Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I was with you till 14mpg! XF has been semi-veto'd on fuel grounds already.

It's not a car to use round town unless you like petrol station forecourts.

I tend to use it for going to see my parents etc, and it'll get 400 miles out of a tank (~70 litres) doing that.

What kboy said.

Depends on size of the car.

auto M5 Touring

What's the real world difference between a 540i and a M5?

If I do full exhaust with cat delete and install a performance filter element am I gonna want a remap?

It's been a while since I've been in/around VWs - does anyone have any knowledge/opinions on these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192199313036?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I think I could get him down a bit on price seeing as it was previously up for £2650.

Engine wise 0.6 of a litre and ~130 horsepower.

When the E60 first came out a lot of E39 drivers would not trade up they preffered the E39, it is a better car in my opinion.

Things to watch out for are Auto Gearboxes, a tell tale sign they are on the way out is when pulling up at a junction you can feel a jolt almost as if someone has just run in to the rear, it is a harsh downshift in to first gear. Obviously any slipping in the gearbox, it is lifetime oil but most of my friends that own them change it around 60,000 miles.

Poor handbrake can be rusty handbrake shoes, there is a small rubber grommet that can be retro fitted to the back plate to stop water getting in.

They are prone to small stones getting between the front back plate and the hub causing rattling over bumps, easy to slacken off the back plate and remove them, to prevent it reoccurring just bend in the gap with a small ball pein hammer at the two areas marked with red circles below.

You can contact Barry Sheward via the E30 Zone Facebook page too.

Spent last night reading about E39's. Seems like it could be a somewhat sensible replacement for the w124. I keep reading wildly varying reports about mpg though. Fuelly, which I assumed was fairly correct, lists it as quite thirsty, even with the smaller engines. On forums though people report 45mpg from the 520i...

Then again, if I look up my w124 e220 fuelly says 24.5mpg while I get a consistent 35, sometimes even 37 depending on how I drive.

Anyone got some real world experience?

I used to get late twenties, maybe scrape into the thirties from my 1997 528i.

Hm. Doesn't really help its case...

N24h was pretty epic. Will upload some pics if you're not friends with me on fb.

E39 M5 is an investment, 10k will get you a facelift with 100k miles

Any other E39 don't spend more than £3k

Alpina is pretty punchy option but I personally don't think it's as financially secure a purchase as an M5 of that generation. The Alpina fans appear to be massive purists (read: bellends) and any modifications or even deviation from OEM parts will cause the car to suffer a huge drop in value because apparently only Alpina enthusiasts buy Alpinas, to everyone else it's "just" an E39 Touring and you're a fucking madman for paying so much money for it.

a fucking madman

O, hai

have you changed the units on fuelly to imperial gallons, Not US?

This might be pertinent to your interests:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/72157629147548894/

Look at those three. I'm born too late, that's for sure. Or I'm born right in time for buying them for peanuts before they become rare classics.

My 525d averages around 46 / 47 mpg and I don't drive it slowly.

Sit at 70mph and you will do well over 50mpg average very easily.

I had that shape 520i touring and absolutely loved it. Rock solid, silky smooth 6 pot and comfortable as anything.

Anyone been following this story? I can't quite picture a full on collapse, but it's clearly not sustainable, so I do wonder where it could all end up and what it means for the industry generally.

https://www.ft.com/content/bab49198-3f98-11e7-9d56-25f963e998b2

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/feb/10/are-car-loans-driving-us-towards-the-next-financial-crash

Yup - got recession written all over it in the US at least. Everyone I know in Los Angeles is leasing a new car, at least a couple of them have got deals despite not having regular work.

Extended payment terms on loans (84 months and out), desperately low rates and loans in excess of the purchase price of the vehicle (to include taxes etc) are alarmingly common.

Won't it be the car companies that suffer? Folk will just stop paying their PCPs and leases and car companies will take them back and have to try to sell them on to a non-existent market for nearly new diesels.

When times get tough the £350 a month BMW will be the first thing to go.

I reckon now is the time to stockpile all the small, petrol engined £1500 cars. It's what everyone will revert to.

Auto finance doesn't really pass the smell test. 20 years ago, only a small percentage of people could afford brand new audis & mercs. Now half the country is driving round in them on esoteric finance deals. All that extra money hasn't just suddenly appeared; it's been borrowed from the future and sooner or later will have to be paid back.

Oof.

Won't it be the car companies that suffer? Folk will just stop paying their PCPs and leases and car companies will take them back and have to try to sell them on to a non-existent market for nearly new diesels.

When times get tough the £350 a month BMW will be the first thing to go.

I reckon now is the time to stockpile all the small, petrol engined £1500 cars. It's what everyone will revert to.

The FT had an in depth article on this today, apparently in the last financial embuggerance the order of default was mortgage, credit card, car for the majority of US residents, showing that transport was the last thing that people could/would lose, quite possibly because the ability to earn money is contingent upon ability to travel.

The other aspect that is interesting is the cascade effect -as people default cars flood the second hand market, that impacts on the values which means that others who have yet to default are moved into negative equity, so when they can no longer make the payments there's almost no value in the one thing they have left to sell/there's little value to be credited against the loan by the receivers.

It's fucked, basically.

Anyway, I left a voicemail for the dealer selling the Alpina and they've not come back to me, so fuck that guy - what else should I replace the Volvo with?

Surprising. I guess if you're struggling maybe it's easier to find £350 a month than £1500 in one go.

The other thing that says to me the crash is coming is the spiralling value of classics. I sold a decent 1968 911S 6 years ago for £42k and it wasn't an easy sale. Silverstone Auctions just sold one for £230k.

It's going to come tumbling down soon. The question is how soon. That S might be £275k next year. Or it might be £80k...

If I missed your earlier replies, apologies, but C55/C63/E55/E63 estates & CLS63 shooting brake all suit? I had a C32 and the violent nature of that engine was something to behold...bit old for your spec admittedly and would need work...but 4.6 0-60 and sooooangry.