allaboutthepasty

It actually would be tempting... Horrific mpg for a 1.8, very tail happy through the corners, not exactly the most reliable... But a massive smile on the face when the turbo kicks in. Only going to go up in value too. Got rid of mine for about £750, I'd say about £2-3K now.

I know you'd expect bit more transparency when dealing with a forum member but still. 1) Seller lists item 2) Buyer gets in touch 3) Price and collection is agreed 4) Few days pass and seller fends off interest from other potential buyers 5) Buyer texts seller saying "sorry somethings come up and I'm going to have to pull out, really really sorry etc" 6) We're all sat on the sellers side on here and having a pop at the buyer

Yeah, I'm after something practical at the moment but can just see one of these cropping up locally and ending up with another!

Although I'd imagine this is very annoying from a buyers point of view, you also have to look at it from the sellers side. Although there decent people out there, there are a lot of timewasters about which gets infuriating. If selling a car etc, I'd always keep welcoming new interest until I had the cash firmly in my hand.

Absolutely gutted I got rid of this. Had it standard and sold to a guy who's got about 290bhp out of it now.

What else is there to do in South Wales as opposed to parking up in some woods and night with a few other locals and disturbing the seats?

Had this a few years ago with my 200SX. Some guy didn't like it parked opposite his house so stuck some traffic cones on the roof which must have blown off in the wind, putting scratches down the bonnet etc. Went round and gave him a mouthfull and that was it. Was fuming for a few weeks but thinking about it now, glad I didn't throw a punch!

Welcome from another Mini fan. Mine is currently stripped back with various bits of new metal welded on, new camshaft, rockers, drop gears, diff & final drive... now ready for the paint shop... But seeing as this is a Zed forum, I'll be placing an advert for mine as I want to sort out something a bit more practical before autumn as it's currently my daily. Bit of a trek from you as I'm in Cumbria but it would be within your price range and the gearbox doesn't crunch

I do 10 miles each way to work too so don't take the rev needle above 3K until I'm almost there really. Just make sure you go out on a bit of a run every 2-4 weeks and open it up a bit when warmed up. As a daily, lovely car to drive. Fuel consumption for me is about £70-80 per month for the commute, then whatever other journeys on top of that. Downsides, due to the distance commuting, often feel like it's not getting used to its full potential at all and some sort of 3.0 TDI would be the more sensible choice, but I'm resisting that for another few years as I'm only 27! Few rattle appearing from the interior trim are slightly annoying, but I suppose you'd get that with any 10+yr old car. Only other thing is the lack of passenger / boot space. One of those things that you think you can live without when you buy a 2 seater, but is a drawback. Hope you find something you like!

Cheers guys. I'll probably just go ahead with the mods and get the uprev done sometime in the future. Sounds like it may not have been in my head then. 95 RON? Nope never used it, I was also informed by the previous owner that it shouldn't be bought...

It's just surface rust, mine looks exactly the same.

Tried a quite a bit of searching on this forum and also various others but can't seem to find anything definitive, so sorry if this has been covered before... I just can't find it! I recently replaced the Zed's window motor and prior to doing so disconnected the negative battery terminal, few pumps of the brake pedal etc. Reconnecting it back up a few hours later and taking it out the next morning, the car felt a lot more responsive, hard to describe but a bit more "lively" on the throttle, even just pottering around in 1st and 2nd getting out of the housing estate. Thought it might have been me imagining things but a few days later, it seems back to normal, a little bit more "bogged down" and is noticeable. Although it's not a problem I've just wondered if there's something in it? My driving style is usually granny-ish as I'm mainly commuting 10 miles each way to work, hardly get above 60 and don't take it above 3k until I'm pretty much there. This leads me onto snippets of info I've found about the ECU learning your driving style and setting itself accordingly? Is my situation just that the ECU has adjusted itself to my style of not booting it everywhere and is there any way to overcome this and keep it nice and responsive all the time, as it is a lot better to drive that way? I've been contemplating some HFC's and a plenum spacer followed by a tune up at RS in Leeds. If I went ahead, can they "hard tune" in the responsive throttle if that makes sense? I've also seen the D1 Spec Throttle Controller which presumably has the same effect? Many thanks in advance!

I give up!

Ha.... Ha.... Ha Yeah and being Audi drivers they'll bite my head off and say "well if you cant afford the maintenance then why are you looking". Just after some impartial knowledge! I've discussed Zed's on a Mini forum!

Coming upto the 2nd year of Zed ownership and starting to think about the next car. Ideally I would like something a bit more practical (back seats and a boot), but still nice and interesting too. Initially thought the E46 M5 but within the price range and be looking at something nearing 100K miles and after hearing the SMG horror stories and VANOS issues, decided to park that one. Next up I started looking at the E39's. Manual and more DIY possible if anything goes wrong. They look pretty immense and to be honest are still an option. Next up.... S6 (V10). Massively reliable engine and sound unbelievable. One drawback, like the M5, being limited tuning options for when boredom strikes. Which lead me onto the RS6. I'd probably opt for an Avant to get the boot space and I believe they're good for around 500bhp with a remap. I know the cambelt is a bit of a pig to change and the suspension has issues as you see a fair few who've opted for coilovers. Just wondered if anyone had any experience of these? You can find sub 100K cars for around the 10K mark. I know parts are going to be more than a Zed, tyres, brakes etc, but anyone lived with one as a daily? Any major issues apart from wear and tear parts? Cheers

To be fair, if it's within £500-1000 of what it's probably worth, you may as well get in touch. People put the price up so when you get the nitpickers who poke fault at a scratch inside the boot, you eventually let the car go for what you're after in the first place. It's a stupid game that we all have to play!

You were about to hand over +£7K for a standard 350 sat on 82K miles?

No you're not. Busted.

Sorry to hijack a little. But I've heard a lot about "driver training" etc and always wondered about partaking. Does anyone have any recommendations in the North West (Cumbria, Lancashire, West Yorks way?) I've never been sure what to pop into Google. Mainly after carrying speed round corners, handling a car that's out of control etc, Finland driving test stuff for example!

I've just opted for the arm as opposed to replacing the bushes for that reason. Car has done 69K so may as well just do a proper job first time

Welcome to the forum. Croatia looks bloody nice. Is your company after any Project Managers?

Yeah, then you'll see it infront of you. Around £220 I think.

Ok cheers, will give it a go tomorrow once it's charged. Voltage reading has been showing 14V when driving. I'll see how it goes! Many Thanks

Only been doing short journeys, 10 miles each way to work. Had the electric seats, ac, stereo and headlights on as it's always dark when I travel. Hadn't left anything on, checked the boot as I've fallen for that one before where it wasn't shut properly and the light drained it. It had been stood on the driveway for 3-4 days.

Evening All, So I went to start the car this morning, the engine turned over but would not fire up. Had a look on the forums and ruled out NATS as the red LED goes out once the ignition is on. Code reader is throwing up nothing. Can hear the fuel pump prime after releasing the air from the tank. Voltmeter is showing 12V but from what other people have said, this means absolutely nothing. Haven't got a jump starting machine so can't try that so I've popped the battery out tonight and put it on charge to see if it helps. I've had the current battery about a year now and it's spec'd at 60Ah and 390A (beleive that is the CCA?). I can't really find much online / in the manual etc and I'm no expert at all on the electrical side, but could this be a bit small? Would it be worth just buying a new battery and ditching the current one and if so which size should I opt for? A few people have said it should be a minimum of 500CCA? Could this be the reason I may have killed mine after 1yr? Cheers