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  #11  
Old 07-24-2016, 11:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight View Post
And people criticised me two years ago when I rented a Toyota Camry to travel from Crook County Illinois to Birmingham Alabama.

Nothing like driving a 15 years old BMW for the ultimate experience. I rather deal with a boring reliable not going to break in the middle of nowhere car like a Toyota then a 16 years old Ultimate driving machine that can let you down anywhere.

Safe Trip and hopefully an uneventful remaining trip.
Just got back from vacation in Wi. Rented a Chevy SUV, 1,200 miles one way. Hated driving the Chevy, but would never think of driving my X5. I applaud him, I'm sure he is enjoying the driving far more than we did.
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  #12  
Old 07-25-2016, 01:42 PM
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Originally Posted by bcredliner View Post
Just got back from vacation in Wi. Rented a Chevy SUV, 1,200 miles one way. Hated driving the Chevy, but would never think of driving my X5. I applaud him, I'm sure he is enjoying the driving far more than we did.
'Driving a SAV or SUV on the interstate with the AC on and the cruise control set is not the ultimate driving experience for me whether it is in a BMW or Chevy Tahoe.

Diving into turn one at Road America or hitting the Carousel in my Lotus, PORSCHE or in my old Lotus Type 61 Formula Ford is the ultimate driving experience in my opinion. Trying to out brake a Ferrari into a turn without trading paint is what gets my heart beating when I'm driving.
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  #13  
Old 07-25-2016, 02:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight View Post
'Driving a SAV or SUV on the interstate with the AC on and the cruise control set is not the ultimate driving experience for me whether it is in a BMW or Chevy Tahoe.

Diving into turn one at Road America or hitting the Carousel in my Lotus, PORSCHE or in my old Lotus Type 61 Formula Ford is the ultimate driving experience in my opinion. Trying to out brake a Ferrari into a turn without trading paint is what gets my heart beating when I'm driving.
Wasn't the ultimate driving experience but traveling about 100 miles on two lane hilly roads would have been a much better experience passing hay wagons and a host of others driving 10 under so some reason.
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  #14  
Old 07-25-2016, 06:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by upallnight View Post
'Driving a SAV or SUV on the interstate with the AC on and the cruise control set is not the ultimate driving experience for me whether it is in a BMW or Chevy Tahoe.

Diving into turn one at Road America or hitting the Carousel in my Lotus, PORSCHE or in my old Lotus Type 61 Formula Ford is the ultimate driving experience in my opinion. Trying to out brake a Ferrari into a turn without trading paint is what gets my heart beating when I'm driving.
Everyone has their own idea of what "the ultimate driving experience" might be and is largely financially and personally limited. Taking a 3000 mile road trip in my 4.8is this spring with my wife to introduce my family in Florida to our daughter, and to introduce her to the wonders that are the ocean and beach... is my idea of the ultimate driving experience.

I would LOVE to do a race track (CotA is only an hour away) with a few of the cars I have owned, but lack the expendable income and time to make something like that happen. Those funds get channeled into experiences (and the house) my whole family gets to enjoy, which is fine by me. Who knows how I would feel if I were in your shoes, but I'm not.

Try to be a little more open minded when people here don't take your negative attitude towards the e53 very well. I understand for you it's just an SUV that provides some measure of enjoyment. For others, that measure of enjoyment is probably on the order of magnitudes higher.

I, like PropellarHead seem to really enjoy driving the X5 for the enjoyment of the way it handles on normal roads, dirt roads, and yes, the open highway. I enjoy his threads for his thorough enjoyment/enthusiasm and lack of discouragement towards his chosen mode of transport. As he said, the good miles vastly outnumber the bad.

PS: I rented a Camry on a recent trip to Vegas because the 4.8is blew an expansion tank 800 miles from home. I had to drive back to El Paso, TX from Las Cruces, NM to pick up a replacement tank. I could never subject myself to driving a vehicle I did not enjoy for any considerable length of time. 2.5 hours in that thing was like torture. Reliable or not. We've put 20,000 miles on the 4.8is in ~320 days of ownership.
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  #15  
Old 07-25-2016, 11:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
Everyone has their own idea of what "the ultimate driving experience" might be and is largely financially and personally limited. Taking a 3000 mile road trip in my 4.8is this spring with my wife to introduce my family in Florida to our daughter, and to introduce her to the wonders that are the ocean and beach... is my idea of the ultimate driving experience.

I would LOVE to do a race track (CotA is only an hour away) with a few of the cars I have owned, but lack the expendable income and time to make something like that happen. Those funds get channeled into experiences (and the house) my whole family gets to enjoy, which is fine by me. Who knows how I would feel if I were in your shoes, but I'm not.

Try to be a little more open minded when people here don't take your negative attitude towards the e53 very well. I understand for you it's just an SUV that provides some measure of enjoyment. For others, that measure of enjoyment is probably on the order of magnitudes higher.

I, like PropellarHead seem to really enjoy driving the X5 for the enjoyment of the way it handles on normal roads, dirt roads, and yes, the open highway. I enjoy his threads for his thorough enjoyment/enthusiasm and lack of discouragement towards his chosen mode of transport. As he said, the good miles vastly outnumber the bad.

PS: I rented a Camry on a recent trip to Vegas because the 4.8is blew an expansion tank 800 miles from home. I had to drive back to El Paso, TX from Las Cruces, NM to pick up a replacement tank. I could never subject myself to driving a vehicle I did not enjoy for any considerable length of time. 2.5 hours in that thing was like torture. Reliable or not. We've put 20,000 miles on the 4.8is in ~320 days of ownership.
I think that each ultimate driving experience has merit. What's important is whether you enjoy it or not, regardless of what we all think. I've done both, a cross country trip in the X5 and driving (and racing on some) at 18 racetracks (4 in Europe including the Nordschlief).

Car clubs (and to an extent, message boards) are about the people, not the cars. I've learned that over the years. I value the people and appreciate the cars.

Propellerhead: Have fun on the rest of your journey!
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  #16  
Old 07-26-2016, 01:55 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by admranger View Post
Propellerhead: Have fun on the rest of your journey!
Damn right! And thanks.

If I want to run a track, I'll jump in my 1975 2002 that I've owned for 30 years. To suggest that each model of BMW offers anything but it's own 'Ultimate Driving Experience' is both short sighted and a knee jerk reaction to a successful marketing campaign. I really don't care what *BMW* has to say about my experience. I have driven the E53 because I believe it to be the most capable car of it's type at it's time. The same is true for the 2002.

17 years on, surely there exists more capable offerings in the class, but I don't own them. I own mine. And I like mine. The same is true for the '02. I'm not as enthusiastic about the 2002 E46 (our *other* '02), but it's my wife's daily. I still love my E39 after 16 years, too. I made that thing into my own version of what I wanted. Silly for a sedan and way, way slower- even SC'ed- than a lot of newer cars, but they're not mine. The E39 is.

Finally, when you're on a trip like this in a car like this, you make efforts to use the toy you've got. Rather than peeling off at 70 in a Camry, you might curl your toes and make that tight squeeze at speed in a BMW. One of my favorite roads in the country is 89A between Sedona, AZ and Flagstaff. In a POS rental, I'd be stuck behind the motor homes that tow other POS'es. In the E53, I have both the power and the agility to get 5 people where we want to go at the speed at least *one* of us wants to get there. I've driven 89A in my E39 twice and my E53 3x's. This trip will likely chalk up #'s 4 and 5. I've done it in a few rentals. The road is over 1300 miles away from home. I think about that road like a man thinks about a bad woman. I get to see her again in two weeks. Ohhhh, yes.

A close second is US 50 along the Royal Gorge in Colorado. (The loneliest road) I'd spend 12 hours on cruise control to drive that road again. It's not only beautiful, it's some of the best cruising over 80mph that you'll ever do- if you have the nerve or a car that you know can take it.

Like life, these trips and these drives aren't about the dull moments. They're about the excitement, the fun times, the odd chance your wife says to take the 'maintained road' through a desert. Maybe a car is just an appliance to a lot of folks. Maybe it is to me as well. But after 20 years with my last washer and dryer, you better believe I take time to research and make the very best choices when I buy an appliance.

Who doesn't?

Car getting a fresh detail tomorrow in downtown Seattle. Mr Detail, I think? It's got bugs and crap all over it. I want it to look nice when I see my girls on Sunday!
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  #17  
Old 07-26-2016, 10:31 AM
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  #18  
Old 07-29-2016, 06:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
PS: I rented a Camry on a recent trip to Vegas because the 4.8is blew an expansion tank 800 miles from home. I had to drive back to El Paso, TX from Las Cruces, NM to pick up a replacement tank. I could never subject myself to driving a vehicle I did not enjoy for any considerable length of time. 2.5 hours in that thing was like torture. Reliable or not. We've put 20,000 miles on the 4.8is in ~320 days of ownership.
Cheers to this. I just spent a week driving on the NSW coast in Australia in a brand new (rented) GTI. It was incredibly reliable, very comfortable, modern, convenient. Not one bad thing I could say about it and on paper a near perfect car.

I was bored out of my mind. Beautiful roads and a country I've never been to before, and the last thing I wanted to do was drive that thing. I'd happily trade the reliability and practicality for something that brings me an experience. The E53 might not be the most enthusiast-bait vehicle out there, but I love it's subdued character.
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  #19  
Old 08-08-2016, 05:04 AM
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Update:

The march to 100k is going strong! At the start of the summer, I took a pic @ 82k. This is a bit of a habit I've adopted.. I don't get *every* 1k mile interval, and some I miss by a mile or two, but I do my best to stay on the road without killing anyone.

After 10 days in Seattle, we ventured south to Mt St. Helen's, Crater Lake, Redwood Nat'l, and San Francisco. We settled in for a few days in Yosemite late last week. There, we rented a house about 10 miles from the park.

Seattle:
The E53 was parked most of the week while I strapped on the urban hikers. A mile or 2 walk every day was balanced with good food, more beer than any human should consume in a week, and a 'detail' in a downtown garage.

Here's what I'll say ab that:
It wasn't worth the cash. Yes, my X5 was a disaster. Bugs from the Atlantic Ocean to Montana littered the paint. Some poor decisions in a coin op wash in during a few days in Colorado Springs led to some serious discoloration on the glossy trim. If you know how to fix this it's easy. An orange pad and some light compound. Since the residue remained after the detail, I can only assume that the hell that is the paint on my hood will subside at the hands of a familiar friend and our Flex polishers. But what the hell. The thing looked great given we were 2,000 miles from home.

We stayed with a sibling in Gig Harbor after a weekend at work. We were off to the West Coast tour of 2016 early last week. Speaking of family....

It's a funny thing. She was out of high school just as I started. She was always my 'older' sister. This year, she turned 50. This year, I'll turn 46. Funny thing: I can *see* 50 from here. She doesn't seem that old.

Anyway, it's here that we got one of my more significant 'imperfections' on the paint. I found a nice spot in the corner, happily parked and rejoined my girls downtown. Upon return, my lovely wife opened the door as any of us might. Until it met a low hanging threaded nut at the top of the door. It's down to the primer. I'm not angry. You just can't be. Accidents happen. My wife felt terrible so I reminded her: It's a 12 yr old car nudging 100k. It's ab time it had some war wounds. Besides, a blemish like that at home would be way worse than on another epic road trip. Road trips were made for this kind of thing. That's not a scar... it's a memory!

St. Helens and Crater Lake:
I paid special attention to the X5 as we started out. I can't say that the Boise memory had worn through.A funny thing happens when you're looking for a problem: Absent a problem, you find yourself noticing all the good things that are going well.

The damn thing is just fast. With the Eibach sways and StopTech brakes, it handles just like it shouldn't. With the resonators gone and 20" tires the width of a yard stick, it's not what I'd call 'quiet,' but it gets the job done. When you're in one of those places surrounded by less-than-considerate fellow drivers, having a little power under curled toes makes things happen the way you want. Pay attention and you'll command the Ford Escapes, Toyotas, and Honda Mini vans. It wasn't this easy in the 3.o, but add ab 60% more power, and the 4.8is gets silly around the time it's getting scary. That's a lot of mass to move that quickly and it happens as quickly as you can pay attention. I found myself finding triple digits without much effort.

But it's not all ab power. My little 3.0 E53 always impressed me with how the chassis would move exactly where I wanted. It required maybe more of a right foot stomp and some better forward thinking, but it would still go just where I pointed it. And that's pretty much the point I'm putting together here:

Whether you're the nut case that's passing 11 cars on a road with just enough space before double yellow, or if you're the one who takes one bite at a time, the E53 can move you and your family as well as any platform on the planet. In fact, it can do this better than pretty much any other car out there.

We started from Seattle with my daughter's BFF and the awesome responsibility for another family's daughter, sister, and cousin. In a few short days, I stopped telling people she wasn't my own. She became my own daughter for the time I have her. Mine calls her a 'sister'.

We're now overnighting in Vegas on the meandering path back east. We have blanks to fill in for this thread, but it's late and my (now) 2 girls are awaiting the Grand Canyon. We're making memories for the 2004 girls in the 2004 X5 that will last well beyond the seals, alternator, sensors, and transmission.

Seeeeee the U... S..... A..... in my Beeee.... eeeeeM... Vayyyyyy...
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  #20  
Old 08-08-2016, 09:05 AM
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Can't wait until my little girl is old enough to go sightseeing with. She's almost there... but not quite. And of course now we have her little brother on the way, due in January (just like her and her father) so I've got that to look forward to as well.

A family of 4 should fit just right in a 4.8L E53. Oh, the memories we'll have.

PS: We hit 100,000 on our road trip East this spring to introduce the daughter unit to the ocean for the first time (she's a fish like her father and loved it). Didn't snap a pic unfortunately. Almost 20,000 miles added to the almost 10 year old E53 in almost 365 days of ownership. And many more will follow.
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