10589760_830397816985426_1556436975_n.jpg

Seicento Rescued Schumacher Edition Sei

Introduction

Hi all, returning to the forum after a long hiatus (other cars owned/moving house/bereavement/graduation, etc, etc).

My returning area of business is that I've just bought my Niece's Seicento Michael Schumacher Edition from her when she happened to post on her Facebook page that she was going to scrap it after it received a "poor bill of health" from her local mechanic after taking it for a check when she noticed it had been overheating and generally becoming unreliable.

She has owned it for a few years and I must admit to being a bit envious of it as I like the Sei and I like Michael Schumacher, so I wasn't passing up the opportunity. However, I was sceptical that it was a genuine Schumacher Edition, but the logbook seems to support this. I haven't actually seen the car to check for the edition number, etc. I hope to bring it to my lockup from where it is currently parked, a journey of ~240 miles. The poor bugger also seems to be having an identity crisis with its badging - the Fiat, Seicento and Sporting badges have been removed by an earlier keeper, a gigantic Michael Schumacher decal has been put on the back window (the factory fit one was too subtle for someone I guess) and there are Abarth stickers all over it. I know that the Schumacher/Abarth kit are the same, but I don't think the car left the factory with both!

The wheels have been painted black, although it is not possible to tell from the level of detail in the photos if it is a good job. The centre caps seem to have been painted over...

Here are the known issues with the car at present:

Niece's mechanic findings (his words)
  • Car overheating in traffic - coolant fan needed
  • fuel injection kit needed
  • starter kit needed

I'm not sure how much credibility to place in these findings- fuel injection and starter "kits"... :confused:

From past experience, heuristically, I would say it is more likely that:
  • The fan fuse, otterstat or fan wiring/multiplug is faulty.
  • 1 or more injectors have failed or that the car is in limp mode (see last MOT findings below).
  • I'm not sure what the starter issue may be, possibly starter motor earthing/battery contacts.

Last MOT Advisory Items (March 2014):

  1. OSR wheel bearing slight play
  2. OSF ball joint dust cover damaged
  3. OSR suspension arm bush deteriorated
  4. Engine management light on
  5. Sill covers fitted
  6. Slight knock from steering
  7. OSR knocking
  8. Lights and battery secured with cable ties

The MOT issuer is the same individual who came up with the items in the first list. It seems fairly likely that items 3 and 6 are related and that item 4 is related to one or more presenting behaviours. Two things amuse me from this - Firstly, "Sill covers fitted" (unsure if kick plates or side skirts are being referred-to). I would not have expected a factory-fitted item to flag an MOT advisory. Secondly "Lights and battery secured with cable ties". The previous MOT lists "battery not secured" and it is this garage who fitted the cable ties! My faith in this garage's competency is fragile at best.

Other items:
  • Possible speedometer inaccuracy (reading lower than actual speed). My niece noted this when driving the car on the motorway, followed by her partner in another car. She noted that the speed error was around 10MPH too slow. The standard wheels and tyres are fitted, so I must consider that the speed sensor or speedometer are faulty. I am wondering if this sensor could throw up and engine management light.
  • Front bumper tow-eye insert loose. it's difficult to tell from the photos, I am unsure if this is the insert or damage to the bumper itself. My niece has decided to secure it with highly covert black insulation tape.

I intend to the read the ECU fault codes when I get to the car. I must also consider that the car may have been cooked from overheating, possibly resulting in head gasket failure, which I will assess with a compression check and coolant/oil inspection. I shall check the speedo accuracy with a satnav.

I'm really looking forward to cracking on with this :D
I'm not a fan of the Schumi's but always good to see a cento being looked after, good luck with it...

And yes, some rather amusing comments from the garage, they will have meant the skirts for the sill thing, you can't see the sill with them on and rusty sills is a fail - i can kinda see where he is coming from but from all the other stuff can clearly tell he either doesn't know what he is on about or he is just trying to get work out of your neice.
 
I'm not a fan of the Schumi's but always good to see a cento being looked after, good luck with it...

And yes, some rather amusing comments from the garage, they will have meant the skirts for the sill thing, you can't see the sill with them on and rusty sills is a fail - i can kinda see where he is coming from but from all the other stuff can clearly tell he either doesn't know what he is on about or he is just trying to get work out of your neice.

Interesting - just the Schumis or the Seicento generally? Is it the styling? While I do really like the Cinq, I do also like the Sei, but I respect peoples' opinions as with all things :).

Yeah, those were my inferences on the mechanic too, but I'll see what the problems turn out to be.
 
just the Schumy - it only personal taste things though.. i think the ABS is crap and takes up too much room and its expensive to repair if it goes wrong compared to the non ABS brakes. I prefer the spi sei's in general, i prefer the seats, the front bumper i think looks like its trying to be a jap car whereas the spi one i think looks miles better and nicer lines. I have little experience with the mpi setup so bit biased toward the spi engine as well. I do like the black side trim things down the door on the mpi though..

And on top of all that i'm not a fan of Schumi either, so to me its all a bit of a all round no no.

I prefer cinqs over sei's in general but i have had both and they are both great - if i ever buy a sei again though i will be ripping out the PAS and sticking cinq stuff in, and it would defo be an spi one for all the reasons above. But its not likely, i've not long sold my turbo seicento and my cinq is for sale too as i fancy doing something else - i've been trapped here in cento-land for a decade haha.
 
Last edited:
just the Schumy - it only personal taste things though.. i think the ABS is crap and takes up too much room and its expensive to repair if it goes wrong compared to the non ABS brakes. I prefer the spi sei's in general, i prefer the seats, the front bumper i think looks like its trying to be a jap car whereas the spi one i think looks miles better and nicer lines. I have little experience with the mpi setup so bit biased toward the spi engine as well. I do like the black side trim things down the door on the mpi though..

And on top of all that i'm not a fan of Schumi either, so to me its all a bit of a all round no no.

I prefer cinqs over sei's in general but i have had both and they are both great - if i ever buy a sei again though i will be ripping out the PAS and sticking cinq stuff in, and it would defo be an spi one for all the reasons above. But its not likely, i've not long sold my turbo seicento and my cinq is for sale too as i fancy doing something else - i've been trapped here in cento-land for a decade haha.

Haha - I can see why they would irk you then :D Yeah, from the research I've done, there seems to be many things from the Cinq which fit. After my Cinq I had an Impreza turbo wagon, then a Punto, then an MX5, then a RAV4, then a EP3 Civic Type-R and now we have a baby, we have a lowly 5 door Mondeo! In the background though, I've been renovating a 1994 Mini Mayfair which is at the MOT stage.
 
hahaha, my 3rd car was a mini mayfair - british racing green with walnut dash. Was a great little car - it had an argument with an 18 wheel lorry and had alot of work done to fix it, and later had another arguement with an astra - again fixed. Finally it succumbed to rust - I practically gave it way rather than selling it haha. I sold it and a classic beetle to a mate for £200 - and i believe someone bought it off him and turned it into a grass tracker so will defo be dead by now sadly.
 
Don't mention Mini's to Blu, he had some sort of mental aberration & got rid of his -poor mad fool.

It's crossed my mind to sell mine now baby is here, but at the same time I really want to keep and use it!



hahaha, my 3rd car was a mini mayfair - british racing green with walnut dash. Was a great little car - it had an argument with an 18 wheel lorry and had alot of work done to fix it, and later had another arguement with an astra - again fixed. Finally it succumbed to rust - I practically gave it way rather than selling it haha. I sold it and a classic beetle to a mate for £200 - and i believe someone bought it off him and turned it into a grass tracker so will defo be dead by now sadly.


Wow, I wouldn't want to go there, either Mini Vs truck or Mini Vs Astra! Mini Vs Cento though, I'm not sure who'd come off worst :) I think that if you were bored of it or otherwise didn't want to keep it then best to get rid, otherwise re-shelling is always an option (within DVLA "points" guidelines of course :rolleyes:). £200 for both is quite the bargain and I'm actually glad I don't have that much space around my house, otherwise I'd have a fleet of cars i felt sorry-for.
 
I not long ago had 5 cars lol - thats what happened when i had my own reasonable sized driveway. Moved to rented house now with shared parking so couldn't keep them all. Besides, i could never afford to keep them all on the road anyway, 2 seems to be the limit my money can stretch to as far as keeping them properly maintained and on the road and insured, taxed etc etc.

Before i moved though i had the sei-turbo, my cinq, punto gt, alfa 159 and a merc clk320 lol
 
....I'm actually glad I don't have that much space around my house, otherwise I'd have a fleet of cars i felt sorry-for.
Like a deseamed '71 round front in Black Tulip that desperately needs some special loving?
Jamie did the car turn out to be a genuine schumi in the end?

First a lorry :confused:, then an Astra :confused: -i guess it must be hard for Blu with his big Wookiee feet to manage the brake pedal :p
 
Like a deseamed '71 round front in Black Tulip that desperately needs some special loving?
Jamie did the car turn out to be a genuine schumi in the end?

Don't tell me any more - I've a horrid soft-spot for Minis :yum:

I'm currently plotting to "nip down the road" to get it. I ideally want to do it on a long weekend as there are scrappies and Fiat dealerships there, which don't exist in Caithness.

I can get my Dad to pop round to see it and do some cursory investigation. Wouldn't trust him with the computer-interfacing though... :D
 
Well nice one;))
My second "yellow banana" after an year/half be parked on drive on SORN nearly has gone to breakers yard :/
Because friend of my menager knew that I got one SPI has mention to me do I wanna 4 couple hundred's?
There was many,many hours and labour done by me due to miss fire of two cylinders............+another faults that cost me a prize of profit from my SPI.
In my opinion was NOT worth a breath du to long time my MPI spend on drive and definitely will never again do same mistake.
At this stage I'll love to drive it and do not see a point to get rid of it :))
This is couple of pictures fela..ImageUploadedByFIAT Forum1410138738.976883.jpgbro X wih YImageUploadedByFIAT Forum1410139042.754936.jpg and now saved from dismiss.
 
Well nice one;))
My second "yellow banana" after an year/half be parked on drive on SORN nearly has gone to breakers yard :/
Because friend of my menager knew that I got one SPI has mention to me do I wanna 4 couple hundred's?
There was many,many hours and labour done by me due to miss fire of two cylinders............+another faults that cost me a prize of profit from my SPI.
In my opinion was NOT worth a breath du to long time my MPI spend on drive and definitely will never again do same mistake.
At this stage I'll love to drive it and do not see a point to get rid of it :))
This is couple of pictures fela..View attachment 143378bro X wih YView attachment 143379 and now saved from dismiss.
That's a sad story, but try to take some solace in the fact this it is healthy again and being enjoyed!
 
This is why when I was 17, after passing my driving test always wanted to have one.
Even now I'm 15 years older and to be honest some time when I drive it got feel of meet my dreams but in reality, bit shame that wasn't 15 y's ago;)
Any way even value of it isn't worth my investment (probably U're aware too) that still I apperiaciate U also taking a challenge of saving U're Schumie and hope when U do all U do to it,more satisfied and happy U be;)
Wish U best of luck and hopefully one day on Fan Centomeeting we see and talk about our trolley's ;)
 
Got a "Vehicle Identity Check" letter in about the Sei saying that I had to take it to a test centre to confirm vehicle identity, as it is recorded as being "accident damaged" by an insurer. :confused: I'll ask my niece if she knows anything about it.

hi,
A VIC check is just that.. to make sure it's the vehicle the log book says it is..,

Shouldn't be a problem.. worth checking the vin plate + engine number yourself now though..against v5 / logbook,;)
Charlie
 
Back
Top