Commander

You should talk with brillo, he has done plenty of banger BMW track days.

Ah ok, cheers... I think they can do similar stuff when remapping too, if you ever go down that route.

try breaking the password on it.. some devices are configured to factory reset themselves after 10 failed attempts.

I had an e46 m3 for regular track day use and my brother had an e36 m3 - both very stripped out. You will get good at replacing ball joints and bushes on both - these cars handle well and have reliable engines / gearboxes, but they're too heavy / rusty for their own good when it comes to these kinds of consumables.

Honest question - What do these devices actually do, I have absolutely no idea, please enlighten me!

Just been for a cheeky blast... bloody hell it's fast! Sounds really good when the windows are down too. If you ever get the chance to drive any fruity Jag, make sure you twist the dial to "S" (Sport mode on the gearbox) and push the chequered flag button (relaxes TCS a bit, enables noisy exhaust mode, hardens up the shocks, sharpens the throttle response). It doesn't handle quite as well as the Z in tight corners or under braking (both weight related imho), but the exhaust, gearbox, comfort levels and engine more than make up for it I work from home and I can't stop looking at it!

Depends on their position, and the correct answer for 'what position' is different from one car to the next. I do know that on an e46 m3, the point where the bonnet ends and the windscreen starts is particularly high pressure on the outside of the car and so that's where the cabin cold air feed is, with the high pressure helping to push the air inwards. There's a BMW Tech document about it all because it impacts how the aircon works when traveling at different speeds. My XKR has bonnet vents (though I've no idea if they're cosmetic or functional )

£35 sounds very cheap? I'm sure I paid a LOT more than that for a front one a few years ago. Low quality item? Installed correctly?

Speed dating! Only did it once and in truth I was probably a bit too drunk for it (and I'm a skinny fugly IT geek) but still got some numbers and plenty of action

Yeah it is lighter than it looks in the picture, it really shines a nice blue when it's sunnny and I don't use a crap camera. 16 way hot/cold seats, heated steering wheel, B&W Sound, love it!

oops

Yeah, I'm keeping it stock... I still haven't used 100% throttle in first or second gear yet - it's just too fast for my brain... that and it's been permanently cold and wet since I got it.

Why is this even a thing?!

Aye, rather different beasts, but both excellent in their own way. Though I reckon if the Vette had the Jag's interior there'd be no contest... Interested to see which ends up being the most reliable and cheapest to maintain / repair. Yeah, but when you get something with a nice interior and which goes and looks like a mad thing, they call it a Ferrari and put another zero on the price!

EKONA - So are you getting rid of the 6er then? Or is this a second car?

Cheers - yeah it looks like a totally different colour in the sun - much lighter. The Ivory leather is lush - waaay better than the black you see in most cars.

Depends what you want - the Jag is much more luxurious and more comfortable to cruise down the motorway in and does slightly better MPG (~25 vs ~22 on the motorway and when being very well behaved - significantly less when hooning). The z06 is faster in a straight line, better under braking, sounds better, looks better, but is less luxurious, less comfy, more noisy. The z06 is faster, but the XKR is no slouch. Neither has any trouble leaving with most things for dust on a motorway or anything that "flows". Not sure I'd fancy trying to rag the Jag around some hairpins though. If I could afford it I would have bought an XKRS to close the gap a bit, but my pockets aren't that deep

The Z is further away... (Yes... 4.7m XKR / 4.3m 350Z)

After selling the TVR Tuscan RR and a few things going on at work / personal life, I just picked up this beauty on Monday... 2009 XKR w/ 5.0 SC V8 @ 505bhp The colour is Kyanite Blue, 20" alloys, decent stereo, valves exhaust, adaptive dampers, hot/cold seats, heated steering wheel, DAB, etc etc... bloody hell it shifts! And with the exhaust valves open it sounds good too :-) Handling is much much better than I expected but even so it's definitely more 'GT' than Sports Car, especially under braking, but I suspect it has crap pads in so need to look at that. Oh, and in other news my brother has totally beaten me by buying a 2005 z06 Corvette... 7.0 LS7 @ 565bhp! It's bloody awesome!!

Please close this thread - 2009, 5.0 SC, 505BHP, XKR Coupe in Kyanite Blue now purchased

Up your budget to 5 and you can have my HR.

Shhhh, you'll upset Dan. It's ok - he can't be right about everything! It's the same with the massive price hike between the 997.1 & .2 - sure it's a 'better' car, but I can't help but think the bulk of the price hike is caused by the improved engine reliability.

They're slow and the engines give in, hardly a surprise they are cheap!

Buy a 5.0 Jag XKR / XKR-S; they are more sporty / nothing like as wafty as you imagine. (I have just bought a 5.0 XKR - collect tomorrow. Also test drove a C63 AMG Coupe and the Jag is waaaay better.)

similar age / mileage ones in good working order are going for 7k, so 5.5 seems reasonable?