But with a full-time job, wife and 2 princess' it's very hard. My cousin suggested I blog seeing as I find the time to do several write-up on various forums and seem to enjoy writing about my experiences. So here i am at work on a Saturday starting a blog (didn't finish this till Sunday).
This particular blog will be about my journey to buy/build a car that I wanted.
That may seem a strange statement. Why would you buy/build a car that you didn't want?.
To give you context this began many years ago in the early 90's, in Chigwell, Essex at my Grandparents house. Every Saturday my Grandfather would go and do his manly chores. Cut the grass and clean the car. Sometimes this involved fixing the car. My Grandfather worked for Ford Motor company in Dagenham as a welder at the time. And was given an early release Ford Sierra Sapphire as a reward for his hard work and finding a more efficient way to weld the fuel tanks on several models. He loved this car. It was his first proper nice car with luxuries. and whenever I was around and he was headed to the garage I would follow whether I was wanted or not. I was fascinated by all things in his garage.
Every Sunday instead of going to church, my Grandfather would sit and watch Channel 4 horse racing (boring!!!), but on some Sunday's his favourite sport would come on. Formula 1. And that's where the car passion for me really settled in. He would explain the rules, tell me the teams and drivers and what he thought was wrong with the sport, all sorts. For me it was the only time as a 7 year old I wasn't treated like a child. And I'd watch as many races as I could, with the British drivers being my favourite (I was too young to know about Senna).
Fast forward to 2004, and I just got my driving license after riding a 50cc moped for 2 years. My mum had a brand new face lifted Mk 1 Ford Focus that i had driven a few times. I really wanted a Focus ST but could never afford it, let alone the insurance. so i settled for a 1.6 Zetec, which was still relatively expensive for my age. In the end, through a family friend, I wound up with a 1999 Ford Focus Zetec 1.8 petrol in Moondust silver (you really do remember your first car lol) for trade prices. It was more than I wanted/needed, which I found out when trying to insure it. £1800 it cost me for my first 6 months. I had found an accelerated no-claims bonus scheme for young drivers so after 6 months it dropped to £900. I also did a Pass Plus to get it down further. But i loved that car regardless of the cost, even the first day driving it, where i kept stalling at every light.
But eventually the desire for something a bit nicer set in. I still wanted my Focus ST. I joined ford forums to find out more about my car and through doing that found out about people who were retrofitting ST part to older cars. I had planned to make my car as much an ST as possible. But in reality only managed the full interior and steering wheel along with the air box. I did fit halo lights and even up-rated the brakes (after I found out my car did not have the ABS option - Yes! ABS was once an option). All this aside it still was not the car I wanted.
what followed was a list of cars that were the watered down version of what i actually wanted at the time:
2002 Mercedes C-Class sports coupe - C220 CDI SE Manual - Bought because I needed a diesel for work - Really wanted the Auto sports version with panoramic roof.
Pros: Great on fuel economy, good fun drive for a diesel. Prestige badge at 21
Cons: Shocking reliability (£3000 in repair in 18 months of ownership). Terrible main dealer customer service (once charged me £60 not to fix a washer jet). Questionable build quality - now infamous era of Mercedes poorly built cars.
2004 Ford Mondeo ST TDCI - There was only 1 trim level only offered in manual with a few optional extras - Bought because the Merc was written off and needed a fairly cheap capable car. Really wanted a VW Golf GT diesel.
Pros: A really good car for the money. Fast, loaded with options as standard, very practical. Performance Blue (nuff said)
Cons: Fuel economy dropped a fair bit when cold, French diesel components, EGR that choked the engine in crap.
2007 BMW 3 series Coupe - 320d SE - Bought because the Mondeo was end of life at 127k miles - Really wanted a 335d M-Sport or any M-Sport.
Pros: Nice to look at, rear driven, massive boot, quick for a 2 litre diesel
Cons: Timing chain issues on N47 engines, Run flat make ride crashy, 19 inch alloys crack very easily, SE suspension softer but not as fun handling.
(This is the car i had)
I really did enjoy this car but it had several short comings.
Firstly, lack of power.It was good enough to keep most boy racers away but was always wanting against anything half decent.
Next was suspension. I specifically choose the SE as the M-Sport suspension was very firm & unforgiving (not because i couldn't afford the additional £2000 for the M-Sport version lol). The handling on the SE was no where near as precise and lacked confidence in the corners. Adding 19 inch wheels didn't help either. Additional to suspension was the M-Sport seats and steering wheel, which were just better period.
There was also the issue with cracking 19 inch BMW alloys on poor maintained UK roads. But I could start a separate blog on that subject.
I ended up selling this car because I barely drove now as i worked in central London and commuted by motorcycle (only way really) and had another car for family. It had also just cost me £2000 in two separate incidents.
First being the dreaded timing chain issue which effected N47 engines but BMW did never admit to a problem (although quietly revised the chain and guides). It snapped one morning on start-up and had an initial bill of £3000 but argued goodwill as car was low mileage for age and had full BMW service history. After lots of arguing and quoting BMW from their statement on watch dog, the bill was reduced to £1500.
Shortly after I got her back, the gear box sump started leaking and had to be replaced to the tune of £600 (not happy).
So there you have it, a brief rundown of how I got to where I am on my car journey. What i've learned above all is that the more you can do yourself the more money you'll save. And there is loads of resources out there to help you figure out your problem. Whereas time gone you had to get out the old Haynes manual, now a quick Google or post on owners forums will get you answers. TV shows like Wheeler Dealers and Youtube videos can help immensely too.
After several cars not quite hitting the mark and the desire to do more work on cars (and watching too many Wheeler Dealer episodes) plus approval from Mrs P. I was going to get a salvage car to fix myself.
But what car?
