Time to bash GERMAN cars

[trinacriabob]

I had to go to a luncheon for continuing ed (it was free) and got a ride with one of my co-workers. He drives a 1986 BMW 635 coupe with 130,000 original miles. I got in it and was surprised at how noisy it was. Not only that, the transmission shifted with bumps at each shift point. The air vents were not particularly well placed and it didn't direct enough A/C to keep me comfortable. This was a high line BMW in its day? Come on. I was not impressed at all.

Granted, a lot of it comes down to maintenance. I doubt my co-worker babies his car the way I do. By comparison, my newer but more heavily used Regal (227,000 miles) has a much quieter engine and a tranny with almost imperceptible shifts. Makes me kiss the ground I have a GM car (archaic as the FWD W-body may be).

My last hit at foreigners was a similar surprise in riding in a co-worker's 1990 Camry to a field visit. The Camry was noisy and not at all tight in its assembly, at least at this point in time.

Aren't you glad to be driving an American GM car or truck?

Any German car P.O.S. tales?

Edited August 17, 2006 by trinacriabob

[Flybrian]

Every one of my female high school classmates that owned a VW. More rough trannies than a dark Friday night in east Tampa.

[Nick]

First off, it was an 86...the car is 20 years old, granted, I have been in very clean 80's BMW's that run fine, and sound great. Like any car, if they aren't well taken care of, they will start to deteriorate over time. The M30B35 was one of the best and most sophisticated engines of its time and was noted for being very smooth with a nice tone to it. The trannys used were 4-speed getrags, chances are it is still on the original tranny. This car just sounds like it wasn't taken care of very well. Granted, it only has 130k which isn't a whole lot for a 20 year old car, but who knows what happened during that 130k.

The air thing can be explained...At the time BMW was still heavily into that cockpit feel, and they were still drivers cars...They could care less about the passenger...

[trinacriabob]

First off, it was an 86...the car is 20 years old, granted, I have been in very clean 80's BMW's that run fine, and sound great. Like any car, if they aren't well taken care of, they will start to deteriorate over time. The M30B35 was one of the best and most sophisticated engines of its time and was noted for being very smooth with a nice tone to it. The trannys used were 4-speed getrags, chances are it is still on the original tranny. This car just sounds like it wasn't taken care of very well. Granted, it only has 130k which isn't a whole lot for a 20 year old car, but who knows what happened during that 130k.

The air thing can be explained...At the time BMW was still heavily into that cockpit feel, and they were still drivers cars...They could care less about the passenger...

181282[/snapback]

My...my....defensive, aren't we?

Heck, you're probably right. I know the dude and I don't think he's as up on cars as most of us are.

[pow]

Big BMWs in the '80s were pretty crappy, IMO. The '80s were Merc's time.

[razoredge]

No the 80's were Buicks time.......... Old BMW's do sound like popcorn popers, old import automatics were always choppy, quit making excuses, I got a silky smooth 86 LeSabre Limited with 150,000 mile on all origional drivetrain parts. The old off center V6 shakes at idle but its quite, not rattly.

I like German cars but they are what they are............potential tired iron, just like the rest, nothing more, nothing less.

[Drew Dowdell]

1985 Olds Toronado

[mustang84]

A female co-worker of mine drives a '94 Camry and we took it to job sites a lot this summer, so I got a lot of time riding in it. To tell you the truth, I wasn't that impressed.

Overall, it's in pretty good shape. The body is clean and the interior was in good condition, but the dash is nothing to write home about. The panels had a tight fit, but the material was pretty cheap all around...my Lumina dash is spongy all over except for the plood and plastic surrounding the plood, but hers was like touching a rubbermaid container everywhere. Below the steering column parts of the dash were hanging there, and the passenger side door handle was coming loose. The seat were supportive, but not exactly comfortable.

And my steering wheel is a hell of a lot cooler!

Basically, it seems like my car is poorly put together but with higher quality materials, while hers has good fit but bargain basement finish. Her doors do close with more of a thud than my do, though.

Edited August 17, 2006 by mustang84

[Guest YellowJacket894]

GM interior styling during the Eighties and early Nineties was pretty funky...

..but sweet.

Edited August 17, 2006 by YellowJacket894

[trinacriabob]

181303[/snapback]

I love the "ravine look" of the 90s dashes...be it the Lumina as shown or my Regal with instrumentation spread across the "western" 1/3 of the dashboard. In fact, I think the Japanese secretly coveted it such that the 2nd gen Avalon has a "ravine" type dash, as well.

Now, while I like wraparound cockpit dashes such as on the current GP, the "ravine" dashes with a cowl extending all the way across impart a feeling of spaciousness and "cleanliness" to the interior.

[Nick]

Getrag is German for rubbish. I could fill any random Hydra-Matic with gravel and baby oil and it would still work better than any Getrag.

181306[/snapback]

Maybe so, but doesn't GM use Getrag in some applications? Actually, I believe the Getrags were the manual trannys anyway. The auto in the e24 was a 3 gear ZF HP-22 which I've heard is a pretty crummy tranny (though, I'd say whoever ordered an older BMW like that with an auto transmission deserved what they got anyway...sacreligious. Don't get me started on newer bimmers).

[Cory Wolfe]

"Time to bash GERMAN cars, already took a potshot at the Japanese"

Hmm... let's see you bash my Millenia, bitch!!!!!

[Dsuupr]

I got a 2002 BMW 3-series rental car with less than 2000 miles back in 2002. The engine had a rattle and the car was thrown all over the road by the ruts. It didn't turn me on.

[regfootball]

everyone i know with recent vw's are always bitching about them being in the shop

[Drew Dowdell]

everyone i know with recent vw's are always bitching about them being in the shop

181522[/snapback]

My main bitch about VWs *other than their frequent shop visits* is the way the dealership treats you when the car is there for service.

We've tried the 3 major VW dealers in the area and experienced similar rudness.

Chas tries to schedule work on the Passat on days he is planning on visiting his parents an hour north of us.

[regfootball]

i know people who have sold or traded their vw's for whatever they could get for them, even though they liked the car (When it ran) a LOT. They just wanted to get away from them.

[balthazar]

Friend of mine could buy anything he wanted to (does a $20K 1911 Case steam tractor count?) bought a circa '02 M-B S430. Some electrical part took a freakin' 6 or 8 months to arrive, then one day I went over and the front suspension was collapsed. "Never again!" he said. Dumped it when the warranty was due to expire. The 2 Cadillacs he had before the Merse he speaks well of.

Now is on his 3rd loaded Tahoe- absolutely loves them.

[razoredge]

Wonder what happened to VW ? THe old Rabbit was bullit proof, hell it was mortor proof.

Mercedes never impressed me sides for a few select SL's from way back. Today they have some interesting stuff but who wants to deal with it. You got to be rich.

BMW's got the "Beamer" thing going on so bad its sickening. I'd be happy with a old 2002 when they were minimal and not yet "Beamers". The finest BMW ever was the 507 of the 50's

Edited August 18, 2006 by razoredge

[Guest American Man]

I've driven everything, good and bad condition, I'm American and would never drive a an American car newer than early 70s and have never been really impressed with Japanese cars as all around great cars.   German cars especially BMW and Mercedes are far superior as long as an intelligent person has serviced it, your buddy mechanic who changes oil on chevy trucks that don't last 200k isn't going to cut it most times, the cars aren't any more difficult to work on, you just have to know the systems and how they work, and not just throw parts at them.  German cars especially BMW and Mercedes are held to a much higher standard in a ridiculous sense.  You are comparing a Buick to a BMW designed 15 years before, and complaining about noise and shifting, how about than same comparison at 100+mph all the way across Montana? (Done it myself) Your Buick would be ready for the scrap yard after that trip, next you'll be comparing that same BMW to a Ferrari complaining about performance, that's the problem of being great at many things you never run out of people comparing you to EVERYONE else at the same time.