Hi All,

Just a quick hello from me. Purchased a 1999 broom yellow 20V VIS NA at the end of November for £850 (but with half a tank of fuel) and thought I'd share with you what I've found so far. Only two previous owners, the last one owning it for 12 years. Stacks of docs and services history, 119k on the clock.

Bodywork looks pretty perfect apart from a small dent in the nose (bonnet). Tiny bit of flaking beneath one of the rear lights. Interior good too with only a tiny bit of wear on the driver side seat bolster (leather). Tiny bit of bubbling on the back of the arches front and rear and on the bonnet slam panel. Will deal with that myself.

Popped it up on a ramp yesterday to search for more rot. Apart from some quite deep rust on the legs that support the rear bumper (not structural) it looks pretty good. A bit more rust at the end of the sills just in front of the rear arches.

Also found a couple of oil leaks - worst one must be gearbox oil because it's in that area and when topping up the gearbox oil it took about half a litre. I suspect inner cv joint oil seal.

Also a bit of engine oil but not very much at all and since it's only used 200mls since I got it and I've done about 500 miles I'm not too worried. Probably cam cover from what I've read on here.

Also could do with a new set of discs/pads all round and a couple of tyres. I reckon it needs a new pollen filter too. A little bit misty on a cold wet day if it's not been used for a few days.

Will have the boot floor/sidepanels off to check in there, hopefully next week. Had a peer through and looked OK but couldn't really see the area I know can be trouble. Will also have the wheel arch liners and rear side cards off to check around the area where the pininfarina badges are. From the outside it's solid but there may be some surface rust in there that can easily be treated.

My mate who was inspecting with me has a 2002 E46 3 series and said his had more rust on it. BMW rust buckets

So all in all I think I've netted myself a bargain. I know a lot of people want the turbo but for me, I prefer the way NA engines rev and produce power at the top, you get better induction noise and you can rev them through without doing a million miles per hour and losing your licence (been there before - actually managed to gather 15 points!). Plus cheaper exhaust manifolds (same as on marea and bravo), which is bound the crack at some point. I think I may even have heard it on a very cold start one time.

James

Hi and Welcome James .

Welcome james enjoy!!

Hey Everyone on here is awesome, if you need any help it has either already been spoke about or most are happy to help. You sound like you are handy with a spanner so shouldnt be too much hassle during your ownership. Shame about the turbo thing though

Hi James, sounds like you know what it's about and where to look

..and welcome to the forum where you'll find plenty of advice and a handful of specialists (amongst others) able to supply you with parts mostly.

Thanks chaps. I could tell it's a good forum. Read somewhere that workshop manual extracts were available to members but not found them yet. Can someone point me in the right direction?



Theoretical spannering and I'm brilliant! Done more reading than doing though and in fact utterly terrible in terms of getting my hands dirty. But I can bore the hell out of anyone talking about cams and the merits of desmosedici followers.



I knew this would happen!

BTW, other faults on the coupe I didn't mention:

squeaky gear change;
right hand indicator won't cancel;
passenger side seatbelt re-coil terrible;
drivers side not much better.

Oh and when I looked at the handbrake cables I can see why they fill with water. Mine will need doing.

So basically all the same faults as other coupes it seems.

Thanks mate. I only knew where to look because of reading this forum. Great source of good quality info.

Hi and welcome.

Where are you based.

Hi and welcome, Enjoy your new old car.

Hi and welcome!

Hi and welcome.

Hi from a fellow VIS owner !

Had 2 NAs now, and still happy enough without a turbo, though I never say never

Still plenty of fun, and I've done a track day in mine. Remap is also a nice way to give a little more. Have a chat to Flea on the forum.

hi and welcome - seatbelt recoil, wet and dry the holder on the door pillar, and try wd40 to lubricate the belt - no white shirts for a while though!

Welcome James

Hi and welcome James.
Enjoy your car.

Hi and welcome from a fellow newbie!

Hi and welcome

I have some weak recoil on my belts too... guess this is par for the course then.

Welcome and enjoy the car.

welcome to the proper car car club... enjoy your coupe.

Hi and welcome

Hi and welcome from "Downunder" and yes, you will enjoy your Coupe.

Hi James and welcome. I too own a VIS coupe and I love it. Hoping to keep it for ever, or at least until I am too old to drive!

Hi James, welcome to the forum which I have found really helpful and a real friendly bunch. The NA is now a rarer beast than the Turbo and still plenty of fun. Hope you enjoy for a good few years to come.

Congrats on buying the Coupe, especially an NA. I guess yours is a VIS like mine? I agree with you in that as the revs rise, so does the power, and it's a real buzz. My Coupe is too quiet though, and despite the advice not to mess with the VIS airbox ducting I'm going to drill my airbox soon to release that 5 pot induction warble. I had a Bravo HGT with a split air pipe by the maf and it sounded fantastic when booted. Keep us posted with your progress.

I thought the NAs need a sealed airbox system for torque? I went for a louder exhaust on my VIS instead.... and a remap....

Hi, my name is Mark and I'm down on the south coast in Portsmouth. I bought my coupe back in October and I've been floating about on here quietly gaining some fantastic help and advice from the brilliant help guides for one. I've fixed a gooey centre console, drivers door lock and slave cylinder for starters.

I've got quite bad clutch slip, so I'm going need a replacement some time soon. The car has been remapped, and I think it kicks out somewhere in the region of 350BHP. I want a hard wearing clutch but I'm pretty green as to what I should go for, and best place to get it done.

It's got 135k on the clock, and I reckon that's close to belt change time too. The arches are pretty corroded, and once I've got the essentials done, I'm going need to show them some attention.

Also, I've got to find out what is causing the leak in my boot. Not sure if it's the seal or something else yet. Don't know if I can get a smoke diagnosis done somewhere.

Other than that, I apologise if I've hijacked someone's thread and not posted correctly, and just want to say hello!