skaffa

Irish RTE2 had a document about passanger vehicless "What Jesus would drive". As from title you might notice the attitude what document had. <_< A-model Ford did 25MPG, Hummer2 12MPG. Evolution? Some one has calculated that if average would be 40MPG US would not have to buy oil from Middle-East. "SUV driver finance terrorists" quite hard slogan!

Governements anywhere in the free world are not ready to make decisions whick will drop they popularity and increase costs of driving is one of those. People can live in "status quo" but they don't like to pay more tomorrow that today. US gov seem not to be any different. High tax for big SUV's and douple gas price, will kill most of big SUV's. Why diesel is not supported by US gov?

Sorry to say but most of the people, all over world, have "me, now" attitude. People spend because they have what to spend and let others save.

Skaffa

pharding

Personally I like horsepower. The 525s and 535s will be equipped with the right size hp when the new engines come out. The 545 is fine, but the 550 is finer. Does it make sense to trade a 545 in to get a 550? Absolutely not. However, one of the reasons that I lease is so that every three years I get the latest and greatest technology. I believe that the engine upgrades will clearly benefit BMW. Let the consumer and marketplace decide.

The Pentium Guy

That's true The 525i is a bit underpowered (184 hp... :s), but 215 is decent. That's all you need pretty much (as a BARE minimum), I remember geo metros with 3 cylinders and 55 hp... That was scary.

-TPG

Guest

The Euro car manufacturers do not import diesels into the US because they are unable to meet the US (and individual state) emissions requirements without significant additional costs. For example, MB is importing its E class diesels, but not to CA due to CA's stricter emission requirements. The higher mileage is a definite advantage, especially since diesel fuel cost about the same as premium gas in CA.

m630

CVT i agree, the game of hp is way out of hand... i still dont know anyone who can drive 155mph in NYC, but here its always the bigger the better.... it may be hard for some on the board to believe, but I do take my part seriously and take into consideration mother earth, and thats why i just dont go for the 4.5 already...

to me, its silly to discuss the 0-60 times when I dont drag race for a living.... what I find important is the ability to drive quick, but im not racing 911's everyday... i look to technology to up the mpg like the new R6 will do, as well as reduce weight which will make the car a bit quicker too

~258hp is perfect for the E60 imho, lets just hope that when the R6 is out, BMW NA gives us the M-Sport option and I can be very happy

tab545

The mileage of the 545 is over 30 mpg cruising at 65 miles per hour. That's pretty good technology, given the horsepower. Isn't it true that the 545 is ULEV certified? I know the Corvette has been. Very sweet, clean, and powerful engines don't make me feel bad.

I wish more people realized that SUVs are wasteful, not fun to drive, and not safe. I'll take a sedan, or a wagon, any day. Many wagons have as much useful space as an SUV, you just can't climb a mountain with a wagon -- but who needs to climb a mountain?

I do hope the high-horsepower games are limited to very high end cars, but the technology that makes my 545 get 30+ mpg will filter down to lower cars, which is good.

DXXXi

I agree, I am not a fan of SUV's, especially the large ones. Personally, I really don't think I need or want a V-8 either unless I am towing a boat and even then I would want a diesel. I also think that insurance companies should further increase the cost of insurance on SUVs because of the amount of damage they do to other vehicles and their occupants when they collide with them. I do not think this is factored in.

530iii

Everyone claims XXXHP but i think BMW extracts the most "useable" HP in everyday driving for the road.

Useable HP and torque matched to a solid tranny and proper gearing = BMW performance.

pennetta

I like the HP and race someone at least once to work or from work every day. There is a group of us that take the same way home every night and we play tag along the north shore. Speeds rarely go above 120 mph but we have a great time. When driving on the street it usually is the bravest or sometimes the stupidous guy that wins. I like being able to pull away from most of them, and I can definatley dust them if when we get into the hills and turns.
I don't know why some of you are so resolute against faster cars and more HP. We all look for different things in our cars. Some of us really drive them not just wash them. Thats my opinion and I am not trying to convert any of you. Enjoy the Holiday weekend, drive safe.

wolverine

I think this is a great time for cars. Nothing wrong with tons of HP. Fuel economy will be based on the price people are willing to pay.

If people want to pay lots of money in gas guzzler tax and subsidize the sales of more efficient vehicles, they should be able to do that.