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

Someone did mention tool box envy 😁

Spotted

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I guess the beeping is him turning off or reducing traction control level? With obvious results.
TBF, road was pretty empty and massive, you kind of would, wouldn't you.

Found another 5 series wagon, also a pile. Lots of them just seem to have been abused/not maintained at all in the 3 year old to 8 year old period, so when we are looking at 8 year old cars, all of them to date (4) have needed quite a list of things! None are being sold cheaply, all at book price despite needing £££ work to get back to what I would call an 8 year old car standard. Disappointing, maybe this is why so many folk just give up and lease a new one?

Or find an older one with a considerate owner or full service history maybe?

What price/milage you looking at?

Anything on the approved used site? Otherwise I don't think I'd buy a second hand car of that age again unless very local or from a clear enthusiast.

NORMAN PRICE!

HOOVA YOR ROOM!

Normally buy cars much older (2-3x the age and 5x the mileage needing less work, by cost of work not by number of items lol).
Age old question, stay with what I've got, or buy newer, newer not always the answer though!
Yeah saw bmw main dealer prices are actually decent, seeing lower milage examples, MUCH lower, in higher spec trim, expect bmw warranty to be at least worth half of something, for the same money as small scale dealers/online private.

Agree with BMW dealer prices , I’m looking for an i3 and prices are really competitive vs independent dealers .
Money does seem so cheap to borrow atm I’m entertained by the thought of newer with more warranty left on it as opposed to older and buying a years warranty

Oozing Essex class, I love it. A nice Ford Capri GXL spotted today.

Hopefully @scherrit will post a pic of his Capri.

Those non-dealer warranties are worthless too.
I reckon a lot of people getting BMWs after the initial lease period don’t realise how fucking expensive parts are and how many of them there are to go wrong. Probably not limited to BMW tbf.

My initial E61 maintenance bill was just over £2k, then around £1k every 6-12 months - I should have just spent that much up front and saved a lot of hassle.
I think in principle with AU you’re more likely to get goodwill from a dealer if anything does go wrong but like you say anyway, prices are keen and miles can be silly low.
Not just BMW either - our Seat was 9 months old with 3.5k on the clock (ex-motability, bizarrely) and 2/3rds of list price.

I read on a BMW forum ( admittedly American ) that at the end of leases with 4 weeks to go the lease companies were dropping option to buy back the I3 by $10,000, I think because most of the auctions weren’t open

I'm not sure 'nice' would be my adjective of choice. Horrible wheels, rusty rear quarter, opaque quarter lights and something has had a really good go at the offside front wing. Rear bumper looks a bit jaunty too.

It's got character and was still the best looking car in the street full of much more expensive, boring cars. Proper lived in look, a bit of fake tan and a splash of after shave and ready to hit the town. Probably better described as a nice bit of rough.

I’d never really appreciated the parabolic nature of the rear side glass

Model 3 back with Tesla for a few days - 3 out of 10 drives, it would refuse to unlock the charge port through the app so required the manual pull in the boot. This would then show an 'unable to charge' message, despite being able to charge.

Obviously, apart from the drive to Chelmsford, it's a cost free / hassle free warranty fix.

Got a Model S loaner FOC until it's fixed.

Model S interior is super dated, compared to the 3. The massive central screen is nice still but the switchgear, dash, binnacle all feel really dated. Ride quality is better (air suspension) and the seats are nicer but everything else is better in the M3. It's a P75 single motor too so noticeably less shove than the M3 Long Range.

Got to say that the service experience is excellent so far. Issue logged in the app and a time arranged for service. Loan car etc all arranged through it too. Car recognised it had parked at Tesla and put itself into service mode and texted me to tell me what to do with the loan car. The future for sure.

Left windscreen wiper stopped working the other day. "There's another few hundred quid gone", says I. Had a customer call cancelled so went outside armed with some tools, no clue what could have gone wrong but a desire to not have to spend any (more) money. Only bloody gone and fixed it, ain't I?!

A loose nut on the pivot that drives the left wiper, for those on the edge of their seats. Could see the pivot/axle turning but the wiper assembly staying put. Added a few torques and we're away to the races.

dab of threadlock to stop it coming un-done again?

Already in my mind. But didn't fancy hoking through boxes (still not unpacked all tools as have no shed). Will likely wait until it happens again, such is my motivation.

I like mine way more than yours... I'm ready to grab another once our fucking garage gets fucking built... 🙄

Spotted .. pretty rare , odd roof folder

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Does it literally just rotate 180º?! That’s the kind of bullshit first-thought solution I love.

looks like it!

https://youtu.be/QSqKp2eNEIQ

Actually looks kinda cool...