Charlie's Official Update Thread

[charliekuney]

I don't like BMW for two reasons: First, they do not age well. I mentioned this above. Second, specifically for the E30, is that they are not safe. I don't know how the E32 and E34 were among the safest cars in the 80's and 90's but the E30 just wasn't.

I'm slowly heading towards three options:
1) Sell the 600SEL and get something extremely economical, like a Civic HX/VX or CR-X HF, Metro XFi, et cetera.
2) Sell the 600SEL and not own a vehicle at all. bike&bus
3) Buy these two 600SEL's I see on Craigslist for $1,000 each and have oodles of parts.

[HON-DUH]

If you're talking bout safety, neither choices listed on #1 are any safer than an e30 lol but then again....dat CRX tho...

I'd stay in the Honda family...stay away from a Metro -__-

[charliekuney]

Ever since I saw the Top Gear episode about Saab's safety running deep, I will never be able to buy an E30. They dropped an '84 Saab 900 and an '84 BMW 318i from ten feet upside down. The entire roof of the BMW collapsed. The Saab bounced...

I've become rather obsessed with car safely lately. Little did I know that even Mercedes-Benz has sold cars that weren't all that safe. When Daimler bought them in the 90's they cheaped out on materials. The 1996-1997 W210 E-Class received a poor front crash test rating because the a-pillar would bow-out at 35mph.

[charliekuney]

Take all of the pictures! Got Bae washed and tidy for a photoshoot...for Craigslist, lol. Man, I'm gonna miss this car, if it ever sells.

[charliekuney]

[charliekuney]

[charliekuney]

[charliekuney]

[Dr_Snooz]

I don't think you have to go very old, just stay away from the flagship models. They get all the bleeding edge advancements. There are lots of bugs that come with that, and no one really knows how to fix them. Not even the engineers who build them. The cars are chock full of useless technology like iDrive and whatnot that does nothing but crap out and make you crazy. The bleeding edge stuff trickles down from the flagship models slowly and tends to be less buggy by the time it gets to them. The mid-range models (like the E-class and 5 series) are the closest I would get to the flagship models. Also, the smaller engines within the model ranges will tend to be simpler with less exotic engines and less pointless technology. For instance, my 540i had all the bells and whistles and big problems like the engine blocks that failed. The 525 wasn't nearly as exciting, but didn't have the engine block issues. The 540 shared its engine with the flagship models. The simplest cars will be the 318i and the 190E. They have four-bangers, get good mileage, even have timing belts I think, but they aren't really what I would want from a German car. Buying the biggest cars with the biggest engines is like putting a target on your wallet.

I'll second the opinion on Benzes. Stay away from them. My dad had one Benz in his whole life and he couldn't talk about Benzes without swearing. My uncle was a big Benz guy and finally gave up because they are so unreliable. Now he drives Fords. (Still hasn't learned, I guess). My BMW was badly abused by a clueless lout. It required a lot of money to get all the bugs worked out, but it didn't require any major repairs. Once it settled down, it drove like a dream and never caused me any trouble.

Also, if you're going to get a model newer than say, 1995, ignore the maintenance schedule. The German cars have all been throwing in free maintenance if you buy their cars. Thus, because they are paying for those $300 oil changes, suddenly 15,000 miles is a perfectly acceptable interval for oil changes. Transmissions get "lifetime" fluid and are sealed up with no filler cap or dipstick. "Free maintenance" is an abomination from the marketing department. The engines sludge up something fierce and the transmissions fail at 100k. It's a terrible thing to do to such remarkable machines.

[HON-DUH]

Listen to the wise words of Dr. Snooz Charlie mane...also GLWS

[charliekuney]

I'm sticking to my guns. I will put a little (read: little) amount of money into the car to see if I can get the issues resolved. If I cannot I will sell the car as soon as possible. The only problem with selling it is that the only person who would buy this car is specifically looking for it and would probably know quite a bit about it and not fork up the cash I want.

[Civic Accord Honda]

W123 diesel will outlast the stands of time...hell in other countrys they are still using them as taxis with over 1 million miles on them. original engine lol... and they dont have as much to go wrong on them...parts cost is not that bad on them as well....try to find a turbo diesel 4 speed though lol the auto non turbos are scary slow .

but i laugh at you not wanting a E30 due to safety. then considering a CRX HF. did you know the 88 CRX HF did not even have safety beams in the doors to save weight? and the thick steal bumper supports were replaced a thin tin strip again to save weight... after i saw images of wrecked CRX hfs i listed mine for sale. and im not a big safety guy . but seeing 15mph side impacts that pushed the door almost to the center console scared the living crap out of me!!!!. geo metros are far from being the safest cars on the road. but they did meet the required safety ratings to be sold in the 90s which was stricter then the 80s lol...and ive seen some of them take some big hits where the driver walks away fine....you want safe. simple to fix . RWD? get a old truck lol

[Dr_Snooz]

I'm sticking to my guns. I will put a little (read: little) amount of money into the car to see if I can get the issues resolved.

LOL. The siren song of the German car lures newbs to their doom.

[charliekuney]

I clearly understand that the E30 is safer than a similar-era, similar-sized American or Japanese vehicle. While the CR-X and Metro are unsafe, so is the E30, just to a lesser degree. It's just too small and too old. E32's have enough girth to withstand a decent impact. The crash test video on YouTube for the W140 shows a '92 model practically tearing a '92 Golf in half. Thanks for the information on the lack of buttressing in the CR-X...that is officially crossed off my list.

Now I just don't know what to do.

[Dr_Snooz]

The 3g crash test videos are pretty frightening too.

[charliekuney]

My crash test in a 3G was pretty frightening. I have been told that I could have died. As far as the Benz goes; I posted it on Craigslist for $4,500. The car is practically unable to be driven and I want nothing more to do with it. I am having an extremely difficult time finding a car to meet my needs. Shit is fucked. Shit is just fucked...

[HON-DUH]

Get a BB1/2 Prelude bro

[charliekuney]

I don't want a car at all at this point. I'm tired of them breaking.

[Dr_Snooz]

What crapped out on the Benz that has you so bummed out?

[charliekuney]

Something went wrong with the air-to-fuel ratio and it was dumping so much fuel onto the cylinders that it was overflowing into the manifold and building up in the catalytic converters...where it then was combusting.

[Dr_Snooz]

Oh dude. It got you. Sorry to hear it.

That is classic Benz. Basically, you take what would be a minor failure on any other car, magnify it to the 10th power through cataclysmically stupid engineering and voila! You have a Benz repair. Take a minor fault and add three zeroes to the price. The only way Benz stays in business is through the emperor's new clothes routine.

On my Dad's Benz (his one and only Benz that he couldn't mention without swearing) the fuel pump was designed in such a way that if the seal failed, and it was known to, it would dump raw gas into the crankcase. I swear that kind of stupidity requires postdoc training. Bimmers don't pull that kind of sh!t.

What's the plan now? Have you gotten any repair estimates? You'll have to stage your own death to afford new cats. Just call the scrapyard to come pick it up, drink a bottle of scotch, break out all the windows and go cry yourself to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, get rid of any other Benzes still floating around your house. They aren't worth the trouble.

[HON-DUH]

I don't want a German shitbox at all at this point. I'm tired of German shit breaking.

Fixed it for ya

[charliekuney]

I think I have a decent plan. I want to keep this car. I should be purchasing a 1992 Geo Metro XFi tomorrow which allows me to keep the Mercedes. Down the road I will purchase a parts car that is as close to identical as can be. I will use parts from that to get the Benz in top shape, then scrap the parts car and get another one. Repeat. I don't really have any other interests in life. No children. No travel or vacation. No hobbies. No drug habits. Cars are the only thing I have to spend money on until I move out (yes).

[Dr_Snooz]

Well, if you don't learn the lesson the first time, it will give you more... LOL

[HON-DUH]

Get a real girl(s) to dump money on, she'll reward you a lot better than that Merc ever will bro lol

Some things never change eh Snooz?