Well time for a bit of an update.

Did the oil change, and it drove significantly better than it had done before - I think the low mileage of the previous owner had a detrimental effect on the oil and the M54 does like good quality oil. It also doesn't seem to be as bad as I'd heard in terms of oil consumption - it does use some, but not as much as others - 1l in 4k miles roughtly.

It also came with Dunlop SP Sports (rear) and Sport Max (front) tyres which were a little past their best. I got about 4k miles out of them before I changed them, but on replacing them it was apparent how bad they actually were - the rears were a little shagged (still legal, but rather hard) and fronts beginning to crack. As such I placed an order with Camskill for 4 new Falken FK452s - 235/45/17s for the front, 255/40/17s for the rear. Had them fitted at a local garage, they seem to be quite good. Thanks to Guy (Rastamanblues) for the recommendation on this one.

After all that it has now decided it wants an Insp. 1 - which isn't the worst news (Insp. 2 is the most expensive service). Kindly informed me when I started it yesterday - so that has been booked in for next week. Oh, and the Tax is due end of this month or next (£260) and the MOT is due mid October.

Expensive month this month!