BMW,I understand the hype
#31
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Why do people go on about snow and BMW. In all the snow we had this year mine didn't get stuck once - I bought flipping snow socks too which are supposed to be superb but never needed to use them! IMHO people in BMW's getting stuck in snow can't drive properly
#32
I bought my girlfreind an E36 318 compact at the start of the year as a wee run around, for something pretty old an nothing special I think its great, I'm really looking forward to when I get either an E46 M3 or a Z3 M
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E46 M3 is brilliant on a smooth, fast road where you don't have to use the brakes repeatedly and the suspension doesn't have to control vertical body movements. I loved the exterior, interior.
The humblest Scooby takes one apart in the twisties though. An Impreza Sport handed me my M3 *** in the rain on a local twisty where nothing I ever came across was a match for my Scooby.
The humblest Scooby takes one apart in the twisties though. An Impreza Sport handed me my M3 *** in the rain on a local twisty where nothing I ever came across was a match for my Scooby.
#36
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Yes in those conditions because at any decent pace on that road it skipped about so that with the seat on its lowest my head was hitting the roof (I am only 6 foot) and I couldn't hold a steady throttle in the wet corners (with sport mode off) and even with traction control on in those wet conditions it was reaching some impressive angles that would have made the Impreza driver think I was showboating except that I was holding him up, so let him past and then followed. Where there were straights I could reel him in again, but if I tried to follow into the corners I was going to have an accident. The car was pristine and had less than 10000 miles and the dampers were fine, geometry was correct and the tyres had plenty of tread. Maybe I didn't get on with RWD, but with the GTR putting at least as much power to the rear wheels I don't have any trouble on the same road. Neither did my Subaru, Evo, vRS, various Fords, a Peugeot etc.
Last edited by john banks; 10 July 2011 at 12:33 AM.
#37
Weird..........
My current M coupe has no traction control,just an LSD. The amount of grip is pretty stunning,even in wet conditions it has to be provoked into oversteer..If the throttle is used progressively then there is zero traction loss..
Im lucky enough to live within a couple of minutes of the Woodhead Pass and the Snake in Derbyshire,and they are both brilliant roads for exploring any cars handling characteristics..
My friend has a lightly modded new shape scoob,the one with the hatchback..He reckons its around 320bhp,so very similar in outright performance to my M coupe..We go out and have a blast from time to time and the cars are very equal,i can just begin to get away when the road is open and flowing but when braking and outright grip are needed he makes the gap back up...
But if something with 200bhp less than my car showed me the way,im afraid i would be hanging up the old Sparco's...
My current M coupe has no traction control,just an LSD. The amount of grip is pretty stunning,even in wet conditions it has to be provoked into oversteer..If the throttle is used progressively then there is zero traction loss..
Im lucky enough to live within a couple of minutes of the Woodhead Pass and the Snake in Derbyshire,and they are both brilliant roads for exploring any cars handling characteristics..
My friend has a lightly modded new shape scoob,the one with the hatchback..He reckons its around 320bhp,so very similar in outright performance to my M coupe..We go out and have a blast from time to time and the cars are very equal,i can just begin to get away when the road is open and flowing but when braking and outright grip are needed he makes the gap back up...
But if something with 200bhp less than my car showed me the way,im afraid i would be hanging up the old Sparco's...
#38
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I have owned a lot of interesting cars over the years and obviously drove more nice cars than 90% of people due to my profession, but I just cant find anything that suits me better than my current E39 M5. I really do love it!
#39
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The thing is that it was only this car that gave me trouble, so it isn't me. I am from Derbyshire and although I haven't driven those roads recently, they seem smoother than these Scottish roads, and in some ways I can imagine an old M3 being good on them. However, if the tyres won't stay on the ground bevause of suspension travel so that a mid corner bump knocks you off line then there isn't much you can do. The E39 M5 was much better over similar roads, but when I was shopping for one in 2005 I struggled to find a pristine one.
I tested the M3 on smooth roads around Nottingham and didn't appreciate the issues until it met a Scottish B road. Within a month I knew I had made an expensive mistake as I love these roads, but this car made me hate them.
I tested the M3 on smooth roads around Nottingham and didn't appreciate the issues until it met a Scottish B road. Within a month I knew I had made an expensive mistake as I love these roads, but this car made me hate them.
Weird..........
My current M coupe has no traction control,just an LSD. The amount of grip is pretty stunning,even in wet conditions it has to be provoked into oversteer..If the throttle is used progressively then there is zero traction loss..
Im lucky enough to live within a couple of minutes of the Woodhead Pass and the Snake in Derbyshire,and they are both brilliant roads for exploring any cars handling characteristics..
My friend has a lightly modded new shape scoob,the one with the hatchback..He reckons its around 320bhp,so very similar in outright performance to my M coupe..We go out and have a blast from time to time and the cars are very equal,i can just begin to get away when the road is open and flowing but when braking and outright grip are needed he makes the gap back up...
But if something with 200bhp less than my car showed me the way,im afraid i would be hanging up the old Sparco's...
My current M coupe has no traction control,just an LSD. The amount of grip is pretty stunning,even in wet conditions it has to be provoked into oversteer..If the throttle is used progressively then there is zero traction loss..
Im lucky enough to live within a couple of minutes of the Woodhead Pass and the Snake in Derbyshire,and they are both brilliant roads for exploring any cars handling characteristics..
My friend has a lightly modded new shape scoob,the one with the hatchback..He reckons its around 320bhp,so very similar in outright performance to my M coupe..We go out and have a blast from time to time and the cars are very equal,i can just begin to get away when the road is open and flowing but when braking and outright grip are needed he makes the gap back up...
But if something with 200bhp less than my car showed me the way,im afraid i would be hanging up the old Sparco's...
Last edited by john banks; 10 July 2011 at 10:27 AM.
#41
Again,that is unusual..
Aint been on a Scottish A road for years in anger,so i cant really comment..
But went to the northern BMW festival at Tatton park today.... its a great little show for a couple of hours..
In your words,i handed a 3.2s Boxy its **** in its hands on the way home...The guy was kinda amused and devastated all at the same time..
I love my M coupe !
Aint been on a Scottish A road for years in anger,so i cant really comment..
But went to the northern BMW festival at Tatton park today.... its a great little show for a couple of hours..
In your words,i handed a 3.2s Boxy its **** in its hands on the way home...The guy was kinda amused and devastated all at the same time..
I love my M coupe !
#42
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I had a BMW e36 sport good car! Like a few people have said its a quality well screwed together brand i never had any issues with it! But for looks and sound my subaru has the good feel factor
#44
I live in Yorkshire- well Haworth to be precise. on a hill.
BMW's were the no 1 car, being abandoned on the long hill outside my house.
along with chav'd up cars with big rims on
mercs that were RWD and so on.
but to be honest, you;d expect most cars to struggle in lots of snow: I certainly did one day and had to abandon my daily runaround: a FWD ford mondeo.
the likely scenario, is that in 97% of driving conditions, I'm sure a BMW is fine.
I don't know Hampshire, but I guess it probably doesn't have the hills of west yorkshire.
#45
^^^^^^
Nice place Haworth,been there a few times..
I live on top of a huge hill,basically when the snow comes down our village is pretty much cut off,unless one of the farmers clears the main road..
The BMW's sit where they are when the weather turns bad..
Nice place Haworth,been there a few times..
I live on top of a huge hill,basically when the snow comes down our village is pretty much cut off,unless one of the farmers clears the main road..
The BMW's sit where they are when the weather turns bad..
#46
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I went from a bugeye wagon to an m sport 335d E91 and was really worried about how it would cope in the snow.
I bought a set of MV3 rims and put v reddy wintrac extremes-they were fantastic and never put a foot wrong-despite me trying in some thick snow,as well as ice.
Winter tyres are the way forward!
I bought a set of MV3 rims and put v reddy wintrac extremes-they were fantastic and never put a foot wrong-despite me trying in some thick snow,as well as ice.
Winter tyres are the way forward!
#47
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The only reason you guys see BMW stuck in snow more than other brands is because they are one of the few RWD cars in mass production and RWD is always worse in the snow and harder to control for your average driver that doesnt posess a fork lift license.
#48
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#49
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john, I have a local bumpy road near me and i have no trouble going at some rather enthusiastic rates including in the wet.
Agreed it doesnt handle the bumps quite as well as some cars but its nowhere near as major as you are stating.
I dont have any issues with tail out, good throttle control and its a treat. infact that is where the pleasure is for me. You must have used digital throttle control to get into trouble with dsc on.
The reason i got rid of my scoob is it lacked driver involvement. RWD = masses of win.
I think the only reason not to rate the 46 m3 is if you dont get on with rwd. And for the prices they are going for there is not a better way to spend 10k. (except maybe 10x £1,000 hookers. Or perhaps 10,000x £1 hookers.).
Agreed it doesnt handle the bumps quite as well as some cars but its nowhere near as major as you are stating.
I dont have any issues with tail out, good throttle control and its a treat. infact that is where the pleasure is for me. You must have used digital throttle control to get into trouble with dsc on.
The reason i got rid of my scoob is it lacked driver involvement. RWD = masses of win.
I think the only reason not to rate the 46 m3 is if you dont get on with rwd. And for the prices they are going for there is not a better way to spend 10k. (except maybe 10x £1,000 hookers. Or perhaps 10,000x £1 hookers.).
Last edited by scoobyc; 12 July 2011 at 01:54 PM.
#52
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john, I have a local bumpy road near me and i have no trouble going at some rather enthusiastic rates including in the wet.
Agreed it doesnt handle the bumps quite as well as some cars but its nowhere near as major as you are stating.
I dont have any issues with tail out, good throttle control and its a treat. infact that is where the pleasure is for me. You must have used digital throttle control to get into trouble with dsc on.
The reason i got rid of my scoob is it lacked driver involvement. RWD = masses of win.
I think the only reason not to rate the 46 m3 is if you dont get on with rwd. And for the prices they are going for there is not a better way to spend 10k. (except maybe 10x £1,000 hookers. Or perhaps 10,000x £1 hookers.).
Agreed it doesnt handle the bumps quite as well as some cars but its nowhere near as major as you are stating.
I dont have any issues with tail out, good throttle control and its a treat. infact that is where the pleasure is for me. You must have used digital throttle control to get into trouble with dsc on.
The reason i got rid of my scoob is it lacked driver involvement. RWD = masses of win.
I think the only reason not to rate the 46 m3 is if you dont get on with rwd. And for the prices they are going for there is not a better way to spend 10k. (except maybe 10x £1,000 hookers. Or perhaps 10,000x £1 hookers.).
I'm not accepting that the problem wasn't major. The car would take off and my head would hit the headlining whilst trying to maintain about half throttle because with all the skipping that was all that it could put down in the wet. The Subaru with more power could go flat out through the same section literally 20-30mph faster, but had the compliance to allow you to modulate the throttle when you needed to. One was utter crap, the other was a hero on this road. A favourite yump in the Subaru would go flat out and accelerate with barely any wheelspin, the M3 would take off and land rather awkwardly, and if wet you would risk hitting the armco. The other thing is that the M3 just didn't land well. It made horrible noises on landing hard which made you not want to do it.
The Evo 9 landed really well too, but I think that did contribute to me damaging 4th gear through the shock loadings.
Last edited by john banks; 12 July 2011 at 11:22 PM.
#53
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Had so many cars and so many makes over the years.VW ,Audi,Vauxhall,Ford,Skoda!!(bloody ace!) etc etc slagged BMW off like everyone else does
Bmw just seems head and shoulders above them all.Just bought basic 318d SE.Such a good drive,so well screwed together.Can't praise the car enough .Or the company! So switched on
I'm finally a very happy motorist
Much preferred to the Audi too! Skoda best of the others
I'd say BMW do make the best cars.Why can't British companies do it?!!!
Bmw just seems head and shoulders above them all.Just bought basic 318d SE.Such a good drive,so well screwed together.Can't praise the car enough .Or the company! So switched on
I'm finally a very happy motorist
Much preferred to the Audi too! Skoda best of the others
I'd say BMW do make the best cars.Why can't British companies do it?!!!
i have to agree also, the most reliable car i have ever owned was my 1995 bmw e34 m5, 320bhp standard and could take some abuse when needed with no problems, the only money i spent on it in the 4 yrs i had it was a service every 12 months and a new battery, where as my old impreza was in the garage every 2 months but it was running a bit more power @340bhp but in the 12 months i owned it i had nearly 2k in repair bills.
but all this said the bmw was boring to drive even though it was fast in a straight line and cant tell you how many times in 4 yrs the back end came out on corners and roundabouts, i didn't get the same driving buzz i get from driving the impreza's ive had, they truly are a car to put a smile on your face every time you get in them.
beemers are great if you want to grow up.
#54
It is suspension travel that is the real problem. When the tyres lose contact with the tarmac you have no real option but to slow down or risk a crash. The Subaru with P1 suspension which I'd just sold before getting the M3 was the best car I've had for handling that situation and it made it a hoot over a bumpy road. The M3 was the worst in this respect, but was impressive on a smooth surface and in these conditions had a little more grip. Even in the wet it was impressive if the road surface was very smooth.
I'm not accepting that the problem wasn't major. The car would take off and my head would hit the headlining whilst trying to maintain about half throttle because with all the skipping that was all that it could put down in the wet. The Subaru with more power could go flat out through the same section literally 20-30mph faster, but had the compliance to allow you to modulate the throttle when you needed to. One was utter crap, the other was a hero on this road. A favourite yump in the Subaru would go flat out and accelerate with barely any wheelspin, the M3 would take off and land rather awkwardly, and if wet you would risk hitting the armco. The other thing is that the M3 just didn't land well. It made horrible noises on landing hard which made you not want to do it.
The Evo 9 landed really well too, but I think that did contribute to me damaging 4th gear through the shock loadings.
I'm not accepting that the problem wasn't major. The car would take off and my head would hit the headlining whilst trying to maintain about half throttle because with all the skipping that was all that it could put down in the wet. The Subaru with more power could go flat out through the same section literally 20-30mph faster, but had the compliance to allow you to modulate the throttle when you needed to. One was utter crap, the other was a hero on this road. A favourite yump in the Subaru would go flat out and accelerate with barely any wheelspin, the M3 would take off and land rather awkwardly, and if wet you would risk hitting the armco. The other thing is that the M3 just didn't land well. It made horrible noises on landing hard which made you not want to do it.
The Evo 9 landed really well too, but I think that did contribute to me damaging 4th gear through the shock loadings.
I do understand what your saying John.... Its just something i never really experienced badly in any modern car..
Back in the day i had a Lotus Sunbeam that felt that it was hardly in contact with the road when pressing on,unless the road was smooth it felt as though it was "skipping" across the undulations in the road.
I also had a 1990 Integrale that suffered similar,it put me off the road on a welsh forest road at speed.. Luckily no damage done.
The Impreza's i have had were sure footed,that cannot be denied.They are a superb,fast and very capable road car.
But for me there in lays the problem,they are quite boring to drive.
An Impreza is never a challenge to drive fast,any one can do it.
Last edited by fatscoobfella1; 13 July 2011 at 07:19 AM.
#56
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I went from an Audi RS6 C5 model to an e92 335i and although the audi was a much nicer place to be,much nicer engine,more toys etc I just love driving the e92 and i am still not bored with it.I normally get bored after 6 months but i think this car is going to stick around for a while so much so I have just bought a new set of alloys for it which i think suits it much better,and as we are posting pics here is a before and after of mine
and just bought these wheels
That being said the 1M is appealing more and more its just the size of the car that puts me off
and just bought these wheels
That being said the 1M is appealing more and more its just the size of the car that puts me off
#57
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I've recently bought a 135i. Superb car, head & shoulders above my hawkeye but I do miss that burble. Even though it's a 3 litre petrol, turbo. I still get 39mpg on a run.
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#59
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I went from an Audi RS6 C5 model to an e92 335i and although the audi was a much nicer place to be,much nicer engine,more toys etc I just love driving the e92 and i am still not bored with it.I normally get bored after 6 months but i think this car is going to stick around for a while so much so I have just bought a new set of alloys for it which i think suits it much better,and as we are posting pics here is a before and after of mine
and just bought these wheels
That being said the 1M is appealing more and more its just the size of the car that puts me off
and just bought these wheels
That being said the 1M is appealing more and more its just the size of the car that puts me off
also yr comparing an old RS6 with a newest E 92 is not really a good comparison, i think if you use the current RS6 as the benchmark ...it will be a different story .
Not slagging the BMW brand...my daily is a E90 M3.
#60
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The 135 is on my shortlist for my next car but haven't made a final decision yet