I'll leave the timing belt to a specialist, it's something like 6 hours work.
The instruction says to remove the engine first. On my car, the timing belt change is listed on the invoice copy I have as a fixed fee of 630 EUR plus spares. Don't know the hourly cost in Germany, but if it's 60 EUR, then that's 10 hours of work, i.e. two mechanics a whole day. I don't know if they can remove and reinstall the engine in one day?
People think I'm crazy to want to own such a car, but I've chosen to put it in my budget. At least it will not need transmission repair.
It drives like a dream, I took it over some small roads yesterday, it was fun! The large 225/50-R16 wheels that are standard on mine keeps it to the asphalt even in the narrowest turns.
One funny thing happened though, before a turn I hit the brakes hard, ABS kicked in slightly, then all light in the display went out.
I think the engine was still running, but I was quite confused! The indicators for headlights on were still on, I remember. I turned the key off and started the car again, and everything was back to normal. Loose connection somewhere?
Must see if I can find it, but it's difficult with all the CAN bus stuff going on in it. I've got a copy of the wirering diagram, but don't know if that helps.
Cheers,
Anders