWs of my vintage, but the 6sp manual is a peach.
Not snickerty snick as on my Mk 1 Elise, but still near perfect ratios.
Showing my ignorance here but no idea if mine is a E36/46/56 or whether it has a DMF or not. All I know is that is sounds lovely, smooth as silk, goes like stink when I want, and is totally impractical for my current needs.
Looking at a Cupra 280 5 door hatch on my next day off. Only looking mind.
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Don't forget to take a baseball cap if you think you might test drive it. I think they're compulsory.
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I have a selection that would blow your Crocs off!
At what jaunty angle should I wear the aforementioned?
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Given to understand the convention is facing backwards. Not entirely certain though. Check at the dealership.
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My CA teacher friend once told me that the angle at which a baseball cap is worn, in degrees, detracts from the wearers IQ. If true, that puts a lot of back to front wearers into negative ville.
Which sounds about right
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The E Number for BMWs is like the mark for Escorts, Cortinas and the like, as in Mark 1, Mark II, etc.
E36 3-Series 91 - 98
E46 3- Series 98 - 2007
E56 No idea, I think you made that one up. The E46 was replaced by the E90
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 1 Apr 15 at 23:06
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Thanks for clarifying
The E56 begins in Nurnberg
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>> I have no idea what the auto box is like on BMWs of my vintage,
>> but the 6sp manual is a peach.
>> Not snickerty snick as on my Mk 1 Elise, but still near perfect ratios.
>> Showing my ignorance here but no idea if mine is a E36/46/56 or whether it
>> has a DMF or not.
To the best of my limited knowledge the 6 pot E46 cars gained a DMF on facelift (2002 I think), at the same time as the front indicator lenses start pointing upwards, rather than downwards, as they do on the pre-facelift. I appreciate that a DMF isn't guaranteed to break, and they're becoming very difficult to avoid.
Don't have any religious objections to slushboxes, provided they don't screw the economy too much; I'm still doing 25-30K most years, so better than 35 mpg with light footed driving is my target.
The successor to the E46 was the E90
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 2 Apr 15 at 11:03
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Mileage like that suggests a lot of time on motorways, where the difference between manual and locked-up auto is minimal (a very small animal.) To show what's possible, the 8-speed TC in current BMWs actually improves on the manual in most installations, presumably since it has a wider choice of ratios to keep the engine spinning optimally. I'm certainly favouring auto over manual in my BMW window shopping; with the Volkswagens it's the other way round.
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As a rule of thumb, i would tend to favour manuals on small or less powerful cars and autos on bigger or more torquey ones.
Something like a Ka or a 500 or a Panda or whatever is just great with a manual and those wouldn't be improved by pedal deficit but an auto on a big wafter is sort of part of the cosseting.
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But there's a big gap in the middle of your reasoning, Humph, which happens to be where Spammers and I are looking. Yes, a small automatic is a step on the career path that continues through self-lifting chair to meals through a straw - and no-one wants or needs to work a clutch and a stick in an S500 - but a modern automatic is a valid choice in a Golf or a 320d, especially since the quicker shifts and extra ratios can actually make the car feel more responsive; the DSG GTI I tried would be wasted on the Asda run.
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"....a modern automatic is a valid choice in a Golf or a 320d, especially since the quicker shifts and extra ratios can actually make the car feel more responsive; the DSG GTI I tried would be wasted on the Asda run."
WdB - in theory a DSG (unlike a torque converter auto) shouldn't restrict performance - but my last Octavia vRS (same petrol engine as the GTI) had DSG and although performance was pretty good, it definitely felt as if the transmission was holding the car back. The current one is a manual and there's no such feeling: it Just Goes.
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At one point I was seriously considering a 135 5 door, and that would have been with the auto box. My friends 235 with the auto box is a honey. Then I began considering depreciation, even on a two yo model, and kicked the idea into touch. With the GTI though, that would have to be the manual. Apart from the fact that I think the manual suits the GTI, I am too much of a scaredy cat to run a DSG equipped car for several years after the manufacturers warranty has expired.
All irrelevant now because the sun has been shining, the roof has been down, the Lake District has been looking fantastic, the birds are singing, and all is well in the motoring front. Even tax @ £285 cannot dampen the spirits. Money well spent.
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I certainly liked the 8-speed TC auto in the 220i more than the DSG in the Golf, to the point that if I chose a GTI (bookies' favourite at the moment for reasons both practical and financial) it would be a manual, while if I could swing the BMW (still the heart-over-head choice) it would have to have that automatic.
It helps that the Golf has a particularly well laid out footwell, with left and right footrests and adequate space either side even for a size 13 hoof. 'Just Goes' sounds good; I've priced up one with the Performance Pack, which seems to add control as much as power. We'll see.
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I too priced one up with DTD. Manual. 5 Dr. PP. Carbon Grey. Winter Pack. Dynaudio. Standard 18'' wheels.
And then the sun came out.....and a good six is always better than a good four.
Unless it's a Westfield
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>> Mileage like that suggests a lot of time on motorways, where the difference between
>> manual and locked-up auto is minimal (a very small animal.)
Pretty much; a few miles of New Forest B/C roads then A31/M27/M3 for 60 miles. On a good day (not many of those!) it's mostly 60 mph cruise, on a bad day there's a lot of stop/start traffic where an auto would be nice. My 1.8 manual Astra manages around 44 mpg on this run, wouldn't expect quite that much from a 6 pot Beemer.
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Update:
MOT delayed for a week due to the tester being ill, so I took it in this morning. One week late, but as expected, passed ok. £30 fee online, but two advisories this year! NS & OS front suspension arm rubber bush slight deterioration. No excessive movement.
My only query was, why, when I left it, the trip computer was showing 33.8 mpg. An hour later, with no additional miles on the clock, it was showing 32.5 mpg. Strange but not important. That's it for another year. Tyres still excellent, recent major service courtesy of my BMW mechanic pal. What's not to like?
Last edited by: legacylad on Thu 16 Apr 15 at 23:09
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Perhaps the test involves it sat there with the engine running, which I assume factors into average MPG.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 17 Apr 15 at 00:17
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Quite. Brain cells depleting faster than ever. Or maybe taking the ancients out on my day off didn't help matters. Thank goodness for work tomorrow.
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>>MOT delayed for a week due to the tester being ill, so I took it in this morning. One week late, but as expected, passed ok. £30 fee online,
I paid £54.85 for my MOT at an indie last week, but then it is a Subaru.
:}
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BMW 3-Series E36 conv - MOT time again - PeterS
