paging Bear

Dan L scribbled on the back of a napkin:

With Bear at the wheel? Probably...

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Some of us can do sarcasm, or at least a crap imitation of it.

Furry nuff. I happen to like them but I also discovered - worryingly
enough for me - that I quite like driving the larger-engined E-Class
Mercs.

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Heh. I seem to be getting sensible at the moment - I'm seriously
considering to sell the ShiteOldRover, the Merc and possibly even the
Skyline and get some decent "normal" car instead.

Not sure how long this attack of sense will last though. The last one
saw me buy the Pan so I guess these are the first signs of old age.

You're welcome.

That would be a bit shit, car like that without CC.

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Welcome to the "80mph is fast enough" club...

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Have you tried the twin-turbo? That's a completely different car when
you compare it to the normal Legacys. They're pretty bonkers in
standard trim (essentially a Subaru WRX in a Legacy shell) and a some
of those that come out of Japan are anything but standard...

I *likes* the idea of having 280-300bhp in something that looks like
granny's Legacy estate...

Yup, I read that - which is why I stuck up the above comment because
all of them with the exception (again) of Honda's Legend are like
that...

 

I used to work in Hitchin, and they often advertised interesting looking
stuff in the local rag, so I often went over for a look.

Almost without fail, everything was overpriced, scruffy and had patchy
history.

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Well, I'd still go for the older (W124) Mercs again - another, nicer
300TE than the one I've got atm, basically.

Comfy long distance cruiser for when I don't want to bike it.

 

Bear scribbled on the back of a napkin:

Ah OK, makes sense.

Hmm, I probably just got used to it as I'm normally of the "WTF do I
need more than two doors anyway" persuation so I've got used that.

 

Bear fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

They go cheap cos Joe Average is scared of them, having said that be
cautious with the V8's around that age as they had probs with the
nickasil cylinder coating wearing away cos of too much sulphur in the
petrol.




--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Bear fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

As far as I know the most obvious symptom is a really really rough and
uneven tickover.

Excessive oil consumption etc

The problem is rumoured to be worse in the north of the UK because of
the way Shell were refining their stuff at Stanlow (Note to Shell's
legal team "It was'nt me wot started the rumour guv")

BMW and Shell blamed each other for the problem, meanwhile customers got
left in the lurch with duff engines. Those who'd been good and had full
dealer service historys often got replacement engines.

The initial fix until BMW figured what was happening was a modification
to the ECU to make the motor run hotter thereby burning off the excess
sulphur but this only delayed the process.

It's all kind of odd though cos the K series bikes have had nickasil
bores since 1984 and they've never succumbed to this problem so I can
only imagine they'd change the process for the cars.

As far as I'm aware the problem does'nt affect the 6 or 12 cylinder
motors.

If you can find a V8 that's had a recorded replacement engine you could
drop on a bargain as the whole debacle tainted them to the point of
killing the values.

A nice 540 is a good alternative to an M5. ECU limited to 155mph,
reasonable fuel consumption if you want.


--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Bear fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

To be honest, having run an e32 750iL for 4 years I was stunned just how
reasonable it was to do so.

The 100 litre tank makes filling up a bit of a wince at times but you
can get 450 to 550 miles out of a tank if your out on open roads.

Make sure whatever one you get has'nt got TRX alloy wheels on it (my 520
has and they're going asap).

Ordinary tyres can be had for about 55 quid each ... TRX ones are 130
quid each.

After the 7 I find the 520 needs a bit of a revving to make progress but
it's such a willing motor it's no hardship.

The 750 motor is warp factor 10 though.

Any reason why you've gone of the V12? I seem to recall you were on
about one once?

--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

mups fumbled, fiddled and fingered:

Looks like your right, some of the later M52 series engines were also
affected ... (phew ... mines an M50)

http://www.bmwworld.com/engines/nikasil.htm


--
Steve Parry
K100RS SE & F650
and a 520i SE Touring for comfort

(not forgetting the SK90PY)

http://www.gwynfryn.co.uk

 

Steve Parry says...

Was it just the V8's. I'm fairly sure a mate of mine had the engine
replaced on his 520 for a similar reason.

 

Jesus H, what's the fuel consumption on a tanker like that?

Only the insurance seems to be cheaper than my current shopping trolley,
but the engine's twice the size and it has marginally more mod-cons!

 

Bad form, but reviews suggest 18mpg or so when driven in a spirited
manner.

Given that I get between 16 and 22 mpg from my current motor, that's
almost tempting.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, darsy

 

Or why not play safe...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18275&item=45492
36033&rd=1

250 bhp is just macho posturing. If you want some big numbers, a 0-60
time of 19.8 seconds is a big number

 

<fx: checks posting time>

No, at that time I would have been naked.

 

TYVFM

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

you weren't far off with the "stroking" bit either.