Considering a BMW - A Few Questions

My Mercury wasn't all that great.

Jaguar is one of the most unreliable cars made, only slightly better than the Chrysler Sebring (according to Forbes).

You have a point about RWD in the snow. But BMW seems to be more prone to winter skidding accidents, at least in the USA. I think that's one reason BMW has introduced all-wheel drive in more of their models, including the 5 Series.

Part of the reason may be that these cars come equipped with large wheels and performance tires and have torquey engines, and people in the States are less inclined to put on snows in the winter.

I don't think the 50-50 balance makes much difference.

people just don't know how to drive them properly. Rear wheel drive is great if you have some understanding of how it works and any fool who drives in snow without a winter tire is an accident waiting to happen.

Depends on how much snow one gets whether it is worth switching. In southern England it snows little and then the snow rarely stays on the ground very long.

One just has to drive extra carefully or avoid a journey.

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

BMWs are more prone to winter skidding accidents for one big reason. All new BMWs are fitted with low-profile, wide section, tires from the factory. Most (all?) of these are all-season. These tires suck in the snow. Then, especially with DSC active, the driver can get themselves going far too fast for the limited traction they have at the time and

Take the same car and put a good set of (narrow) winter tires and smaller wheels, turn off the DSC and it becomes a winter warrior.

Bingo. Check the tires on *any* car in the snow belt and you will know which drivers truly understand cars.

It does when trying to steer, stop, or control a partial skid, especially on snow. This is why it is such a really bad idea to load a bunch of sand bags in the trunk per the old school wisdom. The heavier rear will be more prone to swap ends with the lighter front once you do lose traction. Think of a dart being thrown through the air. It's pretty hard to keep it going with the heavy end in the back.

But a V6 design is often chosen for the above-stated versatility and manufacturing efficiencies, as opposed to being chosen because it's truly the best design for the applications that it's used in.

If you wish to make a space efficient but reasonably powerful and refined vehicle, a V-6 may well be the best choice - regardless of anything else. Horses for courses.

The Chinese have bought ROVER - I wait for results!

Sir Hugh of Bognor

So what is really happening is that people that buy the MINI really want a BMW but can't afford it in just the same way that the SAAB owner didn't really want an OPEL or VAUXHALL and the PONTIAC owner didn't want a Chevrolet....or the UK/EURO driver buys a Pontiac Grand-Am coz the OPEL/VAUXHALL Omega is just too common?....... all made by GM

Does the VOVLO owner have a thing about driving a FORD and the BMW X5 is it really a road engineered Land Rover?

Where does the FORD Jaguar and the FORD Aston Martin fit in?

Food for thought................

Oh! and was my Rover Sterling really a BMW?

Sir Hugh of Bognor

Is that because it gets confused at being driven on the wrong side of the road? Getting it's bonnet called a hood? It's boot called a trunk? And to crown it all it loses it's engine to a 'motor'!

The Chrysler Sebring??? Should have been RWD as all good Chrysles were, Charger, Challenger, Barracuda with REAL engines 440 Cid 426 Hemi etc and even the 318 was a nice little mover.............

Sir Hugh of Bognor

He was actually referring to Mercedes as if you didn't know!

Sir Hugh of Bognor

No. It was based on a Honda with all the decent bits changed.

The 75 is different, though.

What's the difference? It *is* truly the best design for the application if you are trying to stuff an engine into a short space. While I am a fan of I6 engines, a V6 is not all *that* bad.

I didn't know. How do you abbreviate Mercury in your part of the world. Where I am, a Mercury is called a Merc. Tell me your abbreviation for Mercury and if it's correct I'll start using it. In these parts a Mercedes is called a MB or a Benz. Thanks for your interest though.

Yes, he waa referring to Mercedes. In our part of the world (outside USA and in BMW/Merc NGs) the usual abbreviation for Mercedes-Benz in English is MB or Merc).

In said world VERY few people own Mercurys, so the confusion would not arise... ;-)

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

I don't think we give much of a damn what your thinking on abbreviations is.

Not sure what pert of the world (U.S.?) you're in, but in the Washington DC suburbs, "Merc" meant Mercury 50 years ago when a Benz sighting was rare, indeed. Now, since Mercedes are much more common on our roads than Mercurys, "Merc" tends to refer to the German marque, not the American.

To answer your question, don't abbreviate unless the meaning is very clear to others who may have a different geographical/cultural background.

Tom K.