535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted March 28, 2017 Nice car, pitty there is an E24 parked infront of it. 2 740mick and NWJW reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 28, 2017 Which one - the Solara or the Granny?! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted March 29, 2017 The blue oval badged one....We would all still be driving Fords if they made them powered by the rear wheels. 1 NWJW reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 29, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, 535iAR said: The blue oval badged one....We would all still be driving Fords if they made them powered by the rear wheels. D'you know, I'd be quite partial to trading in the E60 for a nice Mk. 1 Granny GXL auto... at least they didn't handle as badly as the Mk. IV Zephyr/Zodiac did - a real rival to the Riley Ditchfinder! Isn't the Mustang RWD? Edited March 29, 2017 by e60neindanke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted March 30, 2017 9 hours ago, e60neindanke said: Isn't the Mustang RWD? Yes but they aren't cars for the great unwashed yet. 35-40 years ago, the wagon of choice for us mere plebs was easily a rear wheel drive Ford. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmwf113.0d 852 Report post Posted March 30, 2017 A friend bought a new one late last year, waited 8 months for it and he loves it (2.3, not a real one) I personally think they are bloody awful and the build quality is atrocious. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pidgeonpost 785 Report post Posted March 30, 2017 Yes but they aren't cars for the great unwashed yet. 35-40 years ago, the wagon of choice for us mere plebs was easily a rear wheel drive Ford. Never owned a Ford. I was put off in the 60's by countless neighbouring early Anglia's, Prefects cranking their hearts out trying to start every morning and their owners having to push the things. I guess they are better today, but you can forgive a car for a lot of things if the b****** thing will start! 40 years ago saw me experiencing my first German car - the Beetle. A revelation after several Britmobiles. Five years later it was a B2 Audi 80. Sent from my Vodafone Smart ultra 6 using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Report post Posted March 30, 2017 2 hours ago, sshooie said: A friend bought a new one late last year, waited 8 months for it and he loves it (2.3, not a real one) I personally think they are bloody awful and the build quality is atrocious. The American auto industry does turn out a lot of junk, sadly; the problem of when you have a captive market. When Trump was bellyaching about how 5th Avenue in NY was full of Mercedes but Berlin had next to no American cars in it (which Trump viewed as unfair, unsurprisingly) he was roundly told by the German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel "the U.S. needs to build better cars." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmwf113.0d 852 Report post Posted March 30, 2017 The Germans, telling it like it is since the beginning of time. 1 pidgeonpost reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ROB163 73 Report post Posted March 30, 2017 On 17/03/2017 at 5:22 PM, Alexak said: I once had a a Ford Prefect reg was 123 BLA That was back in the days when they just died and went to the breakers as is. I wonder what that would be worth sorry I meant valued at today. I brought an old hillman superminx for racing a few years ago for £50, the plate 771FXH was 'valued' at £750! Ofcourse, the value, and what someone is willing to pay for it, are 2 different things Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWJW 478 Report post Posted April 1, 2017 On 3/30/2017 at 8:07 AM, 535iAR said: Yes but they aren't cars for the great unwashed yet. 35-40 years ago, the wagon of choice for us mere plebs was easily a rear wheel drive Ford. I was still in a rwd Ford 5 years ago! A '92 Sierra 'L' complete with engine and box from a previous rotted out xr4i, Spax adjustable suspension, polybushes, Mondeo front brakes and a nice set of Mondeo 16" 5-spoke alloys. The engine was cammed, had ported and skimmed heads, a jetted up Weber 38 dgas carb from a 3.0l Capri, an AP heavy duty Cosworth clutch and as much ignition advance as I could safely run (14 degrees from memory!). The power was delivered through the standard 1.8 differential so it would run out of puff by 120mph but would get there in no time at all. It was a bit of a sleeper to say the least! I replaced it with an e39 535i which led me to this fantastic forum () and whilst it was a better car in every way it was nowhere near as much fun as the old Sierra. 1 535i Andrew reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWJW 478 Report post Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) On 3/30/2017 at 9:08 AM, sshooie said: A friend bought a new one late last year, waited 8 months for it and he loves it (2.3, not a real one) I personally think they are bloody awful and the build quality is atrocious. Not that I'm biased being a big fan of powerful rwd Fords but I love the thought of being able to buy a rwd right hand drive Ford coupe with a big V8, so long as it didn't break down I probably wouldn't give a shit if it was held together with cable ties! Actually, we have to be realistic, you can buy a brand new V8 for about 36k and this is a car that is 400+bhp, has a sub 5 second 0-60 speed and a 155 mph top speed. If you have that kind of performance then common sense tells you that if you're expecting Germanic build quality too you may be disappointed. Edited April 1, 2017 by NWJW 1 535i Andrew reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted April 1, 2017 Back in 2000 when I left uni, I needed a set of wheels for work and I had spent the whole of my final year trying to find a straight genuine 1.8 Sapphire LX. Nice and simple to run and maintain on my first wage. Could I find one that wasn't leaking any fluid from any joint in the engine bay, could I ...... None of them had any service records, granted they were 7 years old at the youngest but I gave up on the rear drive blue ovals and bought the first car I saw that was advertised in my price range that had FSH and rear drive, the big Sennie was purchased and to this day I have never owned a Ford. Wife has owned 3, but sadly not me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWJW 478 Report post Posted April 1, 2017 ^^^The 1.8 CVH I took out of the above mentioned Sierra didn't use or lose a drop of oil of water, was quiet and smooth and surprisingly peppy, it was actually a shame to replace it with the V6 as it ran so well and I tried my best to break it so that I had a reason to take it out and it wouldn't have any of it! it was tough as old boots that engine, I sold it to a guy who came from the other side of the country to pick it up and had a text weeks later saying that he had put it in his Saff and it fired first turn of the key with no bother whatsoever. And funny you mention the Senator, there was a guy who lived near my Grandparents with a 3.0 24v manual one in white (ex police?), I can remember giving the xr4i that the above mentioned engine came out of the beans up the local bypass behind him and struggling to keep up! 1 535i Andrew reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted April 2, 2017 ^Sorry but a V6 engine with pushrods is never going to beat an overhead twin cam 24v beast! 1 NWJW reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWJW 478 Report post Posted April 2, 2017 ^^^ I agree, as much as I like the old Cologne (and Essex) engines Ford stuck with them for far too long in my opinion, the Cologne was a boat anchor of a thing in the eighties and Ford carried on using it until the mid 90's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted April 2, 2017 It was only after GM developed the 24v Senator engine that Ford went and scratched their head for a bit, got stuck so they then asked Cosworth to fettle up the cologne engine which they made it quad cam and 24v. It was in the last Granada for a bit before it got dropped into the Wide mouth frog Scorpio, but by that time as you say in the mid 90s the @rse was falling out of GM and Ford doing decent engined rear wheel drive chassis as folk were spending the same money on an albeit slightly smaller German machine which didn't suffer lead like depreciation! What did we end up with, wrong wheel drive Mondeo and the truly awful Signum! Is there any wonder why we drive German machinery? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garym535i 69 Report post Posted April 23, 2017 (edited) Getting back onto the private plate bit, I have one on my car and it means nothing to me. Just looks different. I do agree the the ones that are made to look like something that there not are cocks. I came by mine on my first e28 many years ago, I paid 370 for a tidy 525e when nobody wanted them with UOU1T on it, some one once said that I could make it look like UQUIT . After 5 years of owner ship I found out that its value was £750. Sold said 525e for £400 and transferred the plate onto my M535i hoping people would think it's an older E12 I like it and means shag all to me. Edited April 23, 2017 by garym535i 2 535i Andrew and Ordnator reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
garym535i 69 Report post Posted April 23, 2017 (edited) 2 minutes ago, garym535i said: Edited April 23, 2017 by garym535i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
535i Andrew 3,431 Report post Posted April 24, 2017 ^that one works, not like some of the others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites