I think it could be interesting to share experiences about bargain purchases and what you can expect if you have not enough experience when it is time to decide if you opt to mechanical challenges or if you prefer a "plug and play" car to enjoy.
My hobby is to collect very cheap cars and put them back on the road. Not a business, just a way to use my brain and my hands, with no rush and a lot of passion.
I am a mechanic engineer but as a manager I have few oportunities to put my hands in the grease. My team will not let me do it and it is not what they are expecting me to do.
Bad luck, I love it, so I do it at home.
I caught the virus when I was a kid watching my dad fixing the cars of the family, mainly to save money. So no exciting sport cars or luxurious limo but I've learned a lot and keep on learning.
I made my army as a mechanic as well, 6WD trucks, jeeps and buses helped to learn a couple of tricks but not as much as books, internet and friends can do to make a '72 XJ6 come back to life.
So, what is the last experience? To find a reliable roomy car, a bit vintage to please my partner, but safe and confortable enough to travel with the kids, dogs, luguages and bicycles.
And under £2000 if possible... a van? Nope, I had been suffuring too much travelling in the noisy Peugeot J9 camper of my parents to do it again.
E39 Touring of course! A few clics and here you go... 525 tds, R reg... 50 miles from home... £500... a text to contact the owner inviting me to come and have a look... sunday afternoon... a quick road test... a lot of documents... 20 years owned by the family... 160k miles on the clock... a bit of rust... clean interior... no strange noises... tyres dead... weak battery... long MOT... a deal at £400 and driving back home without any issues.
Once at home, a better inspection started ...Emergency: 4 new tyres, R16, Cooper on offer, £220 to start with.
The tyre shop owner is a friend. While we were fiting the new tyres we realised the wheels were bent... inside, uneasy to check at the time of the purchase. And for the money paid you do not start to be too picky.
What I thought was a balance issue was in fact real waves on the rim. On the outside the wheels were looking almost perfect .
Well, with the help of a good hamer and some experience, wheels came back to their shape and are perfectly balanced now. What a change!
Time now to inspect a bit more how this car had been serviced... needed urgently an oil change as the message on the dash board is warning when you switch the car on... oil and air filters as well. Easy bit and very cheap if you do it yourself. Heaters will be changed later, 6 of them for less than £20. No need to hesitate.
Battery has to be changed for safety... no way to get stuck because of it. £70 for a brand new one. This is not affecting the budget too much.
Discs and pads had been changed for MOT by the former owner, not bad.
Belts need to be changed immediately, they are cracked and will not survive very long. A good opportunity to change the tensioner pulley as welll.
Alternator looks like new... water pump? Who knows? No records it had been changed in the past, coolant level is stable and the liquid looks clean. Maybe not urgent but this will have to be double checked later.
Chock absorbers... ???? What happened here... front OK... rear left, genuine BMW... rear right, Monroe?... self leveling system is working perfectly... the car handle very well... might not be that urgent to change but this will need to be fixed at some point. Budget £200.
Power steering assistance... no issue with the pump... rack is fine... but there are evidences of red fluid leaking... a bit of cleaning... new tightners for the hoses and it seems OK now... to be inspected frequently to be sure...
CD player is working as the rest of all the electric devices, lights, cigaret lighter... good.
Direction Coventry to collect a brand new Thule tow bar bought for £80. This is were I met the 2nd Touring I've bought.
This is part of the story and you will understand why later if you are patient enough to read this to the end.
Plan is to go to Belgium and France to visit family for Easter holidays. Shall we use the tourer or not? This is a good test. About 2000 miles in the week.
Let's try.... Friday, starting early in the morning... Eurotunnel... heading to Normandie to visit a supplier before being 100% on holidays. Levels checked... no issues... no warning... diesel consumption about 40 miles per galon... temperature stable... let's go to Belgium... passing Lille and almost arrived to destination the automatic gearbox passed on lsafety mode... this was not planned.
This is not what will stop the panzer. But can we sort that quickly in order to go to the South of France as decided? Most of the friends on holidays... a quick look on internet... this does not look that simple to fix.
Having a better look under the car, trying to identify which gearbox is fitted on it in order to prepare a filter and oil change, I discovered the cooling system had been bypassed!
This is criminal!
We spent the weekend relaxing and on Monday reached the garage of a specialist a friend of mine recommended, 40 miles away form our home in Belgium.
The guy could not find the plug to diagnose the failure and offered me to let the car a week long to fix it for ... 2000€...
Believe me or not, we spent our holiday enjoying Belgium insteed of the South of France and the car came back to Yorkshire driving with only 2 gears available respecting the 70mph speed limit without a single problem, worth case scenario we have a breakdown insurance. I will of course not do it again.
Now the car is parked awaiting the decision if it will be repaired or broken. Found a cooler for £20 that will be installed if I can find a way to go out of the safety mode.
Is a raise of temperature the reason why it failed? Wrong or old oil, level, filter issue? Solenoid gone? Friction discs worn? No clue at this stage and does the car worth the money to be saved?
As a 2nd one is coming this weekend, with a manual gearbox, we might keep it as a spare parts donor.
My little boy find this car "so cool" we will take time to make the decision and maybe you will give me some good advices that could help?
Thank you for taking the time to read this story and I will add pictures soon.
Cheers!
AMC442 changed their profile photo
