131mirafiori forum

The Forum has been generally been rather quiet recently, so it is perhaps time for us all to do a bit of writing  ;D :o. As the title says ?The Good and the Bad? and this refers to cars and ownership experiences. This doesn?t have to be a Mirafiori (The Good), although I suspect for many it probably will be. I suppose the general theme should be how the car exceeded or conversely failed to meet expectations. As an example I?ll go first:

The Bad: In 1997 as a 24 year old who was doing about 25,000 Miles a year mainly with work, I really needed a change from my E30 320i SE that I had owned for over 4 years and had over 130,000 Miles on the clock. I fancied a newer vintage 325i or even an E34 5 Series. The obvious problem was a lack of funds for such a car. Although keeping with the Used (7 Years Old to fit the budget of ?2,500) theme I decided on either an Alfa 164 3 Litre or a Thema Turbo. The Lancia was quickly rejected as they had pulled out of the UK and I was concerned (incorrectly on consideration) over parts availability and future resale (as I didn?t plan to keep the car for long). After consulting with a Mechanic he advised against the 164 on the basis of reliability concerns and the high cost of spares. I then came across a One Elderly Gentleman Owner (Full Service History) Rover 827 Vitesse. It had a body kit, all the equipment, looked the part and thanks to its light weight, manual gearbox and Honda V6 2.7 Litre Engine really shifted.

I found a Rover Mechanic and he changed all of the belts, fluids pads, discs etc and I was off. The first month was great  :D :)and I enjoyed the ?bigger? car experience and major performance increase over the 320i. The next 9 months of our relationship was one of massive unreliability (2 Gear Boxes were the most costly thing, one of the recovery men was an ex-police mechanic and he said gearboxes were a problem and generally they were not good cars). Various Electrical Faults often immobilised the thing, it broke down on the entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel (one of its 8 times) and moreover it rusted before your eyes, particularly in the body seams. I was glad to see that one go.

The Good: In 2007 after years of 3 Series ownership (318i SE to 330i Sport), I decided that I needed a new car to replace my 2005 (2 Years Old at the Time) 320i SE. An ex-demonstrator Met Black with matching Leather 520D SE proved to be a superb car with decent performance, handling and most of all a massive increase in comfort and refinement over the 3 series. It also returned over 50 MPG. Circumstances meant I had to part with it prematurely.

 Looking forward to other contributions / memories of the ?Good and the Bad? cars that other Forum Members have owned.

Out of a bunch of good/bad cars I'll pick a pair of (nearly) twins, two big Opel Diplomat V8, both cars I owned in the late 80s/early 90s.

First the Good: a stock V8, 327 cui (5.4 l), 230 HP, auto trans. I bought it for small money, did a little rust repair and drove it for three years, from summer 89 to 92, with just minor repairs and a remarkable fuel efficiency for a big carburetted V8 (when driven in normal mode it took 10.3 l/100 km = 27 mpg). If you think this is a big, clumsy limo with bad road holding, try to break the record I set in late November '89, flying down the 123 kms (76 miles) from Regensburg to Munich in 38 minutes, which is an average speed of 194 km/h or 120 miles  8)

(http://www.oelprinz-online.de/images/cars/25_diplo2.jpg)

And here comes the Bad: nearly the same car, but optically in much better condition, dark blue metallic paint, rust free and equipped with a hot Chevy 350 powerplant, 300 HP on the dyno, with Holley carburator, Crane cams and other gimmicks. This car had the devil inside: either it ran like hell or it sat in the driveway broken. It killed two TH400 transmissions (which are normally bulletproof), broke three rocker arms, had a fuel efficiency next to a Saturn V moon rocket and made me so sick I sold it in 96, after four long years of suffering. (It is still out there somewhere, I was told, but I'm glad I live somewhere else now)

(http://www.oelprinz-online.de/images/cars/27_diplo57.jpg)

This article refers to my post today in 'We seek them here.....'

Only Robert responded with his story  :) :).

Guys and Girls. Get writing :D :D :D