Wheeler Dealers New Series 5

[gurpz]

For any Wheeler Dealer watchers theres a new series airing later this month. Have seen the TV add and there does seem to be a R107 SL. More info here:

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/web/realtime/wheeler-dealers/

 

[vijilants]

I call it "How to bodge up a classic car with the cheapest possible parts that you can find and pass it on to some unsuspecting punter"

Some of the things that they do on that programme are beyond belief.....they had a 2.3 or 2.5 16v 190 once and they butchered the brilliant MB active suspension system and stuck some shocks under there instead !!!!

Nobody in their right mind does that , especially on a car that they claim came with a whole ton of service history !!

 

[MPG]

Admittedly "Wheeler Dealers" has concentrated on some rather battered cars of dubious classic status in the past, but that said it's usually fairly enjoyable. However - how they can possibly hope to restore a German barn find Porsche 356 is totally beyond me, unless the budget for this series has been increased substantially from the usual 1500 quid ! (a friend of mine recently had a gearbox overhaul on a 356A which cost an eye-watering 6k)...ouch !

 

[bigstuff]

i watch anything with a car in it but i cant stand that wee pri+k mike

 

[High-Lo]

I do enjoy watching this programme. Bought one of the box sets a few months ago. Have saved many of these on Sky+ and the missus keeps going on at me to delete them as I'm hogging the remaining disk space. She hates watching Mike Brewer too.

 

[Will]

It's an interesting program and watchable if on, but as Vij has said - it had me cringing with what they did to that poor 2.3-16.

From memory, they didn't really know what they were doing with the suspension, so they ripped out £££s worth of top-notch MB hydraulic SLS and replaced it with the cheapest shocks and springs from Euro Car Parts (IIRC) that weren't even suited to a car such as this - the ride height must have gone up a good two or three inches - was like it was on stilts!

Then they went and blew £300 on a 'Mike Brewer Special' tacky silver CD player with flashing lights

Idjits!

Will

 

[coupe deville]

I prefer The Garage --------- and don't forget Jocks the boss of this garage

 

[glojo]

I call it "How to bodge up a classic car with the cheapest possible parts that you can find and pass it on to some unsuspecting punter"

Some of the things that they do on that programme are beyond belief.....they had a 2.3 or 2.5 16v 190 once and they butchered the brilliant MB active suspension system and stuck some shocks under there instead !!!!

Nobody in their right mind does that , especially on a car that they claim came with a whole ton of service history !!

Don't forget the aerosol tins of spray paint!!! Noi pointe

John

 

[vijilants]

Don't forget the aerosol tins of spray paint!!! Noi pointe

John

Damn.... yes John....I totally forgot to mention the "areosol resprays "

 

[SilverSaloon]

Fantastic!!! I love that series, even though a lot of it is faked.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I do enjoy watching this programme. Bought one of the box sets a few months ago. Have saved many of these on Sky+ and the missus keeps going on at me to delete them as I'm hogging the remaining disk space. She hates watching Mike Brewer too.

LOL my hard drive recorder is also full of them!!!

I didnt realise there was a box set out.... may have to look for that!

 

[MPG]

They certainly do like to use more than their fair share of spares from the "Euro Car parts" bin. Then again, if you look at the closing credits you'll see they always credit them, together with karcher & "High & Mighty" - I guess at 6"7" Edd China needs to get his T-Shirts & jeans from somewhere
I've enjoyed watching a lot of their transformations though - BMW 635, Porsche 928 (with those awful gold compomotive alloys) & that van they turned into some surfers pimp paradise which Edd bought for himself.
Am sure I'll be watching along with the rest of you & setting Sky + once it's back on.

 

[jaymanek]

Some of the programs are really good..

Actually a lot of people bin the SLS on the 190 as its troublesome and not really required - unless you plan to carry concrete lintels in the boot.

have to agree about aerosols though... thats a proper bodge job!

 

[Will]

Some of the programs are really good..

Actually a lot of people bin the SLS on the 190 as its troublesome and not really required - unless you plan to carry concrete lintels in the boot.

have to agree about aerosols though... thats a proper bodge job!

One of my pet-hate misconceptions!

The SLS system on the 2.3-16 and 2.5-16 is a good system and works very well. It's fitted on the front and rear on the Evolution I and II models so there must be something right with it...

Most people don't understand how it works and assume it's complicated or expensive to fix. In reality it rarely gives trouble and normally when it does it just needs replacement accumulators ('spheres'). These are simple to fit (about 20 minutes per side) and not particularly expensive (£50ish for a Lemforder part or £100ish from MB).

The struts themselves rarely fail - they don't wear in the same way as a shock absorber, they can only really fail by leaking (never seen it) or if the bushes wear (theoretically replaceable).

On later cars with ASD (all 2.5-16s and as an option on some 2.3-16s) the rear diff is controlled with assistance from this hydraulic system. Best leave the system as it was designed in the first place - I trust MB and their team more than I do Ed China and Mike Brewer with ECP for supplies...

Will

 

[Mudster]

They once did a good job of an early Porsche 928...in brown...

Mike hated the horrible gold wheels (BBS RS split rims) and took them off to get some original monoblock Porshce alloys...the wheel dealer ummed and ahhed at the offer of a straight swap...Mike walked out thinking He'd got a deal when He'd just given away over £1500 worth of obsolete rare Porsche fitment split rims.....oh how I chuckled...

 

[MangoMan]

Yes, I have to admit I do watch it aswell - Have to say though that some of the things they do make me cringe!?

I will say one thing in Mikes' defence, he is not quite as bad off-camera, I did an episode with him on 'Deals on Wheels' back in 2001 in some little village in Kent, Lamberhurst if I remember correctly, about finding defects on an old Peugeot. We had to find 20 of them, we actually found 3 more than they had 'Planned'. Was a good day though, they bought lunch and paid for the petrol...

But yes, I am looking forward to seeing the new series - will be a laugh!

Cheers.

 

[nick mercedes]

Yes, I have to admit I do watch it aswell - Have to say though that some of the things they do make me cringe!?

I will say one thing in Mikes' defence, he is not quite as bad off-camera, I did an episode with him on 'Deals on Wheels' back in 2001 in some little village in Kent, Lamberhurst if I remember correctly, about finding defects on an old Peugeot. We had to find 20 of them, we actually found 3 more than they had 'Planned'. Was a good day though, they bought lunch and paid for the petrol...

But yes, I am looking forward to seeing the new series - will be a laugh!

Cheers.

I liked this episode, where he finds what appears to be a freshly painted (in exactly the right colour no less) wing in a scrapyard...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C_N8SInSibU&feature=related

And why does he keep saying "fella"?

 

[MangoMan]

Thanks Nick, I needed a good laugh this morning 'Fella' - lol.

Oooooh, there goes the aerosol again....... (cringe, cringe)....

 

[vijilants]

They once did a good job of an early Porsche 928...in brown...

Mike hated the horrible gold wheels (BBS RS split rims) and took them off to get some original monoblock Porshce alloys...the wheel dealer ummed and ahhed at the offer of a straight swap...Mike walked out thinking He'd got a deal when He'd just given away over £1500 worth of obsolete rare Porsche fitment split rims.....oh how I chuckled...

I think I saw that one......Im sure that was the one where they also gave it a service, and if you noticed the oil they used, it was the cheapest Comma stuff on the market . They had done a poor job in trying to turn the oil can away from the camera.

 

[bigstuff]

would you buy a car from mike ?