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

I've heard some stories about various VWs having paranoid episodes on country lanes but gathered that most of those issues had been fixed in current models. Obviously not!

The idea of my car auto braking because it thought hedge was a threat does not appeal to me.

For what it's worth, my Seat has pretty much all the VW sensors in and has never had an issue.

Essentially, I do not think my shocks are in a bad state at all, at least from "very basic" testing I did and from driving.
It was just the opportunity of being forced to perform alignments etc. again that raised the wonder.

"Problem" is, garage estimated around 350€ for front suspension rubber mounts replacement (all included: parts, labour, alignment etc.).

When I searched for potential new shocks options (I thought if I go through changing the shocks I might as well pick good ones and slightly "upgraded") I found the Bilstein B6 set for around 500 euros. Plus suspension bearings, tools I do need (spring compressor, extractor for tie rods, etc.) so maybe 700€ for all parts and tools if I source them myself.
Parts might cost more from the garage, plus the labour so it could reach a really good amount of money.
Another solution would be to order the parts and tools myself and perform everything except the rubber mounts replacement, have it and alignment performed by the garage but my mechanical competence are very limited but I came across quite a few tutorials etc. online so I don't know.

Maybe a good idea to have different quotes from the garage (rubber mounts replacement and alignment only, rubber mounts/shocks/etc. replacement plus alignment, etc.) and compare with what I can do myself, or at least, what I think I can manage to do myself.

What's the car? Refreshing all the suspension components will make a huge difference to how it drives, and depending on what it is leaving some may be a false economy as the system is generally as strong as the weakest link - for e.g. if your topmounts are shot then expensive dampers won't perform as they should do. I'd also do all four corners, as at 60,000 miles all the dampers will be tired, if not actually buggered.

I am not sure I said it but of course my thinking was a suspension refresh on all four corners.
I mentioned shocks and suspension strut bearings but indeed there also might be other suspension components to look at which would make the bill climb even more.
As I said, I don't think the shocks are toasted or anything, but I am also aware that almost 30 y.o. shocks are obviously not ideal even if of relatively low mileage (if the mileage is true of course, that is another problem).
I do not want to lower or anything the car as I wanted to keep the original look - I am more leaning toward a "OEM" spec car with reasonable and coherent upgrades to make it not faster, but driving better if it makes any sense.
Car is a 1990 318i (E30), which is why I even if I pretty much have no competence in car mechanics, thought I could maybe pick up the right tools for the job (jack, jack stands, spring compressor, ball joint extractor), and source the parts/mount them myself and rely upon the garage only for rubber mounts and geometry/alignment (and check my work haha) since the car is a little more "mechanically accessible" than more recent ones

Def worth having most of the tools (and the skills) yourself. Don’t buy all of them at this stage - borrow the ones specific to this job (spring comp, tie rod splitter, etc). A good light jack and stands, sockets, spanners, etc will be handy later.

The car is worth the tlc

Gimme a shout if you want to borrow stuff

I f I could have turned it off it would it have been too bad.

Very kind for the offer for borrowing tools but I'm based in France so it might not be that easy haha.
I agree with the fact that I should buy the "generic" tools for maintenance (i.e. jack and stands at minimum) that way I could progress and learn to do some myself. This is also part of why I purchased the car as I thought on this type of car it is reasonable to think that some of the maintenance can be done by myself with a little bit of research.
From what I came across, changing shocks might be something within my reach with the proper tools but I will make more research first.
By the way, what does "tlc" in "the car is worth the tlc" means?

You can turn the front sensors off in my Seat but the setting doesn't persist between starts.

My e class has this, but you can change how aggressive it is fairly easily. Has saved the other half from rear ending someone who seemingly slammed on the brakes for no reason.

Tender Loving Care dude

thanks, my english needs some tinkering too I reckon!

the adaptive cruise is pretty good, once you get used to it. i was able to adjust it ok.

not being used to having to stand on the brake to start, beeps for the diesel liquid, front and rear sensors, no seatbelts (when a suitcase was on the seat) and all the other nonsense was what got up my gurdle. as @stonehedge said, it can be turned off, but not permanently.

i am turning into an old man...

I misjudged my braking in horrendous fog on the A12 this winter and the front sensor saved me from a collision. I've only had a license for ten months or so. Saved me from a nasty shunt. I wonder if we'll see new driver accidents drop as the tech becomes more ubiquitous.

I worry it will be the opposite in the short run... everyone learns to drive in new cars with fancy tech, then go out and buy a banger with brakes nowhere near as good...

You're probably right.

I'm clearly very inexperienced but the difference between even my 2015 fiesta and 2017 Ateca is nuts. Sure, the Fiesta is easy to drive but the Ateca virtually drives itself and the brakes are in a different league.

I noticed this driving the polo, coming from only having driver a ~2016 Fiat for 3 years. Nearly rear ended 4/5 cars on my way home because I kept forgetting how shit the brakes are on a 20 year old car

Come to think of it, my Ateca actually does drive itself.

Just for perspective, I have a 20 year old Peugeot 306... It's on its original dampers and springs. They are still perfect even after 265,000 kilometres. But they are Peugeot OEM, possibly the best made up until the 06 era. What does definitely make a difference is all the rubber bushings for control arms etc. Really restores the steering accuracy.

Also think about these older cars. They are designed with longer travel and supple suspension. That's why they are fun to drive and comfortable. So get dampers designed for that, rather than a stiff lowered setup.

I think when I will come back to discuss with the garage, I thought also to ask about a potential suspension components change (tie rod ends, ball joints, control arms etc.) alongside the rubber mounts replacement.
However regarding the shocks, I am not sure I would agree ; as I said, I do not want to lower the car, Bilstein B6 are designed to work at stock height with the same travel as the original damper, just stiffer.
In my point of view, shocks design (travel distance, etc.) and shocks stiffness are two different things and I think with this setup I could have a little stiffer shocks (i.e. better handling) without loosing the comfort and practicality of stock height setup (clearance of bumps, etc.)

Bilstein b6 are good for that application. Also, don't forget tyres. They'll make a huge difference.
Obviously every car is different but an E30 BMW is definitely worth the upgrades.

Welcome to the world ugly front wheel drive BMW 1-series, once we were warriors!

It hasn't made the best first impression.

People hated on the last gen then came to love it so you never know but front wheel drive is a no from me.

What GPS apps are people using? I was introduced to Waze over Christmas and I haven't looked back, it's awesome... I live on a peninsula, there are only two routes in and out... There was a massive accident on one of those routes today, Waze took me on an amazing backstreet odyssey through quiet, leafy neighbourhoods and got me where I needed to be and home again while everyone else was stuck on the highway for hours...

The speed camera stuff is great too...

Are they working as well as they're meant to? I've found old brakes work pretty well if they're in good condition. They're never as sharp as modern brakes but my 19 year old scoob stopped just as well as our 3 year old 130i.

Waze is good if you don't nav with it. they need to have a 1/2/3 mode, where you don't have to take every single back street to save 15 seconds...