MGF VVC, BMW Z3, MR2 Roadster...

darren if you want some serious fun but with reasonable costs you have to look no further than a Lotus Elise.

£7.5K buys a S or T plater - they do 40mpg if driven sensibly - handle like nothing this side of £30k

Get an S1 now and this time next year it will be worth the same.

MGF - head gasket trouble
MX5 - How many are there on the road
Merc - Its German
MR2 - no boot at all
BMW - no need to say anything else
TT - You must be kidding

A guy at work has a lotus elise and he loves it. The not so good things I can see are, the fact he gets water lealking up through the floor whan it rains, and the exhaust sounds 4 cylinder chavvy.

The version he has is a sport 160, which is a non VVC 1.8 with a few tuning mods. It also has an uprated headgasket, so there shouldn't be much trouble there.

I thought the 160 sport had a VVC lump.

Didnt get water through the floor only from the roof when the door was opened.

Just get a set of ocvers £60 off e-bay and its sorted.

Must be an aftermarrket exhaust - standard one sounds pretty good.

Originally Posted by SPPalfa

I thought the 160 sport had a VVC lump.

Didnt get water through the floor only from the roof when the door was opened.

Just get a set of ocvers £60 off e-bay and its sorted.

Must be an aftermarrket exhaust - standard one sounds pretty good.

Its not a VVC the 111S had the VVC, I am not sure if it is a Lotus factory tuning effort or a powertrain development fitted after.

My dad had a VX220, and that suffered water up through the floor as well, although some people say that bathroom sealer stops most of the leaks.

I think he has a stainless exhaust, though I am not sure who make it.

Not to sure but I thought the 135 sport was the VVC lump.

Maybe the 160 is a tuning job

Never had water through the floor - just when I opened teh door but would suffer that for the drive down a good B road with the sun out - nothing like it.

I have just spoken to him, and he said it is a modified Sport 135. The rocker cover says Sport 160 on it..

He is thinking of selling it though, as he is saving up for a mortgage, as well as needing more space.

having just bought an mx5 i will say this..sure there are a lot of em on the road...yup, they have an 'unfortunate image'...but i doubt there is another car you can buy that is a genuine dedicated sportscar for so little money that will make you smile so widely and so often......

mine has no power steering, no a/c, manual windows and a manual hood....it has 82k miles, is a uk '94 1.8 car...has been graged all its days and used sparingly in the summer months....i love it....especially with the roof down, which takes, oh, about 1 minute to lower and the same to put back up...simple less is more fun......and it wil handle atleast as well, if not better than your initial 'list' posting some surprisingly quick a to b times on the back roads.....

...i suppose im lucky that at around 20stone and sporting a shaved bonce covered in scars, im hardly likely to be mistaken for a hairdresser......

Originally Posted by biggbn

having just bought an mx5 i will say this..sure there are a lot of em on the road...yup, they have an 'unfortunate image'...but i doubt there is another car you can buy that is a genuine dedicated sportscar for so little money that will make you smile so widely and so often......

mine has no power steering, no a/c, manual windows and a manual hood....it has 82k miles, is a uk '94 1.8 car...has been graged all its days and used sparingly in the summer months....i love it....especially with the roof down, which takes, oh, about 1 minute to lower and the same to put back up...simple less is more fun......and it wil handle atleast as well, if not better than your initial 'list' posting some surprisingly quick a to b times on the back roads.....

...i suppose im lucky that at around 20stone and sporting a shaved bonce covered in scars, im hardly likely to be mistaken for a hairdresser......

Nice pair of motors, Fiat coupe and MX5 only thing is you need to be secure in yourself to enjoy a car for what it is, maybe Dazza has something to tell us all , when he's admitted it to himself

I've decided against a convertible sadly

The reason being that I've seen a few blokes in soft tops lately and I really don't want to be one of them

There's that, and also the fact that I don't want to have chavs throwing stuff in at me,

Fiat Coupe it is then, Darren?

Actually Dan, no... I am almost sure I've decided on what car to get...

BMW 540i 4.4 V8 Manual.

I'll need to save for about another 6 months but I should be able to pick up a decent enough one for about £4K, and being a big engined BMW it shouldn't depreciate all that much within a few years. Hopefully.

What do you think?

Originally Posted by Darren156

Actually Dan, no... I am almost sure I've decided on what car to get...

BMW 540i 4.4 V8 Manual.

I'll need to save for about another 6 months but I should be able to pick up a decent enough one for about £4K, and being a big engined BMW it shouldn't depreciate all that much within a few years. Hopefully.

What do you think?

Good car, good engine.. Great all-rounder, although it probably won't be anywhere near as chuckable as a 156. Fast in a straight line and they aren't bad on fuel either on a run.

Personally, I like the previous model (E34 - the one with twin headlights) with the 4.0 V8 but its horses for courses really.

To be honest mate, I want the one with the phone,

I've had to join Piston Heads to get more info on it



Hey Dan, you know alot about BMW's, what's the deal with the 5 series? I hear all this talk of M-Tech add-ons, and Scheinter (Or however you spell it) stuff, and ALPINA crap, what the hell's going on,

I need to know what one to get, and you just might be the man who can help me...

Originally Posted by Darren156

To be honest mate, I want the one with the phone,

I've had to join Piston Heads to get more info on it



Hey Dan, you know alot about BMW's, what's the deal with the 5 series? I hear all this talk of M-Tech add-ons, and Scheinter (Or however you spell it) stuff, and ALPINA crap, what the hell's going on,

I need to know what one to get, and you just might be the man who can help me...

'M' is BMW's MotorSports division. They make the M3, M5 etc etc. BMW also brand sporty-looking trim bits and lowered suspension as 'M-tech'. For comparison I guess its the same as Veloce/SportPack on Alfas.

AC Schnitzer is a semi-official tuning/styling firm that does BMWs, as is Alpina. However, Alpina actually sell new cars as well. If a car is actually a real Apina (ie not a replica), it will have been built not at the BMW factory, but at the Alpina factory and will be massively different from standard. Most Alpinas have auto gearbox's with paddle shifters, and wire spoke alloys. I suppose Alpina is a bit like Pininfarina, who build the Brera and built the GTV Cup.

Will that do?

My dad had a BMW 540i a while back although it was an auto. It did have the sport suspension though.

I quite liked it, it was pretty quick, comfy and was built well. On the downside it was thirsty (18mpg was good) and it was too heavy to throw around.

A manual would be a lot better but it might be a bit difficult to find a fully loaded one fitted with a manual.

Originally Posted by symonh2000

I have just spoken to him, and he said it is a modified Sport 135. The rocker cover says Sport 160 on it..

He is thinking of selling it though, as he is saving up for a mortgage, as well as needing more space.

I was srill under the impression the sport 135 was a VVC.

I guess it was modified by a tuning house not Lotus.