I've gone and bought a 'new' old car!

[stooH]

You don't want a back seat driver? 

[Ian_C]

You don't want a back seat driver? 

 

Tipex is your man for that

[garcon magnifique]

Wow.  I'd forgotten how completely mentally draining the first drive in a car like this is.  All senses at 120%.  There's more whines, squeaks and rattles than a kindergarten at kicking out time.  

 

However, it is ****ing magnificent, even following a fecking truck over the Derbyshire peak at 40mph in the rain.  

 

I'm going to sleep now.  

[Luke]

Proper driving.

[theduisbergkid]

Fantastic, great to see a car staying 'in the family', so to speak.

I loved driving the Merscabies and you're right, it's not like driving something new, it's an engaging and entertaining experience on any road at any time. You learn to forgive it's foibles and enjoy the raw sensation of having to make a machine work the way you want. I'm just doing a write-up of our recent(ish) trip to the 'ring in it for MotorPunk, it's the very epitome of "car club 18-30" and I love stuff of this era.

I hope you have a long and happy ownership, Mike.

What interests me now is wondering what Ben will buy to replace it. BMW 840, perhaps? Porsche 928? Renault A610? There are lots of similarly cool cars of that era now appreciating and they're all great fun in different ways.

[NewNiceMrMe]

What interests me now is wondering what Ben will buy to replace it. BMW 840, perhaps?

 

Do you have an intense dislike of Ben?

 

The BMW 840Ci is one of the worst cars they ever made.  Notoriously unreliable and bank crushingly expensive to sort.

 

The original 4.0 litre variant was so bad they changed to a 4.4 litre in 1997.

 

However, the 850Ci (V12) is much more coveted and the engine is much more reliable.

 

The reason you never see many 840/50's though is because they were one of the most unreliable and costly (and painful) to maintain BMW's ever made.

Edited May 29, 2014 by NewNiceMrMe

[patently]

Yes, but, they look lovely. And I want one.

[garcon magnifique]

To be honest everything I'd heard, which admittedly isn't that much, suggested otherwise - not that much wrong with the 840 but whatever you do avoid the 850.

 

Only related experience I have is an old colleague who bought a 750i of that era and regretted every moment of his ownership. Lots went wrong and all of it was colossally expensive.

 

 

Has anyone noticed how adept Mr Duisberg is at spending other peoples' money?

 

Ben claims he won't be directly replacing Merscabies, but I sensed his will may break before 18-30 2015. 

Edited May 29, 2014 by garcon magnifique

[theduisbergkid]

Chris, you can't apply conventional car buying rationale when buying modern classics. You have to put all the ifs/buts to one side. Then look at the car and buy it with your heart. As Tipex never tires of telling us, his scabby Alfa was the most reliable car on Scumball, a car you could only ever buy with your heart. A car I love, incidentally. Our friend Mr Rudge brought a "reliable" BMW 850 along on the first Car Club 18-30 trip. When it broke down he used his Maserati 224e BiTurbo to fetch parts for it. Heart, not head, that's how to buy these cars

[garcon magnifique]

One of the biggest factors in buying the Merscabies was known provenance of the vehicle itself.  Granted that's for the last two of its 29 years, but you get what I mean.

 

Also that in those two years Ben seems to have copped for replacing most of the stuff you might expect to need it.  There's bound to be more but frankly I don't care.  The car itself owes nobody nothing - having reached zero depreciation you can forgive it the odd bill.

 

I would say I'm touching wood as I type this, but you'd just accuse me of being a pervert. 

[NewNiceMrMe]

Oh I don't disagree that logic goes out of the window.

 

Google both cars though, the 840 and 850.

 

Passion is one thing, but suicide is another.  They really are absolute money pits on a level that is vastly above most other cars you might want to invest time and money into.

 

There's a bloke on Bimmerfest who has owned something silly like 3 x 840's and 2 x 850's - and he still hasn't managed to keep one running for more than a year at less than a few thousands on parts! (Dollars, to be fair).  He has all manner of cars in his collection and he admits he gets suckered into the 8 series because of how superb they look, but that it is madness every time he buys one! (and he keeps buying others as parts for the one of each he is trying to keep on the road!).

 

p.s. from what little I know of the Merc Cossie, comparing the potential for enthusiast upkeep of that to someone plumping for an 8 series is a bit like saying you were going to go for a nice round of Golf but decided to try throwing yourself off a cliff for fun instead.

Edited May 29, 2014 by NewNiceMrMe

[garcon magnifique]

 

p.s. from what little I know of the Merc Cossie, comparing the potential for enthusiast upkeep of that to someone plumping for an 8 series is a bit like saying you were going to go for a nice round of Golf but decided to try throwing yourself off a cliff for fun instead.

 

Here's hoping.  I'll send you a copy of the first big bill otherwise...

[NewNiceMrMe]

Here's hoping.  I'll send you a copy of the first big bill otherwise...

 

I think the fact its previous owner is who he is gives you a degree of peace of mind anyway.

 

If he (and they) can't keep a car road worthy and in good order then nobody stands a chance.

 

Plus, it's a Mercedes from the time they were building engines out of granite and strapping the Turbo's of possibly the best Turbocharger manufacturer ever to them.

 

Add to that the fact that it is largely devoid of mental electronics and that you're never going to lose more than a few hundred quid on it (if that frankly, and perhaps the opposite in time) and I think it is a very wise purchase. 

 

That car is one I always coveted.  Whereas all the rich boy racers of the age wanted the Sierra Cosworth, the Escort Cosworth and all the others, I would actively look for the Merc.  It just said something that nothing else could.  I think it was "F*ck off", but with a posh accent.

[patently]

Oh I don't disagree that logic goes out of the window.

Google both cars though, the 840 and 850.

Passion is one thing, but suicide is another. They really are absolute money pits on a level that is vastly above most other cars you might want to invest time and money into.

There's a bloke on Bimmerfest who has owned something silly like 3 x 840's and 2 x 850's - and he still hasn't managed to keep one running for more than a year at less than a few thousands on parts! (Dollars, to be fair). He has all manner of cars in his collection and he admits he gets suckered into the 8 series because of how superb they look, but that it is madness every time he buys one! (and he keeps buying others as parts for the one of each he is trying to keep on the road!).

p.s. from what little I know of the Merc Cossie, comparing the potential for enthusiast upkeep of that to someone plumping for an 8 series is a bit like saying you were going to go for a nice round of Golf but decided to try throwing yourself off a cliff for fun instead.

Yes, but, they look lovely. And I want one.

[patently]

You've made me go and look. Now I'm torn between a yellow one that's just down the road and a silver one that's had £6k spent on it and had EVERYTHING done so it will be perfectly reliable forever now.

That's your fault, MrMe, that is.

[jimdiesel]

In 1994 i was invited to a BMW driving day. Actually I wasn't invited, but our sales director was busy so knowing I liked cars sent me instead.

I rocked up to Harewood House near Leeds in my 90bhp Citroen ZX turboD and promptly jumped into an 850CSi. All 380 bhp of it. That made quite an impression.

[theduisbergkid]

There's an 850 CSi (!) signed up for 18-30. I can't wait to see it, and the others, on track

[garcon magnifique]

I'm just looking forward to the whole thing. There are some truly epic cars on the list, I'm just happy I'll be bringing something worthy of their company. 

[cruiser647]

After the original 6 series, the 8 was the other BMW I would have loved to have (followed by the last 7 of the sleek design)

[garcon magnifique]

I had considered looking for a 635CSi. Not as expensive as I'd thought for what seem to be decent ones but a big price range from shaggers to concourse.

[garcon magnifique]

I'll tell you something.  The Merscabies sounds pretty awesome without a back box.

 

[cruiser647]

Makes it go even faster.....

 

 

So, you now have some exhaust options to choose from.  What's it going to be?

[Soapsuds]

Last time I saw that car, it had an oven in the front, some dodgy estate agent leaflets floating about and was scraping it's wing mirrors around a track.....   No comment on the driver - he is beyond comment.

 

Nice to see her settling over here in the relative safety of Chavshire 

 

PS - hello, I aint been on here for a while!! 

[NewNiceMrMe]

Wow.  I think we've just had the understatement of the year.

[Soapsuds]

Wow.  I think we've just had the understatement of the year.

 

It's note been THAT long has it...............??