The New Car Fanatic Thread

[sidis 9732]

9 hours ago, elfenix said:

sweet minivan, dad

Thanks, Russ. 

7 hours ago, texas08 said:

He’s a minimalist. Jk.

Looks like the dealers garage.

Correct, that was at the dealership where they deliver new vehicles.

[52-80 19079]

Man, what the fuck is my BMW dealership even doing?

So car got towed in because apparent fuel pump problem.  The people there were really polite but:

1.  had a back and forth email exchange before i could get a loaner car

2.  they returned the repaired car and now my hand brake is either snapped or loose or otherwise completely feckless

[G650 14079]

11 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

Man, what the fuck is my BMW dealership even doing?

So car got towed in because apparent fuel pump problem.  The people there were really polite but:

1.  had a back and forth email exchange before i could get a loaner car

2.  they returned the repaired car and now my hand brake is either snapped or loose or otherwise completely feckless

Being a typical dealership apparently 

[elfenix 34170]

aren't you in germany?

[52-80 19079]

im nearby.

 

my original sales guy is super helpful the few times ive contacted him.

first time i took it for servicing, they sent automated SMS updates, and when the car was ready for pickup they sent a little walk-through video clip showing it was clean and what had been done to it.  neato.

subsequent experience with them has been half-baked...... but atleast the secretaries and assistants are hot.

[royiv 9148]

22 hours ago, sidis said:

not that anyone doesn't know what they look like but...

Looks identical to mine. It’s a complete POS. Can’t drive more than ten minutes without getting an error code. If I took it in every single time a get an error warning, I would have to quit my job. Hope you have better luck.

[Bozo_Casanova 26275]

23 hours ago, sidis said:

not that anyone doesn't know what they look like but...

Here's the X7 grill on an e30 and vice versa.

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Bozo_Casanova

[Speedtrucker 2063]

Hah it’s like a Groucho Marx and Hitler side by side

[G650 14079]

6 minutes ago, Speedtrucker said:

Hah it’s like a Groucho Marx and Hitler side by side

lolol.

[sidis 9732]

1 hour ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Here's the X7 grill on an e30 and vice versa.

 

when i went in to drive the 5, i saw an X7 and had a surly "nope" reaction.  that thing is fucking ugly.  the kidneys on the x5 are a bit bucked tooth but it is substantially more reasonable than that ugly ass thing. 

the m4 is definitely the best looking of the lineup these days, but i really dig the 850 as well. 

2 days and a whopping 27 miles in, no issues yet.  smooth as can be.  i optioned up basically everything and half of it is nonsense but acoustic glass is on point.  the massaging chairs could be a bit more forceful.

edit: and no matter what happens, it's light years better than fucking range rover.  fuck those fucking fucks.  so glad to be rid of that company...particularly the shittiest dealership to ever exist - land rover austin.

Edited July 25, 2019 by sidis

[elfenix 34170]

e30 isn't intimidating the other moms

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Man, what the fuck is my BMW dealership even doing?

So car got towed in because apparent fuel pump problem.  The people there were really polite but:

1.  had a back and forth email exchange before i could get a loaner car

2.  they returned the repaired car and now my hand brake is either snapped or loose or otherwise completely feckless

I think by law BMW's have to have fuel pump issues.

Also, that sounds like a typical BMW dealership.  Read reviews from Perillo BMW here in Chicago.  Definitely brings the lulz. 

[Loco 3752]

Had a friend whose x5 kept dying on her, dead battery / bad charging  system It was a grocery getter/kid hauler.  BMW just flat out refused to do anything because the diagnostics showed she drove less than 10 miles at a time.  They considered that abuse and a good reason why it would never keep the battery charged.  

[Gravy Train 974]

That’s not “abuse”, it’s just a drive cycle that doesn’t allow the charging system to activate. BMW (and a few others) activate their alternators with engine braking.

I’m a dickhead know-it-all and can’t sympathize for those who don’t understand how their cars work. Want to treat your car as an appliance? Toyota makes a shit ton of those.

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

46 minutes ago, Loco said:

Had a friend whose x5 kept dying on her, dead battery / bad charging  system It was a grocery getter/kid hauler.  BMW just flat out refused to do anything because the diagnostics showed she drove less than 10 miles at a time.  They considered that abuse and a good reason why it would never keep the battery charged.  

This happens with exotics all the time.  Get a battery tender.  Easy fucking fix

[Pato del Muerto 52338]

1 hour ago, ChiTownDoc said:

This happens with exotics all the time.  Get a battery tender.  Easy fucking fix

Did you see the pronoun  “her” in that post?

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

22 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Did you see the pronoun  “her” in that post?

Yes but I didn’t see why they didn’t get her the tender.  Wife took her Maserati in for same reason and was back w the ‘problem’ fixed in 2 hrs.  

[Goofyboy 3195]

Wife just informed me her X6 is a little jerky when accelerating between 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Time to trade it or easy fix?

[G650 14079]

If you drive less than 10 miles at a time get a fucking bicycle. 

[Loco 3752]

Yeah, S Florida, ride a bike 10 miles during the day and you'll be dead well before the dysentery gets you.

As for the totally normal exotic car behavior, every Honda, Toyota, Nissan, GM, Ford,...etc can handle driving less than 10 miles at a time (not 10 miles total per day, 10+ miles per trip), you'd think a "nice" car could deal with excess parasitic loss or maybe, ya know, add a reasonable sized alternator, but I get it, performance optimization.  There is one little problem though,  I don't consider an x5 exotic in any way.  It's laughable to give BMW a pass by calling it exotic, let's call it what it is, a design limitation, not abuse.

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

And that's fair. ^^^^

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

55 minutes ago, G650 said:

If you drive less than 10 miles at a time get a fucking bicycle. 

Bro.  I don't want a fucking bicycle.  

[Chewbacca 7729]

Yeah, S Florida, ride a bike 10 miles during the day and you'll be dead well before the dysentery gets you.

As for the totally normal exotic car behavior, every Honda, Toyota, Nissan, GM, Ford,...etc can handle driving less than 10 miles at a time (not 10 miles total per day, 10+ miles per trip), you'd think a "nice" car could deal with excess parasitic loss or maybe, ya know, add a reasonable sized alternator, but I get it, performance optimization.  There is one little problem though,  I don't consider an x5 exotic in any way.  It's laughable to give BMW a pass by calling it exotic, let's call it what it is, a design limitation, not abuse.

Yeah, my Audi doesn't have problems with most of my trips being less than 10 miles. This is not the first time BMW has had this problem. When they first introduced the TT V8 engine several years ago, they ate through batteries at a rate of around a battery a year.

 

[Gil Bang 25896]

15 hours ago, ChiTownDoc said:

I think by law BMW's have to have fuel pump issues.

Also, that sounds like a typical BMW dealership.  Read reviews from Perillo BMW here in Chicago.  Definitely brings the lulz. 

so, many years ago, I bought a nice E34.  It had been parked with a for sale sign near my office.  It was super clean.  So, I call the dude, and he meets me at the car.  The car has a license plate frame that says "Newport Motorsports", which is a well-known and reputable shop.  I ask "did you have this car serviced at Newport Motorsports?"

He says "I own Newport Motorsports".   OK, Sold.

Several months later, I'm driving along and the engine just quits.  Won't restart.   I'm assuming it's the fuel pump, but I'm way too busy with a project to look at it myself.  I call the dude at Newport Motorsports, tell him I suspect it's a fuel pump.  He says "I have a BMW fuel-pump tester.  I will be able to tell you if that's the problem almost immediately".  So, I tow the car to his shop.  When I get there, he starts removing the fuel pump access panel in the trunk, and tells a helper "get my BMW fuel pump tester".  The helper rolls his eyes a bit and leaves, and returns with a rubber mallet.   He tells the assistant to crank the car, and he starts whacking the shit out  of the fuel pump with the mallet.  The car starts.  

"Yep, you need a new fuel pump"

[pepper brooks 579]

20 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Man, what the fuck is my BMW dealership even doing?

So car got towed in because apparent fuel pump problem.  The people there were really polite but:

1.  had a back and forth email exchange before i could get a loaner car

2.  they returned the repaired car and now my hand brake is either snapped or loose or otherwise completely feckless

must have gone to advantage downtown Houston.  

[pepper brooks 579]

12 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, my Audi doesn't have problems with most of my trips being less than 10 miles. This is not the first time BMW has had this problem. When they first introduced the TT V8 engine several years ago, they ate through batteries at a rate of around a battery a year.

 

yep.  looks like bmw is still bmw.  sad to me.  I owned 7 bmw's.  4 were outstanding.  3 were total shit boxes.  The shitty ones were all X5's with V8 engines.  I still miss my old 1998 540i with sport package and 6sp manual.  Damn I loved that car and still miss it.  Only car I have ever owned that I miss and it's been gone 14 years.  

[G650 14079]

16 hours ago, Loco said:

Yeah, S Florida, ride a bike 10 miles during the day and you'll be dead well before the dysentery gets you.

I realize we are a country of lazy fat asses and have infrastructure purpose built to maim pedestrians and cyclists. But S Florida is par for the course, including climate.

[Loco 3752]

32 minutes ago, G650 said:

I realize we are a country of lazy fat asses and have infrastructure purpose built to maim pedestrians and cyclists. But S Florida is par for the course, including climate.

It's cute that you think that... 

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/

also it's currently 96* with a heat index of 115* and a UV index of 11 (I'm not even joking about that) Which is par for the course and not a special heat event like your having up north.  Care to take a 9 mile ride to the office or perhaps schlep some groceries?

Edited July 26, 2019 by Loco

[Pato del Muerto 52338]

12 minutes ago, Loco said:

It's cute that you think that... 

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/

also it's currently 96* with a heat index of 115* and a UV index of 11 (I'm not even joking about that) Which is par for the course and not a special heat event like your having up north.  Care to take a 9 mile ride to the office or perhaps schlep some groceries?

Its currently 78 here with a heat index of...78, (so I’m not on either axis of your fancy chart) but if’n I’m agoing 4 miles to the store and back for groceries, I’m driving my truck. 

[G650 14079]

40 minutes ago, Loco said:

It's cute that you think that... 

https://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design/

also it's currently 96* with a heat index of 115* and a UV index of 11 (I'm not even joking about that) Which is par for the course and not a special heat event like your having up north.  Care to take a 9 mile ride to the office or perhaps schlep some groceries?

I lived in Charleston. That's some amateur shit.

[Loco 3752]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

I lived in Charleston. That's some amateur shit.

Did you own a car?

Charleston today 89* feels like 94*  UV index 10   => still not biking unless it's for fun.

But yeah for heat, Charleston is no joke either.  

[Gravy Train 974]

I realize we are a country of lazy fat asses and have infrastructure purpose built to maim pedestrians and cyclists. But S Florida is par for the course, including climate.

South Florida isn't even part of the U.S. any longer. Better have your own security detail or Boricua compinches to clear that trip for you.

[G650 14079]

1 hour ago, Loco said:

Did you own a car?

Charleston today 89* feels like 94*  UV index 10   => still not biking unless it's for fun.

But yeah for heat, Charleston is no joke either.  

Funny story, but actually where I lived when I bought the Gary Fisher MTB I still own to this day. Was a carless college kid.

 

Without exaggeration, I rate Charleston worse than SE Asia for humidity. Can literally see the air.

 

To tie back into car thread, I spent every nickle I owned to get the A/C fixed on my old FJ 60 Land Cruiser during my tenure there. Probably cost more than vehicle was worth at the time 

[52-80 19079]

4 hours ago, G650 said:

Funny story, but actually where I lived when I bought the Gary Fisher MTB I still own to this day. Was a carless college kid.

 

Without exaggeration, I rate Charleston worse than SE Asia for humidity. Can literally see the air.

 

To tie back into car thread, I spent every nickle I owned to get the A/C fixed on my old FJ 60 Land Cruiser during my tenure there. Probably cost more than vehicle was worth at the time 

wahoo or tassajara?

[G650 14079]

3 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

wahoo or tassajara?

Tassajara ftw 

[Goofyboy 3195]

Tassajara ftw 

I still ride my ‘99 Tassajara.

[G650 14079]

3 minutes ago, Goofyboy said:

 

I still ride my ‘99 Tassajara.

 

Damn right. Mine's a 97

[Buzzrock 14870]

Not new, not classic, but looks like a fun weekend cruiser. And the humidity has been low for a couple days in Atlanta so everyone is going topless.



I need to figure out what I’m going to do with my Mustang convertible.

[Handcruser 2805]

yep.  looks like bmw is still bmw.  sad to me.  I owned 7 bmw's.  4 were outstanding.  3 were total shit boxes.  The shitty ones were all X5's with V8 engines.  I still miss my old 1998 540i with sport package and 6sp manual.  Damn I loved that car and still miss it.  Only car I have ever owned that I miss and it's been gone 14 years.  

Many a BMW mechanics/fanatics say those 5 series were the best BMW built. Just fantastic cars. The 540/6 speed was the cream of the crop. My dad had 3 of them and they were all bulletproof.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Buzzrock 14870]

Man the new ones depreciate like crazy:

http://atcm.co/S2PVDP/1e780cad

2018 540i, 6700 miles, $44K

Gotta love 1-2 year old German cars.

[ChiTownDoc 21098]

On 7/24/2019 at 10:57 AM, Buzzrock said:

 

I’ve got an empty garage slot at the new place in case you want to keep something here to take out on the north Georgia twisties. We have some terrible wineries that are fun to drive to.

I’m generous like that.

 

Ha, I'll keep that in mind!  

Gonna head south along the lake today.  Perfect out and not much traffic in that direction.  Hope to be able to really open her up. 

3 hours ago, Handcruser said:

Many a BMW mechanics/fanatics say those 5 series were the best BMW built. Just fantastic cars. The 540/6 speed was the cream of the crop. My dad had 3 of them and they were all bulletproof.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The 3 series from that era (e46) were pretty solid too.  I had the 325 coupe.  Other than the damn infamous BMW fuel pump, no real issues before it hit 100k.  And even after that nothing too bad.  I think I hit 180,000 miles on it over about a decade.  Oh the window getting stuck rolled down due (faulty motor) was fun in the Chicago winter.  You don't get time off to deal with that kind of BS during residency so I would dress in 50 layers and make the 25 mile drive in February.  Re-defined miserable for that week. 

But it was my only car for all those years and it took a beating here in Chicago.  

[Gravy Train 974]

Cooling components too, especially the E36 and E46 water pumps and brittle plastics, from radiator unions to reservoir bottles. Seems a cooling system overhaul was common maintenance for cars beyond 60k miles.

[Prepuce of Doom 20983]

My buddy's dad has a big bash for his birthday each year and blocks off their street a block or two in each direction from their house in order to host a car show for all their friends.

I've posted some of these same cars from previous years' parties, but whatever...

Barely street legal Can-Am car - dude drove it to the party.

[Prepuce of Doom 20983]

I don't know which one would provide a more entertaining way to die - the Kurtis or the Sunbeam.

[Prepuce of Doom 20983]

1955 Europa GT is the crown jewel of his collection - it's been shown at Pebble, Amelia, etc.

Edit: just noticed the nice patch in the photo of the Jaguar that stretches all the way down to the Camaro. I'll try to find out who and what did it. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Prepuce of Doom

[Prepuce of Doom 20983]

I'm not a bike guy, but the 1948 Harley is all numbers matching and is (one of) the birthday boy's current projects.

[52-80 19079]

the residential architecture is so much nicer than texas/southwest faux-Mediterranean mcmansions

[TwiceHorn 31259]

29 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

the residential architecture is so much nicer than texas/southwest faux-Mediterranean mcmansions

Shit, I'll take the stucco Mediterraneans over the faux chateaux any day.  Jumping geezus on a pogo stick.

[Prepuce of Doom 20983]

55 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

the residential architecture is so much nicer than texas/southwest faux-Mediterranean mcmansions

The neighborhood is mostly houses built in the 1920s and '30s, but there's plenty of that type of pablum in the newer parts of town. And unfortunately, some examples are also sprinkled throughout the older neighborhoods with teardowns - typically buying two older homes, razing them both, and putting up a McMansion that sprawls to within a foot of the new double lot's restrictions. 

Edited July 29, 2019 by Prepuce of Doom

[pepper brooks 579]

I had to drive out to Hunt, TX yesterday.  On the way home I got a message to add a quart of oil.  no big deal.  That is something I have to so every 5k-7K miles or so, and has been the case in every Porsche I have owned.  I pulled into Luv's in Boerne to get some oil, go to pull the hood latch, and the damn thing basically disintegrated in my hand.  I have always thought that handle was a POS, and honestly I wondered how it was so poorly done in both CAyenne and Panamera cars when in the 911 it is an electronic release button which works great unless your battery is dead.  In both cayenne and panameras it's a plastic handle you pull, but my god it is like 1980's Hyundai level quality.  Anyway, the quart low message stated, "okay to continue" so I made it back.  Took the thing in this morning to get a new hood release handle and a quart of oil.  Pain in the ass.  Those of you who have owned a 997 version of the 911 will understand when I say the hood release handle in the Cayenne and Panamera is the same quality as the 997 cup holder.