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

And also, stop being an idiot, and just buy a T6 Kombi Highline, like I said 3 years ago, then again two years ago, and at least twice again in the past year.

This one is eyewateringly expensive, but looks right up your street and still £20K less than the ugly, old, and unpractical BMW of your dreams:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Transporter-T6-T32-SWB-2-0BITDI-204-DSG-KOMBI-HIGHLINE-L-V-SPORTLINE-PACK/273924822018?hash=item3fc7311402:g:n1MAAOSw~XRdoIcc

Or if you insist on being an idiot, Get a Five year old M135i for a quarter of the price of a ZM3, and just keep the back seats folded down. Way more space. That’s basically what i did with mine. Have you ever seen a ZM3 boot? It’s fucking tiny inside. The rear seats are also tiny, and im not even sure you can fold them down??

It’s also a better car than the ZM3 in every single way.... this is coming from someone who has driven both.

I also think you would be uncomfortable in the ZM3 being a tallish person... the centre console is huge, and I think you’d be constantly banging your knee on it.

A much more serious contender.
Subaru aficionados - care to weigh in? Not too enamoured by the “loud” bit of the description.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F264479976745

Avoid the 2l na ones, they are under powered.

I would have 100% bought that if it had been around when I was looking for a car a few weeks back.

The rust around the sunroof is a bit of a concern though.

Very conveniently hidden at the bottom of the advert too!

or the XM wagon next to it, not sure if there ever was a 6 cyl diesel or petrol in the UK (would be now mad rare), but probably the ideal vehicle for getting around Glasgow, roads are that bad you want the most tyre/suspension that is possibly available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-480-ES-Limited-Edition-CONTACT-US-ON-01604-646400/183994990278?hash=item2ad6f4bec6:g:Ma8AAOSwCd9dpJgw

That backseat arrangement is pure Executive Realness™

The f7r (1.8) engine fits in (same mounts) that so that ups the fun a bit over standard, and maybe the f4r engine turbo (laguna/megan) fits and easier and cheaper to source than the clio williams 2/3 engine

That has been for sale since i was looking for a car in October

I must have filtered it out somehow then.

How would you get that rust sorted?

By not buying it in the first place.

I would stay away from the 2.0 and diesel models if I'm honest.

Trust me a good 2.5 (H4) will feel nearly as nippy as the heavier H6.
You'll also get lower VED and higher mpg too.
My old 2.5i got me up to low 40s mpg.
As opposed to mid-30s with the 3.0R spec b (H6).
There are lots of Legacies. Dont need to pay lots for them normally and they tend to last. Rust can be an issue though.
I would definitely walk away from that one though.

That backseat arrangement is purely for double above knee amputees.

FTFY

Can’t remember who was talking about OBDII diagnostic scanners but I can report a good first experience with this vgate Bluetooth one from e*ay for £17 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153633281174

In other news, my Ford Ka mk1 has
Confirmed Trouble Codes
-P0302: Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected

Obviously I could tell there was a misfire, to know the cylinder is useful. Time to pull a ‘plug methinks.

1 Attachment

Those are useful.
I got an even cheaper ELM327 one from ebay (£5 delivered) but unfortunately I cannot get it to pair with my head unit. Only my phone.
Anyone knows if it's possible to run Torque or any of the OBD2 apps on an android h-u with one of those?

I was looking at one of those Viecar dongles as an "upgrade" to mine. As is standard tech support with China is rather meh.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Viecar-4-0-Bluetooth-4-0-OBD2-Car-Diagnostics-Scanner-Tools-For-Apple-Android-UK/163939763853?_mwBanner=1&ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2F0%2F0%3Fmpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fulk%252Fitm%252F163939763853%26rvr_id%3D0%26rvr_ts%3D7cc08dc216f0aa46e1f38403ffffc0c8&ul_noapp=true&pageci=ee86d137-6f23-4ffb-9b6a-e1dd558b5d6c

One thing to bear in mind is that if you leave one of those dongles plugged in it’s powered permanently- so will flatten the battery if left long enough.

Hadn't thought of that... I've had one for ages, haven't even used it in the Suby...

I get a check engine light occasionally, cheapo wired scanner tells me its Vanos solenoids, internet approved solution seems to be go and rag it for a while to unclog them as I've apparently not been activating the high-lift regularly enough. Works too.

Good ol' Italian tuneup. Was quite happy to see that as a potential fix for my EGR problems.

Did that all the time in my old diesel, drive for about half an hour in second gear, problem solved.

Or replace the o rings ;)

@mmccarthy trick with a few older diesels to pass the emissions test.

Also a good way to check your auxiliary belts are tight enough, as I found out a few days after fitting a new power steering belt...