Berlingo restored!

[JWalshe]

Hi all,

Thought I’d mention that my 2003 Berlingo 2-litre HDi makes another appearance in Practical Classics magazine this month, having hit the road properly for the first time in it. It was a £300 MOT failure but now, having had new sills and numerous other in-depth mechanical work, I’ve added some extras including cruise control, Picasso alloys and an MFD screen etc. Just sorted the air con too and had an HDi Tuning remap. Absolutely loving it! I shall be keeping it - so you can definitely say it’s my ‘forever car’! Great to be able to celebrate it in the pages of a classic car mag too. The M49 is 25 now, so M59 classic status beckons soon. They’ll become rarer and rarer I think. 

Cheers,

James

[geoff]

Good on you for getting in the magazine !!

The M49 and M59 is already a " Classic " in my book.

Unfortunately the Berlingo is such a decent " tool " that most all will get completely worn out and then scrapped which is a shame.
It is what you'd expect from such a vehicle as it is so cheap to run and needing little to no repairs over many many years, when of course repairs do come they overwhelm most folks.

Sounds like your vehicle will be one of the lucky few that will survive, I doubt many of the B9 and later models will have the same luck what with DPF and Adblue etc etc

[notsofast]

I've said before in another thread that I think the M49 will head toward classic status, and the M59 is bound to follow (assuming all non-electric vehicles don't get taxed off the roads).  Interesting that a classics mag is already saying as much too.  I'm curious to know how many (i.e. how few) examples of a model there need to be before people in general start considering them rare and interesting (even sought-after). According to carlogbook.co.uk, about 20 months ago there were about 2600 Berlingos surviving from the 2001 registration year (which is what mine is), whereas now that's down to less than 1900 - at that rate of disappearance, it'll only be a few years and there could be just a couple of hundred.

[notsofast]

It was a £300 MOT failure but now, having had new sills and numerous other in-depth mechanical work...

It certainly looks very smart and nothing like an MOT failure now.  Like Geoff said, these are such uncomplaining vehicles generally that most people seem to overlook them - so it's nice to see someone giving a lot of TLC.  What kind of mechanical work has it had done, and did you do it yourself?

[RattyCortina]

That's brilliant! There's certainly much to be said for 'restoring' a vehicle while it's still viable and parts are still available.

Some years back I was in need of wheels and bought a 1992 Rover 216 GSi for £275. Only 70-odd K on the clock, Honda engine, mint beige interior... only mark on the body was some bubbling on one front arch. Planned to sort that out but I rear ended another car on a wet road and it was written off, I got £350 back from the insurance. Can't remember when I last saw a 200/400 on the road.

[Gadgetman]

You should try finding a Citroën CX...

I'm going to keep my 1999 M49 Berlingo Multispace rolling as long as possible. Getting closer to 300K Kilometers now.

[JWalshe]

I have to say... it does go quite well alongside my Citroën CX and 2CV! Thanks for all the kind words. I'm genuinely chuffed with my Berlingo and it's great to be in the presence of others who enjoy theirs, too. I've just returned from an effortless trip to Cornwall from my home in Cambridgeshire.

I was lucky with this one - I had been searching long and hard for a blue 2-litre Desire with air con. It had rotten sills but the interior was immaculate (unusual, I suspect) and it had been generally looked after. As for restorations and repairs... most of it is detailed in previous issues of Practical Classics, as well as the current one but here's a brief list:

Replacement sills
Exhaust
Discs and pads
ABS sensors (x4)
Dampers (x4)
Front wheel bearings
Front springs, bushes etc.
Cam belt and water pump
Full engine service
Michelin CrossClimates (x4)
Air con pipes, condensor etc.

Extras: 125bhp remap, full Dynamat sound deadening, cruise control, new COMM unit with 3-line MFD and upgraded Kenwood stereo with new speakers all-round. Plus Partner Escapade exterior trim and a Camperize folding bed arrangement (which cleverly folds out from the boot without the need to remove seats).

Some of the paint isn't great, I still have to rewire that awful under-seat airbag wiring, there's still a dodgy ABS sensor somewhere and I'd like to raise the rear ride height a little (which may require a new axle) but overall, I'm chuffed. It's more comfy, quiet and no longer a tired looking MOT failure destined for the scrap yard. I've put a total of £1100 into it (inc purchase price) so I don't think that's too crazy for what I've ended up with.

Thanks again to all. Great to be a part of the club!

James

[saskak]

Wow, £1,100 incl purchase price is not only on the decent side, it is amazing!

Well done, looks great. I saw the photos and thought, wait a minute the headlight grill was only available in the Partner Escapade and not the Berlingo. Great job in assembling it and I am slightly envious of the blue colour.

[RattyCortina]

What could you get for £1,100 that you KNOW is as good...?

[JWalshe]

Wow, £1,100 incl purchase price is not only on the decent side, it is amazing!

Well done, looks great. I saw the photos and thought, wait a minute the headlight grill was only available in the Partner Escapade and not the Berlingo. Great job in assembling it and I am slightly envious of the blue colour.

Yeah, I suppose you could call it a bit of a mongrel visually... not one for the purist! But I love it! Quite jealous of your Escapade wheels - I really like those! I've got the Picasso 'Melbourne' wheels on mine but your alloys look superb. I also like the raised look of the Escapade. Wonder how that's done? Different springs?

Thanks for your kind words - and for all the advice here. Really grateful for the help. Next job will be to make my outside air temp gauge work so I'll be using that guide to swapping the pins over etc. Some really handy threads on this site! 

Thanks again,

James