Well I hope you get your €1,500 Oisin. My point was that you have spent €600 + €400 + €400 + €80 + €120 (on a gearknob!) which is €1,600 alone, plus 2 new tyres, plus rad, plus the initial purchase price of the car ...... and all this on the 2nd car in the shed doing very little. On this basis it is a bad move economically.
You want a jeep for driving to site & the bit around site when you get there, as well as lugging a trailer around at home etc... If I were you I'd put the 15" wheels & original bumpers on the 520i, a tow bar, & use that for the duration of the project. Yes it will use more fuel, but I know your expenses(!) and when you compare loss on E34 sale, purchase of cheap diesel jeep (which ain't going to be light on juice), it makes no sense.
Neither does hanging on to a diesel Passat and getting a jeep as the nag, considering the miles you will do on the site you are working on (circa 30k annually? with alot of that driving to & from site, office etc). Sell the Passat, buy another jeep (why did you sell the Santa Fe?!?), and use the E34 for daily mooching around.
I don't want to sound harsh, but your current decision tree is climbing up the complete wrong branch Oisin! Both financially and from a driver satisfaction perspective. You're making all the wrong compromises I reckon - you should have hung on to the Santa Fe, or else hung on & got a jeep you wanted before selling the Saab.
So don't jump into selling the E34 when it is a car you really like and have put alot of time & money into getting it the way you want.
Edited by T.J.