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Incidently have you ever tried titanium shafts?
(I play in the low 80s. If it's any hotter than that, I won't play. :shades: )
Biofuels are mainly sold in mixtures. In most of the USA it is sold as E10 gasahol which consists of 10% ethanol and 90% standard gasoline. In Europe it is sold as B5 which consists of standard diesel mixed with 5% biodiesel--made from canola oil. Some N. American commercial vehicles use B20.
The unmixed 100% biodiesel used in California would be quite useless where I live in Toronto since it is cold-weather sensitive!
Ethanol in its pure form can damage gaskets and hoses.
BUT as technology improves the % of biodiesel blends can only improve--unless the price of an oil barrel plummets to $20 and all such biodiesel endeavors would be written off as a financial waste. It should not be forgotten that low oil prices had a similar affect about a 100 years ago when Rudolf Diesel introudced his engine that ran on peanut oil.
The show's host went to a Burger King, got some spent vegetable oil from the grease container behind the BK, brewed up some biodiesel and literally poured it into the gas tank (20 gallons). Next he took the truck out on the road and proclaimed other than a smell of french fries from the tail pipe, the Dodge truck's engine worked "normally."
No conversion was needed to do this.
And, the vegetable oil was "free."
The "chemistry set" used in this show was purchased from a web site and it looked like a small septic tank only funnel shaped and with a pump motor on the side. The procedure included dumping the corn oil into the tank and mixing it with some lye (and probably something else.)
The cost per gallon was computed to be $.70 (seventy cents) accorind to the host (I know the show is one of the PowerBloc shows on Saturdays on SpikeTV.)
Now, I would assume that were it as simple AND inexpensive as this segment made it out to be that many folks would be doing this -- I know of NO ONE who is even contemplating this.
If all this is really true, it would seem the payback could be easily calculated based on gallons used+cost to create subtracted from the cost of a gallon of regular diesel at a pump.
If, if, if, the host's declaration that the fuel cost net in the tank was $.70/gallon (and our cost here in Cincinnati for a gallon of diesel is $2.79), it would seem that based on 1,000 gallons annually the savings of $2.09 x 1,000 could be used to determine the economics of doing this as a practical matter.
A $2,000+ annual reduction in fuel cost seems to be a worthwhile savings.
And a mix of gasoline and alcohol is NOT what this segment of the TV show was about -- it was about producing a biodiesel that would run in an American truck that had NOT been in any way modified to use Burger King's grease (mostly from corn oil.)
Maybe the public is not as Bangle de-sensitized as you may think!(though I am a closet Bangle fan myself)
That 15.8% increase may be mainly due to the recent introduction of the 530xi and 530xi touring vehicles! As the xi novelty wears out in the next few months sales of the 5 series may not look as robust.
Regarding your comment about the dangers of buying a BMW and keeping it beyond warranty! I own a 3 series for seven years and still did not reach personal bankruptcy! Maybe I am an exception, but with regards to maintenance my e46 has been Maytag-like!
This message brought to you by an ordinary driver who just wants to have some fun but doesn't golf, so I have no idea what the graphite vs. hickory comment means! Happy to learn.
I have no idea where the dislike of the design comes from. I cannot stand the looks of the M or the new Audis because of their gaping open-fish-mouth front-ends (just a personal opinion, markcincinnati please don't yell at me for this!). Although, if the 5 did not exist I would, of course, be happy with one of these other excellent cars because I am not THAT picky!
It's nice to see at least one auto mag. revise their original negative opinion of the E60 Bangle design.
I was just kidding. Many members of the "row your own" club deem us "slushboxers" as a poor judge of sports sedans since we don't really drive our cars. Seemed like the opportune time to make a playful jab back the the other side.
I'm sure the shifters feel more connected to their cars but I have no problem allowing the newer transmissions handle the job for me. In my case, they do a better job anyway. Two pedals and two hands on the wheel is complicated enough for me.
Also, jj, I too play in the low 80's. Then unfortunately, I must leave the cool confines of the clubhouse and head for the #10 tee box.
I like the looks of the "330xi" and really respect the 530xi, but I just can't get past the Pontiac front end.
The Audi trout mouth is an aquired taste -- I am, at this point, not repulsed by it (but, to be clear, I am NOT repulsed by the 5 series either, but the butt of the 7, well fugetaboudit.)
The profile of the Audi A6 is OK with me, and frankly the 5, too in profile looks good and very good with certain wheels (18").
The cars discussed herein are so good and more alike than not, so if someone said "here, Mark, you HAVE to take a 530xi" I would gladly do so.
Heck I almost bought an Infiniti M35X which I am still in the process of warming to, looks wise.
What the heck do I know. . . :shades:
Any car, I don't care made by Audi, BMW or anyone, that is Black on Black on Black or Silver with Black and Black is just soooo darn depressing and in the case of BMW's there are so many of them. Doesn't anyone ever get a blue one or a red one or a white one or a green one and doesn't anyone ever get a camel leather colored interior or something other than Black for pity's sake.
There was ONE white 530xi with the Terracotta interior on the lot, and I swear if the thing would have been a stick shift and would have had sat nav, I could've been tempted.
But, like I said, BMW seems hell bent to populate the lots with Black and Silver -- Mercedes and Audi, at least it seems, like COLOR!
My secret:
1)I avoid all electrical/electronic options which can be problem-prone.
2)I found a competent and reasonable mechanic who I can trust(these kind of mechanics are hard to find but I guess I lucked out)
Well, let's see: for example, if I have my map on the Nav. screen, to go directy to another radio station I've set I have to click to go back to the main menu, click on entertainment, scroll down to the desired station, then click twice to play that station. This is four to five motions or "clicks".
While I too do not find the i-drive as bad as the press makes it, why not have (redundant) radio buttons to go directly to a station when you do not want to scroll up and down your stations with the steering wheel controls? This is only one example negating the point made by bdr127. I-drive was improved with making redundant climate control buttons available.
Every single car I owned, even non-BMWs were black on black. Would not have a a sedan any other way.
Though in the future I may be hesitant about black on black for a future wagon model I am considering if it ends up looking hearse-like.
Is this the only way to change the radio station in the current BMW 5 series? My 03 530 had the conventional preset buttons, but this was before I-drive. Now with an 05 Acura RL, I have a choice of three ways to change the radio station, being the conventional preset buttons, voice command or using the screen menus and dial. Its nice to have the choices and most often now use voice for a lot of these functions.
I still love the 5 series but get the feeling that its electronics are not exactly state of the art such as Acura has done with the RL. I have found Lexus to also be a bit behind Acura on having useful and user friendly electronics, but how does the current 5 series compare on this issue?
I absolutely hate washing the car.
I think his shapes are quite appropriate to their individual missions, by and large. For all of the fuss, the 7, in profile, is a fairly seductive shape for a large sedan, and its authoritative stance is mission perfect, IMO. Similarly the Z4, without benefit of lighting capable of showing off the surface details and cutlines, is a beautifully proportioned roadster, and downright sexy, as befits the genre.
It's his detailing that sinks the ship for me.
OTOH, the 5 I do not understand in the least, but this may be because I find it's predecessor to be the ulimate expression of styling for a mid-size sedan. The replacement for me would have had a hard time being anything but a disappointment. I almost came home with a 540iT in 2003, despite the fact that it was substantially bigger than I wanted and near twice the price I had intended to spend; it was that beautiful. Had it been the right size, it would have been well worth the extra money to me. There's a red one ('03) that makes the opposite commute to mine, and it garbs my eye nearly every morning. Total knockout.
I'm pretty sure if you got behind the wheel of my 545i and spent 10 minutes driving it, you would quickly forget your criticisms of its exterior styling.
At least Chris Bangle didn't give me an Audi-like front grille. Yikes!
Now, if virgin biodiesel produced from rapeseed, peanuts, sunflower seeds or whatever can be had for $2.50 or so per gallon. . .
I absolutely love the torque of European Tdi engines linked to a manual transmission, so I'm hoping for good things in this regard. Should be interesting.
Hpowders: can't go there with you, but I'm very glad you like yours. If a 5er is going to end up in my driveway (not likely, as I said, it's too big for my tastes) before the next major re-skin, it'll be a used '03 Touring!
I can honestly say that a new 530i would not be sitting in my garage if BMW had NOT changed the styling! The same goes for my friends and countless others that I have talked to.
Martin
Very interesting. You never got tired of the extra care a black car needs to looks its best? Or did you just have it washed at the local soft-touch?
While I think Black is the ultimate color it takes too much work to keep it looking its best - for most folks. Though there is nothing that shines like a black car that has been taken care of properly.
M
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=14093
What I do like is that the styling is distinctive. Everyone seems to have an opinion. If you see a 5, likely you will take notice and either like it or not. It doesn't just blend in with the scenery. Not trying to pick on other's cars, but how often do you notice a 90's Acura or Infiniti (before the G and new M)? This feeds back to the prior thread regarding brand recognition, few have it like BMW. Now lets wait and see, is this version of the 5 going to turn out to be the red-headed (yes I am red headed) step child of the series or will the next model be an extension of this one?
When you buy one it’s like taking a spouse. He/she can be ugly, cook turd casseroles, be as dumb as a twizzler and nasty as a junkyard dog. But your betrothed is yours and you defend your little darling until divorce do you woops... I mean death do you part.
On beauty in the eye of the beholder: I’d like to know how many people behold the beauty of a slug, sewer rat, wild boar and such. Bangle BMWs are inherently ugly just the same, and any aesthetic rationalizations are feeble. You may as well rationalize the aesthetics of a pig wallowing in mud.
Now I can see myself getting an E60 and loving every minute driving it, especially since nothing else in this category beside the RL and perhaps the E is styled any better than a gnarly little troll, but if that day comes the toad will not be turning into a princess. It is what it is.
BTW, I never really cared for the styling of the E, but it starts to look better next to all of this junk that is coming off the drawing boards kind of like Mickey Gilley's girls getting prettier at closing time.
People are really groping. There’s word that the M is handsome. Man that thing is plump. Since when is Rubenesque anatomy hot? And those Dumbo-eared tail lights look like a caricature of a Crown Victoria.
Will the looks hold up for the long haul? I don't know. There was a time I thought the Bonneville SSE's from the early to mid 90's looked good. Now all I see is plastic cladding when I see the same cars (and I owned one of those Probe GT's with the bear-clawed cladding from the first model year). Styling tastes change.
- If all you want is to turn on the radio, press the knob on the dash (one click).
- If you want to change the station that is currently playing, pull back the iDrive controller and it goes directly to the entertainment screen (first click), then scroll to change the station.
- Better yet, use voice commands to switch to entertainment (one click on the steering wheel to turn on voice recognition).
- Also available are the two programmable buttons on the steering wheel, which I set to bring up my phone address book and to turn the radio on and off.
I am sure there are lots of variations to the above, but you get the point I hope. The new iDrive (like all new technologies) has become far more easier to use and is actually quite addictive. Believe me, I am NOT a gadget guy and I don't take too kindly to unnecessary technology, but slamming the new iDrive based on previous versions is just unfair. Just ask any software designer if they are proud of the older versions of their software, and they will surely be embarrassed!
It's extremely easy to live with (unless it gets hit). It's extremely easy to find; every mfr. has, like, five variants of silver/grey on their palette. It's extremely easy to fall asleep looking at it.
I've been in a silver car now for three years, because that's what I got for taking delivery from stock. I will order next time, and no two ways, if all they can locate is silver, grey or black (my last round of choices).
Don't get me wrong, I think it looks very nice, but there's just way too much silver out there, and it's boring no matter how you slice it. White, IMO, is fresher than silver now. The subjective side of the autombile is most enjoyable says I.
I lived with black once. :sick:
Cambridge Green, Imola Yellow or Arctic White for the S4 Avant should I go that way; Arctic White, Brilliant Red or Ocean Blue for the A3 3.2Q if I jump that way. Should the new IS astound me at the test drive (I doubt it, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway), their palette is by far the most dull, so white it would be.
Freddy: Infiniti has but one styling winner in my book and it only has two doors!
(When polished up tho'.....THIS silver, blends fabulously with the chrome and can really be impressive on THIS car.)
You can say "next or previous" station and you can figure that out.
Thus far you can switch to Sirius, but you must have preloaded your Sirius commands via voice, then you can say "Play the Vault."
The memory is too small (25 names) but overall everything with voice is actually easier and safer than the old way -- and Audis system, at best is a B+ -- probably by 2007 or '08 the voice system will be much improved.
The phone certainly is easy to dial, just say "dial number 555-1212" and poof, the phone dials for you.
Overall, these systems seem like going from DOS to Windows 2.0 -- perhaps a dubious improvement, certainly they can be (at times) kinda cool and sometimes kinda geeky.
The improvements that are probably "in the pipeline" are the ones to ooh and ahh over -- currently MMI (and I presume i-Drive) can sometimes frustrate.
This is especially true when I drive my wife's 2005 BMW X3 and can simply punch the radio button #4 to listen to a Sirius sat radio preset channel. I think how much simpler this is than even my high cool factor voice activated Audi -- when it gets down to it, sometimes, simpler IS better.
Oh well, the next generation can't happen without the first generation - - price we early adopters pay, eh?
:shades:
So which is it, narrow or plump? I love my M, but I will admit that the rear is the one area it doesn't show so well. Unfortunately for most (including 530 drivers, it would seem), it is the side that is seen most often...
Well, I didn't realize my one month old '06 3-series had "an older i-drive system" (LOL). What you may call clicks, I call different motions or movements (i.e, scrolling or pushing down). It unnecessarily takes four or more movements to go directly to a desired programed station (again without using the steering wheel controls).
Reread my referenced post.
Plump. He probably submitted the manuscript unedited.
On the subject of colors. Not too long ago I saw an MB S in some kind of deep desaturated plum (not to be confused with plump). It was awesome. I thought, man, that person has good taste and guts to boot. I like MB color selections the best. They show the most thought.
My fantasy is to order some kind of Porsche (Turbo S cab) with a unique pain-and-upholstery-to-sample color... probably a subtle desaturated metallic with a real medium rich brown English leather interior... and of course a tan rag top. Springing for the Porsche is one issue with the little woman, but the 12 grand for the custom colors would probably get me stabbed in my sleep.
If I got a 5, it could be Silver with Terra interior. May have to see it first. BMW colors are kind of heavy handed, but I did like Orient Blue with Black. Saw an E39 M5 in that combo once. My knees got weak. They do have a pure bright silver though.
To add my two cents to the rest of the current discussion, personally I dont think the 5 looks either that bad or that good. I'm not really moved in either direction by it. Then again, I dont think any car in the class is particularly amazing looking, so thats no slam against the BMW. What I cant get past is the interior, particularly with "tripple black" 5s, (black paint, black leather, black wood) that I've seen on the local BMW lot. Way too depressing. I like the A6 and GS interior better, but I'm rather surprised in that the techno-lux interior of the RL has really grown on me. With the wood steering wheel and wood shift knob, it looks very classy, I'd say up there with traditional Audi.