Hi everyone

I have purchased a 2006 Bentley GT Mulliner in triple black + massage seats. (it has taken me around 9 months to find the spec I wanted within my price range)

After some trouble with the dealer not sending the correct paperwork to the DVLA and me not wanting the car until my registration has transferred iv been sat anxiously waiting to collect it. All being well I intend to bring it home this Saturday the 15th.

Iv have ordered some swissvax products to tidy it up once I get it home. Some best of show wax, a wood polish as i noticed some minor scratches to the wood above the gear stick. and some swissvax leather cleaner and milk as there is a little more wear to the drivers seat that I would have liked but hoping to clean it up and make the best of it. I will post up some pics once I get it home and detailed.

I’m also considering the chrome headlight surrounds which I believe came on the 2008+ models, and also interested in doing the exhaust flapper mod providing it wont cause any ecu or engine management issues. I will also need to have an ipod cable installed or possibly some sort of aftermarket bluetooth streaming device?

I intend to use it as my daily driver although I barely cover 4000 miles per year however i'm renowned for giving my cars a hard drive so there will not be any spider webs found on the turbos

I live in Manchester and the car is due a service very soon, its got a full main dealer history so I intend to keep it that way, after a conversation with Bentley Manchester regarding costs and the "Continental Club" for vehicles over 4 years the servicing and maintenance costs don't look any where near as bad as I had initially imagined.

I do also own a Vagcom cable so I will give the car a scan once I get it home so if there are any DTC codes on there I can investigate them myself first. I also noticed the rubber seal around the drivers door looks very worn and cracking, I assume this is from the soft door close feature? looking around I found the part for around £60 so I will probably replace that myself rather than let the dealer do it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on ownership of a similar model? anything I should pay extra attention when running or using the vehicle?

I will be lurking about the forum over the course of the week learning as much as I can. So please say Hi!

Mike

 

Welcome

 

hi enjoy your car.

 

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will find a wealth of information contained herein. You will also find the members willing to exchange in a polite, informative and friendly manner. After all, we all benefit from the exchanges. Enjoy your car.

 

Great to see you here and feel free to use the search function as there is an abundance of info already available

 

Welcome to the group, if you are mechanically inclined and have not already found the exhaust mod instructions with pictures it is located here:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ypass-mod.html

A pretty good discussion on iPod controls can be found here:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...entley-gt.html

 

Congrats!! I love that bodystyle when I use to sell cars they would never stay long in inventory.

 

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome,

I have read up on the links provided and whilst im not very mechanically minded I think i will be able to complete the exhaust flap mod myself which should be fun. iv found tons of ipod solutions and none of them seem to perfectly fit the bill but iv made my mind up on the Dice MediaBridge as from what i can gather its just a swap out for the cd changer, i like this option as i wouldnt feel confident pulling the interior apart for wiring etc.. Also this solution will allow the bluetooth streaming that im looking for and a spotify subscription should solve any storage issues


I have now had confirmation that my private reg transfer has been completed and i have made arrangements to collect the car on Saturday which has left me feeling very excited now! Its a 500 mile round trip which gives me plenty of time to get aquainted with the car on my drive home. Also the last of my swissvax order has now arrived so i get to spend Sunday stood out on the drive way polishing it up. i will post up some pics at the weekend.

 

Hi Mike.

Welcome to the forum.
I'm just off out but will post some info soon.

Les.

 

Hi Mike.

I just wanted to give you a tip about the servicing of your car.

I too used to take mine to Bentley Manchester and joined their discount scheme.
However, after being non too happy with a couple of things, I lost faith in them.
Fortunately, I found a really good independent Bentley garage in Crewe. Not too far from you!
The guys there used to work at Bentley Crewe and taught the rest of the technicians when the GT first came out. To say that they know their stuff would be a big understatement. One of them used to be the flying doctor for Bentley GT's and would travel all over the world sorting problems.
Their prices are really good too and definitely cheaper than the main dealers.

The are called 'GT Services Cheshire', a quick Google will show you their website.

I've had mine in there a few times and never had any problems. They normally drop me at Crewe station where I get a train, then they pick me up again when they have finished with the car.

As for the exhaust valve mod, they know it's been done on mine and it isn't an issue, nor does it throw any codes or warnings, so no worries.

Enjoy the car, we find ours a smile a mile.

Regards. Les.

 

Hi Les

Thank you for your reply, I appreciate your servicing tips as I already had the dilemma of servicing at the time of purchase as the vehicle is due a service now. The trader offered to have it serviced at an independent specialist local to them but after some thought i turned them down for 2 reasons;

1) The car has a full main dealer service history at present. I think we can all agree that 90+% of independents could do a better job than the main dealer but to a potential buyer there is nothing better than a bentley stamp in the service book, mostly due to the fact that a lot of independent stamps will just say "Joes Garage" rather than "bentley specialist" and of course without doing a good amount of research it would be difficult to gauge that garages's reputation.

2) The specialist recommended by the trader is a 500 mile round trip from me and if im going down the independant route id rather it stayed with a garage I can use again in the future and preferably local to me.

Price wise the independent quoted £650 and Bentley Manchester quoted £720 for my year 9 service.

I think the best way forward for me is to go to the main dealer for this service. and consider an independent garage such as the one you have mentioned for any additional work required in between. This will give me a year to get used to living with the car and I can decide if I intend to keep it or try something else. should i decide to keep the car i will most likely take it to an independent garage afterwards especially considering the year 10 is a major service and im expecting it to be around the £2500 mark.

Long term I intend to give the car all the maintenance it needs including the infamous TPMS sensors that everyone complains about. but at the same time dont want to get my back side slapped and on a car of this age I think an independent specialist would be the best way to go.

Out of interest what made you unhappy with the main dealer?

The weather is looking pretty terrible out there today I hope it dries up by tomorrow, I intend to leave around 5am tomorrow for my trip down south, feeling very excited now....

 

Hi Mike.

I do understand what you say about the main dealer stamps. Fortunately, the Indy that I use in Crewe is very well known.

As for my disappointments, well, the first was to do with the drivers door touch lock not working. They said they had changed the button so as to negate having to repaint a new door handle. Still didn't fix the problem and it remained intermittent. I was off overseas the next day so left it at that.

I then had an intermittent fault with the gearbox paddle change. They fitted a new steering wheel control unit for a few hundred quid but when I collected the car, the fault returned. They decided that it must be a gearbox problem but when I queried them changing the steering wheel control unit they said oh, that was faulty anyway. Sorry, but I just didn't believe that.

The next shock was being told that to replace a cam sensor would require the engine/gearbox having to be taken out, along with everything else that entails. It would have been a major cost of around £7k. Once again I was due back overseas so left the car as it was.

A few weeks later I took the car to the Indy. He found that the paddle shift problem was actually the gearbox Mechatronic unit and not the paddle shift controls.
He also said that there was no need to remove the engine/gearbox for the cam sensor to be changed, it could be done in situ.
With regard to changing just the door handle button, he was very sceptical that that could be done.

So, as you can imagine, I was a bit miffed at seemingly being spun a line.

Anyway, for me it's going to be the Indy from now on as I've definitely lost faith in the main dealer.

Hope that clarifies things a little.

Regards. Les.

 

Mike, a good independent is well worth a go. Especially one with an excellent reputation as Les has mentioned. The book stamp means little, especially on a 2006, when it has been serviced by a reputable independent service facility. Of course the choice is yours and if money is no object then feel free to spend those extra few thousand for the dealer stamp. IMHO the low resale value on a 2006, as compared to service costs, is perhaps a false economy just for that dealer stamp. The 2006 is basically a VW Phaeton, and so any good facility familiar with Bentley and Phaetons should work well.

Also, be very careful about the cost of parts from a dealer as the exact same part(s) can be purchased for far less elsewhere. Independent dealers know this and so this helps to keep costs down as well.

 

Hi Guys

I picked up the car yesterday morning and Iv had lots of fun with it this weekend, There's tons of power available on tap and i'm very happy with the sound already. I'v not had chance to get under the car yet but I suspect the exhaust flap mod may have already been done as i'm already very satisfied with the sound

I also love the popping/burping sound from the exhaust when changing up a gear when the throttle is wide open. sounds great!

I was happy to discover the TPMS has been serviced and is all working correctly, the roof is NOT sagging, the electric boot lock is working correctly and all the LEDS are working in the 3rd eye level brake light

I managed to acquire the latest navigation disc online which worked perfectly so saved some money for fuel

Not so good points:
I thought the CD player was capable of playing MP3 discs but it refuses to play them so iv had to burn some audio discs until I find can a dice media bridge unit (They seem to be discontinued and i'm having trouble finding anyone with them in stock in the UK)

The back plate of drivers door handle seems a little loose - i'm going to take a look at it when I get some more time and see if its an easy fix.

The engine seems to get very hot, even during just casual driving, the Coolant/Oil temp stays at the recommended 90 but getting out of the car I can feel a lot of heat being blown out of the engine bay, after opening the bonnet there doesn’t seem to be a lot of heat in the engine bay so i guess the cooling fans are doing their job and getting the heat out. does anyone else find theirs runs rather hot or feel a lot of hot air being blown out around the sides of the car?

A little movement in the drivers seat back, I’m guessing a bolt needs a tighten... again will take a look when I have some free time.

Ended up filling up at a BP station on the way home and the best fuel they had was only 97RON and on opening the filler cap it states 98RON, Got about 1/4 of a tank left so will give Shell V-Power a go next time (it sure drinks it quick when coupled with some spirited driving!)

Also noticed the Rear spoiler is opening at 100mph and going back down at 70mph. In the manual it states up at 60 and down at 40? can anyone else confirm this or should I get it looked at? (In the manual it states not to drive over 90mph without the rear spoiler deployed??)

PS: Pics from the garage when I picked it up. I had provisionally reserved Sunday for polishing and waxing with my swissvax products but I spent the day aimlessly driving around and playing with the damper settings instead!

 

Normal. She gets up to temp fairly fast and yes there is some 'heat soak' of sorts and she stays hot for quite some time after driving. Normal stuff.





Normal-ish. If it aint really broke, don't fix it. LOL!


She looks lovely and reminds of the first B that was here.