I moved on my old E39 530i sport touring in February, just before fuel went silly. It was about to start costing me lots to keep it nice, which I couldn't afford, so I thought I'd move it on, rather than run it into the ground.
I've had 2 of them (named "The Chancellor" Mk1 & Mk2). If you don't know about the joys of E39 ownership, then you're missing out.
Anyway, I discovered I didn't need a car straight away and then in July, ended up in a mates old family car, an E91 (3 series 320i se touring).
He said I could have it for £500. He's mechanically looked after it meticulously as it's been their workhorse. He told me the valve stem seals are on their way out, so it was burning oil. Engine rebuild (head off, anyway) to fix it, so not worth it. He said he reckoned it'd do a couple of years so told me to MOT it and whatever it cost to pass, to knock off the £500 before I paid him.
It failed. Emissions. Catalytic converter dead. £650 ish to replace. That, on top of the fact the gearbox was ridiculously stiff and flaring up an old shoulder injury, meant we agreed I wouldn't be buying it.
He wasn't in a hurry to shift it as he'd he'd got a new motor, so told me to use it until I sorted something. It still had a few months of the old mot left. We used it for a North Wales family holiday and I've commuted in it a little bit. Bloody shame really, but it's gone to an old mate who's a BMW breaker.
So next up, I was about to take the plunge and buy myself an 8 year old Skoda Yeti. Fancied one for a while as heard they're awesome and it'd be a great family car for us...
But then, out of the blue, a mate rang me and said his girlfriend's mum has a 2008 focus that's been sat sorn for a year and she only wants few hundred for it. He knew I needed a motor and that the bonnet was stuck down and battery had gone flat. She didn't drive much, so just registered it sorn in September '21.
We looked into the broken bonnet lock on YouTube. It opens with the key and they're prone to getting stuck. So I went over that Sunday, with a socket set, a selection of big screwdrivers, a claw hammer and a battery.
Spent a few mins smashing the mechanism off, pulled some more out with long nose pliers, put big flat screwdriver in and, hey presto, bonnet opened.
Switched out the battery and it started first turn!
She only wanted £100 for it in the end. Deal done there and then, logbook sorted online, easy-peasy.
1.8 tdci, focus estate, Titanium spec, in that very noticeable ford light blue metallic. 113k on clock.
It was full of dog, old dog bed in boot, very hairy. The centre console very crusty and dirty and the car had a good stink. Car full of random shizz.
So I left it there, came home, booked an MOT online with the local council depot. Handy service for getting in quick.
I knew it'd fail as the windscreen washers didn't work. Looked into fixing this and decided I could probably sort it, but the test was in the morning, so put it through and see what else it needed...
Fail list:
-washer not working
-suspension arm bush worn (x2)
- tyre has a large cut
- undertray not secure
Drove straight to a garage near my house, handed the dude the fail sheet and asked him to fix it please. He said he could make a.start that afternoon (no riot contact made), win!
So anyway, I picked it up Friday afternoon, after he's done the above, plus the aux belt tensioner, which was about to come off, as the bolt had snapped off.
£600 bill.
I've bought a 2nd hand grill, a new bonnet lock, 6L oil, air, cabin and oil filters and an odour bomb, to hopefully nail the dog smell.
So all-in, I'm at £885 including the mot.
A mate of mine has even been trickle charging the dead battery and it's holding 13.0v, so that's a win too.
So far I've spent a few hours with some stiff brushes and a hoover and the interior is coming up really well.
Retest is tomorrow, so it should pass. Wait til Thursday to tax it. Start diving it!
I'm really excited about it. It's weird as it's such an undesirable car, and especially since I've spent 7 or 8 years in a beautiful 5 series.
I think just the thriftiness of the whole situation, the satisfaction of getting it going, getting thru an MOT (even though I've not done any of the spannering), cleaning it up... It really appeals to me!
I'm hoping it's going to be a keeper, the more time I spend in it (not much yet, admittedly), the more I like it.
So I need to drop the oil out of it and change all the filters. Replace the grill and the bonnet lock. Borrow my brother's wet hoover to complete the interior before I set off the smelly grenades inside....
Then I know it's good.
Anyway, if you've got this far, well done. Don't think I've ever written a post this long before. I just wanted to share this with whoever might read it.
Photo below is what my.mate sent me before any of us touched it
I've had 2 of them (named "The Chancellor" Mk1 & Mk2). If you don't know about the joys of E39 ownership, then you're missing out.
Anyway, I discovered I didn't need a car straight away and then in July, ended up in a mates old family car, an E91 (3 series 320i se touring).
He said I could have it for £500. He's mechanically looked after it meticulously as it's been their workhorse. He told me the valve stem seals are on their way out, so it was burning oil. Engine rebuild (head off, anyway) to fix it, so not worth it. He said he reckoned it'd do a couple of years so told me to MOT it and whatever it cost to pass, to knock off the £500 before I paid him.
It failed. Emissions. Catalytic converter dead. £650 ish to replace. That, on top of the fact the gearbox was ridiculously stiff and flaring up an old shoulder injury, meant we agreed I wouldn't be buying it.
He wasn't in a hurry to shift it as he'd he'd got a new motor, so told me to use it until I sorted something. It still had a few months of the old mot left. We used it for a North Wales family holiday and I've commuted in it a little bit. Bloody shame really, but it's gone to an old mate who's a BMW breaker.
So next up, I was about to take the plunge and buy myself an 8 year old Skoda Yeti. Fancied one for a while as heard they're awesome and it'd be a great family car for us...
But then, out of the blue, a mate rang me and said his girlfriend's mum has a 2008 focus that's been sat sorn for a year and she only wants few hundred for it. He knew I needed a motor and that the bonnet was stuck down and battery had gone flat. She didn't drive much, so just registered it sorn in September '21.
We looked into the broken bonnet lock on YouTube. It opens with the key and they're prone to getting stuck. So I went over that Sunday, with a socket set, a selection of big screwdrivers, a claw hammer and a battery.
Spent a few mins smashing the mechanism off, pulled some more out with long nose pliers, put big flat screwdriver in and, hey presto, bonnet opened.
Switched out the battery and it started first turn!
She only wanted £100 for it in the end. Deal done there and then, logbook sorted online, easy-peasy.
1.8 tdci, focus estate, Titanium spec, in that very noticeable ford light blue metallic. 113k on clock.
It was full of dog, old dog bed in boot, very hairy. The centre console very crusty and dirty and the car had a good stink. Car full of random shizz.
So I left it there, came home, booked an MOT online with the local council depot. Handy service for getting in quick.
I knew it'd fail as the windscreen washers didn't work. Looked into fixing this and decided I could probably sort it, but the test was in the morning, so put it through and see what else it needed...
Fail list:
-washer not working
-suspension arm bush worn (x2)
- tyre has a large cut
- undertray not secure
Drove straight to a garage near my house, handed the dude the fail sheet and asked him to fix it please. He said he could make a.start that afternoon (no riot contact made), win!
So anyway, I picked it up Friday afternoon, after he's done the above, plus the aux belt tensioner, which was about to come off, as the bolt had snapped off.
£600 bill.
I've bought a 2nd hand grill, a new bonnet lock, 6L oil, air, cabin and oil filters and an odour bomb, to hopefully nail the dog smell.
So all-in, I'm at £885 including the mot.
A mate of mine has even been trickle charging the dead battery and it's holding 13.0v, so that's a win too.
So far I've spent a few hours with some stiff brushes and a hoover and the interior is coming up really well.
Retest is tomorrow, so it should pass. Wait til Thursday to tax it. Start diving it!
I'm really excited about it. It's weird as it's such an undesirable car, and especially since I've spent 7 or 8 years in a beautiful 5 series.
I think just the thriftiness of the whole situation, the satisfaction of getting it going, getting thru an MOT (even though I've not done any of the spannering), cleaning it up... It really appeals to me!
I'm hoping it's going to be a keeper, the more time I spend in it (not much yet, admittedly), the more I like it.
So I need to drop the oil out of it and change all the filters. Replace the grill and the bonnet lock. Borrow my brother's wet hoover to complete the interior before I set off the smelly grenades inside....
Then I know it's good.
Anyway, if you've got this far, well done. Don't think I've ever written a post this long before. I just wanted to share this with whoever might read it.
Photo below is what my.mate sent me before any of us touched it
