After all the wonderful feedback I received from the Car Lounge experts, I sold my Allroad at the beginning of January.
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I know you are just going to scroll to the pics so, get on with it.
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Or, I sold the Allroad because frankly I was bored with it and someone offered me a grand less than I paid for it 5yrs ago. The proceeds went to pay down some 930 'expenses' and that was pretty much it. I pressed E24 into daily driver duties. The BMW wears more hats than any car setup the way it is has a right to. That being said, the daily slog in traffic and stoplight to stoplight are not her favorite things. And by proxy, not mine either. Naturally, I decided it was time to pull the trigger on a C63. It checked all my boxes for a daily driver.
1. Air conditioning.
2. Automatic.
Kismet. Having stalked C/E63 prices for as long I have 04 Mustang Cobras I knew I was picking a bad time. Over the last 3 years the 2011 up refreshed models have held if not increased in value, not to mention P31 package cars. Pre-refresh cars however continue to depreciate, albeit slowly. But the head bolt issue and 'meh' interior are a let down.
Being a wise, responsible and thrifty adult I plugged a maximum of 3K dollars price into craigslist......ugh.
The one bright ray was a very clean 'detectives' Crown Vic, the old lady however was not going to be swayed on its merits. It went something like this:
Me: Hey, this checks all the boxes. Cheap, dog friendly, automatic, AC.
Her: I am really digging deep right now to find my sense of humor.
So the bench racing/search continued. I hunted 2nd gen Toyota Pre-Runners and Tacoma 4x4s for awhile but they are our generation's VW Cabriolet, totally insane resale value. Granted, they are worth it but still. I carpool sometimes with a friend who has a 2014 VW Golf/Rabbit TDI with a DSG box. I really enjoy driving it, that is a fantastic motor and a decent gearbox. But again, expensive for what you are getting in my opinion. After a chance sighting on the way to work one day I ended up thinking about Infiniti's. I remember ages ago my Mom borrowing a friends J30 and I loved it (long before I knew anything about anything). The car I spotted was a 2nd gen M45 Sport. After some searching I found one I liked, however it was $16K, at a dealership and after a test drive....beat. I bookmarked the idea until Monday of last week when I ran across another.
A test drive and a small amount of negotiation and I brought home a 99% loaded (no rear wheel steer) 2006 M45 Sport with 128K miles for $10k. There are cheaper examples but they are either base cars or beat. This car is pretty clean for the money, thus far its been allot of fun.
IMG_1792.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1793.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
I havent done much yet but the leather was pretty tired/dirty.
IMG_1794.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1796.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
Figured I would give the steam cleaner I bought to clean the 930 motor another shot at redemption today. I have to say....holy mother of god. It annihilated 10years, gallons of Armo-all and two kids worth of stains/grim without skipping a beat. Never again will I clean leather with anything else. The pics really do not do it justice.
Cleaned but untreated
IMG_20160508_154944 by Shannon, on Flickr
Treated -
IMG_1820.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1821.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1823.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1830.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1828.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
A more sober/accurate review will be forth coming. Till then....
IMG_1825.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
.
.
.
I know you are just going to scroll to the pics so, get on with it.
.
.
Or, I sold the Allroad because frankly I was bored with it and someone offered me a grand less than I paid for it 5yrs ago. The proceeds went to pay down some 930 'expenses' and that was pretty much it. I pressed E24 into daily driver duties. The BMW wears more hats than any car setup the way it is has a right to. That being said, the daily slog in traffic and stoplight to stoplight are not her favorite things. And by proxy, not mine either. Naturally, I decided it was time to pull the trigger on a C63. It checked all my boxes for a daily driver.
1. Air conditioning.
2. Automatic.
Kismet. Having stalked C/E63 prices for as long I have 04 Mustang Cobras I knew I was picking a bad time. Over the last 3 years the 2011 up refreshed models have held if not increased in value, not to mention P31 package cars. Pre-refresh cars however continue to depreciate, albeit slowly. But the head bolt issue and 'meh' interior are a let down.
Being a wise, responsible and thrifty adult I plugged a maximum of 3K dollars price into craigslist......ugh.
The one bright ray was a very clean 'detectives' Crown Vic, the old lady however was not going to be swayed on its merits. It went something like this:
Me: Hey, this checks all the boxes. Cheap, dog friendly, automatic, AC.
Her: I am really digging deep right now to find my sense of humor.
So the bench racing/search continued. I hunted 2nd gen Toyota Pre-Runners and Tacoma 4x4s for awhile but they are our generation's VW Cabriolet, totally insane resale value. Granted, they are worth it but still. I carpool sometimes with a friend who has a 2014 VW Golf/Rabbit TDI with a DSG box. I really enjoy driving it, that is a fantastic motor and a decent gearbox. But again, expensive for what you are getting in my opinion. After a chance sighting on the way to work one day I ended up thinking about Infiniti's. I remember ages ago my Mom borrowing a friends J30 and I loved it (long before I knew anything about anything). The car I spotted was a 2nd gen M45 Sport. After some searching I found one I liked, however it was $16K, at a dealership and after a test drive....beat. I bookmarked the idea until Monday of last week when I ran across another.
A test drive and a small amount of negotiation and I brought home a 99% loaded (no rear wheel steer) 2006 M45 Sport with 128K miles for $10k. There are cheaper examples but they are either base cars or beat. This car is pretty clean for the money, thus far its been allot of fun.
IMG_1792.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1793.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
I havent done much yet but the leather was pretty tired/dirty.
IMG_1794.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1796.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
Figured I would give the steam cleaner I bought to clean the 930 motor another shot at redemption today. I have to say....holy mother of god. It annihilated 10years, gallons of Armo-all and two kids worth of stains/grim without skipping a beat. Never again will I clean leather with anything else. The pics really do not do it justice.
Cleaned but untreated
IMG_20160508_154944 by Shannon, on Flickr
Treated -
IMG_1820.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1821.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1823.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1830.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
IMG_1828.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr
A more sober/accurate review will be forth coming. Till then....
IMG_1825.jpg by Shannon, on Flickr