Bob Krejci wrote:
>
> I think the reason that cupholders appear to be afterthoughts in German
> cars is because they are. The German government prohibits domestic cars to
> be manufactured with cupholders so cars built for export tend to
> have afterthought cupholders. Read it somewhere, perhaps someone in
> Germany on this digest can verify this.
No, there is nothing in the law that prohibits cupholders. BMW just hasn't been very keen on them. Other manufacturers, Audi for example, have put more thought into them. Out of curiosity, does the U.S. E46 get the middle console, dual cupholder / quad cassette box shown in the current Teile und Zubehoer catalog? It looks pretty neat and I bet it is even illuminated. The price in Germany is 98 DM and the part numbers are:
51 16 9 415 183 black 3-series (E46) drink holder
184 beige with 185 gray cassette box
Happy new year you all.