shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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After selling my trusty Defender 110 to a farmer from Bury I wanted to fill the hole with an estate. I had my eye on an A6 allroad, 2.7tt with air bags, whats not to like? I went to see a couple and they turned out to be complete dogs, leaking bags, peeling laquer and scrapes galore. Is it really that hard to be honest in car ads? I started to widen the search a bit to Audi, BM, Saab. After one such viewing on bank holiday monday I was starting to feel disheartened and also had a brown envelope full of £20's burning a hole in my pocket. Nothing on Ebay, nothing on Autotrader, nothing on Gumtr... oh wait what is this little beauty? 2000 e39 523i, Mot till December, sub 1k and reasonably close by! Emails fly back and forth and seller says I can view right now, well its 6.30pm and the car is just over an hour away so jump in my wifes car and boot it to Cambridge. Arrive and the car looks better in the flesh with just a tiny bit of bubbling at the front of one sill and a pea size dent in the roof. Fully loaded black leather interior, stainless exhaust etc, etc. It gets better as the seller produces a mountain of history and receipts for work done. I'm in love so after a bit of haggling a deal is done and I have another BM! Picked up after work the next day and have a great luxurious drive home. 30mph feels exactly like 70mph, so quiet its unbelievable. Wife is very happy to see the back of the Landie (daughter less so) It does need a bit of work but for the price paid I'm very happy. The clutch is quite high so that will be done and the throttle pedal is really heavy so I've ordered a new cable for £26 from BMW. Once that is done all the fun stuff can begin!
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Last Edit: Apr 20, 2017 6:38:34 GMT by shin2chin
1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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Apr 22, 2017 19:07:41 GMT
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Collected my throttle cable from the dealers today and after much cursing and contortions got it fitted. The go pedal is now lovely and smooth and does not require a lead foot, bonus! Had some of my recent bay purchases arrive so also did a few other bits to tidy up and placate my ocd. Mankey faded plates with rusty fixings swapped for new pressed set. Amber indicator and side repeater bulbs changed to chrome. Bye bye fried egg. I then proceeded to nick my wifes hairdryer and heated up the rear 523 badge and removed it. Came of quite cleanly apart from a few spots where some numpty has stuck it down with superglue! Looks grim so I've ordered some superglue remover to get the residue off. Looks alot cleaner. Will do a few more bits this week if I manage to get home early enough from work.
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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pkh
Part of things
Posts: 12
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Apr 22, 2017 19:44:42 GMT
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cool car ;-)
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foe
Part of things
Posts: 127
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Apr 23, 2017 16:01:19 GMT
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Just changing the repeater bulbs, makes a difference! Nice touch.
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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Its so good to have a new car and a focus for my Ebay buying! I did say to myself that I wouldnt be changing anything and I was happy with the e39 as it stood but I think we know how that quickly changes? Number one on everyones list, wheels. Bog standard 16" turbines which although quite a nice wheel looked really small on such a big car. The e39 is a bit of an oddball with offset and centre bore so no E36 or E46 wheels would fit. Searched for E39 wheels but they were a bit meh and miles away so a bit of research and found E60 wheels would go on. Found this set of 18" MV2 wheels in Leamington in a fetching shade of anthracite and some serious corrosion. Won the auction for a princely £140 and collected em. 2 tyres were scrap so a visit to my friendly tyre place and got 2 partworn Pirellis for £60. Sanded the corrosion and curbing back which took ages Got a great colour match with Halfrauds wheel paint Then fitting, easy right?
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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This is why I never bothered on my e39, the only wheels I could find to fit were more than it was worth nice wheel them, what are they like on the car?
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 12, 2017 13:18:58 GMT
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This is why I never bothered on my e39, the only wheels I could find to fit were more than it was worth nice wheel them, what are they like on the car? Read on to see!
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 12, 2017 13:26:02 GMT
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So I got off work early and set to work swapping wheels, excited as a fat man in a pie shop. Now I should know not to trust everything you read on the net but despite reading that E60 wheels are a direct fit they aint! Offset fine but centrebore 2 and a bit mm too small. I've had this problem so many times before its unreal. I used to go at it with the dremmel and a carbide burr but it takes ages and is a bit slapdash. I'm a carpenter and trust me the best thing to use if your going to tackle it yourself is a router with a straight cutter. With that done bolted up, offset perfect. Slight drop required now I think, come on payday!
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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May 12, 2017 14:55:07 GMT
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Very nice. What is the engine bay like on these?
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 12, 2017 18:32:11 GMT
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Very nice. What is the engine bay like on these? Not too tight tbh, I have lost an 8mm socket in there somewhere though.
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 12, 2017 18:50:49 GMT
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Few more little bits done. The headlights were looking very cloudy and untidy so I whipped them off, just 4 bolts and they slide out. Grim looking right? Wife and daughter out so I took over the kitchen. The front lenses clip off the units and into the sink they go to wash off all the crud. I kept water running over them and put in some serious elbow grease sarting with 800 grit, then 1000, 1500 and 2000. Its pretty scary seeing the lenses go totally opaque! After the 2000 I gave a final polish with cutting compound. Not perfect but massively better. Once they were back on I gave them a coat of UV protector to stop them going misty again for a while. Action packed weekend now with toddlers bday parties amd family gatherings so no more car time. Grrrrr damn real life getti ng in the way!
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Last Edit: May 12, 2017 18:51:54 GMT by shin2chin
1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 14, 2017 19:09:11 GMT
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Just got back from collecting this Not bad for £30. Came with nice clear fog lights too and its in the right colour. Just needs a blow over then I'll get it fitted.
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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May 17, 2017 18:47:09 GMT
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Bumper freshly painted at 5am this morning before work and waiting to be fitted on Sunday
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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May 18, 2017 11:27:53 GMT
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Great work, looks very smart
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May 18, 2017 12:35:32 GMT
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I like this a lot. What sort of power do these put out ??
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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BMW E39 Touring 523i MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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May 18, 2017 13:25:31 GMT
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I like this a lot. What sort of power do these put out ?? 170bhp if it's the same as the early E46 323i.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Tarka
Part of things
Posts: 905
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Great work - I like E39s. That bumper was an absolute steal! Very resourceful with your time - I often get up double early to do a quick garage job before work!
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Sharks in the garage.🐬🇩🇪 I'll finish my projects when you've finished your's!😎😜
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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I like this a lot. What sort of power do these put out ?? 170bhp if it's the same as the early E46 323i. Yep thats right. Doesn't sound alot but it seems plenty quick enough after a 300tdi!
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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Great work - I like E39s. That bumper was an absolute steal! Very resourceful with your time - I often get up double early to do a quick garage job before work! Pre 6am seems to be my only free time at the minute!
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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bazzateer
Posted a lot
Imping along sans Vogue
Posts: 3,653
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May 19, 2017 12:45:47 GMT
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Like this a lot.
I have an E61 530d Touring as a daily - superb cars.
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1968 Singer Chamois Sport 1972 Sunbeam Imp Sport 1976 Datsun 260Z 2+2 1998 Peugeot Boxer Pilote motorhome 2003 Rover 75 1.8 Club SE (daily) 2006 MG ZT 190+ (another daily) 2007 BMW 530d Touring M Sport (tow car)
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