Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Trad prices

I'm not too offended that you branded me as an idiot for buying a CX, you may even be correct; I'll ask around ...

I've only ever had one BMW and that was a new '94 325i convertible, kept it for a matter of months as within 6 weeks (with 15k miles) the number 5 cylinder fuel injector flooded the engine with petrol and blew the engine whilst BMW were test driving it. These things happen, but it took BMW 2 months to ship a new engine (came by sea) and when they reassembled the car as they were test driving it , before returning it to me, they found the prop shaft had been distorted. when the engine blew.

I worked in the airline industry at the time and had an aero engine engineer on the, line with me in discussions with BMW HQ following the prop shaft news about the current state of the car. What was really telling, they hadn't bothered to replace the catalytic convertor, the whole reason I took the car in was the black oily smoke bellowing out the car exhaust just before they blew the engine on their test drive, I knew the cat was screwed when I dropped it off and told them so. Needless to say a follow up call from our solicitor and they took back the car.

Never bought anything BMW since, and I think BMW had a subsequent recall on those engines. One can only speak as one finds.

Indeed, but the plural of anecdote is not data, and one would reasonably expect that engines have improved in the last 30 years.

Though it's true that BMW main dealer service costs can be very high (although having said that our Mini SE has proved pretty cheap so far) it's also worth pointing out that BMW-compatible software is available at a range of price points from inexpensive smartphone-based apps like BimmerCode through the hand-held devices from the likes of Foxwell through to all-singing all-dancing PC-based systems like BimCom, which is still less than £600.

There's no real reason why an enthusiastic amateur or a reasonably knowledgeable non-franchised service centre couldn't look after a BMW-engined CX car themselves.

Well offend is the root of the word and I didn't use it! I have had constant BMW experience for over 40 years and I can tell you they are not the BMW of the late last century. If you don't believe me look up the issues they had across the range of their engines with timing chain issues and see how they treated their customers. Also have a little look into their ABS module problems and again the fact that they didn't hold their hands up their either.
Yes Morgan are no saints. Remember the back axle's? Sailsbury axle's closed down and Quaife contacted Morgan (Charles) and offered to produce for them a large quantity for forward supply at a discount of 50% yet he failed to even respond and in panic we ended up with the BTR truck axle from Australia at great transport and import added cost. Oh! and with a variable built in end float too. As I tried to say, wait and see re. BMW, I know I will be proved right. Morgan will not be able to cope with the Technology on a large enough basis, BMW won't care or prioritise any work required over their vehicles, certainly not to Morgan otherwise this would already have been put in place and indicated to the new Morgan buyer. In fact I think I can probably say they won't even look at them but direct you to Morgan. These new Morgans are not really what we would call a Morgan, yes they are an evolution and there's nothing wrong with that but lets look at it for a moment. The plus four, £70,000 ish new, the super sport £120,000 realistically if you want the whole car? We are seriously into a market where quite frankly why would you buy a kit car like this? Even Morgan had to say tongue in cheek that they see it as a third car! I rest my case and stand by my opinion of those who will buy one, namely those who take advantage of the huuuuge drop in prices for nearly new or old stock un-registered cars and the others, offended or not.

Just a friendly reminder that this is the "pre-CX" section. Perhaps this rathole deserves its own thread in the appropriate forum?

It's a shame they just didn't update the Trad. front suspension with something a little more modern and compliant, getting rid of the ancient maintenance intensive king pins arrangement and slightly sophisticate the rear suspension setup and they would have a winning combination. Seems to me an opportunity lost, packing a grease gun for longer trips loses some of the appeal.

All car manufacturers have problems from time to time.

That's pretty much what they did, isn't it? You can picture the thought process.

1. What's the biggest problem with the trad? - Suspension
2. Front?: we need to get rid of the sliding axle and go to wishbones
3. Rear? We're stuffed by the underslung chassis, need to get rid of that.
4. Chassis Compliance? The chassis is nowhere near stiff enough, let's get rid and go for bonded aluminium like Lotus, plenty of expertise in that area
5. Engine? The Rover V8 is ancient, let's go to BMW, they're very helpful
6. Anything else? Well, it's all a bit dated. Let's update the styling a bit.
7. What about all the traditional stuff like poor build quality, leaky hood, ropey ergonomics? Oh, they're all part of the character, we'll keep them!

Agree with the last comments. Morgan have got away with a lot because the cars have character, although what that is and how important it is will vary amongst each of us.
Despite all our negative comments we still love them though, don't we?
Just back from getting the car serviced and MOT'd and thought I would share part of what they said on the invoice of work done "carry out spanner check on all underside bolts" Not something you generally see, or need, on a modern car.
Joyous drive back.

Indeed we do!

I've told you before Tim, you're a very naughty boy