What's in a name?

[tom]

By a sort of tradition, dating back to times BC (Before Citroens,) many of my cars have had names beginning with 'GR'. Amongst my Citroens was one I fitted aircon to and wrote up the saga of its fitting. DLM associated the story with the tales of Noggin the Nog and this car became Grolliffe, the Ice Dragon, (clerical grade.) The car I plundered was a beautiful white TZI which we couldn't give away, (you'd weep, the bodyshell was flawless,) and in view of its speed, (particularly after I took off the back box and neutered the cat with a broom handle,) this became Greyhound. Then DLM took delivery of a very nice (and free) green diesel hatch which had a suspected head gasket failure that by the time it had been driven home turned out to be nothing more than a loose thermostatic switch on the radiator causing the fans not to come on. Following the Noggin theme, it became Graculus, the great green bird.
The new arrival in my BX journey has by coincidence a GRX registration and this could only be a good omen if I didn't consider it unlucky to believe in superstition.
Noggin was the son of the kindly and wise Knut and his Queen, Grunhilda. The name is actually old Norse for "Battle-Maid".
I think we have a winner.

[panky]

Ha ha I love that. My cars have mames (except the Mini which was alway just 'The Mini') My Minor Traveller is Ted after my Dad who had a couple of travellers and always told me never to buy one. My Commer Auto-Sleeper is Harvey (Full name Harvey the RV) The Commer Jenning Roadranger is Bonnie as she spent most of her life in Scotland and my GT is The SPV - when my son saw it he said it's the same colour as Captain Scarlets Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle and it kind of stuck

[tom]

The brand new VW Up! TSI that I sold for half what I paid for it after eighteen months (Because it was the most unremittingly foul thing I ever wasted money on,) was known as the Bouncing Bomb on account of its diabolical road manners. You had to hold on tight all the time as it jumped around on stiff springs, over wide tyres and it bucked at every gearchange. Truly an uncomfortable experience in every way.

[panky]

The BX is the most modern car I own and I hope never to go any newer (unless it's another BX ) The wife want's air bags for God's sake

[tom]

That isn't a euphemism, is it?

Seriously, old cars are crap. The BX is a maintenance intensive rustbucket that I just happen to like and twenty years ago it served me well. Another as a classic to use in France is an indulgence because if it goes wrong, I'm stuffed. No public transport means I need something reliable. My four year old Ford has simply tons of things (well, several Hundredweight,) that make it better in many ways. It is faster and yet more economical. It is better built and equipped and it is safer. And cleaner. The lights are better. And the roadholding. Hell, it even parks itself and it has three radar systems to keep me out of trouble. Those who decry the electronics in today's cars need to be reminded of the unreliability of points and carburettors, preferably on a cold morning.

Today's stuff can still be fixed with a good skill set; it has evolved with the cars. Austin sevens were high tech once and just as difficult for the man in the street to fix. He hadn't the tools I have today, nor had he the knowledge or the internet to democratise it. You hadn't heard of a torque wrench, for example until the Hillman Imp came along and it was "an expensive special tool," costing a week's wages, like the torque multiplier I shall need to buy to fix the Ford when the belt (Rated for 100,000 miles,) packs up. Three gallons of oil, three oil filters, one air filter and six sparking plugs are the total servicing requirement to go round the clock for an engine producing 125BHP per litre, yet returning 60 MPG on a run in a ton and a quarter of car!
The toolkit has changed. In the sixties, a socket set was for serious mechanics and expensive. Multimeters were for television repair men.
Battery powered impact wrenches are now commonplace as are OBD readers and laptop based analysers that will be invaluable to somebody who has taken the time to develop the diagnostic skills required.

The BX is now 40 years old and an interesting car for enthusiasts that enjoy its quirks but it is in no way the equal of a modern motor car. I'm far too old to live in the past!

[Jugostran]

That isn't a euphemism, is it?

Seriously, old cars are crap. The BX is a maintenance intensive rustbucket that I just happen to like and twenty years ago it served me well. Another as a classic to use in France is an indulgence because if it goes wrong, I'm stuffed. No public transport means I need something reliable. My four year old Ford has simply tons of things (well, several Hundredweight,) that make it better in many ways. It is faster and yet more economical. It is better built and equipped and it is safer. And cleaner. The lights are better. And the roadholding. Hell, it even parks itself and it has three radar systems to keep me out of trouble. Those who decry the electronics in today's cars need to be reminded of the unreliability of points and carburettors, preferably on a cold morning.

Today's stuff can still be fixed with a good skill set; it has evolved with the cars. Austin sevens were high tech once and just as difficult for the man in the street to fix. He hadn't the tools I have today, nor had he the knowledge or the internet to democratise it. You hadn't heard of a torque wrench, for example until the Hillman Imp came along and it was "an expensive special tool," costing a week's wages, like the torque multiplier I shall need to buy to fix the Ford when the belt (Rated for 100,000 miles,) packs up. Three gallons of oil, three oil filters, one air filter and six sparking plugs are the total servicing requirement to go round the clock for an engine producing 125BHP per litre, yet returning 60 MPG on a run in a ton and a quarter of car!
The toolkit has changed. In the sixties, a socket set was for serious mechanics and expensive. Multimeters were for television repair men.
Battery powered impact wrenches are now commonplace as are OBD readers and laptop based analysers that will be invaluable to somebody who has taken the time to develop the diagnostic skills required.

The BX is now 40 years old and an interesting car for enthusiasts that enjoy its quirks but it is in no way the equal of a modern motor car. I'm far too old to live in the past!

I will have to disagree with the sentiment that modern cars are easy to fix. I have the misfortune of driving a 2007 BMW 3 Series. Everything, and I mean everything that needs to be serviced on that is a pain.
Let's start with a simple change of all the filters. For that you need to remove all (and I do mean all) the plastic in the engine bay. Not a problem you'd think. Wrong. Very, very wrong. It's all held together by clips. I'm just counting the days until the clips all start snapping and all that complex ductwork is as good as useless.
It also has an oil leak coming from the top of the engine. Simple, right? Wrong again. It's leaking from...I don't know, >somewhere<. Me, a friend with experience working on BMWs and a long time Mercedes tech were looking at it for a few hours and couldn't determine where the leak was coming from. There is just so much stuff crammed into that engine that it makes any diagnostics an exercise in futility.
Finally, and this really is the cherry atop the crap cake, it's bulb replacement.
Holy mother of everything that is and isn't holy, whoever came up with this is the very definition of evil.
You have to remove the damn headlight from the car in order to remove the bulbs.
A bulb blows out in the middle of a long trip? Tough luck my modern car trusting friend. That's going to require at least half an hour of messing around with in order to get the headlight out.
I agree that old cars have problems. My BX is in "hibernation" because all the rubber bits on it disintegrated. However, this BMW which was bought a week ago (and only because I can't find anyone to fix the BX in a timely manner) is already a pain.

[tom]

I had a 3 series Diesel, E46, like yours. I agree it was occasionally difficult to work on, particularly the offside engine mount which was nasty but by direct comparison, I didn't have to drain the gearbox and remove a driveshaft do it. All cars these days have tricky headlight bulbs because the packaging is much tighter. It is called evolution. The plastics cut noise or drag or stop the mechanical bits from getting dirty and ruining oil seals. Fine by me. I buy the right tools to remove them and buy the cheap clips by the bag full. Most importantly, I can get in and drive it a thousand miles in a weekend, as I do every month with nothing more than a tyre and level check. I would love to do that in a BX but I very much doubt if it is a practical proposition any more. Half an hour to replace a headlamp bulb is neither her nor there. Today we have LEDs. Not only are they much more expensive and impossible to repair but they also do the job better and more reliably on less fuel consumed.

[Jugostran]

I had a 3 series Diesel, E46, like yours. I agree it was occasionally difficult to work on, particularly the offside engine mount which was nasty but by direct comparison, I didn't have to drain the gearbox and remove a driveshaft do it. All cars these days have tricky headlight bulbs because the packaging is much tighter. It is called evolution. The plastics cut noise or drag or stop the mechanical bits from getting dirty and ruining oil seals. Fine by me. I buy the right tools to remove them and buy the cheap clips by the bag full. Most importantly, I can get in and drive it a thousand miles in a weekend, as I do every month with nothing more than a tyre and level check. I would love to do that in a BX but I very much doubt if it is a practical proposition any more. Half an hour to replace a headlamp bulb is neither her nor there. Today we have LEDs. Not only are they much more expensive and impossible to repair but they also do the job better and more reliably on less fuel consumed.

Mine is an E90, completely different thing to the E46. Also, evolution? Yeah, nah, that's not evolution. It's just cost cutting and anti-repair at work. The E90 is objectively worse than the E46, which is again objectively worse than the E36 which came before it. I also hate sealed LED headlights with a burning passion. When they die, you're expected to replace the entire unit instead of a simple bulb. Also, less fuel consumed? Yeah right. With all the garbage affixed to modern cars, their overall fuel economy has a tendency of being worse than older, simpler models.
The most hilarious bit about your comment - the "get in and drive 1000 miles". You are not doing that in a modern BMW unless it's either a rental and you don't care about it or you have some intense insurance coverage. I have already seen 2019 and 2020 model year BMWs with catastrophic oil leaks. Modern cars are complete and utter rubbish.
With the BX I know exactly what to expect and I know exactly where to look when there are issues. It has never left me stranded.
The BMW on the other hand? Not sure why, but I don't really feel comfortable going on any longer trips in it. Who knows what can fail in a car which is so complex. And when something does inevitably fail, I'd have no clue where to start. The engine bay is crammed, full of wires and clad in plastic. Everyone who drives a slightly older but still "modern" car has problems. The difference between those and older cars? On older ones, such things are usually easy to rectify, while on newer cars it's usually not worth it. When going over oil leaks, I managed to fix every single one in the BX. It leaks no oil. The BMW which is almost 20 years newer leaks oil. When I asked about this, they just told me it wasn't worthwhile to fix. This is my first and last modern car. Never again. I'll either recommission the BX and daily that or get an XM.

[Dave_16v]

I think there is a point where BMW's (for example) became less reliable and less readily serviceable for the home mechanic. It's great to plug in ISTA, INPA or an OBD reader but even then, the results can be variable to the point even BMW "techs" don't know the answer and just swap parts to eliminate things. Lots of owners post results with codes on forums but threads go in page after page. There's a lot to be said for a computer that tells you which glow plug is at fault but also for an indicator stalk or lights switches that make a straight forward connection and don't go through electronic devices, FRM's etc. I don't think owning recent modern cars is that great unless they are just swapped every few years and will we see them in the road in 20 years longevity wise like some from the early 00's

[Jugostran]

I think there is a point where BMW's (for example) became less reliable and less readily serviceable for the home mechanic. It's great to plug in ISTA, INPA or an OBD reader but even then, the results can be variable to the point even BMW "techs" don't know the answer and just swap parts to eliminate things. Lots of owners post results with codes on forums but threads go in page after page. There's a lot to be said for a computer that tells you which glow plug is at fault but also for an indicator stalk or lights switches that make a straight forward connection and don't go through electronic devices, FRM's etc. I don't think owning recent modern cars is that great unless they are just swapped every few years and will we see them in the road in 20 years longevity wise like some from the early 00's

I fully agree with this.
Also, the "get in and drive 1000 miles" has already been challenged in the E90 after a mere two weeks of ownership. There is some sort of issue with the wheels, or tires, or the tire pressure sensor. Not sure which. The rear tire was at 1.5 bar instead of 2.3. My friend had this exact issue and I remember mocking him for it back when I was dailying the BX. The BX never ever had tire pressure-related issues. A 35 year old car with 35 year old steel wheels that were rusty to the point where one would think they cannot be saved. I had them sandblasted and repainted, and now they're flawless. Meanwhile this damn "technological wonder" from 2007 is already giving me trouble with the wheels.
Also, I have a feeling that the driving experience is greatly reduced from the BX. The pedal feel is worse overall (aside from the throttle, that appears to have gone bad in the BX). The worst part is the gear shift. The BX has a better gear shift than any modern car I've driven, and it isn't even a fair comparison. It's leagues better. The BX has a smooth shift with almost no resistance. It goes nicely into gears and the stick is rock solid with very little side to side movement. The BMW on the other hand? Yeah its classic modern car slop. It is notchy, but in a bad way. Almost feels like a BX with engine mount issues (where you essentially push the gearbox with the linkage).