The Car Thread

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

This thread can go in many different directions, but I'll start it off with the cars I have owned and/or driven and go from there.  Please add your experiences and interests as the thread grows. Thanks

I learned to drive in a Nash Metropolitan, a great car to learn in, it was a 3 speed on the column and couldn't get out of it's own way.  For those unfamiliar with the Metropoitan here is a link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_Metropolitan

The parents got my brother and I a Ford Fairlane station wagon that was a "rust bucket".  We lived in central Florida at the time, but that car was good for hauling surfboards around, but nothing much else.  Every time we hit a bump, you could hear the rust falling off the car.  That one lasted until the need for each of us (my brother and I) to have our own transportation.  He got my parents old station wagon and I went out and got a '57 Chevy Belair.  The fascination with cars was born with that car.  It had a 283 cu in engine with a 2 barrel carb, which I promptly changed to a 4 bbl with the required glass packs.  The only thing that did was increase the acceleration a little and drop the MPG from 16 to 10 and the glass packs made it sound bad a$$.  That didn't matter as the gas was about $.25 a gallon at the time and there were no sound ordinance at the time.

Time to go to Auburn and the '57 just wouldn't cut the drive to and from school from central Florida, so I got a '68 Road Runner that did the job nicely.  That one lasted until I graduated and got married.  About that time I realized I needed to settle down and put away childish things, the "Fuel Crisis" of '73 was just starting and I went for a Fiat hatchback for my wife to drive to work and I would ride my bike (bicycle) to work every day.  Living in central Florida, I could easily ride the bike year around.  I felt like a "green" pioneer, saving the environment.

That lasted about two months, I got hit by a pickup truck doing a rolling stop at an intersection and it put an end to the Raleigh 3 speed and my "green" days.  I took the insurance money and bought a '62 Corvette and still have that car today.  My BMW phase of car ownership started in '78 with the 320i. Love the handling of those cars and I am a fiercely loyal type of guy.

I got my dream job in '81 and 15 minutes later (or so it seems) I retired in 2015.  In the meantime I have owned a 528i, 633i (other than the Fiat, the worst car I have owned), a '87 M6 (it came down the assembly line as a L for full leather), 01 M Roadster (best car I have owned), '03 M5, '08 M3 and my current '15 M4 convertible.  The M4 is my "retirement" car.

The '62 Vette went through some modifications, it was originally had a 327 cu in engine with a 4 bbl developing 275 hp and drove like a boat.  It now has a L1 engine (425 hp) with power steering and a C5 suspension with a bend aluminum frame, thanks to an Auburn grad that lives in Athens Alabama (I believe) and drives much better.

I have to say, the only way I was able to have this type of hobby was a very understanding wife.

Thanks for reading and I'm interested to hear your stories.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

Otherwise unremarkable cars with interesting features:

 - I could stretch out on the back seat of a '60 Fairlane without bending knees or bumping my head (I'm 6'2")

 - '71 Nova's hood and windshield intersected at a perfect lounge-chair angle for drive-in theaters

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

53 minutes ago, AUinTLoosa said:

Otherwise unremarkable cars with interesting features:

 - I could stretch out on the back seat of a '60 Fairlane without bending knees or bumping my head (I'm 6'2")

 - '71 Nova's hood and windshield intersected at a perfect lounge-chair angle for drive-in theaters

Ahhh, the drive-in theater.  My first job was picking up paper (and other non mentionable things) the morning after the drive-in show the night before.  Memory lane.  That Ford Failane did have a good bench seat.

[Auburn 6 101]

Thanks for sharing @I_M4_AU

I'm a bit younger than you it sounds like so I've only owned 3 cars so far.  Although, I've been interested in anything fast ever since I was a kid.  I've also never owned an automatic which seems to be a rare streak these days.

First car was a 1998 VW GTI.  Nothing special there.  Slow as crap but a lot of fun in the corners.  It had a few mods like intake, exhaust, chip, and short shifter.  It still only made about 140hp on a good day.  Passed that along to my brother when I went to college and he blew up the transmission.

Second car was a 2006 Mazda 6s hatch with a V6 and 5 speed.  Needed something reliable since the VW wasn't, and I needed more space to haul my stuff from Northern VA to Auburn.  Pretty fun car for what it was and it had decent power.  I added an intake, stiffer springs and shocks, rear sway bar so I could kick the back end around a bit more, and electronic exhaust cut outs to open it up when I wanted to open it up and dump straight from the headers.  Handled decently well and was quick enough to keep up with most of my friends.  That car also saved my life when I was t-boned and the car was totaled.  All of the impact was taken in the drivers front side and I was knocked unconscious, still don't remember parts of that evening.  The officer that responded said that after watching the crash on a red light camera he was surprised that I walked away without any major injuries.  This was about 6 months after I had graduated and I had saved up enough to buy a motorcycle, I was just waiting for it to warm up for me to start learning.  I had second thoughts on the bike after that wreck so I bought a fun car instead.

Third car is also my current ride and is definitely the most fun car I've owned.  2008 BMW 135i with an extensive mod list.  RB Turbos, JB4 piggy back with custom back end flash, Walbro 450 fuel pump, BMS intake, RB turbo inlets, Riss Racing 3" exhaust, VRSF 3" catless downpipes, VRSF 7" intercooler, BMS meth injection, clutch type LSD, Spec stage 2+ clutch and single mass flywheel, KW v2 coilovers, 1M front bumper, carbon fiber rear lip spoiler, and Apex forged wheels.  There's always somebody out there with deeper pockets and a faster car, but I don't run in to too many that can out run this car.  I've outrun a few exotics and the owners usually aren't happy about losing to a 1 series.

 

 

 

 

 

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

1 hour ago, Auburn 6 said:

Thanks for sharing @I_M4_AU

I'm a bit younger than you...This was about 6 months after I had graduated and I had saved up enough to buy a motorcycle, I was just waiting for it to warm up for me to start learning...

 

 

 

Old-fart advice - 

I note that you hail from Atlanta.

Bikes and ice storms mix, but very badly.

Be Safe.

[Auburn 6 101]

2 minutes ago, AUinTLoosa said:

Old-fart advice - 

I note that you hail from Atlanta.

Bikes and ice storms mix, but very badly.

Be Safe.

Thanks for the advice.  I never did buy a bike so my biggest problem now is sticky summer tires and the occasional ice in Atlanta.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

4 minutes ago, Auburn 6 said:

Thanks for the advice.  I never did buy a bike so my biggest problem now is sticky summer tires and the occasional ice in Atlanta.

"Like" button seems to be problematic today, but

Good. Ice is not good, but 4 tires are better than 2.

WDE

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

1 minute ago, AUinTLoosa said:

"Like" button seems to be problematic today, but

Good. Ice is not good, but 4 tires are better than 2.

WDE

As an aside - 

Even the quote/respond functions provide limited text color, and 

seem to almost beg me to double post.

or is that just me and my Mac?

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

Good story, so far @Auburn 6.  Looks like you are well on your way to being car poor like I am.  It appears that your 1 series is set up very nice and what we used to call a "sleeper".  One would have to look close and hear your car to know if it was serious.  It seems a lot of "exotic" car owners are not adept at looking past the model number on the car.

One of the reasons I thought the M Roadster was my best car was the quickness it had in traffic.  You just have to think about it and with very little effort it would happen.  The car you were trying to get in front of could not react in time.  You know what I mean.  The one thing I would worry about is the "monster pickup trucks" would like to try to intimidate me by tailgating and I knew, if I had to stop fast, there was no way they could stop in time.

If you ever have the chance and buy a new car from BMW, Mercedes or Porsche, pick the car up at a delivery center.   At BMW, they have a car like the one you pick up (not yours) that you take on their track and wring out.  Accelerate/stop, panic stop, skid pad, cornering exercises, etc.  Did I mention it wasn't your car?  Really an overall great experience.  These manufacturers also have driving experiences that are very good whether you buy a car or not.  But you probably know this.

With regard to the graph, man that's a lot of torque for a car that is so light. Do you ever turn off the DSC?

[Auburn 6 101]

On February 21, 2017 at 9:06 AM, I_M4_AU said:

Good story, so far @Auburn 6.  Looks like you are well on your way to being car poor like I am.  It appears that your 1 series is set up very nice and what we used to call a "sleeper".  One would have to look close and hear your car to know if it was serious.  It seems a lot of "exotic" car owners are not adept at looking past the model number on the car.

One of the reasons I thought the M Roadster was my best car was the quickness it had in traffic.  You just have to think about it and with very little effort it would happen.  The car you were trying to get in front of could not react in time.  You know what I mean.  The one thing I would worry about is the "monster pickup trucks" would like to try to intimidate me by tailgating and I knew, if I had to stop fast, there was no way they could stop in time.

If you ever have the chance and buy a new car from BMW, Mercedes or Porsche, pick the car up at a delivery center.   At BMW, they have a car like the one you pick up (not yours) that you take on their track and wring out.  Accelerate/stop, panic stop, skid pad, cornering exercises, etc.  Did I mention it wasn't your car?  Really an overall great experience.  These manufacturers also have driving experiences that are very good whether you buy a car or not.  But you probably know this.

With regard to the graph, man that's a lot of torque for a car that is so light. Do you ever turn off the DSC?

Thanks.  It's definitely easy to get car poor, that's for sure.  Luckily I paid the car off a few years ago so I don't feel as bad about modding it.  It's somewhat of a sleeper which I like. Flies under the radar a lot of times.  The exhaust is loud and so are the turbos and blow off valve so if you pay attention to it you'll know ti's not stock.  The challenge is figuring out if the car has just an exhaust on it or a lot more.

I like the M roadsters, those are fun cars.  I have a friend who has one with some bolt ons and uses it as his track car.  I've been in it for a couple sessions around Road Atlanta and it's a really fun car.

If I ever buy a new BMW I will definitely be doing European delivery.  My friend did it when he bought his M4 and highly recommended it.  They rented a different BMW while there and drove the Nurburgring which sounds amazing, I think BMW wouldn't sign off on letting them take one of their cars on the track or something like that.  Don't remember the specifics but they had to rent a separate car for that.  I've been looking at doing the M driving school in SC or doing the Porsche one now that they've moved to Atlanta.  My brother and I visited Italy a few years ago and we took a tour of the Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Pagani factories which was awesome.  I rented a Ferrari 458 Italia outside of the factory and was blasting up and down the roads which was really cool to do in Italy.  The co-driver didn't realize that I knew how to activate launch control so when he was telling me where to go I launched it and went tearing out of the parking lot.  He wasn't very happy with me.  They had a go-pro mounted in the back window so that you can buy the video of your drive and at one point he had his hands together in prayer asking me to slow down haha.  I was going about 130mph at the time and they'll let you go fast in the straights but always get on you to take the corners really slow.  

The tune that I have in my car automatically switches the DSC off and puts it into DTC mode which is what happens if you just push the button instead of holding it down.  This allows you to be a bit more aggressive and spin the tires in a straight line but if you start to get sideways it will bring you back in line.  I almost never drive on the street with all the electronics switched off, that's saved for the race track.  I find the DSC to be overly intrusive especially now that the car has an LSD in the rear to help with traction in both a straight line and the corners.

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

@Auburn 6, to clarify, I picked up my M4 at the Greenville, SC plant.  I had been to the facility in Munich many times and driven in and around Germany on several occasions, so it wasn't worth the wait for the car to take the European Delivery option.  At GSP they do let you drive their cars around the track in a well supervised environment.  BMW delivers the car from the boat to GSP and you pick it up from there.  They put you up in a local hotel and start you off in the morning driving for an hour and a half or so, lunch, plant tour and personalized car introduction and delivery

That Italy trip sounded great, I've only been to Rome and wouldn't dare drive there.  I don't know the rules of the road in Rome, the lines on the road separating the lanes are just suggestions over there.  Enjoyed the story.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

On 2/19/2017 at 8:36 AM, I_M4_AU said:

This thread can go in many different directions,...

Thanks for reading and I'm interested to hear your stories.

Don't know if you noticed, but I advertised your thread out on the Football forum.

Hope that was OK.

[augolf1716 21,096]

I am not a car guy by any means but I have enjoyed reading this thread. don't know an engine coolent from a brake job. I have had everything from a VW Beetle, Falcon, Jimmy, RX-7, Ford Fairlane, Astro Van, F-150 and my last one 2006 Tahoe. There's more just can't remember all of them

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

13 hours ago, AUinTLoosa said:

Don't know if you noticed, but I advertised your thread out on the Football forum.

Hope that was OK.

I did notice and I appreciate it. I should have, thanks. 

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

11 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

I am not a car guy by any means but I have enjoyed reading this thread. don't know an engine coolent from a brake job. I have had everything from a VW Beetle, Falcon, Jimmy, RX-7, Ford Fairlane, Astro Van, F-150 and my last one 2006 Tahoe. There's more just can't remember all of them

I hate to admit this, but I remember when the Ford Falcon first hit the market.  One of the first compact car made and appeared during the last years of the big finned cars of the 60's.

[augolf1716 21,096]

This is the style and color I had

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

An interesting article on the BMW 2:

https://www.bmwcca.org/news/we-finally-get-m2-limited-edition—-not-enough-them

[Mike4AU 1,739]

Ah, some kindred souls!

Here are four of my favorite cars over the years.

1.  Not sure why but my Dad bought me a 1967 corvette convertible, 427 with 3X2 while I was in school.  Way fast...too fast...could barely keep tires on it.  I lost my pics of it, but here is a pic of the scale model I have.

 

2.  !968 Corvette vert, 327.  Not nearly as cool, nor as fast as the 68, but it had AC!  No pics.

3.  2004 BMW Z3, 3L, vert.  Really liked this car, but it was too small.  No pics.

4.  1996 BMW 2.8, vert.  It is a garage queen.  Just drive it when I am in the mood.

 

 

 

[AURex 1,984]

 

Why won't my post show? I wrote text. I copy/pasted a picture. I click Submit. Nothing. It disappears. Am I doing the picture thing wrong?

 

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

18 hours ago, Mike4AU said:

Ah, some kindred souls!

Here are four of my favorite cars over the years.

1.  Not sure why but my Dad bought me a 1967 corvette convertible, 427 with 3X2 while I was in school.  Way fast...too fast...could barely keep tires on it.  I lost my pics of it, but here is a pic of the scale model I have.

 

2.  !968 Corvette vert, 327.  Not nearly as cool, nor as fast as the 68, but it had AC!  No pics.

3.  2004 BMW Z3, 3L, vert.  Really liked this car, but it was too small.  No pics.

4.  1996 BMW 2.8, vert.  It is a garage queen.  Just drive it when I am in the mood.

 

 

 

I'm sure the '67 "purs like a kitten till the lake piper roar".  There is no way I could have driven that Corvette while I was in school, I don't know how you did it.

[Mike4AU 1,739]

1 hour ago, I_M4_AU said:

There is no way I could have driven that Corvette while I was in school, I don't know how you did it.

The dumbest thing I ever did was once on a trip to PC, traffic on a particular four lane road was non-existent, so I kicked it (the 427).  Got up to 145 in the blink of an eye and then I could actually feel the car lifting up.  I got scared and backed it down.  I did the same thing with the 327.  Same lift, same scared.

I think Corvettes lost their cachet after 1967 and stayed lost until the current Vette.  Even now I don't think they are as cool as BMW's 3 and 4 M series.  Detroit has lost its way and does not have a clue how to get it back.

[I_M4_AU 7,767]

9 hours ago, Mike4AU said:

I think Corvettes lost their cachet after 1967 and stayed lost until the current Vette.  Even now I don't think they are as cool as BMW's 3 and 4 M series.  Detroit has lost its way and does not have a clue how to get it back.

I have to agree with this, when I was shopping for the M4 I stopped by the GM dealer to test drive a new 2015 Corvette.  They told me they wouldn't let me drive a new one but they had a used one I could drive.  Started driving it and the low fuel light came on and the salesman said it will be a short drive.  Basically just around the block, it drove a little better than my '62 with all the mods I have on it.

I went to the BMW dealer and he let me drive the M4 in the M mode up to about 100mph, then down a less travelled road to do a accelate/stop test.  I accelerated to 60 and back to 0 and we didn't travel very long at all.  Very impressive demonstration, I've always had a manual transmission, but got the dual clutch in this one and it is nice.  To be honest, I do miss the manual a little.

[AUld fAUx@ 2,584]

On 2/24/2017 at 5:25 PM, AURex said:

 

Why won't my post show? I wrote text. I copy/pasted a picture. I click Submit. Nothing. It disappears. Am I doing the picture thing wrong?

 

http://imgur.com

Go to site above

Push the "New Posts' button

Drag/drop your picture into the frame provided

Click the V-shaped down arrow - then click "Get Share Links"

Copy the text link called BBCode(Forums)

past that into your post here.

Hope this helps.

 

[AURex 1,984]

Thanks!

 

[AURex 1,984]

I didn't have a car in high school. I didn't have a car my first year at Auburn either. But after a year of working, I was able to buy a car. My 1970 MGB would not impress the muscle car crowd, but I loved driving this car and as I soon discovered, it was a chick magnet!