For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By Rob P
#909904
Eh? :scratch:

Edit: '£' sign missing?
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By Rob P
#909906
Ah.. good point.

I'd guess that is as good an indicator as any.

I am not a BMW fan, but I must admit from those two (I'd actually never buy either) it would tend to be the BM.

Rob P
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By Vince C
#909912
Strangely I find myself agreeing with Rob P and disagreeing with Keef. If he has come from the MX5 I'd have thought he'd want a 'sports car' rather than a 'cruiser', unless he fancies a change of car type. The BM is an odd-looking fish, but it goes and handles far better than the Merc - it's a sports car!

So what does he want? Sports car or cruiser? BM for the former, Merc for the latter.
By chrisN
#909926
I don't know how he ranks looks vs performance vs handling vs anything else, so all I can do is pass on the comments and let him decide.

Thanks, anyway.

Chris N.
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By Rob P
#909935
Or an M Series Z4 (I think such a thing exists?)
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By TheKentishFledgling
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#909939
When a chum bought an SLK for his S.O. (a blonde..) a few years back, we had great fun posing as hairdressers / test driving three SLKs before they bought. The 3.5 was silly fast for what she wanted. The SLK200 (IIRC it's a 1.8?) seemed almost underpowered - we all left wanting that tiny bit more from it. The 280 seemed to strike a happy balance and suited her leggy-blonde image :D

I persuaded the BMW chappy to give me a shot in a Z4 when I was test driving a 1 series coupe before I bought my Alfa - it was fast. Can't remember which engine but IIRC it produced about 300hp - this wasn't an M sport model so they will be silly fast.

Personally I don't get the look of the SLK (the later marks being hugely better looking than the earlier models..) but I do like the Z4.

For me, for a sports cars, the Beemer wins hands down.
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By ray
#909984
I had a BMW Z4 for 4 years as my company car, returned it 20 months ago.

Loads of niggling rattles from the roof and the dashboard
Roof goes up & down easily and is quite fast in transit (around 20secs I think)
Car handles well and performs OK (mine was the 2.2 L straight 6)
Uses run flat tyres that work OK but are expensive to replace. No spare wheel.
Had problems with the steering rack which uses an electric drive coupled to a sensor on the steering column - it went wrong and developed an interesting intermittent fault that locked the steering at speed! Covered by warranty after lots of revisits and words with BMW.
Clutch & flywheel needed replacing after only 60K miles - very expensive just outside warranty.
Boot is a usable size and the car is quite roomy for a sports car
I liked the lines of it
Spent a fair bit of time at the dealers for irritating minor problems
Wouldn't have another - of the choices I'd try the SLK.

Current car is an M.. 2.0L with the metal power roof. Not in the same bracket as the Z4 but good cheap fun and 100% reliable with no defects since new 20 months ago. I like it for what it is and enjoy driving it. It's mine 'cos I could afford to buy it cash at the time.
Everyone to their own ;-)

Edited to correct brain fail typo ;-)
Last edited by ray on Fri Nov 05, 2010 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Lowtimer
#909991
ray wrote:I had a BMW Z4 for 4 years as my company car, returned it 20 months ago.
(mine was the 2.2 L V6)


[pedant] Er, 2.2 litre straight-six, not V6. There's never been a BMW V6. [/pedant]
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By ray
#909992
oops - not pedantic at all lowtimer - just correct

senile decay setting in :-)
By chrisN
#909996
I have passed the opinions on to my brother, and he is most grateful. Looks like a decision in 2011 for him, not immediately.

He also says he has to take into account the views of senior management!

Chris N.
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By sandy771
#910017
Rob P wrote:But isn't there a dichotomy here?


Yep, I think someone already said that the dich is in the beemer...