E53 on Ice!

[Brandon002]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

Actually, the Atlanta area is quite hilly - basically the city is built along a granite ridge cut through [N and W of the city] by the Chattahoochie River. Relatively high altitude [close to 1000 ft above sea level]. Also heavily wooded. Result: curvy and up and down roads, so when we get snow/ice every 3-5 years, you'd think it was a zombie apocalypse for that day - except, but for the bumper cars, practically everyone is nice and neighborly. Hardly the apocalyptic disaster, requiring the gov't expenditures that make Chi-town [for example] such a great place to be in the winter ... [snark]

So if it's hardly the apocolyptic disaster why were kids sleeping at school and people spending the night hunkered down at Taco Bell?

[TerminatorX5]

in northern states, like Scandinavian countries, country roads are packed solid snow for the entire winter long, and people just go about their business, as usual... you are required to have the first aid kit, and extinguisher, winter tires... nobody freaks out...

over here, everytime it snows, it like for the very first time ever - nobody knows what to do... it feels like we all suffer from long-term memory loss - anything beyond 2-3 months is a foggy past...

wait until we come to another budget talks, and the government shut-down... lol... we will be like - oh no, what do we do now???!!!

[bcredliner]

I have PTSD from living in cold country. I have flashbacks about a place where drivers are good at driving on snow and ice. I am driving down a two lane country road with ditches and trees on both sides. I am blinded by the snow. There are no tracks in the road to follow. Ice is frozen to the wiper blades, clearing only a small semi circle. Someone is coming at me with their brights on. I am very very cold. I can't stop shivering. There is a big hole in the floor. The heater is full blast but it doesn't make a difference. I have 100 miles to go. Snow is coming through the hole and hitting me in the face. It makes me lose my breath. I can't feel my fingers or toes. There is never enough I can wear to keep the wind from going through me. It is black and white and my sense is this is the best it is going to be for a very long time. In spite of all this there is a shiver of optimism because I know people know how to drive in the ice and snow.

[OptimusPriM5]

People have gotten soft. They are relying on the technology of the car not the skill of the driver to get by.

I grew up in the north we saw our share of snow consistently and this was well before SUV's. Dad strapped on some snows and lugged bags of sand for weight and traction if needed in the 1966 Chrysler New Yorker and commuted to upstate new york from CT everyday. No complaints, no issues, no whining.

Oops sorry OP think this thread has slightly gone off topic. Moving us back on topic I have heard the e53 is awesome on both states ice and snow.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Yeah...NYC & many coastal regions & regular snow territories that can get hit with snow...put plows on their garbage and/or regular street department trucks? Setting the street dept trucks up for salt dispersal would almost take care of cities like Atlanta that very seldom get snow.

I'm sure some local politicians are going to be taking some heat over this.

I'm sure they will. Chicagoans voted out the incumbent, Mayor Bilandic after the snow removal fiasco, and Jane Byrne was elected the new mayor.

I remember the snow coming to the top of my hood when I returned to the car after work. A local homeless person was close by and hoping that I would give him a few bucks to help me get my car out. Started the car up let the engine warm up a bit and then engage the differential locks on the front and rear differential of my AUDI QUATTRO. A couple of back and forth and with the wheels pointed toward the rutted street I gun the engine and the QUATTRO was free from it snowy grave. Best car I ever owned. Even better then my current BMW X5 because it didn't have CCV issues. I could make short trips with the car and not worry about hydro locking the engine.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

in northern states, like Scandinavian countries, country roads are packed solid snow for the entire winter long, and people just go about their business, as usual... you are required to have the first aid kit, and extinguisher, winter tires... nobody freaks out...

over here, everytime it snows, it like for the very first time ever - nobody knows what to do... it feels like we all suffer from long-term memory loss - anything beyond 2-3 months is a foggy past...

wait until we come to another budget talks, and the government shut-down... lol... we will be like - oh no, what do we do now???!!!

This country has become a country of turkeys. When it rains, the domestic turkey looks toward the sky with their mouth open and then they drown.

[giodog2000]

Originally Posted by upallnight

This country has become a country of turkeys. When it rains, the domestic turkey looks toward the sky with their mouth open and then they drown.

Those same turkeys when they look to the sky while it snows , they become blind.

[Green Dragon]

Originally Posted by upallnight

This country has become a country of turkeys. When it rains, the domestic turkey looks toward the sky with their mouth open and then they drown.

I couldn't agree more! We collectively vote like turkeys too. So which is it? "Global Warming", "Global Cooling", or just Climate Change", as they now word it. What happened to the acid rain from the 80's? Ummmm, yeah lets just keep changing what we call it..... (End Rant)

*Back on topic* The X3 or X5 have not EVER let me or the CEO down. We have driven on pure glazed ice in the mid west, and all over the Rockies through blizzards..... just as long as Chewbacca inside my CCV stays quite.

Unless you have lived in the south during a snow/and or ice storm, you will never fully understand. It can be a real circus, with clowns and all.... on the road that is.

[tmv]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

One of the sadder pictures in an album at the local paper. Is that an M5 burning?

That's an S54 swapped E36. It belongs to Rob Escew, partner at Markert Motorwork. They are a nice group of bimmer enthusiasts, and knowledgeable too. Such a sad sight to see. I have no other detail about the fire as he's still in disbelief but ok.

The gridlock in Atlanta caused by lots of idiot drivers here. Imagine ~5 million people panicked and left work at the same time, add in the semi traffic in the afternoon. Traffic got to a stand still. The temperature dropped quickly and the snow start to freeze and become ice. Then people freak out when they start sliding. They literally get out and left the vehicles in the middle of the highway. The sand trucks and plows got caught in there too.

[racingbmwm3]

I think this has turned into one of the best threads ever!