[V8] Blackest Mariah?

[Roger M. Woodbury]

Actually...

 

Why not have your mechanic, who has done gazillions of really  barely

necessary "make it like new"  tasks on your previous cars, just pull those

half shafts out and polish up the ABS teeth.  Not nearly as big a project

as eliminating the little oil leaks or whatever on your V8.

 

Those "little" leaks, weren't really little, and would have kept the car
from passing Maine state inspection.  

 

Why not a couple hundred for H4 eurolights and cut the grille so they'll

fit?  That improved my 200q20v's lights tremendously.

 

I have a set of Bosch driving lights that have never been used.  It would be
easy to fit them on the bumper to add 5" driving beams, but I hate the look
of these cars done like that.  And the purist in me won't allow the
modification of the nose and the installation of the H4 headlights, either.
And in the final analysis, I am not sure that the car would pass inspection
that way either.  In Maine, the state inspection is an annual thing, and is
strange in the way that it is conducted.  You go to a gas station or service
facility that is licensed to perform inspections, and then the guy in the
facility inspects your car.  Sometimes they are very thorough.like the time
I tried to get the V8 inspected at the Audi dealer.  They put the car on a
lift and looked underneath, refused to pass the car due to a leaking rear
half-shaft seal.  Of course, they didn't have the seal in stock, either.
Then I got a truck inspected at a local garage and there, they made me show
them that the brake lights, headlights, directional signals, wipers and horn
worked, and gave me a sticker.  Technically, the headlights on all cars must
not exceed a certain candlepower rating.  But no one in the state (to my
knowledge) has the equipment (expensive) necessary to test for aim and
candlepower that is required by regulation.  Hence, whenever I have had one
of my Audis that had European headlights installed (without the three prongs
for alignment), NO ONE has ever even looked beyond the simple question of
"do they work.and let me see high beams.yup, good!".  Even the dealer did
that, and they installed the my first 200 Avant's Euro headlamps!  (Of
course, we also have no smog test here, either.)

 

Why spend a lot on aesthetic fix-ups?

 

I have decided against any cosmetic fixups on this car.  This could be
completely restored, but it would require the replacement of the right front
fender, which was replaced around 30,000 miles after an unfortunate
nocturnal meeting with a deer.  A non-OEM fender was used, and it is rusting
apart down at the bottom.  Then once the externals were attended to, which
would involve the nose chrome and all that little stuff, the interior could
be redone.I have little doubt that this car could go on for half a million
miles..but for five grand there are better examples out there that won't
require the detail work that this one would need.  I want one of those.

 

My sedan turned over 250K miles while we were on our last 3000 mile ski

trip.  Looks like crap, but runs really well, like your avant. 

 

The biggest issue with my car aside from the ABS, is the rear suspension
bushings that are pretty well worn.  I think they work in conjunction with
the Bridgestone G009 tires on the car to make it a bit less stable at speed,
and particularly crossing irregularities in the road at speed.  It seems to
have less than the perfect stability of my '89 200.  That car had had most
of the rear bushings replaced, as has my current 20-valve, but the main
suspension bushings are pretty grotty looking, and ideally should be
renewed.  In addition, this 20-valve has the highest mileage of any car that
I have ever owned, except for my 5000CS Avant, that went away with more than
200k on the clock.  

 

Incidentally, I have ordered a Stebro exhaust for this car, and we are still
waiting for it to arrive.  The first exhaust that came from Stebro was for a
90S, despite my mechanic being VERY clear about what was being ordered.
Delivery time for Stebro stuff seems to be extraordinarily long, too.  Must
be that customs is afraid that an exhaust system looks too much like a
rocket launcher?

 

 

 

 

 

At 08:03 AM 7/26/2006 -0400, Roger M. Woodbury wrote:

 

>

>Now the negatives. The ABS is getting to be a real pita.  The rear spliney

>thingys are corroded and the ABS refuses to allow full stops without
pumping

>the brakes when the car is almost completely stopped.  The switch does not

>turn off ABS, so the plan is when the car goes in for its new exhaust

>system, we will disable the ABS permanently.  

>

>

>I would like European headlights.  Not gonna happen, either, as I drive am

>driving relatively little at night, but when I do, the lights aren't very

>good.  Relayed, too, still not good, as usual.

>

>Car doesn't look very good.  Oh, its ok from about fifty feet, especially
if

>I take the time to run it through the car wash.  But it really looks like a

>car that has spent too many of its 165,000 miles in northern New England.
I

>really do wanna fix that.