Should I change car?

CRH71

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

:embarasse

Don't be embarrassed!

The 525tds lump is a turbine-smooth piece of machinery but, at the end of the day, it suffers the same problem as it's petrol engined brothers - 6 cylinders that need keeping fed with fuel.

I'd love an E34 525tds but can't afford one, so I'll stick with my petrol 520i for now.

Your consumption figures are very surprising. My petrol will do 36-38mpg on a run round the motorway at a constant speed (and I don't hang about with it, either). The only time consumption on a run suffers badly is when the car needs a service - especially the air filter (they really choke up quickly and cost big money in consumption. For under a tenner they're worth changing every 7000 miles regardless).

Do not take the car to the "Formula One" type places. They really do not know what they're doing and will use totally inapporpriate lubricants for that engine - you may be surprised to learn that the recommended oil for that lump is 5w30 or 5w40 fully-synthetic. Anything else will cost you in fuel consumption - I learned this with my last one.

Most of the work I do on mine myself (servicing's a doddle) but anything big, heavy or complicated see it go to a local garage who charge a not-unreasonable £45 an hour.

I did toy with the idea of taking it to the local BMW Independent but then ruled that out when I found he was £60 an hour and used the self-same parts from the same supplier that my local garage used, so I saved £15 an hour instead!.

Is yours the auto? If so, get the gearbox oil changed - that will make a heck of a difference to the consumption. Additionally, I find with mine running the tyres at the maximum pressure permitted for the load (in my case 2.3bar front and 2.6 bar rear) helps - these are quite fussy cars for tyre pressure and a small drop in pressure soon hammers economy.

Insurance? It's a Beemer. Mine's G17 but is, in my opinion, a price worth paying for the comfort and safety of the car - in all my years of driving, I have NEVER driven anything with the excellent, confidence-inspiring brakes this car has on it.

More importantly, remember these are a heavy car. Harsh acceleration, trying to move that (1600kg+) lump of German Engineering quickly will cost you, and then some. This I know from experience (but plenty of smiles, too! ). These cars are in their element on the motorway, cruising, and are superb for overtaking once they're 'in their stride'. They really are very economical considering the size and weight of them.

Kilty_2

CRH71 wrote: »

Insurance? It's a Beemer. Mine's G17 but is, in my opinion, a price worth paying for the comfort and safety of the car - in all my years of driving, I have NEVER driven anything with the excellent, confidence-inspiring brakes this car has on it.
.

Comfort/driving experience maybe but there's no way an E34 will be as safe as a bog standard modern 5 star car like a Renault Laguna so safety is debateable.

bigjl

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

I was considering filmore's biodiesel (spot the movie reference) but not sure about what is need to convert, and it's only a saving if you get the same mpg. I think the service is a sensible idea all round, and with an mot looming, might be worth getting a mechanical eye passed over it. Don't know any small garages here, but we have one of those formula one places.

I was certain you could just run it on Bio without any conversion, though it borderline on the year they changed the material used for some of the seals and stuff, I haven't been on the vegdiesel and biodiesel forum for years but I think the material changed in the early '90s, to something that didn't deteriorate, sadly I can't remember the details, I think the issues with deterioration was similar with biodiesel and vegoil.

I ran Xantia on SVO for a while as a get to work smoker, it started to leak from the diesel pump a little though.

I would consider contacting a place called Uptown Oils in London, they are selling bio for 125ppl including all taxes and duty.

Though if you buy it in bulk for off road use you can pay 90ppl plus VAT at 5%, but I obviously can't advise putting it into your car when bought for off road usage.

Adams1

TheUmpteenth wrote: »

Hi Everybody!

I recently did a budget and found that I spent about 450 on diesel per month. I think it may be closer to 400 if I was to work out the EXACT figure, but that's still a big chunk of my budget.

I have a 1994 BMW 525td, bought this year, supposedly a 44mpg car, I get maybe 28-33. I commute 45miles to work and 45miles back, daily. on the M25.

Could I get a better car for under £1000? should I spend some more? or should I try to save money somewhere else?

2000-2004 Audi A4 TDI. 130BHP, 1.9 Litre, 60MPG motorway. (@ 65mph.)
1998-2004 Volkswagon Golf TDI PD130/150, 1.9 Litre, 60MPG motorway.
1998-2004 BMW 530D Manual, 3.0 litre V6, 46MPG Motorway.
2001-2004 Volvo S40 115BHP Diesel, 58MPG Motorway.
1997-2004 Peugeot 206, 1.4 HDI - 71MPG Motorway.

All these cars range from £1,200 - £2,500. I only listed the 206 as an example if your after economy, but if you want comfort added into the equation, then the Audi A4 or a fully loaded Volvo S40 would be your best bet.

Hope this helps.

PS: How the hell do you manage to burn £450 a month on fuel? And you're trying to buy a car that won't cost you a pretty penny in repairs for under £1,000? C'mon fella. Just buy the Audi or Volvo for an extra £600-£700 (yes, you can pick up a fully loaded 2002 S40 diesel for £1,700) and call it a day.