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My only non Fiat Pride & Joy

Introduction

OK I can hear the groans Yes it is a BMW, But how would you like to be tarred with the same brush....young drivers drive like f**kwitts etc etc So yes I own a 7 series BMW but because I'm a car enthusiast not because I'm some rich bloke who has to have a named badge. I love my panda and Barchetta just as much.

Anyway if you bear with me it does make sense, I bought this car on the 26th of Aug 2003 and cost £1250, it's a 1990 735 se switchable auto with a 3.5lt straight 6 and has 220bhp as standard. Up to now the mechanical service bills for the last three years (as I do everything myself as with all my cars) have been less than 2 yrs of Panda ownership (excluding fuel costs obviously :eek: :cry: ) till yesterday when i decided to change every suspension arm & bush so a bill of £300 + an air-con fan at £129

The mods have been very subtle clear indicators & side repeaters, new alloys (another ebay bargain) model details debadged but with AC roundels front & back that's about all on the outside.

Inside is slightly different and one of the reasons I love this car so much, it has a Veba 7" motorised monitor with 5 aux inputs, initially silver but painted black professionally to suit the interior, Veba 6 DVD/CD/MP3 changer, VCR, Alpine Sat-nav, and reverse camera built into the boot lid. The monitor also has FM radio built in. There is also trafficmaster for motorway & main route traffic jam info. I'va also fitted a photochromatic rear view mirror with automatic dip, outside temp info and compass (no choice it came with it but suppose it's another gadget).

It has BMW's 8 speaker hifi system with 2 additional 6x9 alpine speakers on the rear shelf but done so you don't see them. The only obvious addition when parked is the trafficmaster the monitor automatically folds away when the ign is turned off and looks like a sh*t stereo that no one would steal.

It comes with heated memory seats, elec lumbar support & electric headrests, Air-con etc, I changed the light colour of the seat switches blue/red to match the dash & monitor with Led's soldered in place of the standard white/yellow. AC gearstick chrome dial rings AC oil cap (but no longer as the seal was crap)and that's about it. The wiring was a nighmare for the installs but got there eventually.

Oh! it came with the No Plate A16CRU which can be fiddled to AlS CRU or A1 SCRU :D

I like her and hope that those that appreciate cars in general do also (y)
Well I was quietly ignoring this rather off-topic thread up till now ;)

But then those valvegear photos! If that's not a testament to the quality of modern oils and the value of oil changes on time, I don't know what is.

I wonder if anyone reading this has worked on neglected engines before, and had to scrape off the black sludge before making adjustments etc.

She looks a beaut but I fear that in the UK, '1990' is just too old... and look at you, making that generalisation about young drivers in the first page, and now your executive saloon is turning into a boy-racer special :rolleyes:

-Alex
 
Sorry Alex but you took the generalisation the wrong way, I was referring to the generalisation associated with BMW owners/drivers being tarred with the same brush, and was making the comparison that many say about young drivers also tarred with the same brush which is untrue.

It won't be a boy racer special, just small subtle mods ;) and it's pretty much done and as far as I will take it now :cool:

P.S. I have to get rid of my mid life crisis somehow, I thought the barchetta was enough but maybe not :D
 
well i for one love the bmw, gorgeous car and it isnt to old, are you saying classics worth thousands ate just to old? hmm no they arent

also boy racer? your callign him a boy racer, look at some of the peiople on here, modding there cars up to the eye balls and bragging about racing other cars on public roads and such.

anyways im gonna shut up lol :eek:

hmm lovely car you have there alan, and you doing a very good job on it, one of the best condition ones for its age ive seen :cool: (y)
J
 
Ok last pic for this thread, Just finished off with a set of diamond clear rear lights from the US via Taiwan :rolleyes: Last thing to be done for a good while.

Car has gone to the Valaters now for the Holiday trip and finished.

Barchetta is also finished and no more money to spend on it

Panda is always an ongoing project :)
 

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Alan, your 7 series looks great (y) It's also one of the last of the really well built BMW's too, the later models (all of them) were never built to the same standard.

And too old? Bloody hell! Makes my '86 Uno and 1974 Cortina 2000E seem like they are from the stone age!

BMW's were always drivers cars, even the leviathan like 7 series. However, if I got one for myself it would have to be a 635 CS, and if money were no object a 70's 3.0 CSL :yum: :yum: :yum:

Amazing that you can pick up parts like alloy wheels for so little for what once were top end very expensive cars with prices to match for parts. I mean, you'd be lucky to buy a set of Punto alloys for 40 quid!

Nice car, but being a mature student I doubt if I'll even have one myself :( I like the fuel consumption and cheap spares of a 1.0 litre Fiat too much ;)
 
Thanks for the comments, if your ever looking for a second car they are well worth a look at and as far as spares go I've never really had a problem sourcing anything very cheaply, although I've spent over £1K on her recently but that was for all new suspension parts, exhaust, tyres, lights etc none of which was really bad I just wanted to upgrade instead of changing to the newer model. In fact all that was knackered was the rear axle bushes and they cost £19.
 
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