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• FIAT 500 (2007 - ) - New Fiat 500 11 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  A lovely young lady with legs that went on forever, allowed me inside to fidddle about. What a cracking looking car. This, Mr BMW man, is how to do Retro. UNlike the new mini, Fiat have captured the spirit of the old 500 superbly. Sure its bigger, than the old one, but all the styling cues of the old one have been carried over, including the inside where plastics have been cleverly made to look like painted metal dashboard.
• Changing car- going diesel for first time 7 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  Most of my choices are supermini I know but Im single, 32 and with the current "big" feel superminis I see no need to spend on bigger models. Although the BMW 1 series is attractive! I'm hoping to get a 56 or 07 plate as have budget of around £9k to play with. Anyone with any experience of these cars and could give me pointers please do, or even recommend a diff model!
• Which car to buy? Accord/ 3 Series/A4 ? 30 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  the cars i'm thinking of are the new accord (perhaps 2-3 years old) 2.2cdti exec, 3 series(old shape perhaps 3-4 years) sport/se spec and the a4 2.0 tdi with a SE spec. am not sure which of these choices seems the best option. presume that the bmw and audi are deemed to be more "upmarket" but are they better cars for the money. i guess that i would get a newer car with higher spec for the same money. any help would be gratefully appreciated thanks slight tweak to subject line - PU
• Owning 2 cars, insurance question 27 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  I would like a car a bit different from the other rep mobiles (I've currently got a celica) but it's turning out a bit pricey for both fuel and servicing and also I'm thinking about residuals and the fact that I'm pumping up the mileage at a rate of 2k+ per month. Ideally I'd like a reasonably quick diesel i.e. Fabia vRS, Saab 9-3, BMW etc but they're all a bit out of my price range and I don't want to spend too much and then end up 3 years later with massive depriciation due to the high mileage. What are the drawbacks of running a cheaper sporty convertible for weekends and summer days - I'm thinking MR2 mk2 and then having a cheap, sub £1k diesel and employing bangernomics for commuting.
• 0-60 times 21 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  I'm now looking at new cars (still) such as the Audi A4 convertible, where the base engines (1.8T and 2.4 V6) look considerably slower than my golf (9.4 second 0-60) - can they really be that much slower - I know the car weighs more but surely a V6 engine is going to be fast - I don't want to get something slower.? Also, the BMW Z4 2.5 0-60 time is stated as 7.4 - again in line with my golf - can a sports car that is aerodynamically designed with a 2.5 litre 6 cylinder engine really only be as fast as the golf? Seems odd to me.
• Astra loss-of-power-coil ?or comp box? 19 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  I just hope its not the computer box, for the garage said that if its the computer box, there will be completely no electrical current on one pipe, similar to their experience with a BMW if a computer box is really defective. Thanks would like to hear more what you think. I just hope its really the coil pack and nothing more for I've spent so much already. How would you know now if its the coil pack or the computer box?
• Reliable cars? Seems not 5 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  Interestingly he tells me that the two garages that he gets most business from locally sell Renault and wait for it ....BMW. Toyotas not what they were and Nissans no better. Honda still pretty good and Mazda consistent. Merecedes he tells me isn't bad at all but A class is not up to scratch. I asked what he was now driving - an Audi S3 that has been excellent.
• Replacement for Forester 1 Oct 2006 (Forum)
  As my Forester has heater leathed seats, climate and cruise control I would want to replicate these as I find them all helpful. So I am thinking of.... Audi A3 Sportback BMW 1-series Volvo S40/V50 Not certain I want a Merc A or B-class - am I right to dismiss these despite the fact I like sitting higher, as in the Forester. As I have done only 8,500miles pa over the last 21 months, economy is barely relevant, so whilst I'm not averse to diesel, its not vital.
• Car dealer or internet? 28 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  Would you buy from a dealer if they could match say, the What Car Target Price or drivethedeal.com? To give you an example, I sell all prestige cars new and used from bmw's to porsches throughout the country, and after being quoted drivethedeal.com prices on several cars - im still in most cases able to match, if not better the deal...and i know that hasnt always been the case!
• Refurbishing alloy wheels 20 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  Bought a nice BMW 320d from auction this week, but the alloys on the nearside have slight kerbing damage; a scrape on the rim to each wheel and a light scuff to one of the spokes on the rear wheel. It's nothing too bad, but a bit unsightly and I'd like to get it fixed.
• Rover Cars.........Volume 3 (LOCKED) 12 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  , but lease it They don't own any of their engines now They don't own either the 25 or 75 The CitiRover is Indian, anyway So that leaves the 45, the MG-TF and the XPower SV; and the MG name itself. And I believe BMW still owns the rights to the Rover name ? So that would only leave any bidder MG, I suppose ... which is the best bit anyway ... What ISN'T clear is if Longbridge could still sell the MG versions of the Rover 25 & 75 - although I believe the whole assembly line for the 25 has been sold to China ...
• Something fast but not too flash 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  From the front and sides it doesn't look much different from any other Megane although the back is a bit different. I've ruled out BMW's and Imprezza's as they're too flash for me and likely to get stolen or vandalised. I like the discreet nature of the Megane but are there any other cars I've overlooked? It must seat four adults and be five doors.
• Reliability Surveys - Expectations 6 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  If I've paid £10k for the car I'm not gonna complain too much about that. If I've bought a Jag/Merc/BMW/Audi/Range Rover and the CD is a little noisy as it slides into the player then I might. How much of it is that genuinely the prestiege cars don't live up to their badge, how much that a Daewoo owner is less liable to complain about a creaking dash, and how much due to Japanese cars being so dull to drive and be in that their owners avoid driving them and fill in reliability surveys instead?
• Blue Oval, Griffin, Three pointed star.. 15 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  Hence Ford is 'the blue oval', Vauxhall 'the griffin' and Mercedes-Benz is 'the three pointed star. I've even seen BMW referred to as 'the blue propeller'. Yet these terms are hardly shorthand, and I now find they are over used to the point of being obtrusive. Why not just stick to the real names? In the past I suppose the jargonists would refer to Dagenham, Luton or Stuttgart but in these days of globalisation these descriptions have lost some meaning.
• Big Decent Estate 4 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  Looking for a decent estate car for a trip to Denmark and back in October. Been looking at spendingg upto £3500 for a Volvo T5, Volvo 960 3.0 24v, Merc 300TE, BMW Series Tourer, Scorpio Ultima (dont laugh...ther missus likes'em!) but nothing really stands oput and what are the pros and cons. But have also been tempted to keep my money in the bank and spend less than a grand on an old 760 2.3 turbo estate (Trust the Volvo engine miore than the 2.9 Renault thing) or a Granada Scorpio Estate or even an older 300TE.
• Classic bad driving 15 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Lorry 1 decides to oevrtake lorry 2 , comes out without signal into path of CRV, gap between them is now about 20 yards at 60-70 mph .CRV hasn\'t anticipated this move, is spooked by lorry 1\'s move , so goes to lane 3, without signal . In lane 3 is a very fast-moving BMW which manages to brake in time . Lorry 2 turns off at the exit, not having signalled in advance , so lorry 1\'s manoeouvre unnecessary - he reverts to lane 1 . CRV goes back to lane 2. I doubt any of them had any idea of the danger they , and other road-users had been exposed to .
• Metallic noise from driver side. bmw525i 7 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Not sure if that\'s how it\'s supposed ot be. Checked auto transmission fluid and it\'s topped to max. Car was serviced by BMW for the previous owner 2k miles ago. Does anyone have any idea what it could be, the jingle sound over bumps? Any help at this time would be greatly appreciated. Thx in advance. S.
• mini cooper s 1 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Although the dealer rectified this by reprogramming the software, it resulted in a new fault, causing \"lumpy\" acceleration between 2500 and 3500 rpm; I believe this problem is well known to BMW, and has been described by American enthusiasts as the Yo-Yo effect. They have tried on 3 subsequent occasions to rectify this fault, to no avail. They have told me that it is a characteristic of the car, which I do not accept, as I have driven two others which do not display the fault - one belongs to a friend, and the other was a demonstration vehicle; their last offering was that they had two others in the service bay which were worse than mine!
• Focus for 5-series 24 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  I originally considered getting a year-or-so old Mondeo or similar, but I'm now enthralled with the idea of getting something a bit more special, in particular the 2000> BMW 520i (2.2) SE manual, which is the revised E39 with the "halo" effect headlights. What I'm somewhat afraid of though is that I'd be condeming myself to 3 years (the minimum time I intend to keep it) of large bills.
• black is beautiful ? 29 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  I have owned a black non-metallic BMW coupe from new for the last 6 years, but cleaning / waxing / polishing is a pain. If just washed & leathered water marks appear especially if warm. Have tried using 'finish' to rinse before leathering, and tried using 'deminerilised water' at an upmarket self carwash, but neither give a good result.