is250 vs. 325i

Obviously, neither of you have a Valintino NetCop Detector.

No, simply demanding simple courtesy.

Why do you think the internet has different rules?

There's the difference between an enthusiast (me) and someone who merely owns a BMW. I'll be driving. Preferably in competition or at notably high speeds - at sanctioned events.

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; done that)

No; it's 22 miles southwest. We call it "Road America". Sometimes I go to other tracks (Mid Ohio, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, Sebring, Brainerd, Grattan, GingerMan, Blackhawk Farms, etc.) or autocross venues; but this one's 'home' for me.

No; you drove like a 16-year-old. We all did. Then, faced with the choice of becoming boring old farts in Toyotas or competent performance/competition drivers, some of us (like me) got education and experience that allows me to do things perfectly safely that would scare the living crap out of you.

Maturity is overrated; but do you want to see my AARP card? Want to take a lap of Road America at speed with me? I teach other BMW owners how to drive fast.

Pleaded no contest to a 44 in a 35 back in Y2K. Couple of 'roadside chats' since. Mostly because they don't much like my WARP ONE plates .=2E. =3D;^)

What; and make you jealous? I insure a small fleet of about six vehicles in a very crime-free and safe state. It would only piss you off to find that I've had a 'safe driver' rating for decades.

I remember breaking one of those somewhere around 165,000 miles. It probably wasn't an original. So now I carry a spare alternator/fan belt. In May, I put on a 'borrowed' a/c compressor belt in a Chicago rest stop with no tools whatsoever, let alone any hand scuffing. Frankly, your belts probably were fine for another 20,000 miles.

Regular maintenance does not translate to unreliability and an enthusiast does not begrudge the car its regular care in any case. My E28s have actually stranded me exactly once since Y2K - for a broken harmonic balancer that I removed and threw away (It's an unneeded part

- but I didn't know that at the time.). I once performed 'field repairs' to a broken accelerator cable (@~225K miles) to limp home. I also avoided much driving after I sprang a big oil leak that I feared was a head gasket, but it was only a pan gasket. I could drive it, but it was rather a profligate waste of dead dinosaur fluids.

Other than that, I drive them. Not 'cruise' to be seen - *drive*. Back in May, it was autocross (2nd in class, dammit!) with other E12 and E28 fanatics over in South Bend. In a little over two weeks, it will be just about the oldest car circulating Road America with a hundred or more BMW club enthusiasts. I figure on maybe 0.9G cornering and around 130 mph after The Kink if things are going well. So what are your plans that weekend?

-- C=2ER. Krieger (Been there; done that)

I thought we'd discussed this already. BMW puts 'frou-frou' transmissions in the cars that are driven by 'frou-frou' drivers. Mine says, "Getrag" and that thingy on top looks like this:

R 1 3 5 I__I_I_I I I 2 4

It's OK; ask a Real Man=A9 to explain it to you. Or my wife. Her Jaguar thingy looks the same way.

-- C=2ER. Krieger (Been there; done that)

Mine has a 6 on it as well.

^^^^^^ ITYM Ford.

If you are incapable of figuring out how to read someone's post, you (and your educational institution) have my deepest sympathy.

It's not an issue of courtesy. Some people's readers are set up that way. Could they change it? I don't know, but probably. But it may be beyond their knowledge.

For you to assume otherwise is discourteous. Ironic, no?

And you'll miss what being on Hawaii is all about.

But since you'll never know it, you can't miss it, I guess.

I, having done both, have made my choice. I don't have unlimited funds, so since I have to make a choice, I make one.

Apparently everyone else here has unlimited funds.

Hawaii, the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo; pretty much the same to me for lazing on white sand under coconut palms, only lots closer. I do know it. I'd still rather be driving fast.

-- C=2ER. Krieger (Been there; done that)

Try two wheels, or a lightweight racing car for autocrossing or at the track. You'll like it even more. 8;)

-- Larry (pushing 60 and still loving it...)

If that's what you think Hawaii is all about, you've never been there.

Yeah? So?

It is. It's usenet....

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

Nice response. Sorry to see you ran out so quickly.

No, really. I meant it--so what?

So, you blame me instead of the anti-Semitic lying asshole?

"When they came for the Jews, nobody spoke up. When they came for the Communists nobody spoke up. When they came for the Socialist, nobody spoke up. When they came for the trade unionist, nobody spoke up. When they came for me, there was nobody left to speak.

COWARD,

Oddly enough my 2000 Avalon has not lost a single light. Probably some sort of statistical anomaly, but still...

Nope. I'm guessing the UK does get different, possibly more familiar electrics than the bulletproof stuff Toyota gives here in the US.

I'd say your Avalon experience is the norm.