Is anything above a BMW 3 series overkill for everyday driving?

zztop7

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Dec 12, 2012
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Edmonds, WA
To the best of my knowledge

BTW, you guys make me sad.... After needing a larger car, I bought an SUV but saved my 5 series BMW for my son who was to get his driver's license 3 years later. The car sat there and all of a sudden, developed a blown head gasket. And shortly after, its water pump died too. Then the usual power lock problem came up where you couldn't unlock the door anymore (so they had to disassemble the door to get fix it at $$$ cost). I pay some $5,000 for all of these repairs. My son gets his license and a couple of months later and has a fender bender as he runs into the driver ahead of him. Take the car to state-farm and they declare it totaled because of high expense of getting parts for BMW!!! :( This was a 1997 car with only 45,000 miles on it. The car was completely drivable with just the radiator fan torn up and the front fender and quarter panels bent a bit.

I had such fond memories of that car that it was hard to let it go for such a minor event. But that is how our economic system seems to work....

Hi Amirm,
In Washington state any repairs done & paid by you within 12 months of the insurance company totaling the BMW are reimbursed to you from the insurance company [to the best of my knowledge].
zz.

P.S. You need to teach your son how to bootleg turn the car so that it collides in the rear; usually cheaper to repair if the vehicle has a front engine design.
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Wow. I did not know that. I specifically brought that up to the insurance company and they said there is nothing they could do.

Hope all is well zz. We should touch base sometime. Hope all is well.
 

KeithR

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May 7, 2010
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the current 3-series is like 1" shorter than the best 5 series- the beloved E39. its not a small car anymore.

hard to argue for the 5 series these days unless its a family car. the 6 series is for old people from what i see around LA.
 

zztop7

Member Sponsor
Dec 12, 2012
750
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Edmonds, WA
Wow. I did not know that. I specifically brought that up to the insurance company and they said there is nothing they could do.

Hope all is well zz. We should touch base sometime. Hope all is well.

All is well with health.
All is NOT well with the results of the drone investigation.
I will PM you so that I am not derailing the thread.
zz.
 

Hi-FiGuy

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Feb 23, 2015
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I will take a C63 or E63 over the M3 or M5 any day 24/7 365 days.
Only M series I ever liked driving was the M6.
 

Blizzard

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Sep 30, 2015
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slowGEEZR

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Sep 20, 2010
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I own a 2014 328i. My daughter owns a 2012 330i or 335i, I'm not sure which one. The newer version seems to be a larger car and has more interior room. I have two issues with the newer version. The door seals have changed between the model changes and the rubber to metal rattles like crazy. the only solution I've found for this is to grease the rubber seals every now and then. The other issue is that the thin plastic that is connected to the dust shield behind the steering wheel gets a resonant buzz when the road is not very smooth. There are many things to like about the car, handling, performance, gas mileage(!), etcetera, but these two issues are really annoying. I should also note that egress is much better from the rear seat of the 2014 3 series than earlier 5 series, IMO.
 

Blizzard

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Sep 30, 2015
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The 335 and the 535 are real sleepers.

Same with the diesels. Especially with the DPF removed and performance tune. 380hp and 530 Lb/ft torque, and still 32MPG highway in a big 5500lb AWD SUV. The 535D I rented in Germany had the new 8 speed auto and would average 26 mpg with the cruise set at 200kph! And it was a big car. With the traction control off, that thing would burn rubber shifting into 3rd gear with the foot to the floor in sport mode.
 

amirm

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Apr 2, 2010
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Seattle, WA
Same with the diesels. Especially with the DPF removed and performance tune. 380hp and 530 Lb/ft torque, and still 32MPG highway in a big 5500lb AWD SUV. The 535D I rented in Germany had the new 8 speed auto and would average 26 mpg with the cruise set at 200kph! And it was a big car. With the traction control off, that thing would burn rubber shifting into 3rd gear with the foot to the floor in sport mode.
I just read at motor trend web site that the X5 requires a lot of steering input on freeways to go straight. True?
 

Blizzard

Banned
Sep 30, 2015
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I just read at motor trend web site that the X5 requires a lot of steering input on freeways to go straight. True?

Not with mine. If I let go of the steering wheel on a flat road it will stay going straight. If it didn't, I'd say it was time for a wheel alignment. However the steering is firmer than in the 3 and 5 series cars. If hopping out of a 3 series into an X5, you will notice, but once used to it, feels just right.
 

flez007

Member Sponsor
Aug 31, 2010
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Mexico City
I sold the Inifiniti M37 and went back to BMW, this time a series 3 (328) top-line, it is a completely different car from my first series 3 I had 12 years back (a 323 coupe) - this is 4-cyl, twin turbo, sedan that is serving well for daily use (home-office-home) - on weekends we use the wife`s SUV.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines
It depends where you live. In a city with traffic like Manila anything over a Toyota Corolla is overkill. (I don't know if I should use this emoticon :D or this one :mad:) Now if it's flooding then that Corolla is a bad idea. Amphibious vehicles anyone?

Seriously though IMO if we're talking about just getting around, when freeways are involved, I'd say a 328 is just right and a 340i overkill.

0-60 in 9 seconds is enough for normal merging. Less than 7 more than enough. Less than that, admit it, it's become more for the occasional thrill.
 

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