Discussion
So with my 997 Cab a distant memory https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... and the vehicles that followed being a mix of pickups and most recently a Transit Custom, I had a PH shaped whole in my life. With a plan to head to Spa this Summer to watch the F1 I started to consider what my weapon of choice could be, usefully the towing duties (daughter has a horse) were now taken care of by my wifes Evoque, a cheap VW Up! was taking care of stable runs, drives into the city centre and the odd commute which meant some sort of specialness could be inserted onto the drive.
Initially (and still now) I really wanted either a W204 C63 coupe or an F83 M4 cab but financially wasn't in a position to buy one with a few house jobs on the cards for this year and no desire to borrow my way into one of those. So with a reduced budget and some parameters pumped into AT I was off and browsing through the Christmas period. I considered all sorts but a read of Court_s readers cars thread on his 'Midlife Crisis E86' reminded me of how much I admired this era of BMW.
Used prices were a bit all over the place and these cars seem to be very spec sensitive, nothing too scary in respect of issues the N52 straight six engine seems pretty bullet proof and in a 1350kg 2 seater sports car is I would suggest fairly under stressed. The boxes I needed to tick were - able to deal with a twice weekly commute to the office, not cost the earth to run/service, provide some driver enjoyment/engagement, not too dated and feel special when you do drive it.
Few Readers Cars threads suggested most of those boxes would be ticked and Court_s exceptionally detailed 36 page ownership expereince tipped me over the edge.
This particular car appears to be in superb condition, couple of the known faults have been addressed with a new water pump, recent battery and manifold inspection documented. As mentioned I started browsing the E86's a few nights ago to see what prices were doing and noticed that they varied in price/condition/spec, this particular example caught my attention for several reasons -
- I bought it from an 80 year old lady who bought it brand new from Cooper BMW Wimbledon in 2006! Since then it has been her daily car and has rarely left the city in 18 years, finally conceding that it was no longer practical for her to get in and out of, it was replaced by a Lexus SUV/crossover. The opportunity to be the second owner on such a car was really attractive to me, the car has all the signs of being owned by an older lady with some curb rash on the wheels (parking), some scuffing to the drivers bolster (getting in and out) and the passenger seat has barely any signs of being sat in.
- It's finished in Individual Ruby Black, the overcast autumnal Autotrader pictures did not do this car justice and I knew with a good detail it would be transformed in the middle of Summer popping in an almost Aubergine hue.
- The research I did do suggested to me that these are quite 'spec sensitive' and in terms of options she went all out - electrically adjustable/memory Imola red M Sport seats, heated seats, sun protection glass, HiFi upgrade audio, folding mirrors, xenon headlights, comfort package and piano black dash finishers. So with the exception of adding the cruise stalk which looks to be fairly straightforward I am pretty happy.
Mechanically the car is in good shape with plenty of bills and invoices to support scheduled and spontaneous maintenance being taken care of when required, no signs of oil filter housing gasket or manifold gasket leaking and for an 18 year old car the suspension and general road manners were superb - not a rattle to be heard, I genuinely think these were peak BMW.
There is some love required in the cosmetic department though, the wheels have seen better days plus on run flats which I want to ditch asap, the bonnet badge needs replacing, headlights need a cut and a polish, it wants a darn good clean/detail but all things I can do myself slow time. I would like to bring the infotainment up to date (somehow), fit the ZHP gear knob, stubby aerial, got some trim to repair inside cabin - all of which are enjoyable little projects in themselves. The initial drive home confirmed that my hopes of it feeling 'special' were on the money and in todays world of 300hp hot hatches, this really does take you back to a time when analogue driving without interference and assistance was all a petrolhead needed.
A prod of the sport button showed it could pick up its skirt and get a move on when required but not to the extent that you were quickly in jail term portions of the speedo, the joy of pointing it into a bend and stretching out 2nd and 3rd gears knitting a B-road together is an utter joy.
Due to the usual UK weather I have not had a proper opportunity to get any good photos but attached is one from the advert (see what I mean about not doing it justice!)
Afraid to say I may follow the crowd and fit CSL wheels imminently (has to be done right?!?) to sort the wheel situation along with some normal tyres, more pictures to follow.
Si
Initially (and still now) I really wanted either a W204 C63 coupe or an F83 M4 cab but financially wasn't in a position to buy one with a few house jobs on the cards for this year and no desire to borrow my way into one of those. So with a reduced budget and some parameters pumped into AT I was off and browsing through the Christmas period. I considered all sorts but a read of Court_s readers cars thread on his 'Midlife Crisis E86' reminded me of how much I admired this era of BMW.
Used prices were a bit all over the place and these cars seem to be very spec sensitive, nothing too scary in respect of issues the N52 straight six engine seems pretty bullet proof and in a 1350kg 2 seater sports car is I would suggest fairly under stressed. The boxes I needed to tick were - able to deal with a twice weekly commute to the office, not cost the earth to run/service, provide some driver enjoyment/engagement, not too dated and feel special when you do drive it.
Few Readers Cars threads suggested most of those boxes would be ticked and Court_s exceptionally detailed 36 page ownership expereince tipped me over the edge.
This particular car appears to be in superb condition, couple of the known faults have been addressed with a new water pump, recent battery and manifold inspection documented. As mentioned I started browsing the E86's a few nights ago to see what prices were doing and noticed that they varied in price/condition/spec, this particular example caught my attention for several reasons -
- I bought it from an 80 year old lady who bought it brand new from Cooper BMW Wimbledon in 2006! Since then it has been her daily car and has rarely left the city in 18 years, finally conceding that it was no longer practical for her to get in and out of, it was replaced by a Lexus SUV/crossover. The opportunity to be the second owner on such a car was really attractive to me, the car has all the signs of being owned by an older lady with some curb rash on the wheels (parking), some scuffing to the drivers bolster (getting in and out) and the passenger seat has barely any signs of being sat in.
- It's finished in Individual Ruby Black, the overcast autumnal Autotrader pictures did not do this car justice and I knew with a good detail it would be transformed in the middle of Summer popping in an almost Aubergine hue.
- The research I did do suggested to me that these are quite 'spec sensitive' and in terms of options she went all out - electrically adjustable/memory Imola red M Sport seats, heated seats, sun protection glass, HiFi upgrade audio, folding mirrors, xenon headlights, comfort package and piano black dash finishers. So with the exception of adding the cruise stalk which looks to be fairly straightforward I am pretty happy.
Mechanically the car is in good shape with plenty of bills and invoices to support scheduled and spontaneous maintenance being taken care of when required, no signs of oil filter housing gasket or manifold gasket leaking and for an 18 year old car the suspension and general road manners were superb - not a rattle to be heard, I genuinely think these were peak BMW.
There is some love required in the cosmetic department though, the wheels have seen better days plus on run flats which I want to ditch asap, the bonnet badge needs replacing, headlights need a cut and a polish, it wants a darn good clean/detail but all things I can do myself slow time. I would like to bring the infotainment up to date (somehow), fit the ZHP gear knob, stubby aerial, got some trim to repair inside cabin - all of which are enjoyable little projects in themselves. The initial drive home confirmed that my hopes of it feeling 'special' were on the money and in todays world of 300hp hot hatches, this really does take you back to a time when analogue driving without interference and assistance was all a petrolhead needed.
A prod of the sport button showed it could pick up its skirt and get a move on when required but not to the extent that you were quickly in jail term portions of the speedo, the joy of pointing it into a bend and stretching out 2nd and 3rd gears knitting a B-road together is an utter joy.
Due to the usual UK weather I have not had a proper opportunity to get any good photos but attached is one from the advert (see what I mean about not doing it justice!)
Afraid to say I may follow the crowd and fit CSL wheels imminently (has to be done right?!?) to sort the wheel situation along with some normal tyres, more pictures to follow.
Si
Edited by SiT on Wednesday 1st January 16:39
Yes there seems to be a camp for both wheel options, I may do that - split them and perhaps refurb outers, I have a ‘spare’ cracked one in boot owing to their cheeses nature!
It’s a snug fit for me, 6’3 and 16 (athletic stone) but having suffered an S2000 and Abarth 595 it’s certainly doable.
Si
It’s a snug fit for me, 6’3 and 16 (athletic stone) but having suffered an S2000 and Abarth 595 it’s certainly doable.
Si
SiT said:
Yes there seems to be a camp for both wheel options, I may do that - split them and perhaps refurb outers, I have a ‘spare’ cracked one in boot owing to their cheeses nature!
It’s a snug fit for me, 6’3 and 16 (athletic stone) but having suffered an S2000 and Abarth 595 it’s certainly doable.
Si
I always wanted an S2K (had an EK9, DC5, EG6 SiR-S, EF8 CRX, EG2 Del Sol, ATE, Prelude BB8 etc); the S2K was never an option; just too small It’s a snug fit for me, 6’3 and 16 (athletic stone) but having suffered an S2000 and Abarth 595 it’s certainly doable.
Si
6ft 4 and was 22 stone (competitive powerlifter/weightlifter/stone lifting etc); I'm now down to 16st 9 through ill health and lack of eating, but I am still training what I can/when I can and haven't lost much of my width (my back/hips cause me the main issues due to their width), legs too!
The E81 130i is the perfect size for me; plenty of room up front
What I read I liked, the one, elderly owner bit and I am a sucker for red leather. Cracking design. The Fiat Coupe is my favourite Bangle design but realistically a Z4 in convertible or E86 form likely to be better from an ownership and not dealing with rot perspective.
I am more of an E number person.
I am more of an E number person.
carinaman said:
What I read I liked, the one, elderly owner bit and I am a sucker for red leather. Cracking design. The Fiat Coupe is my favourite Bangle design but realistically a Z4 in convertible or E86 form likely to be better from an ownership and not dealing with rot perspective.
I am more of an E number person.
Thanks - apologies about title but I have always referred to these as ‘breadvans’ they took the name on from the Z3M Coupe. I am more of an E number person.
Si
That’s a really nice example. Ruby Black is a stunning colour but is a bugger for showing up swirls etc (having seen one under florescent lights that needed a good detail).
I’m in the camp of really hating the 108’s; they age the car big time and are sods to refurb.
The infotainment is hard to update; there is one place in London who have a CarPlay solution which is easier if you already have the TV tuner option. This can be added if not but the downside is that the controller looks a bit cack because there’s no where to really mount it.
You can stream music if you buy a Bluemusic adapter from Amazon. It plugs into the wiring for the CD changer that should be present if slightly hurried in the boot.
You’ve got a good one if there are no rattles; they E85/6 are notorious for having a few. Mine has a few but there inconsistent and seem to be dependent on the temperature.
I’m in the camp of really hating the 108’s; they age the car big time and are sods to refurb.
The infotainment is hard to update; there is one place in London who have a CarPlay solution which is easier if you already have the TV tuner option. This can be added if not but the downside is that the controller looks a bit cack because there’s no where to really mount it.
You can stream music if you buy a Bluemusic adapter from Amazon. It plugs into the wiring for the CD changer that should be present if slightly hurried in the boot.
You’ve got a good one if there are no rattles; they E85/6 are notorious for having a few. Mine has a few but there inconsistent and seem to be dependent on the temperature.
Court_S said:
That’s a really nice example. Ruby Black is a stunning colour but is a bugger for showing up swirls etc (having seen one under florescent lights that needed a good detail).
I’m in the camp of really hating the 108’s; they age the car big time and are sods to refurb.
The infotainment is hard to update; there is one place in London who have a CarPlay solution which is easier if you already have the TV tuner option. This can be added if not but the downside is that the controller looks a bit cack because there’s no where to really mount it.
You can stream music if you buy a Bluemusic adapter from Amazon. It plugs into the wiring for the CD changer that should be present if slightly hurried in the boot.
You’ve got a good one if there are no rattles; they E85/6 are notorious for having a few. Mine has a few but there inconsistent and seem to be dependent on the temperature.
Your thread was most inspirational!!!! Thank you for documenting it in such detail it was a HUGE help.I’m in the camp of really hating the 108’s; they age the car big time and are sods to refurb.
The infotainment is hard to update; there is one place in London who have a CarPlay solution which is easier if you already have the TV tuner option. This can be added if not but the downside is that the controller looks a bit cack because there’s no where to really mount it.
You can stream music if you buy a Bluemusic adapter from Amazon. It plugs into the wiring for the CD changer that should be present if slightly hurried in the boot.
You’ve got a good one if there are no rattles; they E85/6 are notorious for having a few. Mine has a few but there inconsistent and seem to be dependent on the temperature.
I can imagine the car will be a bugger for swirls and marks, I swore I would never have another black car…..lol!
Yes the 108’s are on their way out I am afraid - agree with you on that. Thanks for heads up on CarPlay, will have to have a poke around and see if I have TV?
I was amazed how quiet it was driving back and the A303 is quite rough in patches so seems like I lucked out there. What have been your top 3 mods/improvements to your car?
Si
SiT said:
Your thread was most inspirational!!!! Thank you for documenting it in such detail it was a HUGE help.
I can imagine the car will be a bugger for swirls and marks, I swore I would never have another black car…..lol!
Yes the 108’s are on their way out I am afraid - agree with you on that. Thanks for heads up on CarPlay, will have to have a poke around and see if I have TV?
I was amazed how quiet it was driving back and the A303 is quite rough in patches so seems like I lucked out there. What have been your top 3 mods/improvements to your car?
Si
At least my drivel posted on here was useful then! I can imagine the car will be a bugger for swirls and marks, I swore I would never have another black car…..lol!
Yes the 108’s are on their way out I am afraid - agree with you on that. Thanks for heads up on CarPlay, will have to have a poke around and see if I have TV?
I was amazed how quiet it was driving back and the A303 is quite rough in patches so seems like I lucked out there. What have been your top 3 mods/improvements to your car?
Si
Decent tyres make a huge difference especially if you’re on RFT’s, the weighted gear knob is lovely and a good alignment makes a difference.
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