Realised I never followed up with a progress thread for #32 following the sale of my previous E89 but a lot has happened since then so here goes.
No sooner had I listed #31 on eBay than someone contacted me from Peebles near Edinburgh desperate to purchase the car the following day. I hadn't had chance to remove the private plate and obtain a replacement V5 but that didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm - so we agreed on a sale price and I duly cancelled the eBay auction.
The following day I collected the seller from Sheffield station and he was over the moon with the car on the test drive home so we shook hands and I committed to completing the V5 transfer online once the replacement document arrived.
The swiftness of that sale took me by surprise but I'd already been discussing another 23i in DSB with a friend of the family - essentially they had asked if I could manage the sale of the car for them. Never one to disappoint I agreed to handle the sale in the easiest way possible by buying the car
In my defence the car had done significantly fewer miles than #31 and being the M Sport model was better appointed with sports seats, Bluetooth connectivity, parking sensors and folding mirrors.
The previous owners had done less than 500 miles in the last 12 months and only covered 12,000 in total over the 5 years they had owned but it needed the Vanos recall completing and it was also due a service.
So before I collected the car I got it booked in with Sytner Sheffield for the recall and my mechanic for the service.
After my last experience with #27 the 30i I was amazed how soon Sytner got it booked in for the recall - so that happened before the service I had booked with my mechanic
Aside from the recall they picked up on the fact that the car needed 2 replacement rear tyres which had recently been flagged on the MOT so that came as no surprise but they also highlighted that the NSR wheel was cracked and quoted me £715.85 for a replacement. The wheel wasn't leaking air so I declined their kind offer and picked the car up on the same day I dropped it off.
The following day it was in with my mechanic for a full service and having pre-ordered the necessary service items he only needed it for the day so I collected it the following day. Not only did he give it a glowing report he also forgot to charge me for the brake fluid change he had done. So that cost will rollover to next time but all in all I was happy with what he had said and the associated invoice.
Finally back home the first thing I needed to address was the wheel any tyre issue - I had a freshly refurbished set of 292's in anthracite grey with good tyres so that was the obvious resolution.
Granted they are not as fetching but the ride quality was vastly improved - no real suprise as I had been running the Alpine White 23i on 17" 290's and much preferred the drive.
We are still under the hosepipe ban in Sheffield so next up I thought I'd focus on the internal fettling jobs - first up was the under seat clean which was really disappointing as it only yielded a 20p piece
Then I fitted the 3D printed cupholder which I had removed from #31
Next I had the kick plates off to ensure all the clips were intact and get rid of all the dirt that gets underneath them - no missing clips and an easy wipe clean job.
Finally I stripped all the boot lining to check for water ingress and also check the rear light rubber grommets were fitted correctly. The good news was there were no signs of water ingress and the drivers side rear light had recently been replaced. However, the grommets had not been fitted as well as they should be so at least I could address that.
And after all that a car I had been looking for for over 2 years came up for sale so guess what I did?
No sooner had I listed #31 on eBay than someone contacted me from Peebles near Edinburgh desperate to purchase the car the following day. I hadn't had chance to remove the private plate and obtain a replacement V5 but that didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm - so we agreed on a sale price and I duly cancelled the eBay auction.
The following day I collected the seller from Sheffield station and he was over the moon with the car on the test drive home so we shook hands and I committed to completing the V5 transfer online once the replacement document arrived.
The swiftness of that sale took me by surprise but I'd already been discussing another 23i in DSB with a friend of the family - essentially they had asked if I could manage the sale of the car for them. Never one to disappoint I agreed to handle the sale in the easiest way possible by buying the car
In my defence the car had done significantly fewer miles than #31 and being the M Sport model was better appointed with sports seats, Bluetooth connectivity, parking sensors and folding mirrors.
The previous owners had done less than 500 miles in the last 12 months and only covered 12,000 in total over the 5 years they had owned but it needed the Vanos recall completing and it was also due a service.
So before I collected the car I got it booked in with Sytner Sheffield for the recall and my mechanic for the service.
After my last experience with #27 the 30i I was amazed how soon Sytner got it booked in for the recall - so that happened before the service I had booked with my mechanic
Aside from the recall they picked up on the fact that the car needed 2 replacement rear tyres which had recently been flagged on the MOT so that came as no surprise but they also highlighted that the NSR wheel was cracked and quoted me £715.85 for a replacement. The wheel wasn't leaking air so I declined their kind offer and picked the car up on the same day I dropped it off.
The following day it was in with my mechanic for a full service and having pre-ordered the necessary service items he only needed it for the day so I collected it the following day. Not only did he give it a glowing report he also forgot to charge me for the brake fluid change he had done. So that cost will rollover to next time but all in all I was happy with what he had said and the associated invoice.
Finally back home the first thing I needed to address was the wheel any tyre issue - I had a freshly refurbished set of 292's in anthracite grey with good tyres so that was the obvious resolution.
Granted they are not as fetching but the ride quality was vastly improved - no real suprise as I had been running the Alpine White 23i on 17" 290's and much preferred the drive.
We are still under the hosepipe ban in Sheffield so next up I thought I'd focus on the internal fettling jobs - first up was the under seat clean which was really disappointing as it only yielded a 20p piece
Then I fitted the 3D printed cupholder which I had removed from #31
Next I had the kick plates off to ensure all the clips were intact and get rid of all the dirt that gets underneath them - no missing clips and an easy wipe clean job.
Finally I stripped all the boot lining to check for water ingress and also check the rear light rubber grommets were fitted correctly. The good news was there were no signs of water ingress and the drivers side rear light had recently been replaced. However, the grommets had not been fitted as well as they should be so at least I could address that.
And after all that a car I had been looking for for over 2 years came up for sale so guess what I did?
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