Goodbye Vader, Welcome Vader 3.0

[AadZO]

so my last post was July 2017, and it's the 01st of June 2018 :dunnoanymore:
Yeah, been that busy at work my side - lots of changes, and Vader is no more as of 2 months ago !

ZOBRE
First things first, one thing that HAS always stayed the same is that the Zobre lives on !
Late last year I wanted to change the wheels for something more practical, so tried the usual “calypso craze” thing for a week or two as my swaer had a set lying around at the time – just couldn’t get used to it despite the minimal increase in comfort, and notable increase in acceleration – for me personally they have always looked too small, but what REALLY grated me was the lack of stance / offset, and I didn’t want to go the spacers route.

So went back to 16’s BUT reps of the rims I’ve ALWAYS wanted since way back in the day. Very happy.
And yeah, 07th of Jan this year marked 16 years since I got her !

VADER
Right, on the the heading, yes, Vader is no more ! But before I go on, WHAT a car ! In the 3 and a half years I owned her, she never skipped a beat despite some heavy work loads at times. Great power, especially at Gauteng altitude, awesome balance, fuel efficiency, handling, comfort, “feel” – basically everything one could want in a car and when most people ask me for my opinion, I always say a modern an E90 320d LCI or even better F30, must be the best car in the world for the average person, it was THAT good !
Sold her on around 173k km, of which I did about 61k km in my time. Not a single regret !
In December I fitted some M Sport springs I got from Rob, which improved looks and handling more than expected considering how mild it was, and for a few days, it helped my “itch”, but after a while I realised it wasn’t enough for ME – which is where we go, but before we do, some last pics of Vader who is already missed so much

VADER 3.0

 

[AadZO]

Hi guys, been a while
:dunnoanymore:
First things first, one thing that HAS always stayed the same is that the Zobre lives on !
Late last year I wanted to change the wheels for something more practical, so tried the usual “calypso craze” thing for a week or two as my swaer had a set lying around at the time – just couldn’t get used to it despite the minimal increase in comfort, and notable increase in acceleration – for me personally they have always looked too small, but what REALLY grated me was the lack of stance / offset, and I didn’t want to go the spacers route.

So went back to 16’s BUT reps of the rims I’ve ALWAYS wanted since way back in the day. Very happy.
And yeah, 07th of Jan this year marked 16 years since I got her !

Right, on the the sub-heading above, yes, Vader is no more ! But before I go on, WHAT a car ! In the 3 and a half years I owned her, she never skipped a beat despite some heavy workloads at times. Great power, especially at Gauteng altitude, awesome balance, fuel efficiency, handling, comfort, “feel” – basically everything one could want in a car and when most people ask me for my opinion, I always say that an E90 320d LCI or even better F30, must be the best car in the world for the average person, it was THAT good !
Sold her on around 173k km, of which I did about 61k km in my time. Not a single regret !
In December I fitted some M Sport springs I got from Rob, which improved looks and handling more than expected considering how mild it was, and for a few days, it helped my “itch”, but after a while I realised it wasn’t enough for ME – which is where we go, but before we do, some last pics of Vader who is already missed so much

So for the last few years I’ve been searching for a red F30 320D M sport in my budget, but what I REALLY wanted was an E90 LCI 330d M Sport with certain spec, with low mileage, in good condition and price – the latter obviously proving VERY difficult to find. Ideal would be red or space grey.
And then, just over 3 months ago, I finally found it ! The funniest thing though, it just HAD to be black again !
TBH, it has kind of worked in my favour as 90% of people don’t realise it’s a different car – even some so called petrolheads have missed it ! Less attention is exactly what I wanted, and if you look at it, you can understand why folks don’t realise it at first, or in most cases, not even after 3 months
:smilebounce:
In the time I’ve had her, it’s been very nostalgic – the reason being that it reminds me so much of the early days of my ownership experience of the Zobre – 16 years later that car still makes me smile – so hopefully it will be the same with Vader 3.0
Yes, that’s the name, because 2.0 just doesn’t work with a N57 motor
:=):
The power & torque is brilliant, and what I really enjoy is the engine note – there is no way a diesel should sound this good ?!
70% of the time she is driven at pretty much the same speeds, in the same manner, as the original Vader, and fuel consumption is only minimally higher – more than worth it for me personally. Absolutely loving it and really do plan on keeping her forever, so Insha’Allah (God Willing) she will be as trouble free as the original Vader was (funny story, see below)
Whilst the engine note is way better, I am missing the exhaust note of Vader as some may recall I had that DP Powerflow setup, so in time will need to do similar. And whilst I’m not using the sound system THAT much right now, I know I’m going to miss that sub mod (Thiroo & G, we need to consider this again, I’ll bring the Nando’s this time)

The only downside thus far is that I had to leave her at ZF for 3 weeks – a diagnosis revealed the very rare though irratic issue I was worried about which turned out to be pretty serious - – they were also surprised considering the relatively low mileage (bought on 101k km, now on 105k km)
The reason is took so long was no fault of ZF’s – it was all political red tape crap from the aftermarket warranty – after a week and a half of the car just standing they eventually came with a lame “wear & tear” rejection. Advised the dealer, and within a few days, they gave their approval and ZF did the job in like 4 days. Have only done around 500km+ since she came back, but so far so good, Shukar Alhamdulillah (Thanks to God).
So technically I scored but just had to be willing to fight the fight.
Anyway, some pics from the dealer’s website at the time :

 

[michael.joseph]

Congrats bud. Excellent spec u got there.

:bravo:

 

[AadZO]

Congrats bud. Excellent spec u got there.

:bravo:

Thanks man :=): Hen's teeth

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Historically, when I get a car, I start personalising it, no matter how small, pretty much immediately / ASAP
I can’t believe 3 months have passed since I did anything at all. BUT this weekend it began !
Plans are not a lot TBH, however there are some small things that I believe will make a nice overall impact without being too obvious
Fitted my old 12mm spacers at the back, and some 10mm ones I got from Firi recently. Also, Pooch came from China with the badges I wanted, so did that too. The difference in the flesh is remarkable and the result is exactly what I wanted - lovin’ it

Stock M Sport

After spacers and badges (hard to see in pics but sitting flush not out)

 

[Yuben]

Congrats Bro:bravo:

Thread title updated as requested:thumbs:

 

[Ddoooooon]

congrats mate on the new ride

 

[michael.joseph]

Looking even better with those spacers:cartel:

 

[AshG108]

Congrats bro!

I remember how much you said you wanted one! Well deserved bru!

I cannot see any pics cause it is blocked by my work pc but from your sig pic...it looks a beaut!!!

 

[E-Male]

Congrats bro!
Cabbie looks sweet.... drive her in good health!

 

[FiRi@Rennzport]

What a car. Seen it at CnC as its in stunning condition. Well deserved bro. May you be granted many happy and safe kilos.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[yush1]

Cars looks amazing especially the shinny exhausts. Nice spec for an E90. :thumbs:

 

[sash]

Those spacers make a world of difference.

Congrats Aadz

 

[Cornel]

congrats mnr! car looks sweet. also well speced!

 

[momo1]

Beautiful!
MashAllah may you see many happy safe miles.:thumbs:

 

[Dmonic1]

Congrats Zo.... the 3.0d is an awesome machine.. raise:

BUT the Zobre...... :blowheart:

 

[AadZO]

Congrats Bro:bravo:

Thread title updated as requested:thumbs:

Thanks bru for the assistance
And thanks man

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Congrats bro!

I remember how much you said you wanted one! Well deserved bru!

I cannot see any pics cause it is blocked by my work pc but from your sig pic...it looks a beaut!!!

Thanks bro - yeah, how many years ago was that actually come to think of it !
:yikes:

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What a car. Seen it at CnC as its in stunning condition. Well deserved bro. May you be granted many happy and safe kilos.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Thanks my bru. Insha'Allah Aameen ! :=):

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Cars looks amazing especially the shinny exhausts. Nice spec for an E90. :thumbs:

Thanks bru - yeah was a nice touch from the previous owner, saves me the effort :smilebounce:

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Those spacers make a world of difference.

Congrats Aadz

Shot sash They really do, especially in the flesh

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Beautiful!
MashAllah may you see many happy safe miles.:thumbs:

Shukran bro, Insha'Allah Ameen

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Congrats Zo.... the 3.0d is an awesome machine.. raise:

BUT the Zobre...... :blowheart:

Shot Kev
Yeah man, really enjoying it

Zobre lives on brother, irreplaceable :=):

 

[AadZO]

Wow, over a year since i last logged in :sorry:
Just a quick update then - nothing has changed on the 30d yet - same everything, just regular maintenance - in the almost 1.5 years i've had her she has done a relatively low 20000km but is basically the daily - best car i've ever owned, seriously - hopefully much more of the same in the future - hoping to do the DP, 76mm pipe, XHP and some mild Madness software in '20