- Joined
- Nov 30, 2008
- Messages
- 3,385
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
- Car(s)
- '03 Falcon BA XR6, '79 XD Falcon S, '08 X5 3.0D
So, as those on the Telegrams know, a few months ago I was looking for something a with a higher ride height than the XR6, and which could accomodate all of Dad's new mobility accessories, as well as 3 adults, comfortably.
Rest assured, the XR6 is NOT going anywhere!
Considered a Ford Territory, but was leaning towards Diesel to take advantage of the fuel tax rebate we get through the bus company, and all of those models were well into a 5 figure asking price, or completely clapped out.
Holden Captivas were around in the price range I was looking at, but there's a very good reason for that, since they tend to grenade themselves regularly. Plus they have Holden badges, and that's a no from me.
Honda? Toyota? Nissan? Plenty of Mazda SUVs, but all with serious issues. Nothing appealed to me.
While mindlessly scrolling FB Marketplace one day in April, I found an ad for a suspiciously cheap, Alpineweiss III X5, with Nevada black leather and Anthracite headliner, pretty close to me, which looked to be in very good condition, apart from it's listed faults (left side doors central locking doesn't work, reverse camera on it's way out, a random, intermittent gear selector fault, and the undiagnosed stalling issue).
So I started doing some research on their common problems, which was somewhat concerning, as of course the mileage was getting into the "This repair will be more expensive than usual" ballpark at 220,000km, however in the meantime the ad disappeared from my feed, so I assumed it was sold, and my search would continue.
A few days later the seller relisted the car, edited to add something about people asking stupid questions and stuffing him around, so I threw caution to the wind and sent a message, asking if I could come and have a look at it, with a mechanic workmate of mine.
A time was set, and we looked it over.
It was indeed in very good condition inside and out. Had two keys, original BMW folio and documentation, removable towbar, panoramic sunroof, new floormats, rubber boot liner, and the rear suspension looked brand new as well.
Sunroof drains were clear, there were no leaks, and it opened/closed fully.
One minor door ding (it's been opened into something on the edge near the handle), and the tailgate had been replaced but not quite lined up correctly, however they're both things most people wouldn't notice until it's pointed out. The seller seemed genuinely surprised when I pointed out the inner tail lights didn't match the outer lights. Minor marks on the rear bumper, the usual yellowing/crazing on the headlights - which the seller had new lenses for, but didn't include with the vehicle.
Checking it's VIN number with the relevant local authorities showed a clean title, and no recorded accident history. All TSBs and recalls have been completed.
Checking it's VIN with DFence showed that it had been serviced from new until 2013 with BMW, then disappeared from their system until 2021.
The seller stated that it had a new battery, alternator, starter motor, windscreen, and rear tyres, with receipts for the work. He believed mechanics had done the DPF delete (DPF is defeinitely still there, obviously this guy didn't know what he was looking at), and apparently replaced injector 6. None of which had made a difference to the problem of it cutting out, so the seller wasn't prepared to sink any more money into it, unless they could definitely fix the problem, which had now made the car almost completely undrivable. He told me his next step would be servicing the transmission. (Yeah, that's not the problem mate...)
We took it for a test drive, after being warned again that it would likely cut out when at operating temperature.
It made no concerning noises, or emissions, in the couple of minutes that it idled in the driveway, or once we started moving.
We were able to drive for a few minutes, until my workmate tried to floor it, and it died without warning.
We coasted to the gutter, tried to restart it, which it did instantly after we'd pulled the key and reset the ecu. Tried to move it back to the seller's house, and it would cut out again as soon as we tried to put it into gear.
Trying to restart without pulling the key resulted it in strong cranking but never firing. I took a cheap scantool with me and read the generic error codes, which seemed to be minor things like O2 sensors only, though that didn't explain the shutdown issue.
Eventually, the seller wandered over, said "Yep, that's what it's been doing", and we handed the keys back, for him to deal with moving it back to his property later.
After a quick discussion with my workmate, I decided I was still interested, put down a deposit, and left to gather more information on what we believed the problem to be. (Good old injectors)
Armed with this info, I returned to the seller two days later, handed over the remainder of the asking price, did some paperwork, and a tilt tray arrived to bring my purchase back to the depot, while I followed it on the expressway, wondering WTF I'd just done.
It was originally listed at $9000. I paid $7000.
Anyway, enough waffling, onto the photos (because let's face it, thats all anyone really cares about)...
Photos in this post are from the seller's listing.
There are many like it, but this particular money pit is now mine:
I've always really liked this style of wheel; what I'm not going to like is the price for the tyres to fit the 20" rims, but at least the more expensive rear tyres are near new.
Once seen, this abomination cannot be unseen, so immediately the hunt was on for LCI outer tail lights, as the original ones were crazed, faded, full of bugs, and not worth keeping.
Apart from the usual 'soft-touch' door handles being stuffed, minor plastic bubbling, and a couple of cracks in the bamboo trim, the interior is in VERY good condition for it's age/use.
Some leather cleaner/conditioner brought the rear seat back to near new condition.
On it's arrival at the depot, the first person to see it was Janar, the Estonian guy who works in the other shed, and has an extensive history of BMW ownership/wrenching.
It wasn't even off the tow truck before he wandered over to check it out and critique my purchase, with a knowing look on his face.
It got a preliminary thumbs up, and he promised to bring in his laptop the following day with the INPA software to give me some more accurate information about how I might go about getting it running.
Meanwhile, I set about changing dead globes, destroying the Michael Buble CD that was left in it, removing the completely useless phone cradle taking up most of the center console storage, and making a list of anything else that needed to be changed, fixed or cleaned.
Rest assured, the XR6 is NOT going anywhere!
Considered a Ford Territory, but was leaning towards Diesel to take advantage of the fuel tax rebate we get through the bus company, and all of those models were well into a 5 figure asking price, or completely clapped out.
Holden Captivas were around in the price range I was looking at, but there's a very good reason for that, since they tend to grenade themselves regularly. Plus they have Holden badges, and that's a no from me.
Honda? Toyota? Nissan? Plenty of Mazda SUVs, but all with serious issues. Nothing appealed to me.
While mindlessly scrolling FB Marketplace one day in April, I found an ad for a suspiciously cheap, Alpineweiss III X5, with Nevada black leather and Anthracite headliner, pretty close to me, which looked to be in very good condition, apart from it's listed faults (left side doors central locking doesn't work, reverse camera on it's way out, a random, intermittent gear selector fault, and the undiagnosed stalling issue).
So I started doing some research on their common problems, which was somewhat concerning, as of course the mileage was getting into the "This repair will be more expensive than usual" ballpark at 220,000km, however in the meantime the ad disappeared from my feed, so I assumed it was sold, and my search would continue.
A few days later the seller relisted the car, edited to add something about people asking stupid questions and stuffing him around, so I threw caution to the wind and sent a message, asking if I could come and have a look at it, with a mechanic workmate of mine.
A time was set, and we looked it over.
It was indeed in very good condition inside and out. Had two keys, original BMW folio and documentation, removable towbar, panoramic sunroof, new floormats, rubber boot liner, and the rear suspension looked brand new as well.
Sunroof drains were clear, there were no leaks, and it opened/closed fully.
One minor door ding (it's been opened into something on the edge near the handle), and the tailgate had been replaced but not quite lined up correctly, however they're both things most people wouldn't notice until it's pointed out. The seller seemed genuinely surprised when I pointed out the inner tail lights didn't match the outer lights. Minor marks on the rear bumper, the usual yellowing/crazing on the headlights - which the seller had new lenses for, but didn't include with the vehicle.
Checking it's VIN number with the relevant local authorities showed a clean title, and no recorded accident history. All TSBs and recalls have been completed.
Checking it's VIN with DFence showed that it had been serviced from new until 2013 with BMW, then disappeared from their system until 2021.
The seller stated that it had a new battery, alternator, starter motor, windscreen, and rear tyres, with receipts for the work. He believed mechanics had done the DPF delete (DPF is defeinitely still there, obviously this guy didn't know what he was looking at), and apparently replaced injector 6. None of which had made a difference to the problem of it cutting out, so the seller wasn't prepared to sink any more money into it, unless they could definitely fix the problem, which had now made the car almost completely undrivable. He told me his next step would be servicing the transmission. (Yeah, that's not the problem mate...)
We took it for a test drive, after being warned again that it would likely cut out when at operating temperature.
It made no concerning noises, or emissions, in the couple of minutes that it idled in the driveway, or once we started moving.
We were able to drive for a few minutes, until my workmate tried to floor it, and it died without warning.
We coasted to the gutter, tried to restart it, which it did instantly after we'd pulled the key and reset the ecu. Tried to move it back to the seller's house, and it would cut out again as soon as we tried to put it into gear.
Trying to restart without pulling the key resulted it in strong cranking but never firing. I took a cheap scantool with me and read the generic error codes, which seemed to be minor things like O2 sensors only, though that didn't explain the shutdown issue.
Eventually, the seller wandered over, said "Yep, that's what it's been doing", and we handed the keys back, for him to deal with moving it back to his property later.
After a quick discussion with my workmate, I decided I was still interested, put down a deposit, and left to gather more information on what we believed the problem to be. (Good old injectors)
Armed with this info, I returned to the seller two days later, handed over the remainder of the asking price, did some paperwork, and a tilt tray arrived to bring my purchase back to the depot, while I followed it on the expressway, wondering WTF I'd just done.
It was originally listed at $9000. I paid $7000.
Anyway, enough waffling, onto the photos (because let's face it, thats all anyone really cares about)...
Photos in this post are from the seller's listing.
There are many like it, but this particular money pit is now mine:
I've always really liked this style of wheel; what I'm not going to like is the price for the tyres to fit the 20" rims, but at least the more expensive rear tyres are near new.
Once seen, this abomination cannot be unseen, so immediately the hunt was on for LCI outer tail lights, as the original ones were crazed, faded, full of bugs, and not worth keeping.
Apart from the usual 'soft-touch' door handles being stuffed, minor plastic bubbling, and a couple of cracks in the bamboo trim, the interior is in VERY good condition for it's age/use.
Some leather cleaner/conditioner brought the rear seat back to near new condition.
On it's arrival at the depot, the first person to see it was Janar, the Estonian guy who works in the other shed, and has an extensive history of BMW ownership/wrenching.
It wasn't even off the tow truck before he wandered over to check it out and critique my purchase, with a knowing look on his face.
It got a preliminary thumbs up, and he promised to bring in his laptop the following day with the INPA software to give me some more accurate information about how I might go about getting it running.
Meanwhile, I set about changing dead globes, destroying the Michael Buble CD that was left in it, removing the completely useless phone cradle taking up most of the center console storage, and making a list of anything else that needed to be changed, fixed or cleaned.
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