Hi all, I have just gotten myself a second-hand 2008 A3 8P 1.9TDI with the dreaded BXE engine and was wondering if it was worth it to repair it to tip top condition. I bought it off someone for £1000, which I thought was a good deal since other examples went for about £3000 and autotrader quoted me £2000 for it. It has 186,000 miles on it right now and I did a full servicing on it myself. So far, the car has no major mechanical or electronic problems that I can tell, except for a minor oil leak which I think might be from the rocker head gasket. I am not sure if the head gasket might be leaking oil too, though, as I vaguely remember seeing some oil marks near there. I haven't had the time yet to check on it yet, and because of how rare it it for head gaskets to leak oil externally, combined with no oil and water mixing in the block, and no power loss, I feel like it might be unlikely. The oil leak, however, is nothing major as there is no visible dripping and no oil on the lot despite being parked up for more than a week.
It also require suspension bearings to be replaced along with the drop links. The underbody is quite clean with only surface corrosion and no structural issues. I have already spent £350 on it so far with a new set of tyres and a new battery
I am considering if I should invest about £1000 in it more in repairing the suspension bearings and doing some preventive maintenance on it. What I have noted down so far is to replace the timing belt along with the water pump as I do not have a full service history for the car. I am also thinking of getting the main and big end bearings changed to sputter coated ones to prevent the conrod failures along with doing up the clutch at the same time since the engine will be out for it. I have been quoted £500 for the sputter bearing change and labour but I can't imagine adding on the timing belt, water pump and the clutch would be more than £200 extra. The clutch and timing belt is still fine so far but I was thinking that if the engine was going to be out, it might be worthwhile to get them done together to save on labour costs.
I must admit that I have not worked much on cars, only doing my own servicing. I have however, bought up some tools and am willing to work on the car for easier components to keep costs down, such as ones that only require me to undo bolts to replace parts. I also have VCDS with me so I can do my own diagnosis for the most part. I guess my main concern is if I should invest the money into repairing the car entirely or if I should just do the bare minimum (suspension bearings and topping up the oil every now and then) and run it till it stops. I am looking for a car that is quite reliable and will not throw up any issues daily, which I have heard the 1.9TDI is quite renown for (except the BXE). I haven't heard of anything else that could go wrong with the car I have except for the conrod. I might have to change the brake discs in the near future along with the front springs as they are rusty but not broken yet. (Brake pads are fitted new by previous owner hence not changing them now) It doesn't have a DPF and I do not live near any ULEZ zones which is why I chose the model I got.
In short,
I have a 2008 A3 8P 1.9 TDI (BXE) with 186,000miles. No Service history except the one I just did. Wondering if it is economical to do preventive maintenance on it or to just run it and wait for issues to develop.
Faults:
It also require suspension bearings to be replaced along with the drop links. The underbody is quite clean with only surface corrosion and no structural issues. I have already spent £350 on it so far with a new set of tyres and a new battery
I am considering if I should invest about £1000 in it more in repairing the suspension bearings and doing some preventive maintenance on it. What I have noted down so far is to replace the timing belt along with the water pump as I do not have a full service history for the car. I am also thinking of getting the main and big end bearings changed to sputter coated ones to prevent the conrod failures along with doing up the clutch at the same time since the engine will be out for it. I have been quoted £500 for the sputter bearing change and labour but I can't imagine adding on the timing belt, water pump and the clutch would be more than £200 extra. The clutch and timing belt is still fine so far but I was thinking that if the engine was going to be out, it might be worthwhile to get them done together to save on labour costs.
I must admit that I have not worked much on cars, only doing my own servicing. I have however, bought up some tools and am willing to work on the car for easier components to keep costs down, such as ones that only require me to undo bolts to replace parts. I also have VCDS with me so I can do my own diagnosis for the most part. I guess my main concern is if I should invest the money into repairing the car entirely or if I should just do the bare minimum (suspension bearings and topping up the oil every now and then) and run it till it stops. I am looking for a car that is quite reliable and will not throw up any issues daily, which I have heard the 1.9TDI is quite renown for (except the BXE). I haven't heard of anything else that could go wrong with the car I have except for the conrod. I might have to change the brake discs in the near future along with the front springs as they are rusty but not broken yet. (Brake pads are fitted new by previous owner hence not changing them now) It doesn't have a DPF and I do not live near any ULEZ zones which is why I chose the model I got.
In short,
I have a 2008 A3 8P 1.9 TDI (BXE) with 186,000miles. No Service history except the one I just did. Wondering if it is economical to do preventive maintenance on it or to just run it and wait for issues to develop.
Faults:
- Worn suspension bearings
- Worn drop links
- Minor oil leak (rocker head gasket, maybe head gasket?)
- Change conrod main and big end bearings to sputter coated ones
- Timing belt and water pump
- Clutch
- Brake discs + pads
- Front springs
