J Henderson

Velocity

You could get it vinyl wrapped with a similar chrome film. A lot of places that tint windows, also apply vinyl wraps to bodywork.

Looks like it might have been sold! Was definitely on AT when I checked earlier, but gone now.

Paramount

Calcio

Essex

Stream

Using a waffle-weave towel to buff/finish the job leaves no smears for me. (I use this one)

Did this start occurring after you cleaned the MAF & throttle body, or was it doing it before? @Mr Vlad had a similar issue in This Post and found a solution. You could try doing the same.

I had to replace a (front) wheel bearing in March last year, and like you suggest, the sound associated with the failure was a rumbling/grinding sound, not a squeal. Is the sound constant? Or only occasional? Parking brake still effective? I thought this too, but the mechanic who changed mine said it wasn't necessary.

Difference in ride quality between summer & winter tyres is always accentuated at this time of year. Winter tyres remain soft & pliable in low temperatures, whereas summer tyres are rock hard, noisy and lack grip, regardless of size. The only real factor I insist on regarding tyre choice, is the wet weather rating. No sale unless it's "A".

Mark Levinson system too.

Congrats. Will echo the above about the SR kit looking great. 👍 @Linas.P I think you're right about basic spec being SE-like with cloth seats, but you can definitely get one with AT.

Polygon

Got my rear (vented disc) calipers from this ebay seller - £200 a pair. Ebay Listing

Nice! What springs are you going to be pairing them with? I'm also planning to change my suspension this year at some point but still kinda undecided whether coilovers should be an option or not. Was leaning more towards getting the billys though as my car is a daily driver and I already have a set of new springs (H&R) to go on.

Grass

Glass

Probably. I've ordered stuff from Amayama a few times and had to pay an extra charge each time. Still worked out cheaper than using a UK vendor. 😛

Howzat

It's possibly just an error in the listing. The MOT history is checkable all the way back to 2013, which suggests it has spent at least the last 8-9 years in the UK. Then again this would be a great car to have for an ex-pat living in warmer climes somewhere. So maybe it has indeed spent some time abroad (officially exported?) when it was younger before returning to the UK again. If your gut feeling is to be suspicious, I would go with that. A missing service book would be enough for me to look elsewhere.

Sounds like there's a power drain somewhere. Or the battery is a dud. Or both. Had a similar experience when I had my dashcam "always-on". The battery drain was small enough to not matter when the car was used daily, but if left parked-up for about 3 or 4 days, there wasn't enough juice left in the battery to start. I endured the same rigmarole of having to remove the cap on the door handle and use the physical key, whilst the alarm was blaring. Only in my case, this was happening at 1am! 😚

Interesting. If that's accurate...

Pheobe

I had an IS200 LE for 4 years before moving up to a 2nd-Gen model, and had also owned a few BMWs previously, and for me an IS200 can indeed be fun to hoon around in. Despite being fairly slow, the car's fundamentals - very nice steering feel, decent 6-speed gearbox and RWD chassis make it fun to drive on country roads. My own car had a lowered & widened stance that made it feel even better in the corners, otherwise it was standard. So yes, even with a modest 153BHP, an IS200 can be a fun car to drive. One thing I will say though, is that the auto should be avoided. I eventually sold my IS200 on to a friend, who also later picked up an auto one. He told me that the auto box kills off a lot of driver appeal. They're also incredibly thirsty compared to a manual one. If possible, I would follow Colin's advice and go for an IS300. These are also automatics, but have a lot more grunt and an extra gear to play with. And also, some semblance of manual control via the steering wheel buttons.