nearly traded my e30

[jimbob29]

for an mg zs 180 saloon the mark2 with the gills on the wings only beacause of on going problems with my e30.what do you think of these mg 180s?

[Kos]

scrap

[jimbob29]

the mrs doesnt know much about cars but first thing she said was 'dont the head gaskets go on those'

[Morat]

Would you buy a Saab in 10 years time?

[Curr946]

Would you buy a Saab in 10 years time?

I wouldnt buy a Saab in 10 minutes time let alone 10 years..

as for the mg how much are they paying you?

[Rtaylor2208]

The ZS 180 is the 2.5 V6 so shouldn't have the dreaded K series head gasket issues. Parts arn't too hard to get, interiors are a bit naff and the build quality aint great. But still many parts are shared with the 45 and old 5 door civic.

When everything works these cars drive surprising well, it needs to be cheap though to take the chance.

I ran a ZR 180 a few years back, it was just a tarted up ZR160 with some xpower mods.

That engine was flakey, head gasket was done twice in 3 years.

[capri_rob]

Garbage. You'll just be trading one set of ongoing problems for another.

[Eddie25]

I used to work for MGRover and in fairness the KV6 isn't a bad lump, it breathes a bit heavy, no lead to lubricate a cone filter

Crucially though dont buy one that needs a Cam belt! Very time consuming and expensive job; They run a cam belt that is a nightmare to get to in itself but that only runs 2 of the 4 cams (1 on each head). Smaller belts are used on the opposite end of the head to run the remaining cams.

Also they have a variable tract intake manifold, operated by little plastic buterflys, these can break loose of thier operating shaft and just rattle free on their mountings. The repair is a full manifold.

[pnd]

they are badly built but as said above are actually quite fun to drive. if you get it make sure the belts have been done its expensive on the v6 which doesn't have the H/G issues.