Opinions on Beemers and similar (cars)?
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Pcar928fan
Well-known member
LOL! Love it Tom! Great post!
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
I TOTALLY agree w/ what you are saying here...BUT I still don't like the Bangle look in the least! There was a guy at the University I went to that actually had a 323i EURO model (since we didn't get them here)...VERY COOL! Still did not look great... Later it went away and was replaced by the best looking car ever penned... E-type Jag convertible! YEA BABY! That car looked great but rarely actually ran! LOL!
I don't believe the majority of BMW owners think of their self image because they drive one. If one have never driven a BMW, they should. I never wanted one. My wife talked me into driving one when I was looking to replace my Acura RSX. I was looking for a fun sports car. G35, 350Z, or any coupe that I thought looked good. One test drive in the BEEMER and I was hooked. The BMW's electrical systems are mainly crap, but I'll put their engine reliability up against Toyota, Honda, Nissan any day.
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Be carefull for what you say !!! For in 2002 th M-3's had serious engine / oil problems, friends M-3 ate main journal bearings in less than 20k. Bottom line ________ if it's made by man it can and will break eventually !!
That being said, all major car manufacturers have had problems on one way or another. I don't think BMW (not just because I own one) is any worse than anything else. My old boss had a Toyota truck (2005 Tundra). That thing was in the shop every other week. A worman here at work bought a new Rav 4, it was in the shop after two days. I think there are some bad cars in general.
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
And you picked the best looking one (other than the M3 version of what you are driving) of the whole bunch in my view! Congrats! I have always liked that model...from the day it came out.
Exactly and it is the Ultimate Driving Machine! Now I wonder how sweet a Porche must be.
Pcar928fan
Well-known member
They are AWESOME! I have had a Dinan M5 rip past me on the race track once. REALLY good driver, but a damn fast car even w/ a poor driver... Super charged, suspension tuned, etc. Watching this guy work this car was amazing! I was not able to stay behind him for long though! This was the M5 from 2 generations back. Come to think of it that might have been the FIRST of the M5's! Current 5's...UGLY! Hate the headlights!
Agree the 135 wold be a GREAT driver! Hell to look at though!
The good news is that from behind the steering wheel it ALL LOOKS GOOD!!!
I wouldn't mind going to the 5 series after my current car
135 is ugly >_< It'd be a blast to drive though!
What's a 135? Are you talking about the 335i? The thing is really quick. I drove one as a loaner when my car was getting serviced. Some kid in a Mustang GT got blasted by it. He even follwed me back to the dealership to take it for a test drive.
My bad. I just looked it up. I didn't know the vert was a 135i. Sone guy drives past my house every day in one. It actully looks better in the color he has. It's a light blue.
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Pcar928fan
Well-known member
Uh...no the Convertible is NOT the 135i, that would be the 335Ci. The 135i is a new model along the lines of the original 2002. It is a 2 door and much smaller than the 3XX but it has the 335 Turbo engine in it! SOOOO, it should be a nice sporty rival even for the M3! Should whip a 335i pretty badly since it will weigh several hundreds of pounds less than the bigger car!
Is it just me or does every Mustang driver that sees a German car wants to race it?! What is up with those guys? They probably listen to rap music! I couldn't resist...sorry! :devil:
tonepub
Senior Member
I don't know about the engine reliability thing. I have an 86 320i (euro car, 2 litre 6 cyl) and an 87 325i (US car 2.5 litre 6 cyl) and they both have just about 200k miles on them. The Euro car was pampered by its first owner and looks almost new. The US car was neglected cosmetically by its owner but meticulously maintained mechanically and looks a little bit worse for the wear and tear, but both still run great.
I don't think I've spent 500 bucks maintaining both of them over the last 5 years. Fluids, spark plugs, a few filters and a set of brake pads on the 325.
I had a toyota Rav 4 as my daily driver. It went 230k and started to have some transmission issues, but I still felt that I got my moneys worth.
Never heard that comment about the engine blocks. that's a good one.
I never saw the BMW as a status car. I tried all the other Euro cars, liked most of them and went to BMW because it wasn't as "dig me" as a Porsche (though I still love those cars too...) and it had the best combination of performance and other features.
I'm definitely going to buy the 135 when it comes out because I like small GTI sized cars but aren't fond of front wheel drive.
I guess it's like speakers or anything else, you gravitate to something you enjoy.
There are a lot of BMW owners though that get pretty snooty and they've never driven the car faster than 80 or 90mph. I have a freind with an M3 like that. I wish I had his car!!
All in all though, fantastic reliabilty and a good driving experience! And my dealer here in Portland, Or is fantastic. When I do stop in the parts dept. to get an oil filter or a gasket, etc., they always are nice and ask me how my little Euro car is doing.
So no complaints out of this BMW owner.
I don't think I've spent 500 bucks maintaining both of them over the last 5 years. Fluids, spark plugs, a few filters and a set of brake pads on the 325.
I had a toyota Rav 4 as my daily driver. It went 230k and started to have some transmission issues, but I still felt that I got my moneys worth.
Never heard that comment about the engine blocks. that's a good one.
I never saw the BMW as a status car. I tried all the other Euro cars, liked most of them and went to BMW because it wasn't as "dig me" as a Porsche (though I still love those cars too...) and it had the best combination of performance and other features.
I'm definitely going to buy the 135 when it comes out because I like small GTI sized cars but aren't fond of front wheel drive.
I guess it's like speakers or anything else, you gravitate to something you enjoy.
There are a lot of BMW owners though that get pretty snooty and they've never driven the car faster than 80 or 90mph. I have a freind with an M3 like that. I wish I had his car!!
All in all though, fantastic reliabilty and a good driving experience! And my dealer here in Portland, Or is fantastic. When I do stop in the parts dept. to get an oil filter or a gasket, etc., they always are nice and ask me how my little Euro car is doing.
So no complaints out of this BMW owner.
It's like anything else. You just can't make these blanket generic statements like: "all BMW driver's are snooty" or "BMW's are about perception more than performance" because you will be wrong as many times as you will be right.
BMW makes some great cars, as does Mercedes, as does Toyota as does Honda. They all have reliability issues at different times, but for the most part they are high-quality automobiles and every person will have their favorites based on personal taste and financial ability. What I hate to see on this or any board is a poster putting people in these broad categories based on their personal taste and then putting them down or insinuating they don't have a clue.
[rant on]
ralflar, when you say "the majority of the BMW owners in the US cares more about self-image than the cars abilities" you are basing that on nothing more than your own personal perceptions and biases, not on any real factual data. I believe the truth is that you are flat-out wrong in that statement. The problem with making a statement like that on this forum is that it is just your opinion, and it is insulting to the hundreds of thousands of BMW owners who do have a clue and are more than happy that they bought the high-performance car of their dreams, not because of their self-image, but because they love the car. It is no different than posting in a thread about Vinyl and saying that Vinyl lovers are a bunch of aging, backward saps who care more about nostalgia than great sound. It is incorrect, it is insulting, and considering that the original poster ended up buying a BMW, it is just plain rude.
[rant off]
BMW makes some great cars, as does Mercedes, as does Toyota as does Honda. They all have reliability issues at different times, but for the most part they are high-quality automobiles and every person will have their favorites based on personal taste and financial ability. What I hate to see on this or any board is a poster putting people in these broad categories based on their personal taste and then putting them down or insinuating they don't have a clue.
[rant on]
ralflar, when you say "the majority of the BMW owners in the US cares more about self-image than the cars abilities" you are basing that on nothing more than your own personal perceptions and biases, not on any real factual data. I believe the truth is that you are flat-out wrong in that statement. The problem with making a statement like that on this forum is that it is just your opinion, and it is insulting to the hundreds of thousands of BMW owners who do have a clue and are more than happy that they bought the high-performance car of their dreams, not because of their self-image, but because they love the car. It is no different than posting in a thread about Vinyl and saying that Vinyl lovers are a bunch of aging, backward saps who care more about nostalgia than great sound. It is incorrect, it is insulting, and considering that the original poster ended up buying a BMW, it is just plain rude.
[rant off]
Rich:
The original poster didn't rip on BMW's. He was gathering info to see if anyone had issues with their BMW's or Infinity G35's. Some other sap was the one that basically said BMW owners were mainly A-holes in so many words. SteveInNC was the original poster, I ddn't see him rip on anyone.
Wasn't tring to say it was, rather point out a particular fact regarding the M-3's made earlier in the decade. That is the main reason why BMW extended the warranty, and made good on repairs, etc. But then again I have always said .... the best warranty in the world is the one you never have to use !!
Dr. Pig,
Please re-read my post. I was not referring to comments made by the original poster. I was referring to a comment made by ralflar (the "other sap" that you refer to) and that I believed the comment was not only incorrect, but also just plain rude to the original poster (SteveinNC) since he ultimately bought a BMW.
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