Portent

Yes I can't decide whether I really like or really dislike the spoiler but I like the rarity factor. My brother just took his E46 M3 up to a ski resort in the Cairngorms using winter tyres and said the tyres transformed it into something very usable. A quick check on a comparison website gave me an insurance quote of about £350 even without using any of my NCB :) (actually that was for a standard 330ci, not sure how much different the CS makes).

Mostly cosmetic differences compared to the regular Sport... a few badges, different wheels and a boot spoiler. The wheels and spoiler are marmite (love it or hate it) but there is a slight weight reduction and they are fairly rare(ish).

So tempting... http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/51593-2003-facelift-330ci-club-sport-estoril-blue-black-leather-harman-kardon-sunroof-xenons-big-spec-l4695/

I've used these guys before. Seemed ok and not only had another Corrado there but also a Delorean. I'd use them again. They also had a car mag in the office with a Corrado on the front :) http://www.seautoworks.co.uk/ It's in Guildford but right next to the train station so getting back to Kingston should be easy or just spend a few hours shopping or take a look at the castle nearby. Also you must be almost next door to me. I'm in Claygate, 15 mins from Kingston. EDIT: I used these guys once for my Golf and wasn't impressed at all: http://www.jpgarage.co.uk/ I mention it because it's right between Kingston and Hampton Court so may have been on your list. I can't recommend them.

Nice :) So what's the plan now?

Actually I think I've under valued you car seeing as it's had a respray. Sorry. No idea but hopefully someone else will.

Golf GTI is the answer. £3,500 for the Storm? (no that's not an offer).

Welcome. In not in Kent but next door in Surrey so not too far.

I've got a single solitude in the loft. It was bought in about 2002 or 2003 but the Golf mk3 Highline it was destined for was stolen a couple of weeks later. It's followed me around ever since, all bagged and boxed up and never having been on a car. So it is absolutely like new. I was keeping it in case I ever bought a Storm but realistically that's probably not going to happen so keep meaning to sell it. If you're interested then pm me.

Thanks maff. That looks lovely. It would be the coupe I'm after as it's for me rather than the family. If I pushed it to an E46 M3 I would only be able to afford the bottom of the barrel and running costs increase a lot. I would love one but realistically it's not ideal to run one on a budget and I simply don't drive fast nowadays. Just considering things at the moment, not sure what my car plans are but I've not been able to bring myself to sell before so it's unlikely :)

On the S3 you have to enable tethering and hotspots. On my Samsung Note it is in the following: Settings -> More Settings -> Tethering and portable hotspot -> Portable Wi-Fi hotspot -> Configure In there set up a password that the S7 will need to connect. Then on the S7 go into Settings -> Wi-Fi, find your S3 in the list and enter the password you set above.

If I was looking at a 1.8T then it would have to be one of the really early ones before the 2002 facelift, preferably with the highly polished competition alloys. They don't look quite as modern as the facelift cars but they seem truer to the original concept. Nice car :D I did consider an E36 M3 but they are getting quite old now and the general running costs would be much higher.

I'm considering one of these two cars in the next 6 months to a year and wondered what people's opinions are. Strangely I almost bought an E46 series coupe back in 2002 but decided on the TT 225 at the time. My budget is about £4.5k to £5k. Both of these cars seem similar on paper and each has its own pro's and cons: TT V6 Sounds great A proper coupe rather than having a saloon stablemate so feels special inside Unique styling. While I don't think they will ever be true classics they are getting rarer on the roads Option of DSG (not sure on this yet) 4WD so fantastic traction when launching out of a damp side road More supportive seats than the E46 NEGATIVES - Unusable rear seats, seems to be more expensive than the E46, No sunroof option, arguably poorer handling than the E46 E46 330Ci MSport Better handling than the TT Usable rear seats without having to amputate legs Optional sunroof More spacious inside Supposedly a better engine than the VR6 RWD NEGATIVES - Optional Tiptronic not as good as DSG, not as unique styling as a TT, less supportive seats than the TT I keep flip flopping between the two :)

Haha I did the same with my mk4 when I first got it. I pulled up to the pump, got out and spent 5 mins trying to work it out. I even opened the boot looking for a manual release handle. This was in 2004 so well before the days of having a smartphone in your pocket to google it so I had to carry on home to find the user manual. I felt a right idiot. I had the opposite when I got the mk6. I spent several minutes looking for a button inside the cabin until I realised you just push the flap in and it pops out again.

I no longer leave the car in gear when parked since my wife managed to crash it into the garage. She often forgot to check its in gear or depresses the clutch when starting so managed to put our old Golf into the back of the garage wall.

No rush from me. Happy to wait a bit longer.

It's 204bhp I believe. A remap won't get anywhere near the 250 you're after but it's a really nice engine. Perhaps use that £1k saved on an R32 to drop a supercharger on it instead?

Insurance companies... hated even more than bankers and just as helpful :D

Could have been nasty for the engine or even nastier if you were driving at the time and the throttle got stuck open.

Mine's not too low and I think very, very low can look a bit silly on older cars.

Mine's not a Storm but the previous owner had the chains done (with the improved mk4 tensioner) at a little over 135k I think it was (the car is now on about 143k or thereabouts).

I love dragon green personally :)

OEM plus all the way for me. These are old cars now in their autumn years. Going too wild on them is a little like a 50 year old wearing his sons clothes.

It's not just the feel of leather that feels special in the car but also the whole look and ambience goes up a notch. I keep meaning to retrofit some heated pads to my cloth though for winter. I'm not sure why we didn't get the half leather that was available in Europe.

Sounds dodgy to me although not impossible I guess. It's the collection by a third party that raises concerns for me. Also paypal almost always side with the buyer. Who is the specialist firm and do they actually exist?