FREE E85 2.5i with 220K miles too much of a risk?

If you join up on the East Anglian Group you'll find a chap on there called Simon Liggins. I think he lives in Grays? Very experienced with these cars and a nice bloke too. He'll surely be able to offer some advice and maybe spares.
I'm an Admin on there and not far away in Norfolk, with quite a few spares to hand.
 
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It's free - surely it's a no brainer!

Surely it has to be worth a punt if you can get it running with a jumper pack as there is nothing structural mentioned on the MOT so it's all fixable and there are plenty of people on here who know these cars well and some also have a good stash of parts.

Anyway welcome to the forum and good luck - I hope you keep us posted on how you get on. :thumbsup:
 
It's from an E86 3.0si, so not technically correct for your car, but I have a complete front passenger strut (spring, shock, top mount etc) spare here.

Top mount is old. Shock is a replacement Sachs and looks fairly new (no signs of leaks). The top mount nut is not coming undone, so you can't really split it apart either. Maybe enough to get you back on the road to see if it's worth spending the money on to replace the suspension properly.

If you want it, it's yours - just collection from near Slough/Windsor. Otherwise I was going to tip it
 
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enuff_zed said:
If you join up on the East Anglian Group you'll find a chap on there called Simon Liggins. I think he lives in Grays? Very experienced with these cars and a nice bloke too. He'll surely be able to offer some advice and maybe spares.
I'm an Admin on there and not far away in Norfolk, with quite a few spares to hand.
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Awesome good to know!
Hopefully I'll be seeing the car this weekend to get it started so once that's out the way I'll start getting on the look out for parts :thumbsup:
 
Mr Tidy said:
It's free - surely it's a no brainer!

Surely it has to be worth a punt if you can get it running with a jumper pack as there is nothing structural mentioned on the MOT so it's all fixable and there are plenty of people on here who know these cars well and some also have a good stash of parts.

Anyway welcome to the forum and good luck - I hope you keep us posted on how you get on. :thumbsup:
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Thanks! I'll make sure to keep my progress updated. Might even start a little YouTube channel or something to document it all :)
 
TriggerFish said:
It's from an E86 3.0si, so not technically correct for your car, but I have a complete front passenger strut (spring, shock, top mount etc) spare here.

Top mount is old. Shock is a replacement Sachs and looks fairly new (no signs of leaks). The top mount nut is not coming undone, so you can't really split it apart either. Maybe enough to get you back on the road to see if it's worth spending the money on to replace the suspension properly.

If you want it, it's yours - just collection from near Slough/Windsor. Otherwise I was going to tip it
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Cheers, that could be a big help! As I said, hopefully this weekend I'll go and get it started and if all goes well there I'll begin parts hunting so I'll keep you posted on that :)
 
Sounds like a pretty easy save project to me.

Its hardly a risk if its free and all of those elements are just wear and tear. New shocks and springs, sounds like new bulbs, keep an eye on the leak and get it re MOT'd.

Run it, have fun and learn how to fix it along the way 👍🏻
 
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tomscott said:
Sounds like a pretty easy save project to me.

Its hardly a risk if its free and all of those elements are just wear and tear. New shocks and springs, sounds like new bulbs, keep an eye on the leak and get it re MOT'd.

Run it, have fun and learn how to fix it along the way 👍🏻
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Agreed, will do! Awesome Z4M by the way!
 
tomscott said:
Thanks! They really do get under your skin! The forum doesnt help 🤣
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I'm starting to realise that :ROFLMAO: Truthfully before this opportunity came up the Z4 was never really on my radar, but now I've done my research and watched plenty of videos singing their praises, they've really grown on me! I'm almost certain now if this project doesn't go to plan I'll end up buying one somewhere down the line
 
I would walk away. Once you start replacing parts you are putting money into it and would be reluctant to stop when more expensive parts are required which they will be. Good ones are not that expensive to buy and in my opinion there is no such thing as a free car once you have invested a few quid.
 
Mike6 said:
I would walk away. Once you start replacing parts you are putting money into it and would be reluctant to stop when more expensive parts are required which they will be. Good ones are not that expensive to buy and in my opinion there is no such thing as a free car once you have invested a few quid.
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Then in that case, take it and sell it on to one of us who breaks them, for £500. Everyone makes a bit. 👍🏻
 
Best idea, take the car and then sell for a nominal amount to a forum member who can use the parts to keep our cars going.
 
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Agreed but you will not be able to see inside of engine and the parts that are likely to be knackered.
 
bigwinn said:
Cmon OP what was the verdict
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Sorry guys, had a busier weekend than intended and didn't get an opportunity to go see it. Didn't realise everyone would be so invested in this :ROFLMAO: I'm meant to be going this evening so I will most likely provide an update tomorrow :thumbsup:
 
Mike6 said:
I would walk away. Once you start replacing parts you are putting money into it and would be reluctant to stop when more expensive parts are required which they will be. Good ones are not that expensive to buy and in my opinion there is no such thing as a free car once you have invested a few quid.
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Very true, hopefully all will be clear when I start it this evening. Even regarding all this, I think I'm still going to give it a good go even if it's just for a bit of a learning moment. My plan is to get the car through an MOT and then go from there, so I shouldn't be sinking anymore than a few hundred quid into it at first. Hopefully after that it'll become clear if it's worth carrying on.
 
Mike6 said:
Best idea, take the car and then sell for a nominal amount to a forum member who can use the parts to keep our cars going.
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If it comes to that then that's what I'll do. Scrap value was only £200 I bet there's plenty on it worth more than that total.
 
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