meditek

I was simply saying that I don't think 0-60 times mean much in the real world, particulary when you get down to 10ths of seconds. Over here it's the 50-80 time that matters but not so much as the ability to corner fast and safely on narrow roads with traffic coming the other way to. About the fastest car on British type roads is something like a Lotus Elise. By the way, in the UK the expression 'hairdresser's car' refers to the use of a car for cruising and posing rather than driving - 90% of Porches and Ferraris come into that category here. It's good to hear that your cars sometimes do get a work out on interesting, presumably cop-free roads. Who won btw? I well remember a race to party in the late 50's when the roads were nearly empty and the police had other things to do. There was a Ferrari, 2 Aston Martins, an AC Bristol, Frazer Nash and about 10 others doing 100+ 3 abreast down one side of a dual carriage road. It was straight out of the film La Dolce Vita! Great days but there was a mortality rate.

Maybe I should explain that I am now 68 and simply want a comfortable effortless car and have no desire to prove anything any longer. My first car was a BMW 501 so I have always had an affinity for the mark. In my time I have owned and/or track raced many cars but by the late 70's road driving had become an exercise in controlling frustration. I remember getting a Porche Carrera in 1980 and selling it 3 months later as it simply wasn't possible to enjoy it. When it came to getting a new car in 05 I tried a number of saloons including the M5. The 545i suited me best, although, retrospectively, the 20" wheels were probably a mistake. I've only done about 20k in it and it's still like new so I am in no rush to change. The only thing I dislike about it is that the exhaust note is pathetic, actually non-existent. I prefer a purposeful throb on tickover! My wife chose an X3 320d Sport. She likes it. I hate it despite it's considerable grunt.

The 'Green' movement in Europe wants us all in small electric cars and they are now pushing their taxes accordingly with gas at around $7.50 a gallon, $600 a year road tax + hefty taxes on new cars. So the days of big effortless engines are numbered over here. When we go to Florida I hire a Cadillac for a few months. Although it suits the highways over there, it feels, both engine and chassis wise, awful except for cruising at around 80 in a straight line which I presume it was designed for. It's always a pleasure to get home to my 545.

craigm1841

last night i noticed that doing 155 in 5th gear only has the RPMs at like 5700.... i am glad my car is fast, otherwise i would never know that piece of useless knowledge

DD_545i

Same here. I usually change to 6th at about 150 but could hang on until about 158. Sixth is definitely just for overdrive rather than being needed in reaching max speed.

meditek

Very interesting. Where was that? The Skyway or 75?

za3879

interesting story there. i enjoy hearing about life experiences. welcome to the forum, as i see your newbie status

meditek

Anyway, to go back to my only moan about the 545i. Namely, the wet f... emitted by it's pipe. Has anyone tried the Eisenmann pipes? [url="http://www.eisenmann.co.uk/application.shtml"/url]
The sound files are not impressive. I would prefer a firm bass note on tickover rather like a much subdued Harley on 8 cylinders if you see what I'm driving at. An Aston has it.

evo42

I own both (02 m3 conv & 04 545). I'll line-up with the wife, she's pretty racy so I'm not confident the 5er will win.