So, last time I wrote on here it was about my search for a Bentley turbo R to satisfy my bucket list itch. I found one, it was beautiful, not perfect but definitely an incredible piece of automotive art. Mike, the chap that was selling it, also had an incredibly attractive Arnage of 1998 vintage in a dark green. I have never considered one of those but when I sat in it I couldn't get it out of my mind somehow despite my long term desire for the older model I was smitten. When Mrs announced that she much preferred the look of the Arnage I had no choice really but to take a much more serious look in to it.
The model in question was the very last of the British designed and built at Crewe models, much more up to date than the R but still considered a modern classic. It had been designed before Rolls Royce and Bentley became separate and got taken over by BMW and Volkswagen respectively. Weirdly it had the BMW M62 quad cam v8 4.4 litre engine, albeit modified by Cosworth to be a twin turbo unit with power boosted from 280 bhp up to approx 360 with a big increase in torque. Not earth shattering by today's standards but believe me, it's enough to move the .5 tonne barge along at a fair old lick. With a top speed of 150 and a 0-60 of about 6.2 it's not bad at all. I did have thoughts of upping the boost a bit but sadly the transmission won't take it :-( Shame because that engine will handle well over 500 brake without any problem, it seems a shame to not play with it.
Anyway, lovely though it is it has some problems, which were reflected in the purchase price, they are as follows:
1. Central locking not working - 3 door lock actuators have lost interest in doing their job. This is incredibly common and very expensive with new genuine Bentley locks costing £1100 each as of June 2026. Second hand ones are 200 quid but when you buy them you have no idea how long they will last. My first job is to take one apart and see if I can get it working again. I am fairly confident that I can.
2. Drivers side electric door mirror inoperative - I believe this to be a mechanical issue inside the mirror itself. I have no idea how it comes apart, until I figure that out and have a look I have no idea if I can fix it, I may well end up having to replace it. It won't be cheap.
3. Electric aerial not working they always were the most unreliable things imaginable. The mast is stuck about 9 inches from the fully retracted position. I will try to free it off, no big deal if I can't, a replacement is 45 quid.
4. The suspension feels a bit harsh at the back, I suspect the spheres are shot, this car uses nitrogen filled shocks with expansion spheres to give a magic carpet like ride. I noticed on the drive home that it wasn't quite as magic as I think it should have been, this is usually a symptom of the spheres becoming depleted. It's dead easy to replace them but I really need to be sure before I dive in as they are not cheap at about 200 quid a side.
5. It really needs a flying B at the front - you can't have one of these cars without one, same as you couldn't have a rolls without the Spirit of Ecstasy to guide your progress.
6. On the drive home the speedo packed up. I tried tapping it, slapping it and shouting at it nothing worked. Then I had to go from reverse to drive and it started working again, it worked for the rest of the 65 mile drive home - odd. I need to keep an eye on that because drifting over the speed limit is incredibly easy in this beast.
7. I noticed a slight vibration when braking, I don't think it's warped discs as I can't feel any variation through the brake pedal. I strongly suspect a slightly worn bottom ball joint, these cars pound their suspension components. Once again prices vary massively - genuine Bentley bits would be prohibitive, I would do both upper and both lower joints at the same time, I have seen a set of Lemforder ones for just £140, about the same price as one single upper ball joint from the country's favourite supplier.
I will check all the usual service items, the oil looks a bit dark but smells fresh, I will have a look at the air filter, cabin filters and so on to get a feel for how well it's been serviced, it will get all it needs. It will get an oil and filter change regardless, 9 litres of oil and a tenner for a filter is good insurance. If in doubt - change it out.
It has one small dent on the passenger door, I will contact a local paintless dent removal specialist to have a go at that, no hurry for that, it's really minor. The wheels could do with a refurb, I need to sell some stuff to fund that. This is all being fussy and bringing it up to near concourse, which is not really what I am about. I want it to be right, I want it to be reliable, I'm not fussed about silverware.
It was a most enjoyable experience driving it home, I did about 20 miles on the test drive, which took in side roads, main roads and a short stretch of motorway. I let it stretch it's legs, I put 50 quids worth of juice in it, half of that has gone now. I reckon it did better than 20 mpg, not bad at all for a car of this spec, and a fair bit better than the old Turbo R with it's 6.75 litre engine designed in 1959 would have done. Everything apart from the things listed above seems to work well, the air conditioning is superb, cruise control is good, the windows all operate correctly, the steering is heavier than I expected, I will look in to that but I don't think anything is wrong per se. Don't know, I haven't driven one of these before. I just expected it to be finger tip light and it isn't.
Watch this space for updates, which will hopefully come fairly thick and fast.
Update number 1 - I looked at the first of the door locks today, it's very hard to see how Bentley have the audacity to charge even 1 tenth of their asking price, they are absolutely nothing special and no other manufacturer asks anything like that. I seem to recall buying one for my Jag XF for under 40 quid. Anyway, I took it out of the car, dismantled it cleaned it all paying particular attention to the little motor that does all the work - a really good dose of switch cleaner followed by a few seconds of 12volts from my bench supply and it was working like a good un again. I put it all back together, sadly some of the fir tree panel fixings broke, a couple were already broken. Bentley prices again - 2 quid each plus vat plus post or buy 30 on ebay for just under a tenner. No prizes for guessing which option I chose.
With that sorted I had a look at the aerial, it's a bitch to get out but nothing to bad if you have the right tools. Sadly I tried and failed, the mast was so badly seized up that I damaged it while trying to free it. I did get it sort of working but wasn't at all happy with it, I don't think it would last long. Back to the interweb, cheapest one I could find was a whopping 351 quid - bugger that and the horse it rode in on. I have found one that is almost identical for 26 quid, I have blanked the hole with a grommet for now.
The remote locking still doesn't seem brilliant, the receiver seems to be a bit deaf. I cleaned the remote transmitter and checked the battery, which is fine but it still doesn't seem to work brilliantly. I need to investigate further. While I was at it I think I found another issue to fix - the stereo loses it's memory when the ignition is switched off, it's most likely wired incorrectly. I will pull it out and have a look. On the plus side it sounds really good albeit rather light on bass, a further plus is that it has a USB port. Nice.
It was too hot today to do anything else, it's going to be even hotter tomorrow so I doubt I will get much done. It might have a go at polishing a small bit with some Fusso 99 wax that I have when it cools this evening, I am intrigued to see how well it comes out.
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