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In Reply to: RE: Car wheel alignment question: how much camber? posted by free.ranger on August 31, 2015 at 20:44:04
Would you describe your driving habits as spirited?
Your vehicle's excellent road holding ability could encourage driving that does not promote tire longevity.
I recently recycled my '88 Mazda 626 4WS under the California 'buy back program' at 227,000 miles with a failing trasmission. The four Michelins were still fully legal and had 80,000 miles on them, but I had been driving that car very carefully the last ten years (I'm weird) because I really did want to see how far it would go.
I once did alignments for a living and found that on very small cars placing about 75 lbs on the drivers seat made for a more accurate alignment.
I wouldn't recommend altering BMW specs.
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Also weird in that I'm curious in how far this car will go. Half a mil or bust!
The service director at the local BMW store said I could have one of their loaners for a weekend if I ever wanted to try one out. It seemed like they always had major engine and transmission work going on in their shop though so it always worried me about getting problem free big miles out of one. We've had Acuras since 1980 and have gotten almost 300,000 miles out of each one of three of them. The first two rusted out at high mileage but mechanically would have most likely made 500k without a problem.
We got caught in a hail storm in the third Acura about three weeks ago and it did more damage than blue book on it. We got the check from the insurance company and I'm thinking of taking advantage of that BMW for a weekend.
Only problem is my wife doesn't want to because "she knows she'll love it and want one." I told her that is one poor excuse. She said she'd rather travel with that kind of money.
The 3-Series is their bread-and-butter lineup; few problems with the motors, trannies, or drivelines, or so I'm told.
My X3 has been rock solid in those regards, but the small crap (and BMW will give you much of that) like sunroofs, heated seats, interior electronic gadgets, etc, are all nagging items. I think any make of car suffers these. I have never replaced a muffler or any exhaust components. No wheel bearings. Only one battery and one set of MacPherson struts in the 9 years and 227,000 miles I've had it and put on it.
I just returned from a 5,600-mile road trip to Detroit, round-about, and used only 1 quart of oil. No transmission, transfer case, differentials, u-joints, ball joints, ... nuthin' replaced in those areas. That's why I'm trying to keep it. I change fluids quite often.
The X5 (5-Series line) on the other hand, has not fared so well in the basics.
I'm kidding, because whether finally assembled by BMW or Magna, the components are sourced from other third parties. You would like the new X3, made in America by BMW, but you should keep yours as long as you can. Only replace it if you want a completely different kind of car.
The new ones drive nice, but once mine kicks it in, then I'll probably shop for a used Yugo or something.
These early X3's ('04 through '13, I think) were made in Austria by contract to Magna Steyr, a company that does not badge the cars they make for others, but is one of the largest auto manufacturing companies. Short on finesse; long on stout.
A running Yugo may be hard to find.
Even junkyards won't take them. Since White's infamy, no one wants to be that close to one.
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