Thank you BMW - I love you too.

[Robin-535im]

So I'm driving on the freeway today in one of those well-designed spots where 3 streams of traffic merge into 1 then back into 2, so everyone wants to be in a different lane than they are in.

I'm merging left, looking over my shoulder to see if anyone else is going to steal my spot, and out of the corner of my eye I see brakelights... the guy in front of me is braking to avoid the gal in front of him who is merging too.

In the frame of about .5 seconds I make a very hard lane change at 60 mph. About as fast as I can turn the wheel 1/4 turn and back. And what does the e34 do, does she complain? Squeal tires? Lose control? No, just does exactly what I asked. Nice sharp (panic-speed) lane change. Little bit of body roll but not much. Just like clockwork.

Now THAT's why we all need the race-car setup for our cars!

[632 Regal]

lmao, the first time i was in a panic situation I was in shock that I didnt fly off the road, if it wass in ANY of my prior cars (hundreds) it would have at least spun off the road. I'm hooked!

[kick7ca]

I would say that in the early 1990s, the E34 was THE best car in the world.

[SchnellE34]

I would say that in the early 1990s, the E34 was THE best car in the world.

Not just the early but mid too, haha.

Yeah, I've had a couple of those kind of situations Robin. Your heart pounds but the bimmer doesn't. She's just like "calm down, I got this." Performance and saftey are the two primary reasons the e34 is my car of choice. Luxury and beauty aren't very far behind on the list either.

[DaveVoorhis]

Must be one of those days.

Today I was wazzing down a rural road on my way to work, going about 55mph. As I approached an uncontrolled T junction, I noticed a newish Toyota Shitboxorother waiting to enter my road. The driver was looking straight at me. When I'm about ten feet from the intersection, the car leaps out directly in front of me. I reflexively yank the wheel to the right *hard*, but probably way too late. My brain goes "I'm gonna die now."

Any other car would have rolled or slammed into the suicidal zagnut. My BMW simply swerved around the Toyota. No squeal, no roll, no fuss. I steered back into my lane and reached down with my right hand to extract my underwear from my *******. Then I pulled my Desert Eagle .50 from under the seat, pointed it at the bastard and ventilated his ****ing skull.

Okay, I'm lying about the last part, but that's what I wanted to do.

[mzarifkar]

Things get more interesting on black ice, I found myself driving along about 40mph when the truck in front of me (safe distance away) suddenly started spinning around, The had managed to do a 180, facing me as i was headed straight for it. I swerve into the turning lane with some oversteer, and pass the truck sideways, while smiling to the girl, once clear the car let me correct it and feel like James Bond

[bahnstormer]

its a shame so many of you only experience the potential of these
cars in panic situations

[Jay 535i]

I once had the IDENTICAL experience in a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado -- a high-speed emergency lane-change to avoid creaming into the back of another car. For me, the lane change was onto the shoulder.

The car came through in fine form, no doubt due in part to my familliarity with piloting that land yacht.

Afterwards, my passenger complimented me, having noticed that I took my foot off the brake while I steered. I did it unconciously, but it was a crucial part of coming out of there alive. That car didn't exactly have the fine 50:50 balance and delicate braking feel of our BMWs :)

Then there was the time I suddenly lost all power assistance while approaching a red light at a fair clip. Trying to haul that thing down with no power assistance while anticipating my imminent demise certainly took a few years off my life.

Still, I miss that car.

http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/19/47/44_1_b.JPG

[31Hertz]

I had a similar experience in my 87 535is. It was a panic lane change when brake lights suddenly appeared. I just yanked the wheel and she responded and put me dead in the center of the lane i wanted to be in. FANTASTIC!!! When this car was totalled in December, my wife practically insisted that I get another BMW. I agreed and could not be happier, unless my cats just didn't go out. anyway, in the 540; I was coming around a blind curve at ~40 when suddenly someone is sideways in the middle of the road pulling out of their driveway. My baby stopped with aplomb with NO tire squeal whatsoever. And this was at a time when the brake fluid REALLY needed to be flushed... I love this car even with (and maybe because of;) ) all of its quirks and needs. Bimmers just respond properly...

[JD525IA]

...or something.



Must be one of those days.

Today I was wazzing down a rural road on my way to work, going about 55mph. As I approached an uncontrolled T junction, I noticed a newish Toyota Shitboxorother waiting to enter my road. The driver was looking straight at me. When I'm about ten feet from the intersection, the car leaps out directly in front of me. I reflexively yank the wheel to the right *hard*, but probably way too late. My brain goes "I'm gonna die now."

Any other car would have rolled or slammed into the suicidal zagnut. My BMW simply swerved around the Toyota. No squeal, no roll, no fuss. I steered back into my lane and reached down with my right hand to extract my underwear from my *******. Then I pulled my Desert Eagle .50 from under the seat, pointed it at the bastard and ventilated his ****ing skull.

Okay, I'm lying about the last part, but that's what I wanted to do.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Exactly so !

Another case of superior dynamics saving the day !

How do you explain this to cretins who still think that a Hyundai Excel is safe because it has an air-bag ?

[DaveVoorhis]

How do you explain this to cretins who still think that a Hyundai Excel is safe because it has an air-bag ?

Don't! Let the cretins kill themselves off in a Darwinian festival of survival-of-the-fittest Hyundai-based ****wit-elimination, and leave the sweet E34s for us.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

almost every day....The roads here are full of:

cell phone talking fools.

Filipino kids ricer racing to school/work

Drunks/druggies braking for hallucinations

Turn signal boycotting spazbots changing lanes on a whim

and a whole sand pan full of drivers, whom less then a generation ago were riding water buffalos to the rice paddy.

I thank my BMW for great brakes, a very deliberate and predicable handling, I know it’s kept me out of the hospital.

[Rob]

And I thought it was just me who has notice the excellent handeling of these cars.

Now about a week ago I was taking my 525i out for the first time driving her since she had her new fuel pump fitted by me that night. So I was going down the road at about 60Ks. All of a sudden someone pull out in front of me. Now this is a normal two lane road, with a very sharp turn to the right and a road in front. This guy pulls out in front of me and I just yank the wheel to the right. What does my lovely E34 think of this? She's like "Noo, prroblem, I got this, calm down!" The E34 goes where I want it to. No tyre squeal, tiny bit of understear, but corrected it without thinking. Now if I was in my Dad's Toyota Tazz-peice-of-****. I would've just carried on sright into the turn and would've hit the lamp post.

My brother after woulds asked me if I had glue on my tyres. Lol.

Then yesterday I was in a little rush. And to get to town we have this long winding road, with almost 90 degree bends. Now I was going a little faster then I should've. About 65 on this road instead of 40. Take this pretty sharp bend. E34 again said she's got it. No tyre sqeal, little bit of body roll, and she held very, very well.

I've been in my Dad's car on that exact same road. The tyres sqeual like a bitch and he has to really hold on to that steering wheel. Or we would've said hello to the pavment and the bank.

Another thing I noticed is when my Dad is going about 120 - 130. You really know about it. The car is very nosiey. And engine sounds like it's screaming to tell him to stop the abuse!

In my E34 at those speeds, I can't hear the engine moaing. Just a lovely roar sound and I hardly noticed I was doing those speeds. I feel very safe in that car.

And my Dad wonders why I said no to selling it and getting a Golf.

[genphreak]

Hehe, yea- in Aus the fastest roads are generally 110kmh limited. My Bimmer feels smoother and more controlled at 200. Even my e28 was like that. They are built for 'bahns, not the vinyl-topped laneways we like here in Oz; the type that need to be re-surfaced every year and with corner cambers designed to prevent them having to put in any artificial drainage- rather than make the road safer for drivers.

ROFL I reckon Bimmers whould be allowed to go faster since they can do everything better and a designed for it. At the risk of some evolutionary challenged kid using that as an excuse and kill themselves, I say it cos I do get peeved when stuck having to do the same speed as an old Toyota LandCruiser towing some trailer full of motorbikes (and with rust weaving holes in its suspension) trying to go faster than the rest of the traffic. Or you get those motha fu#@&a RVs AUVs SUV things driving like they were Cayennes (through traffic).... I mean, yea maybe we all need a gun under the seat... :) Nick