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I do see what you're saying about MT though. There is no way a 5000lb Bentley would win a comparo over a Ferrari in any other publication. Not even the stuffy (but great reading) British mags would do that, or at least I haven't seen it. Then again Bentley is being true to tradition by making "the world's fastest trucks" as one rival company's founder stated long ago.
M
So far in the European press they're saying that it is much easier to use than Idrive (of course), but they're also saying its much easier to use than Audi's MMi system also. Mercedes still includes buttons for everyday tasks.
M
M
I'll wait for the diesel.
M
From what it seems like, everybody that sells a car in north america plans to have a hybrid by around 2010, even VW, M-B, and BMW. Whether they will be as popular then as they are right now remains to be seen. What I really dont understand is why everybody is so crazy to get a Ford Escape hybrid. At least with a car like the Accord hybrid, you can make the "well it is faster" excuse. Same with the RX400h. But the Escape hybrid is quite a bit slower than the regular V6, and still costs a lot more, and is not really all that fuel efficient. Yet people cant wait to buy one.
Even then, clean biodiesel seems to be a powerful alternative -- and from what I can tell is totally renewable.
I just returned from Munich and the cabs I rode in were all diesel and were all German cars (Merc and VW, for instance) -- based on theses "taxis" I would be delighted with such a vehicle as my daily driver. Other an the TDI logos on them it was almost impossible to tell they were anything other than "normal" internal combustion gasoline powered cars.
Bring these things to the western side of the Atlantic for pity's sake.
Now where is that URL for the biodiesel kit you too can use to make your own fuel?
Bio-diesel does indeed look to have legs, as one alternative. Just wait until we're in the "gas" line behind our local "Mickey D's"!
:surprise:
But there's no way they'll price it $5000 over the current RX330 though. Base price will probably go up a couple thousand at the most.
E = 4,544
5 = 4,137
GS = 2,739
M = 2,351
STS = 2,212
RL = 1,552
A6 =
I'm not knocking Toyota with that marketing remark, BTW, as they're in the right place at the right time, but I think people are buying into these things with rose-colored glasses firmly in place, and their ledger books shoved way to the back of the bureau drawer...
My 2005 545i is one of the most striking vehicles I have ever seen. The iDrive is so simple to use. I don't know what all the fuss is about.
M
I agree that diesel is an attractive alternative, but how, exactly, is it "totally renewable?"
http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/biodiesel_basics/default.shtm
Renewable sources are going to have to become huge in the next 20 years to avoid global economic meltdown.
Read some of the horror scenarios about when the world hits peak oil production. Nobody knows when it's going to arrive. A very few believe it will get here in the next few months.
Jaguar outspends Lincoln by almost 3 grand?? Ouch. Something is going seriously wrong there. That certainly is not going to help Jag's notoriously bad residual values.
Thanks
E = 4,544
5 = 4,137
GS = 2,739
M = 2,351
STS = 2,212
A6 = 1,640
RL = 1,552
August 2005 Sales:
E = 5,011
5 = 4,359
GS = 3,335
STS = 2,818
M = 2,623
RL = 1,721
A6 = 1,509
March thru September 2005 Sales:
E = 30,216
5 = 29,149
STS = 22,631
GS = 22,313
M = 16,920
A6 = 10,827
RL = 10,663
A lot of people are still knocking the iDrive based on their first impressions from the original version in the 2002 7-Series..... The iDrive has improved by leaps and bounds since then. Every year it gets better and easier to navigate through the menus. The most recent versions in the 3, 5, 6, and 7 cars are all much more straight-forward than anything in the past. You can really get to everything you need within 3 clicks. Most of the fussing you hear is based on old prejudices.
One other excellent feature that my manual transmission 530xi has -- Hill Start Assist. This holds the car for two seconds when you are starting on an up-hill slope -- more than enough time to get your foot onto the accelerator before you start releasing the clutch. Takes ALL the stress out of manual driving, and makes it even more fun!! When I demo this to my buddies they are amazed.
Full maintenance coverage for the entire lease with very fair residual values. Compare this to Lexus where you pay for the maintenance and the residual is kept artificially low on their leases to keep their monthly payments high.
I compared the GS430 to the 545i about 6 months ago, and the GS430 on a great deal would have cost me $40 more a month plus $1500 more in maintenance over a 3 year lease. So I saved the almost $3000 and got the 545i.
You have to be nuts to buy a BMW in my opinion. It gets too expensive to own once the warranty runs out after 4 years.
Motortrend recently came out with "You were right Chris" in their re-evaluation of the 5 series recently.
I am very happy with my decision to lease the 545i and find my average 20 mpg driving 70% highway, 30% city quite satisfying for a V8.
Good luck with your new 530xi.
Yep. Like being struck in the face by a board with nails protruding from the end of it! LOL! :P
j/k I believe the Bangle style is starting to grow on people. It usually takes a while for a completely redesigned vehicle to be generally accepted; especially when it's a drastic departure from the previous version. You have to admit, the previous 5 was pretty boxy. Adding all these curves threw folks for a loop.
As far as i-Drive, I've been reading that it's nowhere near as bad in the 5 as it is/was in the 7.
o - biodiesel can be made from CORN OIL
o - corn oil is, after all, made from corn
o - corn, as a crop, is essentially renewable
Therefore, it would seem that we can grow corn, make corn oil, use it to fry stuff (potatoes for example), process the "spent" corn oil into biodiesel and fuel our current technology diesel engines successfully.
I am often wrong, but never uncertain -- and I watched a show on Spike TV where they made 20 gallons of biodiesel and put it into a 2002 Dodge Ram pickemup truck and the thing ran normally and the tail pipe smelled of french fries.
The cost per gallon of this fuel was said to be something like $.70 per gallon.
Renewable, good smelling (perhaps) and relatively cheap.
What's not to like?
The 5 series to this day screams Pontiac to me.
I love to drive a 5 series, don't get me wrong -- I just can't get past the Pontiac face.
Great cars (BMW's) -- I still haven't grown to "appreciate" the Bangle look.
Perhaps this is why the new 3 has really only taken a half step in that direction.
Give me the last model 5 any day.
No offense meant to anyone.
What the heck do I know, I bought one of the new A6's -- some folks think the front end is so bad it ruins the whole thing.
Maybe yes, maybe no -- the A6's profile does appeal to my sense of proportion better than the 5 series. But, that is what makes the world go round -- we all see beauty differently.
We can argue about the look of the car -- what cannot be argued are the facts: BMW's 5 is a very fine car from behind the wheel (especially in 530xi form).
Eye of the beholder. :shades:
That should be interesting. What will they do with the 300 and the 430? Keep them both? Discontinue the 430? What's your guess?
Here's what I would do. Give the Avalon the new 3.0L... or just leave it with the Camry engine. I dont think most Avalon owners are lead foots. Make the base IS the IS300, leave the 2.5 for the countries that had IS200s. Take the G35 head on with IS350 AWD and a MT version. Introduce the GS with a single engine, GS350, with rear or AWD. Some 90% of sales are V6s anyway, nobody, despite what the magazines say, will miss the V8. A year later, follow up with the GS450h, and make it AWD to compete with the A6 4.2, then after the debut of the LS460, introduce a RWD GS460 V8, with a sport suspension and defeatable stability control. Doesnt that make a lot more sense?
The IS 2.5 doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, grossly underpowered. A slow sports car that's beaten at the stoplight by grandma's Buick. Reminds me of the old Toyota Celica, another sporty car with a puny engine.
Isn't that cheating? I would think that would defeat the "ultimate driving experience". If you want to remove all the stress simply opt for an automatic. It's amazing how well they work.
This message brought to you by a golfer who uses graphite shafts rather than hickory.
The link that was posted on bio-diesel didn't work for me. Bio-diesel's can run on vegetable oil, which is why it is said to be totally renewable.
I heard an interview with Willie Nelson (who has a tour bus that is bio-diesel) who said that regular diesel engines can be converted to bio-diesel. I know he's not exactly an expert on cars, but I think it is true.
Not exactly. The ES, RX, and LS are extremely successful, and they've been carrying the rest of the stragglers on their shoulders since the debut of the SC and GS in the early 90s. Those cars did better than the Infiniti J30 sedan and M30 coupe and convertible (anybody remember those?) but not by all that much. When the SC went in to its 7th and 8th model year with no changes, it was selling under 3K cars a year. While the GS was strong out of the gate in '93, it fell on its face in about two years. The exact same thing happened with the '98 version. The IS300 was hardly a smash hit either.
I'm not really sure what the ES will get. Traditionally it has shared engines with the Camry, but nobody seems to know yet whether the Camry will keep its current 3.3L with a bit of a bump in power, or get a detuned version of the Avalon's 3.5. Its a safe bet though that were Camry goes, ES will go.