damn american cars

[MarthaStewart]

What year and model was this car? Did you buy it new, or used?

I would suspect if you had issues with it, then you probably must have had a car from the late 80s or *very* early 90s (maybe the first two years) - those are the years that I have heard people having issues with.

If it was used, then I think the problem is obviously not the car and instead the previous owner.

I haven't really heard of problems with BMWs aside from in the late 80s - and even then it seems hit and miss and hence why many people chalk it up to user issues.

If you had problems with a new BMW since say '98 or so on, then I respectfully say that I've never heard of anyone that had bought a new one and had issues with it that soon.
I guess I would then be able to say I had heard of it

Hondas are good cars if you need to get from point A to point B and not spend a lot, but they aren't sexy by any stretch of the imagination.

BMW reliability? yeah, like government efficiency........ i had bmw's that blew cylinder head gaskets, with sloppy shifting, gutless ZF automatic transmisssions that needed expensive rebilding at 88,000 miles, at more than twice the cost of an american transmission, overheating problems in traffic if i had the nerve to run the noisy but just barely adequate air conditioner, metallic paint tht faced to the primer within 6 years' time, not to mention the snide, arrogant "ze problem ez wif ze driver, not ze machine" dealer service departments......

lexus and infinity showed up BMW and MB for the overpriced, living on their past reputation mediocore cars they were.

 

[WarriorPL]

M3

M3 goes for 50+

vettes start at 44 now...

Close though... but M3 > vette any day

 

[MarthaStewart]

M3 goes for 50+

vettes start at 44 now...

Close though... but M3 > vette any day

M3 starts at $46,500
Vette starts at $44,435

A better comparison is what they cost on delivery and with all comparable options installed.

 

[rnch]

went thru 3 BreakMyWindows during the 80's and 90's.....good engines, good 5 speed transmissions, sloppy shifting, early expiring, costly to rebuild automatic transmisssions, noisy and ineffective air conditioners that had a hard time coping with the heat and humidity here in new orleans, plain, dull looking interiors, lacking in insulation and sound deadening....

honda and lexus will be the ONLY foreign cars i will ever buy again. their quality control is the standard of the world today, from the cheapest corolla to the most expensive lexus. lexus dealer service (a sore point with bmw and MB) is second to none.

what 2 or 4 door BMW is "sexy" looking? inside and outside, they had the styling of a velvetta cheese box. civics and accords of the same time period were better looking cars at almost half the price.









edited due to my terrible typing dis-abilities!

 

[Mandinka2]

what 2 or 4 door BMW is "sexy" looking?

Z3 and 850i was good back in the day , Z4 is all the rage right now, Z8 was restyled but is still considered too pricy despite having a massive waiting list. M3 Im not 100% on but new M5 is da shit.-The new 5 and 7 series are doing really well here as are stylish saloons. I prefer M320 over X5 but both are everywhere here. I dunno man , to me Honda screams functional mass-produced no personality cardboard box. There are so many old beemers on the road here (there's even a beautiful 40's model parked right outside this building) that I'm surprised to hear of your reliability issues. Their engine machining is famous and not surprisingly the produce the best sports car engine in the world in Munich for their BMW-Williams formula 1 car. If I had the dough I'd buy a Caterham Super 7 for fun but it's tough to see how I'd build it here.

 

[Chester_Copperpot]

my dads 98' Durango (33k miles) is having problems lately... the rear left window won't open... and now today his shocks blew.... ack

is it worth to trade in for a new durange or a foreign SUV?

The term "American Cars" is an oxymoron


Sort of like "Microsoft Works"

peace

 

[-SD-]

Had a 86 sentra with close to 200k on it, had zero problems. I had a 86 nissan PU with 220k on it, only thing I had to do to it was change the water pump. Sold it and bought a 97 nissan 4X4 PU with 82k and love it, its tough as nails. Everyone I know that owns american always trades it in under 100k for another american vehicle that wont last. I wish I could buy american, I really do, but Ive been spoiled on japanese reliability and cant bring myself to spend the money on the upkeep of an american vehicle.

 

[rnch]

i was referring to the bmw's of the 80's, when my family was buying them.

the newer bmw's are finally showing some curves and styling, thanks to the pressure than lexus and infiniti have brought on bmw and mb. in the mid/late 80's german auto makers were as ridgid and insufferibly arrogant as american makers were during the 70's, resting on past laurels and accomplishments and blind to the changing world emerging around them. now, in the present, germany is finally reacting to the superior cars made in japan.

i see from your avitar you are from munich, germany? driving conditions there and in america are much different; we require more relability and less matianence that european drivers do, we value efficeint air conditioners and sound deadening and interiors that are less stark and more pleasing to the eye than the vast, dark, leather lined psuedo s&m cavern that our bmw's had.

about engines.......nothing made in germany can better a lexus/infiniti v6 or v8 engine, as just about every auto magazine (outswide of germany) agrees on. gm's new v8 and ford's v8 engine are no slouches either.

the days of "german superiority" are in the past. germany cranked sout some fantastic powerplants in the pst, but are now being eclipsed by the orientals and americans.

 

[Mandinka2]

i was referring to the bmw's of the 80's, when my family was buying them.

the newer bmw's are finally showing some curves and styling, thanks to the pressure than lexus and infiniti have brought on bmw and mb. in the mid/late 80's german auto makers were as ridgid and insufferibly arrogant as american makers were during the 70's, resting on past laurels and accomplishments and blind to the changing world emerging around them. now, in the present, germany is finally reacting to the superior cars made in japan.

i see from your avitar you are from munich, germany? driving conditions there and in america are much different; we require more relability and less matianence that european drivers do, we value efficeint air conditioners and sound deadening and interiors that are less stark and more pleasing to the eye than the vast, dark, leather lined psuedo s&m cavern that our bmw's had.

about engines.......nothing made in germany can better a lexus/infiniti v6 or v8 engine, as just about every auto magazine (outswide of germany) agrees on. gm's new v8 and ford's v8 engine are no slouches either.

the days of "german superiority" are in the past. germany cranked sout some fantastic powerplants in the pst, but are now being eclipsed by the orientals and americans.

Bro , first of all my flag should tell you that Im Irish , if I had money and time for sports cars I would build a kit car and it would likely be a British kit. If you look at Jap cars through the 80's the directly followed the Germans , right down to the design of the headlights. When MB changed the design of the bonnet on their E class , people thought they were crazy... soon every luxury class car manufacturer followed suit. Shall I remind you of the effect that the VW golf had ? Personally I don't have any great love for Germans , they're a cold people although their sheer engineering virtuosity is something that can't be denied. You do have one point though: air conditioning is seen as an energy wasteful process in Europe and therefore environmentally unfriendly so we may be behind there. If you want an engineer's comparison of reliability of different continents' engine technology then I assure you there is an absolute wealth of evidence to suggest that the Germans are on top (I am a chemical engineer I should add).
The best V8 ever made was a Renault version running at close on 20000 revs. Toyota are nowhere compared to their German counterparts in Formula 1 , the premier motorsport. If Toyota , Honda and American companies ever wished to equal or eclipse European designs then they will have to ditch the V8 as their benchmark , while a beautifully symmetrical configuration offering oodles of power at low revolutions (read high reliability), it is simply inefficient.

 

[molnii]

go IMPORT!