Beany’s new hat thread

[Beany]

If you can actually drift a curved slip road, then you really don’t need them.

Drift is one way of describing. Managing to keep the tail out a wee bit for more than 1/8th of a second in the wet is the other.

I tried to get a bit more angle a few times, but each time I needed to change my pants afterwards.

I think what I really need is a bigger area to play in, like an airfield. Or a better industrial estate

[Mito Man]

Sounds like a new Gymkhana in the making.

[Beany]

Nah, don't want to get the car covered in horse shit.

[Nathan]

Pleased for you.

Out of interest, what made you choose a drop top?

...not much of a compromise over s hard too E46; not heavier and worse rear visibility.

Are you sure about that ?

IIRC +100kg

[Beany]

Yeah, it is heavier IIRC (more like 150kg isn't it?), and rear visibilty is slightly compromised with the roof up over a coupe (although by less than you'd think) although with the rood down, obviously it's quite the improvement

[Nathan]

Yep, I had one just like yours. Didn't drive it much but I liked it.

[Sundayjumper]

And if you get the hardtop, you can fit a roof rack.

[Beany]

Meh, not too fussed about hard top. Apart from anything, I've got nowhere to store it when it'd not be in use.

[Beany]

Seems the car is becoming the office entertainment for lunch runs.

I have no problem with this.

[Jobbo]

Pleased for you.

Out of interest, what made you choose a drop top?

...not much of a compromise over s hard too E46; not heavier and worse rear visibility.

Are you sure about that ?

IIRC +100kg

Sorry, that was typing on a phone. 'Bit heavier' was what I intended to say; especially compared to my preferred E46, a Touring.

[Beany]

Again, seeing as this is the best thread for boring you lot rather than making a mess of the fleet thread etc...

Impressions after a week.

TL:DR I'm glad I poked you lot and got E46s suggested, big engined ones, and I'm happy with my ragtop, rather than coupe, choice. It's a bigger, chunkier Puma that I can drop the top on to make up for any minor dynamic flaws, and I think I'll have it a while and only make minor, personal, easily reversible changes to it seeing as it's really quite original and in good shape.

Interior
I'm still quite taken aback when I realise this is a sixteen year old car - it feels as tight 'n' right as the Mondeo, which is (at least) eight years it's junior (the original specs would be over twenty years old - the E46 debuted in '97 FFS!) and several generations of CAD/CAM ahead. There are no squeaks or rattles which is pretty good given it's a ragtop, everything feels pretty much spot on (pedal weights, all primary controls etc) and it's hard to find something to fault that isn't 'of it's time' - obviously there's no MP3 stuff or Bluetooth.

The seats could do with a bit of attention but otherwise it's pretty nice inside. The pedal offset is annoying at first, but I'm getting used to putting my left foot further to the right than usual to stop my shoes from clipping the footrest. Everything really does feel no worse than the Mondeo, and some things, like the buttons, feel significantly nicer despite being twice as old. SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE.

Exterior
Still a damned fine looking car, especially with the roof down - the visual weighting is just right. I have to sort the squeaky windows and the condensation in the nearside headlight, but these are simple things.

Engine
Ooh, I can see why people rave about the BMW six pots. At low revs, it's warm hatch quick, or Puma quick I suppose, as that's my frame of reference. Excellent throttle response, and a muted, smooth growl from the back. Take it above 3500rpm though, and it changes into something a bit more punchy, with some real push to it. Get it beyond 4500rpm and it changes entirely, with a muted howl from the rear and a real urge for the redline. All with nary a shake or a rattle from the front. That engine is agonisingly smooth, to the extent where I need to watch the revcounter when pulling away in traffic with the roof down, because I can't hear the damned thing!

I think the mondeo might be faster in some metrics (it does have near 100lb/ft more torque) but I've really missed being able to stick it in third and go from 15mph to north of 80 in one hit and feel the engine turning harder and harder with every 1000rpms, up to a very smooth 6500-ish limiter - I've not bounced off it enough to be sure where it is because I'm not in my 20s any more

Does it drink? Yes, around town I'm not seeing better than 16mpg according to the OBD and that's backed up by tank figures. Eep. Then again, it's a 'big six', and if exclusively driven around town the Puma strugged to get above 25mpg so it's not unexpected. On the run to Scarbs last week I had a low average of about 25mpg, but that involved a lot of high revs for boring reasons, so >30mpg on a run seems quite possible.

Gearbox
Possibly the one area where there is room for improvement. The shift is quite accurate and smooth, but it could do with being shorter and tighter, and could do with having an extra cog. I know the facelift cars sorted the extra cog (I drove one, it didn't feel as good as this, might be down to the gearbox change, or just it being a but rough?), but facelift cars were dogs in my price range, and I don't rate the looks of them as much as I do the older cars.
I'd imagine there are various bushings and joints that can be refreshed at the top of the box that would help, but I've never missed a gear - I'm nitpicking really.

I'm still positive I've got an active clutch delay valve so I just don't rush my changes. I'll get the car up in the air and check that sometime when I can be arsed - I'm not doing autocross in it, after all.

Chassis/handling
Very easy to drive at speed, fairly benign and friendly (if a bit heavy in the controls) in town. Took me a bit of time to get used to petrol engine hill starts again, but pulling away at under 1000rpm (I've seen it idle as low as 650rpm) is now second nature. If I were to never leave town, I think I'd regret not getting an auto....but I do head over to Scarborough and know some excellent roads over that way where a slushbox would be terrible, so I'll take it.

The balance is lovely - it's tremendously neutral, with pretty clean steering, and it very openly telegraphs it's grip limits at each end, even with fairly well worn Dunlop SportMaxxs on the back (in 255/35/R18 - ouch). The handling/ride is well sorted too, almost the opposite of the Mondeo - which has a softer 'large bump' ride but more granular 'detail' (IE you feel more niggles but less speed bumps) whereas this car has a firmer large bump ride, but the niggle traits are better resolved - little things don't really intrude into the cabin much, and if they do, they're there, but muted. Both tread a decent line in terms of compromises, just from opposite perspectives.

What other people think
It's popular in the office, that's for sure, although that might be down to my exuberant driving style. I was expecting to get crap from other people on the road because it's a cocksocket BMW ragtop, etc but with the roof down, in traffic, you let people in/out, you thank people for letting you in/out, you get a smile and a wave back. Perhaps it's only new BMWs that suffer the affliction of being expected to be piloted by cumstained wanksockets? Certainly, I've had no shaking of the beans at me that I haven't deserved (like stalling it, roof down, music banging, at traffic lights...although even than I gave a sheepish grin and a wave and got a laugh and a thumbs up back) so that's not been a problem, really.

Pootling around gently with the roof down and a smile on your face, I've occasionally noticed people spotting me and smiling back - I think perhaps it might be an age thing (both me and the car) but certainly not had any 'hairdresser' comments or owt. I mean, it'd be ironic....but I digress.

Conclusions after a week

I was a bit concerned I'd have buyers remorse from getting the soft top version, but that's really not materialised. I think to myself what I'd be gaining from the coupe (quieter interior, better detail dynamics, less weight) and then compare that to going out after a late night rainstorm with the roof down and sliding around industrial estates with the engine howling, and I think that makes up for the last 5-10% of RAW CHASSIS DYNAMICS I might have lost.

Overall, I'm really enjoying it. It can do the roof down slow pootle aboot, or you can thrash the knackers off it, and it soaks it up with a playful attitude.

It's like a more grown up, slightly serious, sober suited Puma in a lot of respects (and I know I make that comparison a lot, but it's my main frame of reference and I genuinely believe it's valid) and there is no way that's a bad thing. I suppose if you wanted a broader metaphor, it's like the 40 year old guywith greying hair in a suit who you take out for a sales dinner, have a few drinks, and by 11pm you're doing jaegerbombs, there are suggestions of sourcing class As, and they're trying to set you up with some red haired bulgarian burd.

And I can see why people like BMWs now. I understood it before, but now I *get* it.

What does it want?
Soon:
A modern head unit
Cleaning up of the window/roof seals
I need to pull the headlight that's a bit foggy and sort the seals out
Exhaust flap sorting - probably with a holesaw
Recall work, for airbags I think.

Mid term:
New rear tyres
Choice polybushing (probably around major mount points like rear axle mounts, etc)
A proper wash of the roof outer fabric, which seems to pick up dust and shit. I'll look into that.
A louder exhaust of some kind - it's too refined.

Long term:
The usual E46 things I suppose - coolant system check (for cracks in the plastic bits - they all do that apparently, and just replacing them is a common suggestion so that you don't dump coolant on the road - a bit like Sigma-engine PCVs, you just do 'em when it's convenient)
Set of winter wheels, ideally 225/40/17in (needs to be 17 inch to clear the brakes) all round to make the rear a bit more accessible
Leather refurb - and lose some weight so I stop stressing the leather

I think I'll probably have this car a while, and as it's in pretty decent condition overall, I'll probably not mess with it much other than quality of life stuff. In some respects maybe I could have got a sheddier example that I could have got my teeth stuck into (stripping out, silly exhaust, big brakes, LSD etc over time) but these cars aren't simple hatch based things that you can pull the head off at home without any real issues, so I think being sensible was, er, sensible.

Long story short, I'm really quite pleased with this.

Right, carry on folks...

[nuttinnew]

Getting into bad habits from my brother, I think....

Union Flag roof?

I didn't spot the MINI roof in the background

[JLv3.0]

Beany - just keep it up together, nice car you've got there but it'll need keeping on top of. Like me, it's of A Certain Age.

[integrale_evo]

If you fancy a bit of preventative tinkering at any point, get the front wheels off and remove the arch liners and clear out all the crud before they start rusting and give each a decent squirt of waxoil.

Well worth doing before the weather turns.

Headlight lenses just clip off the front of the lights, I expect a seal has started rotting and is holding moisture.

Standard winter tyres will be 225 45 17 ( probably be on the tyre pressure sticker either in the door shut or filler cap ) a very common and cheap size, but if you were going for a pure winter setup you could even go to 205 50 17.

[Beany]

If you fancy a bit of preventative tinkering at any point, get the front wheels off and remove the arch liners and clear out all the crud before they start rusting and give each a decent squirt of waxoil.

Well worth doing before the weather turns.

Headlight lenses just clip off the front of the lights, I expect a seal has started rotting and is holding moisture.

Standard winter tyres will be 225 45 17 ( probably be on the tyre pressure sticker either in the door shut or filler cap ) a very common and cheap size, but if you were going for a pure winter setup you could even go to 205 50 17.

Noted on the arch liners.

Know about the headlight seals, I've just been too idle to sort it. I'll have a look at RealOEM once I've found the suspect seal, I don't imagine it'd be more than a tenner - OEM BMW prices for 'bits and bats' seem pretty reasonable.

And I think I'll stick with 225s all round - I like to have the winter tyres on comparatively early and leave them on comparatively late (IE november to feb) so might as well have some grip, eh?

JL - yeah, i know. I was drunk last night, can you tell?

No major plans for the car other than basic stuff - some interior refresh (Seats, gearknob, head unit yadda yadda) and perhaps a fruitier backbox, but I won't make a decision on that till I get the current semi-blocked zorst sorted. I'm taking my mechanics advice of not chasing ghosts (IE waiting for shit to break before fixing it) a bit more seriously seeing as I have quite a *nice* car, not some shed, now.

And yeah, old though it may be, it really - really - doesn't feel it. Still quite surprised by how solid it is. I guess there's a reason people buy these things, eh?

[Beany]

Update:
Haven't sorted the tyres, headlights (we don't talk about me putting one bulb in upside down today...), head unit, etc out. Rear tyres will want doing soon thanks to some overexuberance on my part, but will probably throw something cheap on there for MOT time (part worns/ditchfinders) and then look at getting some proper sticky rubber early next year. Big tyres aren't cheap, but I'd rather save up and get something quality for 'em for when I want to proper get thrashing it. I'm still in the 'learning' phase for fairly powerful, rwd shenanigans at the moment so no point throwing £130/corner at something I'll burn off in six months....

Been driving around without any stability control on for a while now, and it definitely opens the eyes up. Have been driving carefully, obviously, but when I do something silly, it still feels very benign and friendly. Hence not being too fussed about cheap/used rubber, now that I have a feel for how it behaves; moderating my driving is cheaper than driving like a tool on pricey rubber.

Work has been a bitch lately, hence not really doing owt to it. I do need to pick up a holesaw for that rear zorst though, and my Tame Mechanic, out Scarborough way, had me over his pit last weekend - rear looks pretty decent, not really rusty at all, to the extent where he reckons cleaning it up and protecting it is well worth it at this stage. I'll chat to him about it before the weather closes in, I imagine. He has a new two post lift so we'll get it up on that too for a proper look at things like brake lines and such like.

It's been fine on the frosty mornings too - OK, no quickclear screen but I've not needed to break out the de-icer yet - five minutes with the demister on has been plenty. Starts on the first spin too, every time. Which is nice.

Otherwise, it seems to do the usual 330 trick of drinking oil at a moderately high rate (about a litre every thousand miles or so, although I've not really calculated that - just chucked it in when it's wanted it) and drinking fuel at a laughable rate around town. 30mpg at around 75-80mph seems about right, too for the engine, but given the flexibility is has, and given that it's usefully quick* once you're up on the cams, I'll forgive it that. All the other fluids have been rock steady since I bought it, although I do still need to check the gearbox and diff oil. I'll probably change them all at some point over winter Just Because.

And yes, as someone suggested, late night drives with the roof down and heaters on are great fun.

I have noticed a couple of strips of the rear demister are dead - I'm not sure if 'silver paint' will be good enough for what appears to be a pretty high power rear element, but it's all at the top of the screen so not a major issue. That, and I can just wipe the inside, like I do the outside, natch.

It's fun around town, fun on backroads, slides around when you want it to, but give it less gas and it has lots of grip, etc.

So still not regrets, although I need to do some backroad hackery at night to see how the new bulbs are. I may still look at some sort of xenon upgrade, but so far the new bulbs seem like a noticable improvement.

That is all.

* I've been in some stupidly quick cars over the years, but this is plenty quick for me in The Real World TM. For now....

[evostick]

It's nice to know that in an ever changing world you're still a spastic

Just buy it some decent new tyres when the old ones wear out ffs.

[NotoriousREV]

^^ That. Cheap tyres are a waste of time and money. Decent tyres wear better and grip better.

[JLv3.0]

Beany has this very odd way of looking at stuff, doesn't he. How can shit tyres now and good ones later be any cheaper, in the real world, than good ones now? Not dissimilar to him buying a cheap car to go look at cars

[Gavin]

Reading EVO car tests would suggest cheap tyres break away with little warning so saving a few quid may well end up with you gong through a hedge backward.

Glad you are having fun with it, I haven't had a DWD car for years now and never even a moderately fast one but they sound fun for IDT!