01-09-2014, 10:37 AM | #1 |
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BMW's finest years thus far?
I dropped off my car at my indy shop "SCHNELLER BMW" this morning to have some work done and Mike and I had a pretty good discussion while riding in his '87 325(VERY nice car) about BMW's great years. We both agreed that the 80's and spilling over to the early 90's were perhaps some of the best years BMW ever had in terms of design and performance. Look around, see what older/high mileage luxury vehicles are on the roads still. I see old Bimmers all the time. It's not just because I'm an enthusiast or biased towards them, I love European autos, so when I see others such as Mercedes, Volvo, Audi and Saab, it's always noted. As Mike told me this morning, "BMW's were truly built to meet 200K miles at the time". Agreed.
We all know what it's like nowadays, not that our newer cars are crap, but I think many of you would agree that, as much as we hate to admit it, they're crappier than their older siblings. Tell me who doesn't get a little worried when they start to hover around 75-100K miles? When I bought my '82 E21 14 years after it rolled off the assembly line it was nearing 100K. I owned it for a little better than 2 years, drove about another 50K and had but 1 hiccup, a radiator. $200 poorer and a couple hours later...DONE! The simplicity has gone the way of the Do-Do. The lines from series to series until you get waaay up there are similar to each other. I love my Bimmer, I really do, but I've been yearning to fall back to the old days. I'm hoping after I finish paying off this car and have a proper garage to house it in that I'm able to source a decent 635 to work on. I know this topic has come up before, but with new folks joining these forums, to include myself, different perspectives arrive all the time. That's why I'm starting this thread. Anyways, what say you folks, what do you think were the best days of BMW? Elaborate a little, let's make this interesting.
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01-09-2014, 11:07 AM | #2 |
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I would say 2000 or so was a high point for me.
basically, every series had something I would want or was the best driving car in the segment. 3 series, you have the E46 M3, or take it back just one year for an E36 M3 5 series, you have the E39 M5 7 series, you have the 740 Sport Z series, you have the M Coupe and Roadster('01 brings S54 power) Z8 was around this time too
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01-09-2014, 11:27 AM | #3 |
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Drives: 325xi>M235i>428GCx Mspor
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So were Honda...the accords and civic of that era was the best
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01-09-2014, 01:35 PM | #4 |
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I'm typing this from my garage with my '87 325iS and '04 530i sitting behind me. the E30 has 206K on it, the E60 has exactly half that. Both are in what I would like to think of as excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition. If I had to hop in one and drive it across the country, I would likely take the E30. It's far less complicated, and I can (and have) repair it in a parking lot if something does fail. The E60, while being completely awesome, is a Space Shuttle compared to my other car.
Durability with the newer cars is almost completely gone, which is shameful since that was what German cars were once noted for above all others. Last edited by Chihuahua; 01-09-2014 at 02:00 PM.. |
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01-10-2014, 07:46 AM | #6 |
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1970's and 1980's for me.
BMW were massively focussed on competing in motorsport and the road cars such as 2002Tii, 2002 Turbo, E3 3.0Si etc., E9 CSL's, E21 323i, E12 & E28 % Series, M1, E30 M3 etc., & M635SCi, were brilliant......... and they weren't building fucking diesel engined rep mobiles and SUV rubbish.....
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01-10-2014, 11:02 AM | #7 |
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2006, and not just because that's the year of mine
Last and best year for the e46 m3, both z4m models, and the glorious v10 m5/m6 were all out at the same time... It was an embarrassment of riches! |
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01-10-2014, 01:26 PM | #8 |
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Not to mention BMW was still very active in F1. What a shame that MB is still there, and BMW is nowhere to be found. With a bit of a push in '08, we could have had a WCC. Instead we got the i3....
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