Anything related to automobiles

[ReaperKK]

Yesterday I got to accomplish one of my dreams since I was little and that was driving a Porsche 911 on a track. For my birthday my wife got me the Porsche track experience at the NA Porsche Headquarters in Atlanta.

For anyone who is a fan of cars, particularly Porsches I recommend you stop by and visit. The facility is amazing (it looks familiar too because it's the building used as the Avengers headquarters in the movies). They have a museum where they swap cars out frequently.

The car I drove was a 2022 911 Turbo S with a sticker price just shy of $300k and it was an absolute monster. We did everything from drift lessons, multiple launches, and a bunch of laps on their track at the facility. The car handled like it was on rails and was a blast to drive. Towards the end we did about 10 launches back to back followed by some high speed laps and by that point I got really motion sick, so much so that afterward I promptly went to the bathroom to puke, it was magical . Again if you like cars and are in Atlanta stop by, you won't be disappointed. Here are a few photos, the yellow car is the one I drove.

One of the two main buildings:




991.2 GT2RS, beautiful optioned with custom paint color:


Carrera GT:

[Lonk]

Sounds like an awesome experience 

[Stadler]

That sounds REALLY cool.   

[ReaperKK]

I've literally spent the past 2 days pouring over my budget and various excel spreadsheets to make 911 ownership possible . It's a bummer because of how much prices have gone up since the start of a pandemic. A 2 year old 911 Carrera S was going for around $85k pre pandemic, the same car, now almost 4 years old goes for north of $100k.

I have a little less than 2 years left on my lease so I have time to stash away some pennies.

[goo-goo]

Any suggestions on spare tire options for a BMW 2017 330i?

The air compressor was not included when I bought the car but I realized it doesn't have a spare tire either. I've seen people buy a complete tire with rim and put it in the trunk (obviously it takes most of the space). I've seen other people just buy a much better air compressor than what's included plus a a slime and tire repair kit (patches) and a good set of wrenches and a decent jack. I'm thinking about going for the latter option.

My worry is that I do drive 3-4 times a year to  El Paso, Tx from Austin (10 hr drive) and don't want to be left stranded lol. Surprisingly I've never been left stranded on I-10 or I-20 when I lived in Dallas. But I know my luck will eventually run out.

What have you guys done for spares?

[ReaperKK]

I have a 2020 bmw m340i and I don't have a spare sadly, run flats which I'm not a fan of. Check if you have run flats, if you do you can go 50 miles on them. If not then I'd pick up a donut or a can of fix a flat. Fix a flat has bailed me out a few times on my motorcycle.

[Stadler]

I have a 2020 bmw m340i and I don't have a spare sadly, run flats which I'm not a fan of. Check if you have run flats, if you do you can go 50 miles on them. If not then I'd pick up a donut or a can of fix a flat. Fix a flat has bailed me out a few times on my motorcycle.

That's my car.  Run flats. Fuckers are hard to keep inflated to the proper temperature, and are expensive, too.  And my car, a 5-Series with the xDrive, is VERY sensitive to tire inflation pressure; I generally check them every couple weeks, no more than monthly, and while that may be best practice it's far in excess of what I usually do with tires.

[ReaperKK]

The best thing I ever bought was tire and rim insurance on my car. About a month after I picked up my car we took a short little road trip and my wife runs over a massive bolt. We had to drive 40 miles home on 5psi and it would've cost $323 to replace but got it free. That one tire replacement took a huge chunk of what my insurance cost ($500)

[Lonk]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

[ReaperKK]

That's very cool, I thought the vantablack BMW they did was neat but this takes it to another level.

[Chino]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

[Lonk]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

Using your car for advertisement already happens (with stickers and vinyl of course). Once technology is available, I can see this happening, specially in cities.

[El Barto]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

If we're going to go all Minority Report, throw in a governmental override, where a criminal suspect's car begins flashing bright orange.

[Chino]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

If we're going to go all Minority Report, throw in a governmental override, where a criminal suspect's car begins flashing bright orange.

And then they remotely lock the doors and redirect it to a police station (assuming cars are driving themselves at this point). 

[Chino]

Saw this on Reddit. Felt like sharing.




It's a twin turbo 27L Rolls Royce tank engine in a Crown Vic.

- Weighs in at 4469lbs/2027kg
- Weight distribution is 55.8% in the front and 44.2% in the rear

[ReaperKK]

Christ that is awesome. The weight distribution is what's really surprising.

[Chino]

I really hate this kind of thing.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/14/business/bmw-subscription/index.html

BMW is now offering British drivers the option of enjoying a heated seat on a monthly subscription basis. Of course, you can still get heated seats the regular way -- just buy them as an option when you purchase the car -- but for those who didn't do that, or who bought a used car without the feature, BMW will enable it for a monthly fee so you can try out having a nice warm seat on a cold day.

Heated seats, purchased on a subscription basis, will cost British drivers £10 a month, the equivalent of about $12.

[Stadler]

I really hate this kind of thing.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/14/business/bmw-subscription/index.html

BMW is now offering British drivers the option of enjoying a heated seat on a monthly subscription basis. Of course, you can still get heated seats the regular way -- just buy them as an option when you purchase the car -- but for those who didn't do that, or who bought a used car without the feature, BMW will enable it for a monthly fee so you can try out having a nice warm seat on a cold day.

Heated seats, purchased on a subscription basis, will cost British drivers £10 a month, the equivalent of about $12.

I'm with you; and I'm somewhat embarrassed that it's my favorite car company spearheading it.   Siskel and Ebert give this

[Stadler]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

If we're going to go all Minority Report, throw in a governmental override, where a criminal suspect's car begins flashing bright orange.

My brother being a cop and all... I've long had the idea of a sort of analog version of that; instead of engaging in a chase, have each police car/policeman equipped with a sort of "car stun gun", where you shoot a blob of something - think "Spider-Man's web" kind of thing - that makes the car a beacon for GPS.  I know there's the problem of "visual chain of custody" (my words), and the perps can abandon it and run, I get that, but at least the car itself can be tracked which in many cases gets law enforcement where they need to be without engaging in high speed chases.

[hunnus2000]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

If we're going to go all Minority Report, throw in a governmental override, where a criminal suspect's car begins flashing bright orange.

My brother being a cop and all... I've long had the idea of a sort of analog version of that; instead of engaging in a chase, have each police car/policeman equipped with a sort of "car stun gun", where you shoot a blob of something - think "Spider-Man's web" kind of thing - that makes the car a beacon for GPS.  I know there's the problem of "visual chain of custody" (my words), and the perps can abandon it and run, I get that, but at least the car itself can be tracked which in many cases gets law enforcement where they need to be without engaging in high speed chases.

Don't the cops already have this??

[Stadler]

Don't think this will see the market any time soon, but it is cool

https://youtu.be/499TkWOl4PM

I envision a future where you can get $100 off your monthly car payment by whoring out your body panels for advertisers. The car will use geo location and cellphone data to know who is next to you, and it'll choose what ads to display accordingly.

If we're going to go all Minority Report, throw in a governmental override, where a criminal suspect's car begins flashing bright orange.

My brother being a cop and all... I've long had the idea of a sort of analog version of that; instead of engaging in a chase, have each police car/policeman equipped with a sort of "car stun gun", where you shoot a blob of something - think "Spider-Man's web" kind of thing - that makes the car a beacon for GPS.  I know there's the problem of "visual chain of custody" (my words), and the perps can abandon it and run, I get that, but at least the car itself can be tracked which in many cases gets law enforcement where they need to be without engaging in high speed chases.

Don't the cops already have this??

Not that I know of.  Maybe.  If so, I have to call my attorney!   

[ReaperKK]

I really hate this kind of thing.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/14/business/bmw-subscription/index.html

BMW is now offering British drivers the option of enjoying a heated seat on a monthly subscription basis. Of course, you can still get heated seats the regular way -- just buy them as an option when you purchase the car -- but for those who didn't do that, or who bought a used car without the feature, BMW will enable it for a monthly fee so you can try out having a nice warm seat on a cold day.

Heated seats, purchased on a subscription basis, will cost British drivers £10 a month, the equivalent of about $12.

I'm with you; and I'm somewhat embarrassed that it's my favorite car company spearheading it.   Siskel and Ebert give this

Yes this pisses me off but isn't surprising, they tried this with apple carplay and got a bunch of blowback.

That said and I'm biased because I've owned two BMW's and I'm seriously debating the new M2 when that gets released they aren't the only one.

For example Tesla does the same thing with their feature set, you can subscribe to certain services in the car
Toyota tried charging for remote start
Lexus charges for remote start through the key (I was pissed when I found this out on my RC300)

BMW has hence said that they will charge monthly if you didn't pay for the option in full at purchase but that's a bunch of BS. It's probably them trying to catch profits from cars that are sold on the used market.

[Lonk]

Are there any (current) BMW models that come without heated seats?

I paid for a subscription to use Subaru's Starlink tech ($75 for 3 years I believe). But I don't know how I feel about pay a monthly fee for heated seats. My guess is that it is meant for those that lease a vehicle and get whatever the most basic model is, but still want heated seats, just me guessing here.

[El Barto]

It's not the heated seats that bother me. It's the trickle-down aspect of it. At this point letting any non-BMW certified tech work on your car is probably going to void the warranty, because enabling such things could be done like that. In my car an independent could talk to the CAN bus and enable/disable all sorts of stuff (including tweaking the engine for more HP). This is just another thing that's becoming a service rather than a possession. Your car is going to have to phone home to the mothership on the regular, and if it can't verify that you're not ripping them off it'll just shut down.

[Chino]

Are there any (current) BMW models that come without heated seats?

I paid for a subscription to use Subaru's Starlink tech ($75 for 3 years I believe). But I don't know how I feel about pay a monthly fee for heated seats. My guess is that it is meant for those that lease a vehicle and get whatever the most basic model is, but still want heated seats, just me guessing here.

I have no problem with services like Starlink. That requires a constant team of people and upkeep, just like a streaming service or satellite radio. Heated seats are just hardware that require no resources on BMW's end after the point of sale.

[Stadler]

It's not the heated seats that bother me. It's the trickle-down aspect of it. At this point letting any non-BMW certified tech work on your car is probably going to void the warranty, because enabling such things could be done like that. In my car an independent could talk to the CAN bus and enable/disable all sorts of stuff (including tweaking the engine for more HP). This is just another thing that's becoming a service rather than a possession. Your car is going to have to phone home to the mothership on the regular, and if it can't verify that you're not ripping them off it'll just shut down.

This is HIGHLY accurate.   Even mine - a 2013 - is programmable to a degree that I can't even find the limits of.  This is probably within the capabilities of that car, but it is certainly within the capabilities of the current models.  My car has an electronic parking brake, and it's triggered by a number of modules/relays that can prevent the car from moving (I can't roll my car forward with the driver's door open, for example).  I don't know the extent of the link on my car (I get updated time/date, but I don't know if it can send/receive operational metrics.  My wife's Volvo, can though.)  That irks me.  Cars are still, fundamentally, a physics experiment:  power (either electricity, or spark/fuel/air), a mechanical translation of energy to torque, the friction of the rubber and the road, leading ultimately to wind blowing through what little hair I have left.   All this fucks with that even further than they've been fucked with so far.

[El Barto]

It's not the heated seats that bother me. It's the trickle-down aspect of it. At this point letting any non-BMW certified tech work on your car is probably going to void the warranty, because enabling such things could be done like that. In my car an independent could talk to the CAN bus and enable/disable all sorts of stuff (including tweaking the engine for more HP). This is just another thing that's becoming a service rather than a possession. Your car is going to have to phone home to the mothership on the regular, and if it can't verify that you're not ripping them off it'll just shut down.

This is HIGHLY accurate.   Even mine - a 2013 - is programmable to a degree that I can't even find the limits of.  This is probably within the capabilities of that car, but it is certainly within the capabilities of the current models.  My car has an electronic parking brake, and it's triggered by a number of modules/relays that can prevent the car from moving (I can't roll my car forward with the driver's door open, for example).  I don't know the extent of the link on my car (I get updated time/date, but I don't know if it can send/receive operational metrics.  My wife's Volvo, can though.)  That irks me.  Cars are still, fundamentally, a physics experiment:  power (either electricity, or spark/fuel/air), a mechanical translation of energy to torque, the friction of the rubber and the road, leading ultimately to wind blowing through what little hair I have left.   All this fucks with that even further than they've been fucked with so far.

Yeah, this is why I'll likely be sticking with older cars from here on out. It should be a simple as a key, a battery, a starter and a solenoid, and off you go. Ever since my mom's Audi got bricked because an anti-theft device* failed and required a $2800 steering column (programmed by the mothership in Germany), that was it for newfangled computerized cars AFAIC. 

I actually drove to Houston a while back to look at a lovely e46. Stick with the ZHP package. Loved it. Took it to get PPI'ed and they found some sort of interlock on there that couldn't be explained, and it was interfering with the OBDII link.  It was almost certainly put in place by a finance company sometime back, but the service techs wouldn't touch it. I had to pass on it because some random element could brick the car.


*The irony is that had the car simply been stolen we would have been fine with that. The problem is that the financial ramifications to Allstate are far, far more important than the hardship of us lowly proles.

[Stadler]

The e46 is, in a lot of ways, the perfect car (well, the e39 is, but that's a step above).  My stepson has one (an M3) and it's the best transmission I've ever driven. Smooth, challenging without being difficult.

[ReaperKK]

The e46 is, in a lot of ways, the perfect car (well, the e39 is, but that's a step above).  My stepson has one (an M3) and it's the best transmission I've ever driven. Smooth, challenging without being difficult.

I miss my e46, god did I hate it when I owned it though. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent taking it apart and putting it back together.

[El Barto]

An e46 M3 might well be my next (and hopefully last) car. That said, I may also decide just to buy a truck, slap an enormous bumper on the front, and lift it enough that I can drive by my own set of rules. At least once a day I regret not being able to drive over a median or across a sidewalk.

[Stadler]

The e46 is, in a lot of ways, the perfect car (well, the e39 is, but that's a step above).  My stepson has one (an M3) and it's the best transmission I've ever driven. Smooth, challenging without being difficult.

I miss my e46, god did I hate it when I owned it though. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent taking it apart and putting it back together.

But you COULD! That's the beauty.  I spent last weekend working on my f10; I switched out the door handle (it had that sticky residue on it), I changed the cabin air filters, and I swapped out the blower motor.   I have to do brakes now; I used to do the brakes on my e83 no problem.  As much as I want to - it's fun work - I won't touch it.  I did everything on the older 3-series, including changing out the transmission (other than a specific wrench, actually easier than it sounds).

[Stadler]

An e46 M3 might well be my next (and hopefully last) car. That said, I may also decide just to buy a truck, slap an enormous bumper on the front, and lift it enough that I can drive by my own set of rules. At least once a day I regret not being able to drive over a median or across a sidewalk.

Both, brother.  At least up here, if you get a good enough deal on your daily, it's not a luxury (other than parking space) to have two.  I have my 2013 sedan and a POS '99 Dodge 4x4 pickup (well, in the process of swapping it out for a 2003 F350, though that's diesel, so not a great bargain to fuel up).  I register, insure, and maintain for about the same price as my wife's car (we didn't cut corners on hers because she drives the grandkids frequently; even then, we didn't buy new, we bought Certified.  With Volvo the warranty is really generous). 

[ReaperKK]

An e46 M3 might well be my next (and hopefully last) car. That said, I may also decide just to buy a truck, slap an enormous bumper on the front, and lift it enough that I can drive by my own set of rules. At least once a day I regret not being able to drive over a median or across a sidewalk.

I'm not sure if you watch this guy or not but I love his BMW restoration videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/M539Restorations

The e46 is, in a lot of ways, the perfect car (well, the e39 is, but that's a step above).  My stepson has one (an M3) and it's the best transmission I've ever driven. Smooth, challenging without being difficult.

I miss my e46, god did I hate it when I owned it though. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent taking it apart and putting it back together.

But you COULD! That's the beauty.  I spent last weekend working on my f10; I switched out the door handle (it had that sticky residue on it), I changed the cabin air filters, and I swapped out the blower motor.   I have to do brakes now; I used to do the brakes on my e83 no problem.  As much as I want to - it's fun work - I won't touch it.  I did everything on the older 3-series, including changing out the transmission (other than a specific wrench, actually easier than it sounds).

Very true, but I've come to a point where I don't want to wrench on my daily. I like working on cars I don't need to rely on for transportation. Plus now I have the cayman which requires a lift for literally anything

[Stadler]

An e46 M3 might well be my next (and hopefully last) car. That said, I may also decide just to buy a truck, slap an enormous bumper on the front, and lift it enough that I can drive by my own set of rules. At least once a day I regret not being able to drive over a median or across a sidewalk.

I'm not sure if you watch this guy or not but I love his BMW restoration videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/M539Restorations

The e46 is, in a lot of ways, the perfect car (well, the e39 is, but that's a step above).  My stepson has one (an M3) and it's the best transmission I've ever driven. Smooth, challenging without being difficult.

I miss my e46, god did I hate it when I owned it though. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent taking it apart and putting it back together.

But you COULD! That's the beauty.  I spent last weekend working on my f10; I switched out the door handle (it had that sticky residue on it), I changed the cabin air filters, and I swapped out the blower motor.   I have to do brakes now; I used to do the brakes on my e83 no problem.  As much as I want to - it's fun work - I won't touch it.  I did everything on the older 3-series, including changing out the transmission (other than a specific wrench, actually easier than it sounds).

Very true, but I've come to a point where I don't want to wrench on my daily. I like working on cars I don't need to rely on for transportation. Plus now I have the cayman which requires a lift for literally anything

No, that's a fair point and I agree.  It then becomes un-fun.

[El Barto]

Yeah, I only have my DD, so any maintenance becomes a "must accomplish immediately" obligation. That really blows. It's gotten so I'd rather just pay to have work done, though there are certainly things I enjoy doing myself. Also, the front of my e46 is dropped enough that I had to build ramps to drive on just to get it high enough that I could get a jack under the jack points. 

I used to do the brakes on my e83 no problem.  As much as I want to - it's fun work - I won't touch it.

Why? Brakes are one of the jobs I enjoy.  I actually have heard of some cars that won't unlock the pads without the car being in some variety of service mode. Ostensibly related to electronic e-brakes, but certainly just to make sure that only authorized techs (who pay big bucks for the software) can do any work on the cars.