MOTOR CHAT

One wee step closer to getting the tupperware microcar back on the tarmac. Fully serviced and MOT'd Gearbox fooked

Next step finding the bits to either repair or replace gearbox, ah well its only money

Remember the essential BMW winter upgrade.

A couple of sacks of cement in the boot so you can get round corners when it gets slippy. You've got to love the rear wheel drive in the snow. I got stuck in a wee dip at the end of a street last year for five minutes until I produced enough wheelspin to burn off the ice underneath the rear wheels. This year I'll have a sack of grit in the boot at all times.

Even worse my car is automatic.

Got my Pajero back from the garage today
Cost me the best part of £500 to repair the damage the scum did when they stole it

Best rear wheel drive car in the snow is..........Reliant Robin, yes I know it makes no sense and most wouldn't be seen dead in one but they do glide over the top as they weigh next to nowt. Further the front wheel tracks the road that hasn't been flattened into slippy ice so digs in sufficient to get steering purchase.

I'll get my fur lined coat

cracking big cars those E38's!! looks not too bad condition either?? Though 2.8's Achilles heel is it's radiator/ water pump and head gasket. So keep an eye on that temp gauge. Should never move above the half way.

Also do you know if the gearbox oil/filter has been changed? as BMW states those ZF boxes are sealed for life, but ZF's version of for life is "100k miles"!!! And they do go pop easily.

you can generally get it done for about £150-200, money well spent if you want to keep it running!

I just picked up a new car recently as well an A6. 2.7T Quattro tiptronic. absolutely love it, it just reels in the road!!

Greig.

I'm loving it so far, last owner bought it just to drive to Spain and back, i can understand why

Condition is ok, front end is quite bad with stone chips, the mirror cases are scuffed and small scabs of rot in the rear arches so will maybe get a part respray in the spring, interior is superb though.

Water pump was replaced just before i bought it, rad looks ok, temp never goes above 1/2 (have had to bleed it a few times due to the heater valve etc), should be ok for a while but i'll keep an eye on it.

Funny, i was thinking about a gearbox service the other day, have read about the "sealed for life", my car has 160,000 on it, assuming it's never been touched so i'll be getting it done for peace of mind.

Also going to change the serpentine belt and tensioners for the same reason.

It's not been neglected though, has a BMW service history to 149,000 (so was due a service now) so should'nt fall to bits, i've already changed the engine oil and filter (Mobil1 0/40 new life and a gen filter) and gone through the brakes (just needed new front pads)

Audi looks ace

if you're near Glasgow i can point you in the direction of a very good ZF specialist?
As i've had quite a few BMW's in the past all autos (E34's/E39) and i'll be going to see him soon as the Zf box in this Audi has done 157k and as with BMW it's not part of their service schedule??? so it's needing done as well, though i want both diffs oil changed as well.

Yeh that photo was after 4-5hrs hard graft by me and my mate Ric at his home valet bay! You even get a free lunch!! It came up well though. Already done water pump/thermostat/camshaft seals/timing belt/ turbo's cleaned/ engine flushed/ new oil/filter and long life coolant. Replaced 3 of the tyres for winter. Still to sort a duff calliper in the rear brakes and possibly fit new rear disc/pads?? need to wait and see?

Would've loved another E39 Sport in a touring, but the boots are a wee bit narrow? for bikes, and being stuck in the snow like last winter in my E34 TDS was a PIA!!! Hence why after that i bought a Passat V6 Syncro! The A6 is essentially the same car as the Passat only with twin turbo's!!!

Plastic cars gearbox is fooked and the only possible solution after lots of checking around is a new one at £675 excluding labour, bits and bobs and VAT

The gist from those in the know is:
NEVER fit a replacement from the breakers as all used Comex gearboxes are crap.
DONT bother reconditioning, they never work as well as they should and that was from a proffessional gear reconditioning specialist as Comex gearboxes are crap.
UNFORTUNATELY fit a new one as there are no alternatives to a Comex gearbox that is crap.

Mind you if you treat the new one well and change the oil regularly they can run faultlessly for many years.

As a French mechanic said on a Forum, in France we only drive these vehicles back and forward to the shops at moderate speeds and employ proffessional mechanics using quality oil. In England (UK) you think you can treat them like full blown cars driving thousands of miles with minimum maintenance at the hands of disinterested spanner monkeys.

I dont think he likes us nor does he have high esteem for the Microcar but hey ho, I like my wee Tupperware car so best get the wallet out

Have you got the gear box out velo?

If so I have a very good recon guy up here that is pretty cheap.

Alternatively could you not just rig up a free-wheel and derailuer

I personally do not do anything to a car more taxing than changing a wheel or topping up oil. I have zero motor engineering skills nor the right kit so if I even attempted to get the gearbox out it'd be more fooked than it is now. Its in the hands of the garage who have phoned around everyone they could find regarding microcars. All the specialists, all the forums, all the advice says a rebuilt Comex gearbox is just a buggered gearbox that has had its demise delayed a wee bit and its not worth bothering with. The best bet say all is fit a new box or scrap the car, I'm not for the latter