Thought i'd say hi y'all,
In may this year after 2 years of owning a very tidy e46 320ci and 8 years of tin topped cars i decided i wanted a mini cooper s with the idea of something smaller and cheaper to run... Went to look at a cooper s although was a blinder of a day.
The phone came out and autotrader loaded up and a search began for a convertible, audi tt was straight (no explanatiin needed), s2000 was out of budget for one that i wouldn't of questioned it's previous life and the mx5 and i couldn't bring my self round to own (german car advocate). Decided to search for a z3 but had to be a big six pot (2.8 or 3.0). Searched for 3.0i manual and there were 6 on autotrader with one happening to be 10 miles away!
A phone call later and half hour later i was on some country roads test driving it and was smitten. Another half hour 1k was down as a deposit with the garage agreeing to have the rear arches resprayed due to slight blistering coming through.
2 weeks of romanticism of the image of picking up my convertible and driving off to the sunset came round with a call the car was ready. I arrived to pick the car up at 5pm and the fantasy shattered... One hour on the phone to the insurance company later i was finally ready to drive off (charged 46p to change my car for rest of policy), this was then met with a lovely rain. Shower and noticing my fuel light was on.
5 minutes later and the car was at the petrol station brimmed to the tank and the car started and was eager to see the fuel gauge hit full... However it was never meant to be with all the gauges dead and the lovely "eep_01" message displayed. Fed up i drove it back home and luckily the speedo still worked (just bot the revs, temp or fuel).
The next day the car was back in the garage and swapped with a chevy as a courtesy car... (The 1.6 lacetti vareity
) 2 days later the car was handed back and informed the garage the dealer sent it to couldn't fix it and would need to be booked into a specialist. 1 week later the z3 waa returned to be seen by the specialist and this time a corsa 1.4 for a courtesy car... 2 and half beautiful, sunny and painful weeks later the corsa was returned and the z3 returned.
First thing i noticed gettring back in with a head full of doubt i baught a lemon was "god the steering is heavy" and you can notice having three times the power! 1 mile later my hatred of vauxhalls and modern cars was fully reinstated and 3 months of trouble free summer driving and it stils feels like when I first drove it.
Now summer is on it's way out it's time to test my commitment of convertiible ownership and tips appreciated.
TLR went to buy mini, got a z3, speedo broke, cried in a corsa for over 2 weeks, z3 came back working, all ok last 3 months, z3 summer ownership has been fantastic.
In may this year after 2 years of owning a very tidy e46 320ci and 8 years of tin topped cars i decided i wanted a mini cooper s with the idea of something smaller and cheaper to run... Went to look at a cooper s although was a blinder of a day.
The phone came out and autotrader loaded up and a search began for a convertible, audi tt was straight (no explanatiin needed), s2000 was out of budget for one that i wouldn't of questioned it's previous life and the mx5 and i couldn't bring my self round to own (german car advocate). Decided to search for a z3 but had to be a big six pot (2.8 or 3.0). Searched for 3.0i manual and there were 6 on autotrader with one happening to be 10 miles away!
A phone call later and half hour later i was on some country roads test driving it and was smitten. Another half hour 1k was down as a deposit with the garage agreeing to have the rear arches resprayed due to slight blistering coming through.
2 weeks of romanticism of the image of picking up my convertible and driving off to the sunset came round with a call the car was ready. I arrived to pick the car up at 5pm and the fantasy shattered... One hour on the phone to the insurance company later i was finally ready to drive off (charged 46p to change my car for rest of policy), this was then met with a lovely rain. Shower and noticing my fuel light was on.
5 minutes later and the car was at the petrol station brimmed to the tank and the car started and was eager to see the fuel gauge hit full... However it was never meant to be with all the gauges dead and the lovely "eep_01" message displayed. Fed up i drove it back home and luckily the speedo still worked (just bot the revs, temp or fuel).
The next day the car was back in the garage and swapped with a chevy as a courtesy car... (The 1.6 lacetti vareity
) 2 days later the car was handed back and informed the garage the dealer sent it to couldn't fix it and would need to be booked into a specialist. 1 week later the z3 waa returned to be seen by the specialist and this time a corsa 1.4 for a courtesy car... 2 and half beautiful, sunny and painful weeks later the corsa was returned and the z3 returned.First thing i noticed gettring back in with a head full of doubt i baught a lemon was "god the steering is heavy" and you can notice having three times the power! 1 mile later my hatred of vauxhalls and modern cars was fully reinstated and 3 months of trouble free summer driving and it stils feels like when I first drove it.
Now summer is on it's way out it's time to test my commitment of convertiible ownership and tips appreciated.
TL
R went to buy mini, got a z3, speedo broke, cried in a corsa for over 2 weeks, z3 came back working, all ok last 3 months, z3 summer ownership has been fantastic.
Just need some obligatory pictures of your pride and joy.
. Since changed the aerial for a shorter one for less of an rc car look and wouldn't mind a set of oem staggered wheels. The MOT is in nov so she'll have to earn them first before i spend money!
