Be Excellent To Each Other

£8,000 for that is strong money unless it's really low mileage IMO.

Silver with black leather - worst colour combination, by far the most "common" and is really boring (one of the reasons I sold mine)

By the looks of the rear lights it's a pre-facelift. I paid £7,800 for my facelift convertible in November last year, which had every option except the TV function.

To the haggle-o-tron!

Mileage and service history, really. My cab was on 96K when I bought it I think, with a full service history, 90% at BMW dealers.

90K, BMW service history to five years ago, then independent local specialist. It's a 2003 car, apparently.

Going rate on AT is between £7,250 and £7,500 for 2003 cars with around 90K.

Is it manual or SMG?

Manual. He says it is priced a bit on the high side but apparently you've 'got to try'.

Two enquiries since it went up on the local Buy & Sell Facebook page last night.

I've offered him a 2008 Honda Civic Type-R and a grand.

Ooops my mistake it's actually an SMG, I thought it was manual.

He also wants to know what the best colour combination is 'cause he reckons silver and black is just fine.

Best standard colour combo, as in the most desirable, is generally considered to be black with red leather.

Estoril Blue with black leather is also highly desirable I understand, but I'm pretty sure Estoril is a BMW Individual colour on the M3.

SMG is going to lower the price a bit too. Manuals are more due to rarity and driver involvement. That and the SMG-II (like the SMG-III in the M5) is known to lunch clutches very quickly when driven hard. Has it had a clutch change or is it still on original clutch/DMF?

Ooh, E46 M3, lovely jubbly mate. All-time engine for me, that.

Heard nasty stories about the SMG 'box though, so tread carefully and do your research? (Gaz etc. will know much more than I do, but just saying like)

Cheers GazChap, I shall assault him with information and questions in the morning when we're both back in work

Not sure I like the idea of this clutch malarkey though, I don't want to walk into any big bills.

The Type-R is a great little car and being a Honda of course, nothing goes wrong with it, nothing will probably ever go wrong with it, and it's pretty sane on tax (under 2 litre), insurance (I'm an old man), and fuel (33mpg long term). Servicing and consumables (such as tyres) are very reasonable too.

On the other hand though, I really do love the E46 M3, there's something about them I just can't resist, and I know for a fact that this one has been impeccably looked after. I'll ask him about the clutch though.....

They are great cars, and the engine is a peach. By most accounts, practically bullet proof as well, VANOS issues excepted (which I believe were mostly sorted on post-facelift cars, which is another reason that pre-facelifts are worth less.)

Things to look out for:

- rear suspension springs broken
- rear trailing arm bushes worn and in need of replacement
- evidence of a clutch change at some point. They're good for 60K when driven sympathetically, but can go in under 30K if driven hard. Either way, at 90K it should have had at least one new clutch in its life. Replacing is around £800 in parts and God knows what in labour.
- Rust on, and under wheel arches - especially at the rear

And, the big one - the rear subframe. If he's looked after it as impeccably as you say, he will know all about the rear subframe issue and will have either had it regularly inspected or had it sorted if it was going wrong.

Basically, the rear subframe on the E46 cars (especially the M3 and more powerful non-M models) cannot take the amount of torque that goes through the rear of the car and are prone to cracking. If it's not caught early enough and sorted, the subframe basically falls apart.

If it's not showing any signs of cracking (and personally I'd get a proper specialist inspection done before you buy) then it may never do it, but keep an eye on it - lots of videos and guides on how to look out for problems.

If it's showing signs of cracking, even hairline, either walk away or budget for having it sorted. Various specialists back on the mainland charge around £1,500-£2,000 to strengthen the area with resin, but it's possible to replace the entire affected area with new plates, but this costs more (about £4K I seem to remember.)

Predictably, it seems is the section with the two catalytic converters in.

Predictably, it seems is the section with the two catalytic converters in.

I bought some tin snips so I will remove the heat shields and bandage the two pipes back together with the straight pipe repair I bought and then jubilee clip a coke can around it. If that does not work then I will spend £500...

You're frickin' MacGuyver, dude.

No,just tight.

Cam belt went on the Clio at 50mph on the bypass this morning. What are the odds that the engine survived?

How quickly did you shut it off when it went? From my limited research the Clios use interference engines so if the cam belt goes there's a good chance the engine has stuffed itself, but if you were quick to shut it down it might have limited the damage.

Unless you turn it off within one revolution, surely the valves are all still at risk of being buggered?

Yep, although I think the longer you leave it the more likely other shit is to break.

I guess on an older Clio engine any damage to valves is likely to render it uneconomical to repair anyway, though.

You should be able to get it compression tested fairly cheaply, which would tell you the state of the valves.

We've got a Mini One and it's pissed me off a few times now. It's a 2008 and has only done about 30k and we only do about 3k per year in the thing. Last year however it cost us £1500. Basically the steering lock was showing an error code and no matter what I did I could not shift it. I have an OBD scanner and I already had to change all of the O2 sensors at a cost of £300 or so but the steering lock light would not go out. So, even though it was functioning perfectly (you could hear it engaging and so on) BMW charged us.. Wait for it ! £700.

I tried in vain to find one but apparently the only place you can get it is BMW. Thanks to the latest laws on MOT even if your car has a error code it's an automatic fail. Even if it were something as stupid as low washer fluid (not saying it could be, just giving an example).

Then the year before it needed all new tyres, cost £450.

Other than that though (haha) it's a great little car and we have the 1.4l is it? so it's quick as heck too. It's also surprisingly roomy inside.

I coasted to a stop about 100 yards down the road.

It's not good, is it?

When was the last time you backed-up?

If I buy a Zafira, does that mean I've given up on life?

Yes.

Buy a Jag.

Studies have shown that unless you buy the V8 Jag your wife will leave you in 6.8 nanoseconds after you make the purchase.

Do you want to be single? DO YOU?

Sometimes, maybe

Relatedly

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=a

Any thoughts on the ford fusion?

My ex has got one. That automatically makes it a car for knobs.

Just spat coffee out.

Perfect for me, then.

Why buy German when you could by English?

Do you wish we'd lost the war? DO YOU?!

Fucking Hitler lover.

Buy my Jag.

You selling a Jag, Grim...?

For some reason, MrsA has never told me there is a green lane pretty much from her parents doorstep to a pub at the top of the hill. This is fucking excellent news, but less so for those that own the farm at the bottom of it.

Sorry to hear that.

Happens that I am!

Did all the Pumas get offloaded?

My wife was given one as a courtesy car for a day. I teased her mercilessly. She hated it. Some of the colours available (like 'jeans' and 'tonic') are also dreadful.

Team Trooper got rid of their one. The rest of us have still got ours.

Does it have room in back for 2 child seats?

The Jag? Christ yes. The Puma? Technically yes, but it's small two-door so it would be a bugger to get them in and out.

No Jag, ta. No Puma, ta. No Mountain Lion, ta.

Soz.

Ford Galaxy or Citron Picasso, then.

Don't forget the Zafira!

That's not as good.

Not a fan of Citroens. That centre mounted digital speedo gives me hives.

Ford C-Max innit - can get them nicely kitted out too.

I loved mine, wish I'd kept it TBH. Still see it driving around the place. The new owner is a MILF.

"Do you come with the car?"