Hi Baconbuttyman
The diesels are very popular, for obvious reasons of economy and the fact that it is a BMW engine and is virtually bullet-proof. No cam belt to do on this one, but they do have a few oddities which you can find out on this site.
The V6s are also very good, but a bit thirsty, and I should know !! Not a car for a 3 mile drive to work, although I do this, and accept the petrol bills. Biggie job on the V6 is the cambelts, yes, plural because there are 3 of them to replace at 5 years or 90k miles. As far as I can judge, most people get to the 5 years before the 90k. Lates600 (see website) did mine and a very good job at a reasonable price. There are other specialists around who also do these jobs at a good price because they have the special tools which speed the job up. The tensioner is also normally replaced at the same time because the bearings wont last another 90k, also the bolts are replaced which secure the cam sprockets.
Coolant loss on the V6s is normally cracking of the plastic thermostat housing in the 'V' between the cylinder banks. A relatively easy job to replace, and one of our forum members in South Africa has developed an aluminium replacement for the plastic part. I have one on order just in case mine goes, but so far all is OK
Other thing that fails on the V6s are the VIS motors, (Variable Inlet System), but these don't actually stop you at the side of the road, in fact if you are not a 'quick' motorist, you may not even notice they have failed, until the service man tells you, (as did Lates in my case).
Essentially the 1.8 is all about the head gasket, there is very little else that goes wrong. MG Rover had the new gasket ready, but never got round to putting it onto their own engines, only those they built for Land Rover, before they went bust, so it is up the trade to fit them when and if it fails. As the car you are looking at has done 60k it is probably alright. The main thing is never to drive on when it lets go, but get the car recovered and repair is then normally a routine job with the new gasket. Reason not to ignore is that the coolant soon disappears, the engine overheats, and then it's goodbye engine.
Lots of members are running 1.8s so can give you their views. I have taken my 2.5 V6 auto from 43k to 73k since March 2007 and this includes tours of France, Italy (as far south as Rome), Germany and Switzerland. In one day I drove back home from Chambery to Crewe without aches and pains at the end.
Certain faults are common to all models as outlined here, none too serious unless ignored. Why people think a fault will disappear on its own, if they just ignore it, I don't know. The garage where I have my 75 serviced had a Vauxhall Vectra diesel in with wrecked top end. Chap had noticed a coolant leak, and asked Louis the mechanic/owner what he should do. He was told to bring it in as soon as he could, but just ignored it until the coolant disappeared, engine overheated, water pump seized, cam belt stripped its teeth, piston hit a valve, making what would have been a £200 job into a £950 one, (I saw the bill).
The 75 is a wonderful car, basically.
|