Hello people
Due to redundancy and losing the company smoke I've been looking at Omega auto diesel estates. My budget is a maximum of 7k, have any of you had any experience of this wagon? I appreciate they have electrical and minor irritating faults but what should I look out for/expect in the way of expense and weak components.
Any feedback on this model will be appreciated.
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Having had the pleasure of one of these I can assure you that the auto is thirsty 22 round town and 30ish on a run. The auto box is not a good match to the engine. Do not know what the manual is like in comparison. Engine is solid but the power figures are nothing to write home about compared to current 2 ltr diesels. Also electrical gremlins - door locks and central locking. Mine also developed squeaks around the door and window seals which had to be regularly treated with silicon grease. May have been due to the sunroof weakening the overall structure. Engine should have oil changes at 6500 intervals. Its a big expensive lump to go wrong.
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Budget of 7k? have you looked at BMW 5 series Touring? definately get an e34 (old style) for 7k with change, may even get high mileage e39 (new shape).
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Greenparrot,
Much in the archive about the Omega, I think. See also the "old site" archive.
Impressions IMHO? Fairly complex to fix and not many "specialist" independents out there. One noteable outfit in Thatcham, Berks.
My impression was that there was little that could be done by a veteran craftsman in a railway arch, but, on the contrary, that you needed to use a laptop in order to fill up the windscreen washer bottle. "That's £180, sir."
I considered one at length before going for a Citroen XM 2.5 Estate, which is probably twice as complex and half as reliable, but at least there is masses of experience "out there", plus multiple web forums.
I managed to find one which had been truly pampered, with engine flush at oil change, Mobil 1 oil, and cam belt change at "half time", and so far, so good.
I have heard that the perfomance of the 2.5TD is not sparkling either, whereas the XM has bags of grunt.
HTH, but a more objective view can be found in the archived postings.
rg
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Rob
Thankyou for the advice on the Citroen, I\'ve been on the lookout ever since your suggestion for one similar spec\'d to the Om, they really are as rare as rockin\' horse (?)
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Greenparrot,
You could always try
www.xm-centre.com
I don\'t think that they have any diesel estates at the moment, though.
It\'s worth speaking to Paul Johnson, though.
rg
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Full Chat
Thankyou for your awakening insights re fuel and drivability, the next time I test drive one I shall be paying much more attention to how the auto-box behaves.
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22 mpg around town & 30 on a run? that's marginally worse than my 2.5 litre petrol with manual box! I seem to remember the service interval on this diesel is 5K.
In terms of complexity I don't think the omega is any worse than any other modern car; Plenty of info. on engine management fault codes on the web. A search through the archive on this site will reveal most common problems ; which are usually related to the Ecotec engines; and so not relevant to the BMW diesel lump. Personally I think the omega handles well for a big car; and the estate really is big my modern standards.
I had an autobox 2.5 on 48 hour test drive; I really couldn't get on with the auto at all; it always seemed to be revving the nuts off the engine when I thought it should've been idling & vice-versa.
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