Unofficialbmw.com

[rld777]

Great idea Dale with the lounge! Thanks!

Just a simple question--what else transports you guys (and girls) around? In Illinois, having a "winter beater" can be a good idea, or if you're like me in graduate school, you have another vechile that is carrying you "in-between" BMW's. So it's not to brag so to speak, but just to inform each other of what else we drive--and if there are issues that arise with them, perhaps someone here could help (or knows where to go to get help.)

So for myself, I drive a '96 Dodge Ram 2500 2WD with a Cummins 5.9L I-6 diesel engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. It's been a great vechile, though it cannot handle like a BMW, it is a smooth, comfortable truck that also achieves nearly 25 mpg out on the expressway. I'm at 273,000 miles so far, with one engine, one transmission, and one clutch. It's a fun vechile to have as a spare or the primary one. But I do miss my old E-36 sometimes, that is when I'm not towing or hauling something. A good website for these beasts is www.turbodieselregister.com if anyone is interested, although you have to join (and pay for memebership) to participate in thier forums.

[Roadstergal]

The E30 is the beater. My autocross/driving school/fun car is a 1990 Miata. Utterly reliable, easy to work on, comfy, great fun to drive, small and nimble.

My brother can't keep his white 1994 Miata, so I'm taking it as a project and selling my current one.





The 1994, in need of a hammer and some paint. It's had some runins with tirewalls, but runs great.

[JRS]

Roadstergal,

I also had a 1990 Mazda Miata - Package B (w/LSD, headrest speakers, etc). I was the original owner and traded it for a Mercedes ML430 in 2000. I miss my Miata but I couldn't justify keeping (as I have three growing kids).

I is/was a great car. Handled corners like it was on rails. Great gas mileage. I traded mine and it had a whopping 16,618 miles. I remember the mileage because it was my 'baby'. 10-years old and 16,618 miles.



JRS

[Billo]

Hey,

As long as we’re talking about ‘not’ BMW stuff, this was my first project car. A ’69 Opel GT. I bought it for $350. I worked on it for about 7 years. I completely restored the car. I pretty much removed anything that was screwed together and after refurbishing or re-making all the parts on the car. I have a project pic book somewhere that was pretty much piece by piece. I took all of the indicator lights (front and tail) apart, molded new plastic and bonded it back together. This was the only pic I had up here and it doesn’t do the car justice. I had the engine out when I took this shot so it’s high in the front. I painted it with Emeron paint. It was $1000 a gallon back then but I got it cheaper because I was building aircraft at the time. There were more airplane parts on my Opel than on most of the ones we flew out. Anyway, here goes. I’ll continue posting a few of these as I find them. I have some more when I find them, here’s the gist of the deal...




Bill

[Roadstergal]

Bill - muy cool!

JRS - 16K miles??? Man, that's low! I put more than that on the Miata the first year I had it.

[JRS]

quote:

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Originally posted by Roadstergal:
..(snip)..JRS - 16K miles??? Man, that's low! I put more than that on the Miata the first year I had it.

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I know. Even the Mercedes dealer couldn't believe it until he pulled the CarFax on it. 100% certified 16K miles. It _was_ my 'baby'. It never saw rain or snow or inclement weather. The tires were original. I could go on and tell you more but I prefer to think of it in one way... 16K memorable miles.

JRS

[graha13836]

I go from BMW driver to redneck with the turn of a key.. I have a 94 Cherokee 4X4, three inch lift, 8Klb winch, LSD, snorkel, and Goodyear MTR's. Works great here in Florida for the type of offroading we can do, mostly mud and sand, and works even better in snow and ice when I take it skiing. I went skiing once in my Old Mercedes and I do mean I went skiing in the old Mercedes. I took out about 6 feet of picket fence after the car was already completly stopped.. Damn Hill... Hey but at least I can drive in Rain...

[DaveB]

Ready for this? Don't laugh...

55BHP of throbbing German horsepower!
It's the wife's, and it's a great city car.

[JRS]

DaveB,

In the US, that would be called a "Volkswagen Golf"... but 55BHP ??? The ones we have here are definitely more peppier than 55BHP...

JRS

[dale]

I think it's a VW Polo, one size smaller then the Golf. The Golf is called that in Europe as well. (it was also the Golf when we had the Rabbit)

My other vehicle is a 1990 Chevy K3500 1ton extended cab, long bed, 7.4l/454ci pickup.

for hauling the red #192 E30 vehicle around:

[donaldan]

VW Polo is not marketed here in America. That class of cars, and some even smaller liek the Smart are nevertheless quite accepted in Europe. The smallest VW sold here is the Golf. Very few cars sold in the US are under 90hp, if at all.

[dale]

You'll notice DaveB is posting from the UK, so it is definately a Euro model from VW. I still think it's a Polo, but we'll wait for DaveB to post a reply to be sure.

Dale

[spaz]

Yep, it it 100% a Polo the are big all over europe - I drove one a couple of times when I was living in Norway. I have long wondered why they don't sell them in North America - size wise they are tiny.

[Roadstergal]

quote:

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Originally posted by spaz:
I have long wondered why they don't sell them in North America - size wise they are tiny.

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'Merucins like Big Cars with Big Horsepower...

[alanfp]

Yeah, cos you only pay 7 cents for a gallon of petrol/gas!