BlueEyes

so why wouldn't you buy a BMW? problems with the cars?

Im_DANomite

iTrader: (1)

yes...small problems that shouldn't happen on such high priced cars. everyday i deal with creaks, rattles, squeaks, clicks, etc. etc. window regulators go bad ALL the time, ball joints, light bulbs, window initializations, key initializations, pixels going out on intrument clusters, door lock actuators, trunk lock actuators, WATER LEAKS, i could go on and on. the cars are way to over-engineered as well. sensors will go bad over time, after all, they are only sensors. so why not put them where they can be easily replaced? why make it hard for me to get to it? why is it that when you replace a control module for the one component, i have to update the entire car system? why does programming a car take more than 4 hours?!?!?!?! what's the point of making everything in the engine bay plastic?? plastic gets brittle over time...and it costs so much money to replace it!!

don't get me wrong, working on BMWs is great. good money. but for the owner's sake, it's such a POS.

i like simplicity. if i want the air to be hot, i don't want to sit there and repeatedly press the hot button til it gets to 75 degrees. i rather just turn the heat **** to exactly where i want it in a matter of seconds.

i think BMW makes great cars. the technology is fantastic. but i don't want all that bullshit, just more **** to break and give me stress. useless tech. for the sake of useless tech. is absolutly right. i can't stand power seats...the wait is unbearable. i love my simple RX8...i love japanese cars. yipee kayay!!!

Japan8

See... that's EXACTLY what I've been talking about!

I was recently reading an article.. C&D, R&D or autoweek... don't remember. Anyway it was on the development of the Cayman S in S. Africa. The magazine writer went along for a ride with the Porsche engineers who were running the car all of on the worst roads to fine tune the suspension, engine and tune out NHV for the final production model. They replaced rubber grommets, bushing, etc. to stop squeeks and rattles. They had highly sensitive mics to track down the exact location of a particular noise. This is why Porsche is rated #2 after Lexus... these guys are working the details down to the nitty gritty like Toyota. Because of that, their stellar performance and sexy looks... I'd pay the price for one if I was in the market for a $70k sports car. I mean really... would you pay $55k for a e90 M3 or the same for a Cayman S?

That being said... even if I had multi-billion dollars... I'd probably still be reluctant to blow that kind of money on a car. Like mentioned above... the RX-8's track time, the STi and Evo performance numbers.... the potential of the GT500. These are the cars that win C&D's "Bang for the buck." They offer nearly high-end sport car performance at half the cost.

Japan8

Sorry, I meant relative to the engine size.

The comparison between the 540, M5 and Alpina B5 was done in one mag and that was their comments. Having to pick... they preferred the high reving V10. I dunno if I would or would not... having to use the SMG would suck any fun out of it for me though.

Glad they've got so much money to burn.

Even when treated very well and properly mantained, BMW's aren't the most reliable of cars. And you want to go and beat the **** out of it regularly on top of that? No thanks. Not with my daily driver.

You've got a beater for a daily driver? WTF?! : A big *** luxo 540 would be my daily driver and a MX-5, Turbo MR-2, or something like that would be my project/weekend/track car. That's how I'd do it, but maybe I don't have my priorities in order...

I do remember that problem with the 540. When I drove one for a BMW charity drive, they only had auto because they said during the previous year they went through several clutches on the manual.

So I can see there being some validity to needing a stronger transmission, but I sincerely doubt that it was the main reasoning. BMW, for whatever reason (image, marketing, customer demand...), is just trying to push that SMG transmission all across their line of cars. I'd bet they'd love it if everyone adopted it... no more auto and no more manual. They say.. hey... it's easy for you auto owners and it's "shiftable" for you manual owners.. and for us... imagine the cost cutting!

I can't argue against a SMG from a performance standpoint. Ferrari with their sequential F-1 paddle shifter, F-1 race cars, and the performance stats on these cars all show it has a slight edge. A slight edge that is only noticable in the hands of a very capable driver that can push a car to its performance limits. How many of us really think they can exact 9/10's of a M3, M5 or 911 Carrera's performance? How about your RX-8? Think you can outlap a pro F-1 driver (not even a top driver) with you both in RX-8's? Until you can do that... who NEEDS SMG?

babylou

Thanks for teaching me how we progress. I'm assuming you are well experienced in these areas of invention, innovation and progress you speak of. For kicks, can you tell me, privately if you wish, how many commercialized patents you have been granted?

moRotorMotor

Just thought I'd throw this on here in case you guys don't want this car bad enough already. Click here.

mikeb

nice video
so sweet

Ike

<waits for Darkmaz8 to make some moronic comment>