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

Bugger, cancelling my order.

Was it bore scoring or an IMS failure that triggered that pointlessness? The two tonne sports car with a 100 mile range..

Not meant to be patronising, I say that because I know I have a tendency to push and push for the right thing when the monetary value is a lot less than the fucking stress I end up putting myself through.

Oh, you too.

Was trying to buy a customers G11/31 530d, originally after a F11/31 age but I know the guy and the car and its in real nice shape. Had a price given to him early 2020 for trading in at BMW, got a slightly better price at that place. Offered it to me at last years price minus an extra £1k as he reckoned thats what it had depreciated in the extra 15 months (not used though! as he's already got new car).
Nope, WBAC had put £2k extra on top of 15 month ago price, so he's dropped it in with them. Damn. Was already spending too much on a car that'll probably barely do 10k a year anyway so might have just saved myself some money

Sent you a PM BTW, re 850

The only advantage to built-in systems is that they can use dead-reckoning

And they can put navigation info on the instrument cluster of HUD.

G11/31 530d

real nice shape.

😁😁
Tbh I don’t mind the grills. But then look at my bike and you’ll realise I have non-traditional taste..

It looks like WBAC (and main dealers) are ahead of Indy dealers right now. So if you’ve seen a local well priced car. Get it now! It’s like toilet roll all over again…

In other news; my engine clunk was the top mount bolt which had worked loose. It’s all back together now, so I’ll be heading over to collect shortly. Why / how I do not know.
So, just the TFT line outstanding - which seemingly only happened that one journey. Restarted the car and it’d gone. I’ve got a warranty and it’s logged. So I’ll see how it plays out.
I’m glad. This thing has most tech features and I haven’t been able to find anything anywhere near spec for the money.

Just gonna stick with my old Volvo TBH unless something that I want comes up. F11/31 530d in M or Lux spec with the comfort seats, a nice colour and a sunroof with under 100k on it for under £10k. Shouldn't be asking the world, but honestly you ask some dealers/traders and they look at you like you've just asked for the world on a stick.

I'm going to get my car ceramic coated later in the summer. There's a couple of small paint problems that need sorting before hand though, and the company doing the detailing said they could take care of them at the same time. The issues are on the same panel - the boot / spoiler and are small, but I imagine you'd repaint the whole panel to solve them.

However, it's a mobile paint setup and it'd be done at my place (or panels taken off and done inside the van I guess). Is this something I should bother with entertaining? In my head this just seems like you'd risk getting a worse paint job than I'd get if I took it to the body work shop round the corner, then getting it coated by the first company later.

I've got no reason to suspect that the first company would do a bad job, they've got a good reputation.

Is this something I should bother with entertaining?

Depends on how bad the paint is.

Doing small repairs using mobile stuff is fine - we had a neighbour get that done. Guy rocked up in a van, awning setup over car, some prep, paint and clear coat with heavy UV lights for curing in between. The result was very good and eliminated some long scrapes. You can also get rims repainted and repaired with the same process.

Some quick YouTube searches should give you a better overview of the process.

FWIW - I did the ceramic coating on my rims before I had them installed on the car. I was very careful and followed the process carefully. They come up very clean with minimal effort and the water beads so nicely. I also ceramic coated all the glass too. I highly recommend that if you do any motorway driving in the wet.

If this is the car I think it is then the decklid/spoiler can get very hot, so prep is key to ensure that the paint stays on. I had to have mine redone after the paint started lifting.

It’s the owners personal project/fun/shopping car (I just started at an EV conversion company), not sure what was the reason, other than showing what can be done, to convert this Porsche. I like the 912, 914, VW type 2 t1, Renault 4(6 of ‘em), 70’s Rolls, C3 Stingray, VW Beetle that are in the workshop all more. But can’t show pics because customer cars 😒

I emailed London Electric Cars about a conversion project, they emailed me back saying "Hi! It'll be £25k minimum plus the cost of the car".

I emailed back asking what was included in that figure and they never responded.

So! I would still like to plan the project, but with a company that can be bothered to tell me what my money gets - if you could PM me with who you are working for that'd be appreciated.

Yeah - it's that one. And it's the same issue on the same panel you describe ;)

I hadn't thought of the heat - given that, I think I'll get it done separately. I can believe you can get good results, but I'd feel happier with it being done in a proper environment rather than on the road outside (roadside parking only here...) .

Apologies if I've insulted your work! Good luck and hopefully you can sort out Dammit below.

Congrats, am jealous. Bon chance.

In a totally nosey sense, would love to see what you are doing.

Probably can’t help you as I’m in Delft in the Netherlands. That kind of money would get you a Netgain Hyper9 but I’m not sure how big a battery pack.

No worries!

Sending invoices, sending out orders, and ordering parts…
You can find them on Instagram as @eveurope.

Here now is quite good and tested in UK and France. All off line maps too.

Been quoted just shy of 700 to replace the rear shocks and springs on the C70. Garage says they use a weird design because of the roof weight/mechanism. Does this sound about right or should I get a quote elsewhere?

Seems unlikely a convertible would have self-levelling suspension - that's usually used where you have a large boot space that might be empty and therefore light, but might be rammed full, and so heavy. If it's always got the heavy folding roof but only a small boot then there wouldn't be any need for self-levelling suspension, in which case 700 smackers seems rather pricey. A quick Google shows GSF selling C70 rear dampers for £18 each. Unless the design of the roof means they're spectacularly inaccessible, £700 seems a bit rich.

Air suspension fubar on the Disco. £900. Bang.

Sounds about right. Classic LR / RR problem.

Yep. Surprised it’s lasted this long TBH. Most likely needs a new compressor. As I’m gonna cough up for this, I’ve decided I’m just gonna keep the Disco for good and run it into the ground, so have stumped up for a full service and a new cam belt too. 😩