[V8] [LAC] Facing Reality ...

[urq]

What I'm finding as I work on #2's IAT wiring . along with some discussions
with a neighbor who has an even newer M5 . has me contemplating what sort of
vehicle I need to move to for the future . 

 

Regarding the Intake Air Temp sensor issue . as I'm repairing the wiring I
realize that the insulation on the wiring in the engine compartment is now
brittle and will continue to fail in spots.  The V8s are celebrating their
20th birthday this model year and I fear that I'm in for tracking down
electrical failures X 2 as long as I keep them around.  

 

The friend of mine with the M5 barely got his car to pass smog . I don't
know what year it is, but it is somewhere like 10 years younger than the V8.
I'm not an expert on this car, but as he explained it there's some sort of
EGR-like system that engages while the engine is warming up to minimize
emissions.  This system consists of some number of small tubes that get
plugged, and there's no way the car will pass smog when they are plugged.
You can't clean the thing out, and repair sounds like a $10K project,
involving disassembling the engine.  

 

Even though the emissions laws require the power train be designed to pass
emissions for something like 80K miles, I'm thinking that the day has passed
where people can expect a car they purchase today to be running well and
free from major expenses for timeframes in the 20 year range.  Modern cars
have so many parts . many of which have to endure life outside the passenger
compartment during the car's life.  Oh that I had come to this realization
before buying that '09 F-150!

 

While I hear the smog Nazis are working to change the rules, for now in
California (notice not Kahleefohnia any more) if you have a car built before
1974 it doesn't need to undergo biennial smog checks . so I'm thinking that
I should understand what sort of cars were available in the era before smog
checks and work to find something I can make reliable enough to be something
the family can depend on.  This is the purpose of the post . to see what
sort of recommendations I'd get for a vehicle of the scale of our V8Qs.  As
I recall the offerings were poor in those days . my family had a '72 Chevy
Impala with a low compression V8 engine to minimize emissions . I'd bet most
of them are piles of rust today.  My initial thoughts were that most likely
I'd be talking about something like a Mercedes-Benz 450SE/SEL.  The funny
thing is that the wife and I strongly prefer manual transmissions over
automatics, but I don't know if it was possible to buy a full size sedan
with an MT in those days.  

 

My secondary thinking is that it would be great to find a vehicle into which
I could install a newer, more efficient, lower emission powerplant . one for
which I would be free from smog check phobia due to the age of the vehicle.
This means that I'm thinking the robustness of the carriagework is more
important than that of the engine.  

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Steve Buchholz