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SUVs BMW X3 & X5 BMW X3
3287 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 6:14 PM
You are in the BMW X3 & X5 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Mark, YOur post reminded me of shopping for a minivan. First off no german or swedish offerings. I always thought a VW or Volvo offering would be sweet! Had to see the grand caravan and the dealer was so excited about "stow and go seating"! The space were all the seats can be folded into gives you storage! Like having a basement in the minivan. This was the big push, not the drivability or gerneral utility. Honda made a nice pitch with its great engine and double wishbone suspension with is a great set up, but like all hondas are noisy down below!. We went with the Sienna which was the quietest and had the nicest interior. The lack of the Honda like suspension was not enough penalty as we wanted our minivan to be a certain way! quiet and insolated. The point, we feel good about our japenese build minivan for the value they bring to the table. The american offerings just did not even come close to hitting our target. Gagetry does not work for us. even though we have the Sienna Limited which is about a Lexus when fully equipted. even has sonar based cruised control! I won't drive anything but a german make for the reasons you very will mentioned. My friends whom are not teutonic belivers don't get the repair/maintence costs associated with the fit and finish and the ride charactoristics obtained in these vehicles. some drive german makes for the prestige factors and still do. Many who derive the prestige factor above all have defected to Lexus and boast over how much less the cars need attention. My experince is the Lexus is almost perfection, but lacks soul! Lexus is the Caddilac for this generation. And there is nothing wrong with that at all! The german car lover loves cars and loves the driving experience just a bit different than those whom drive other makes. Its not better, its not elitist, and it may be outright dumb (cost wise) but its the pleasure we derive and are willing to pay for. I don't do drugs, don't drink or party. Never paid for a prostitute and don't gamble. I don't have a $50k home theature set up either. I don't modify either! My preference, and my drug is to drive an Audi or BMW!
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Replying to: bargamon (Jul 29, 2006 7:53 am) I'm with you, very well said. I don't think I could add anything except to say the X3 is meaningless to me as a status symbol. It is the finest vehicle I could ever want. Just a bit of a story here. I told my wife if sales reached a certain level in my company I would buy a G Class Mercedes Benz, I kind of like the squarish look. Well, sales reached that level, but I couldn't bring myself to actually buy one of those vehicles (looks to Nazi-ish anyway). But, I did try the X3 and I can't think of anything I would have liked more...and it is less than half the cost of the G-Class (so that will go a long ways to paying for any repairs)! 
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Replying to: markcincinnati (Jul 29, 2006 7:46 am) No, I was not pulling anyone's leg. Juanchypr frequently punctuated his car reviews with the term "roaring", and I didn't know what exactly he was trying to describe! Did he mean the vehicle had wind noise, engine noise, a healthy engine tone, or was it an affectionate reference to the vehicle's machismo?! 
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Replying to: bargamon (Jul 29, 2006 7:53 am) So...I guess your Friday nights are pretty quiet then! 
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Replying to: bodble2 (Jul 29, 2006 9:41 am) Driving an Acura TL, you never going to feel what is the "roaring" and its not a "machismo". Is when you start your car in the mornings and you can not do it with the garage door close, due to vibration that the compression of the motor created hitting in the door, or when you depart from a red light, in from of the pack with a very nice background of your motor. Also, I not in love with my X3. People that enter on this forum the same that I did from the ends of 2003, is looking for commnets about a car that they want to buy or that they or really have, and want to know about too differents topics about the car. At the beggining of the launch of the X3, most of the owners have problems with creaking doors, panoramic roof, black bumpers, interior design to cheap, but you never hear about mention problems with motors,, transmissions, CV joints, brakes, power sterring, thats mean that the car is realiable. If the X3 is not a reliable car, take a look of this new; http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps...NESS/607290308 numbers talk by itself. Thank you Mark to understand my words between lines, Bargamon, also my wife drive is a 05/04 2004 Toyota Sienna LE, that is another kind of car with extremelly good realiable, and lot of fun driving it. 
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Replying to: juanchypr (Jul 29, 2006 10:07 am) juanchypr, try this sight again. I'd be interested in seeing what it says, but I can't get it to show up. I like the "roar".
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Replying to: driver100 (Jul 29, 2006 12:28 pm) BMW could move X3 production to Greer Demand for SUV has automaker weighing options, according to reports Published: Saturday, July 29, 2006 - 6:00 am By Jenny Munro STAFF WRITER jmunro  greenvillenews.com BMW could move production of its X3 SUV to the Greer assembly plant within four years, a European trade publication reports. Automotive News Europe reports that the German automaker is considering a couple of scenarios when it launches production of the second-generation X3 in about 2010. The X3, the smaller of the company's SUVs, is presently assembled in Austria on a contractual agreement with Magna Steyr. Production of the X3 could move to the United States and Germany from Austria -- and could conceivably be built solely at BMW Manufacturing Co. in Greer, according to Automotive News Europe. Advertisement Plans are for a peak annual production of more than 160,000 units for the second-generation X3, according to Automotive News Europe. BMW, which implemented a single assembly line this year, now has the capacity to produce about 590 vehicles a day, up from about 500 a day with separate lines for the X5 and Z4 roadster. BMW Manufacturing spokeswoman Bunny Richardson said capacity, with normal shifts, probably is about 140,000 vehicles. In 2003, the company produced more than 166,000 vehicles, meeting a request that it take up some of the slack when German plants were being renovated. "It's speculative," Richardson said. "There have been discussions. The plant has not been directed in any way. There are no timetables on any of this." It is not, however, a new concept. Norbert Reithofer, who will become head of BMW AG on Sept. 1, said in 2003 that Greer "is the plant we're thinking of" when the X3's initial life cycle of about seven years is completed. Richardson said splitting production would not be unusual, with the local plant assembling vehicles for the North American market and Germany producing vehicles for the European market. That's the way initial production at the Greer plant began, with workers here building a 3 Series car for sale domestically. BMW is leaning toward putting a third of its X3 production in the United States and two-thirds in Regensburg, according to Automotive News Europe. Reithofer, who currently is the board member responsible for worldwide manufacturing, also announced three years ago that the local plant would produce the second-generation X5 when the time came for that launch. Bobby Hitt, manager of public relations for the BMW plant, has said he expects the 4,500 employees to begin production of the second-generation X5 this year or in early 2007. When Reithofer was visiting the Upstate, he said the plant could become the home of a third model and could expand to production of more than 200,000 vehicles. The Greer plant has been named the home of a new coupe-like crossover model, expected about 2008. During a media briefing earlier this week with Helmut Panke, the current chairman, Reithofer told Boersen-Zeitung that if a production expansion were to come about, production at the Greer plant could increase from the current 140,000 units to about 200,000. However, he gave no timetable for an expansion. "We are going to continue the successful journey of the BMW Group," Reithofer said, declining to speculate on production shifts of the X3. The X3 has been a big seller since its launch in 2004. The company originally planned to sell about 40,000 X3s a year, but demand was higher. Magna Steyr built 112,800 units in 2004, the first full production year, according to the magazine. The peak U.S. sales year for X3s was 2004, the year it was introduced and sold 34,604 units. Competition from other markets has held down the number sold in the United States, BMW officials have said.
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Replying to: juanchypr (Jul 29, 2006 10:07 am) "vibration that the compression of the motor created hitting in the door" ?? For the love of Christ, get a hold of yourself!! 
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Replying to: bodble2 (Jul 29, 2006 4:41 pm) Let's go easy, there! Not all members of the Forums speak English as their first language. I think what Juan means is that the garage door may act as a soundboard like on a guitar with the effect of amplifying the sound. tidester, host |
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