air suspension: potential new owner

[Henry.M]

hi, im looking at a b reg bx 1.4 and it's suspension has gone how big of a job is it and how much money might it cost

cheers Henry

[Defender110]

Well they ain't got air suspension for starters.

They have fluid suspension (LHM fluid) and normally it is just a pipe that is gone or each corner has a suspension sphere which is a fluid suspension shock absorber which can go flat, could also be the fluid pump or a valve. Don't beput off it's not as complicated as it may sound.

[Mickey taker]

Hi Henry the bx has hydraulic suspension, it uses a pump and spheres, I can only say it very much depends on where the leak is as to how hard or expensive it will be to repair

[Defender110]

sorry Mike you answered whilst I was editing mine above.

[Henry.M]

thanks, will have a look tommorow the car has had a hard life, the bloke who owns it let his kids thrash it around his field and they rolled it over! so a dented roof (not badly onlycometic damage) i am also looking at his 1.6 e reg one, again thrashed around afield but not rolled over or aware of suspension problems. is their any particular things bx's are prone to?

cheers

[Mothman]

I reccon they could be money pits Henry.
BXs can have lots of problems, we are still discovering new faults as the model gets older if my TZD is anything to go by.
Rust in the inner front wings, A and B pillars, struts, and particularly the suspension pipes and not forgetting the oil back harness or octopus. then of course there is the engine, if its not been well serviced and had regular coolant and oil changes there could be overheating and head gasket problems. These do occur on most older motors though.

I would suggest you keep checking out ebay or other auction houses and spend your dosh on a sorted one. However you could get lucky with the ones you have spotted but dont hold your breath.

Good luck.

Andy

[citsncycles]

As Andy says, check for rust on the front inner wings in front of the strut tops down to the front and under the washer bottles (can be seen underneath), both ends of the sills, front door hinge mounts on the A posts, bottom of the B and C posts and round the edges of the boot floor. Sunroofs can leak if the drain tubes are blocked

Mechanically, rear arm bearings are a favorite, as are flat spheres and split hydraulic return pipes.

Good news is most parts are available, a lot of it is cheap (although watch out for poor quality parts), and they're straight forward to work on. Bad news is you could easily spend more than their value getting them sorted - if you think you may make money on them forget it!

The B reg BX needs saving if at all possible, even if just for spares - just look through the forum to see how rare Mk1's are these days! The 'suitcase' engine fitted to early 14's isn't as refined as the later models, and have the gearbox under the engine, but like the rest of the range, can last a long time if looked after.

The later BX 16 is also a rare car - there don't seem to be many 16's surviving, as people want either the economy of the 14's and diesels or the performance of the 19's, but they're still good cars, and early Mk2's are also getting rare.

Let us know what happens, and pics please if possible.

[Mothman]

Yes, pics would be nice.

Andy

[smiffy1071]

To be honest, I wouldn't bother with these if the current owner has let his hooligan kids torture them around a field...
They will almost certainly be totally fu**ed!

Keep looking on ebay, you will find a better condition car, that hasn't been ragged to hell by children....for reasonable money.

[Mickey taker]

If there cheap or even better, free,and you have the room.
get them both and sell the parts to fund buying a decent one

[Tim Leech]

This looks to be a Mk1 BX 14 though which are very very rare now, worth a look I guess. Bleeding kids!
Where are the cars Henry, welcome to the club.

[Kitch]

[MULLEY]

Funny enough, that's what i was thinking Kitch, but then again last time i though Vince was one & it turned out it was just his way of communcating that foxed some of us, haha....

[Henry.M]

ha ha, thanks guys, well i wouldnt realy be that interested if they werent the right money i.e 150 the pair or if i can find a buyer for his 53 plate porsche boxter s with 911 alloys full porsche service history dark metalic paint, black lether... (not trying to sell it to anyone lol ) then i can have the pair of them for free! the cars are in etching ham and it turns out the red one hasnt been rolled but a kid jumped off of something and landed on it (presumabley ). the e reg one has full service history to around 55 thousand (one stamped at porsche) and only has 59,000 miles on the clock ! the cars have been in a barn for years so rot isn't too much of an issue, owl shiz however!

Also I am 16 years old and I am currently in a mechanics course in college so the cars would be good practice for me (not that i havent already got enough on my plate with a morris minor and porsche 924) . pitty is the isurance though, even on the bx14 the quotes still come out at above £5000 !

i will try to post some pictures of the e reg one in a minute

[Tim Leech]

Welcom mate, mors interested in the B plater!