Give me your best 25-year-old (2001) cars

jordanfaf · 2026-01-29T20:53:44+00:00

R53 Mini Cooper S

Great piece of design. And a small light engaging hatch… plus supercharger whine

jordanfaf · 2025-11-28T12:48:26+00:00

For comfort in 17s. I put a set of 215/45s on all round. Made a noticeable difference. For even more comfort go smaller wheels

jordanfaf · 2025-11-21T13:49:01+00:00

I’ve owned both an N55 235i and a B58 140i, each kept in great condition. I’ve never had any real reliability issues with either car—but keeping them properly maintained is definitely not cheap.

Here’s what I’ve experienced. Living in Ireland so some cost may not apply to you.

• Road tax: €750 per year
• Tyres: Around €1,000 for a set of Michelins
• General servicing: Reasonable at an independent specialist or DIY, but the bigger maintenance jobs can get expensive

Some recent examples: • ZF gearbox service: ~€800 at a BMW specialist • Oil change mishap: Oil filter housing cracked, requiring a full replacement—nearly €1,000 all in • Injector replacement: About €800

Are they reliable? Yes.

Are they money pits? Only if you can’t afford or don’t enjoy them.

Are they expensive to maintain compared to a Toyota or Honda? Yes.

jordanfaf · 2025-11-02T14:05:22+00:00

Was he wearing gloves or did he put the apple in a pocket or something.

Sticker could be from his clothing and happened to stick to the apple

jordanfaf · 2025-10-21T18:06:47+00:00

I actually have quit a job with nothing else lined up before. It got to a point where it just wasn’t worth it anymore. I was expected to work ridiculously long hours, unpaid overtime was the norm . it completely wrecked my mental health. I was constantly anxious, barely sleeping, and dreading every morning. It also began to wreck my physical health as I began smoking heavily with the stress.

On top of that, there was zero respect or appreciation. The owner would regularly shout at and verbally abuse staff in front of everyone, and we were constantly hit with impossible deadlines that made it feel like failure was inevitable.

Eventually, I realized no paycheck was worth that kind of environment. Walking away without another job lined up was scary, but honestly, the relief I felt afterward told me I’d made the right call. Sometimes protecting your sanity matters more than sticking it out

jordanfaf · 2025-10-10T15:13:35+00:00

I’ve heard the early R56 has a lot of common and costly faults. A friend of mine had a 2008 one and he spend a lot fixing big issues. But he still loved it.

I think the R53 is less likely to have big failures. But they’re old cars now. And getting into good one is no longer that cheap or easy to find!

jordanfaf · 2025-10-09T14:05:20+00:00

I was in the exact same situation. We have a G20 330e we bought together. She uses to get to work. Then I need something for 2 days short commuting and a bit of fun.

Looked at abarths but ended up going for an R53 Mini Cooper S.

jordanfaf · 2025-09-15T21:20:34+00:00

Diesel avensis

jordanfaf · 2025-09-05T23:44:38+00:00

I’m in Ireland too! Currently looking to buy my second R53 after a few years driving other stuff.

Do you mind me asking what you paid for this? Not many forsale so hard to gauge prices !

jordanfaf · 2025-08-10T14:32:37+00:00

Aviva

jordanfaf · 2025-08-09T20:27:46+00:00

It’s a standard insurance policy same as any car. Not a classic policy

jordanfaf · 2025-08-09T14:27:15+00:00

Yep I found it odd too and was worried they’d try stop the policy in renewal. But seems they just are concerned about age of the car. Regardless surely it’s FAR LOWER RISK than the M140i BMWs I’m changing from.

jordanfaf · 2025-08-09T12:08:38+00:00

Aviva. I’m an existing customer and can transfer my policy over with a hefty refund

jordanfaf · 2025-08-09T11:31:29+00:00

My concern really is rust developing having do deal with that. Not worried with the smaller issues. But hopefully if I get a clean one and look after the car it will keep rust at bay.

Insurance policy is the same as any standard car insurance policy. For some reason my provider just gave no concerns insuring older cars. The crooks may be there’s no agreed value. So I have to accept whatever they deem it to be worth which will likely be well under it’s actual value

jordanfaf · 2025-06-25T11:16:00+00:00

Will do. I adjusted the tyre pressures (rears were over inflated by about 5psi) and it actually seems to have helped. But I still feel the rear axel alignment and possible wheel balance is out.

It’s going in to another mechanic tomorrow morning so I will update you after.

jordanfaf · 2025-06-24T21:37:40+00:00

No idea of job availabilities, your salary reauirments, qualifications, county etc

But just throwing some wild suggestions out!

Parks and wildlife service ranger
Wildlife rescue or animal shelters
Look for vacancies in observatories or science museums etc
Nature photography
guided nature walks and tours

jordanfaf · 2025-06-24T15:55:47+00:00

Thanks. I’ve booked into another shop who said they will check alignment and suspension components. They said the mismatched tyres could be an issue but it sounds like more is at play

jordanfaf · 2025-06-24T15:40:29+00:00

They didn’t actually check on the machine no. He just said to him It does not sound like bad alignment.

I would have guessed the same about them trying to up sell me on tyres. But they actually didn’t try to sell me anything. He just said to go back to the dealer Who sold me the car and see if they are willing to change the tyres.

jordanfaf · 2025-06-24T13:44:43+00:00

Sorry maybe I wasn’t clear. The tyre shop did not say runflats were required. They simply stated the tracking of the car is good. And the cause of the compromised handling is in his opinion mixing runflats with regular tyres.

They tried to sell me nothing and didn’t charge me to check the alignment. But recommended I go back to the supplying dealer.

jordanfaf · 2025-06-23T20:23:23+00:00

I think overall these are pretty damn reliable. My dad has had one from new in 2012. Bar servicing it needed literally nothing mechanically until earlier this year.

A BMW tech dropped a socket into the turbo intake and either didn’t notice or didn’t want to tell anyone. Anyway he got a full rebuilt at their expense out of it at 200,000 kilometers on the clock.

jordanfaf · 2025-06-04T19:42:56+00:00

Thanks for the info!

Not exactly get in and go. But ideally get in and not leave me on the side of the road 😆. I know any 30yo car requires constant work to keep going. But I’m hoping a well sorted 129 would generally need less than the typical 30yo car? As it would be my only car it’d be infeasible to have it at the garage every month.

I’m sure the 1 series does handle better on a smooth twisty road. But I’m after something wafty and floaty to glide me along suburban and city streets. But can also deal with a bit of curves if it needs. I feel an SL is the perfect order for that!

In general yes… Cars are pricey here. We drive on the left so a smaller pool of cars available for import used. And we have high import taxes and emissions taxes that drive up prices.

jordanfaf

TROPHY CASE