E34's in China

[95-540iLE]

Was in Guangzhou (southern China) last week for 5 days and while there, saw 5 or 6 E34's - all in excellent condition. No ///M's - most of them were 525i's - but all very nice.

I must admit to being surprised at seeing that many E34's there (plenty of E60's - they now make them in China - and other current upmarket Mercs, Porsche's etc) and the condition they were in.

Cheers

[jrobbo]

LOL, I was in Guangzhou a few weeks ago, as well as Zhuhai and Shenzhen, and I was also surprised as how many E34's I saw, they seem to be pretty popular!

I was also looking out for the ///M cars, but like you, saw none. Still, all of the E34's that I saw were in good nick, good to see!

Regards

John

[Nick.Hay]

Well that IS a surprise...

(Not to offend here)
But the majority of asian-owned E34s I've seen have been damn wrecks!! There is a few round here that are completely stuffed, and one from my hometown in particular that is positively horrid!!
Luke01's was in a terrible state when it arrived from Japan (The smell of stale cigarette was nearly unbearable), having a stuffed exhaust, slogged-out suspension, oil leaks, and seriously lacking in the servicing department. Its a credit to Luke the way he has freshened his car up... Its just about spot-on now!!

I thought the majority of cars in China were 3cyl poor cousins of Russian cars like Zils and stuff??

[Rustam]

Well that IS a surprise...

(Not to offend here)
But the majority of asian-owned E34s I've seen have been damn wrecks!! There is a few round here that are completely stuffed, and one from my hometown in particular that is positively horrid!!
Luke01's was in a terrible state when it arrived from Japan (The smell of stale cigarette was nearly unbearable), having a stuffed exhaust, slogged-out suspension, oil leaks, and seriously lacking in the servicing department. Its a credit to Luke the way he has freshened his car up... Its just about spot-on now!!

I thought the majority of cars in China were 3cyl poor cousins of Russian cars like Zils and stuff??

Well, ZIL for one thing was a prestigious car and had V8's...

[genphreak]

Well, ZIL for one thing was a prestigious car and had V8's...Popular in China are VW mainly. They love BM and Merc for status reasons. I wonder what parts prices are like over there... ;)

[onewhippedpuppy]

I remember reading an article about China as an emerging market for consumer goods. Apparently most of them live a very simple life within their home, but make an active effort to purchase outward signs of wealth, like luxury cars, to impress others. Manufacturers of nicer cars are getting a good reception, along with higher priced items such as aircraft. Lots of money to be made in China.

[mamilapon]

Chairman Mao say....!

[95-540iLE]

It was an amazing experience. My work has a lot to do with China and the reality is that it is now the most free market capitalistic society in the world - not constrained by a lot of the regulation we Westerners have to put up with. The money floating around is amazing.

This is reflected in the huge numbers of modern cars on the road and the very high proportion of prestige makes.

Volvo, BMW, VW all construct there now and others do as well.

Who out there has heard of Guangzhou - a city of 10 million permanent residents (mostly quite to extremely well off) and another 10 million itinerant workers (not so well off), with over 1000 skyscrapers, bridges that look like they are in New York, in essence, a city that could be New York or London, only safer to walk at night? And there are heaps more cities like this across China. An amazing place!


Was in Guangzhou (southern China) last week for 5 days and while there, saw 5 or 6 E34's - all in excellent condition. No ///M's - most of them were 525i's - but all very nice.

I must admit to being surprised at seeing that many E34's there (plenty of E60's - they now make them in China - and other current upmarket Mercs, Porsche's etc) and the condition they were in.

Cheers

[jrobbo]

Who out there has heard of Guangzhou - a city of 10 million permanent residents (mostly quite to extremely well off) and another 10 million itinerant workers (not so well off), with over 1000 skyscrapers, bridges that look like they are in New York, in essence, a city that could be New York or London, only safer to walk at night? And there are heaps more cities like this across China. An amazing place!

Funnily enough, I bumped into a guy that I work with in Melbourne in the middle of Guangzhou. Hows that for a 1 in 10million chance?

Truth be known though, I wasn't that impressed with Guangzhou, bearing in mind that I was there as a tourist and not for work, it's a rat race. I liked the other places that we visited (Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong) more. People were nice though.

Regards

John

[SC David]

How many people in China own cars? I know the number is going up steadily (hence gas prices everywhere else), but wasn't it like 1/35 people or something?

[95-540iLE]

John

I was there for work. It probably isn't somewhere I would visit for tourist purposes - too smoggy and industrial - but impressive nonetheless.

Cheers


Funnily enough, I bumped into a guy that I work with in Melbourne in the middle of Guangzhou. Hows that for a 1 in 10million chance?

Truth be known though, I wasn't that impressed with Guangzhou, bearing in mind that I was there as a tourist and not for work, it's a rat race. I liked the other places that we visited (Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong) more. People were nice though.

Regards

John

[95-540iLE]

Can't answer that as a percentage, I am sure it is a long way behind the West. But as an absolute number, I would be surprised if they are not getting close to owning more cars in China than any other country in the world.


How many people in China own cars? I know the number is going up steadily (hence gas prices everywhere else), but wasn't it like 1/35 people or something?

[jrobbo]

It is a very low number, but the scary thing is that cities like Guangzhou are already in semi-permanent grid-lock, it's hard to imagine them squeezing too many more cars onto the road. The already have overpasses that go over other overpasses. Most of the traffic congestion is due to the Chinese drivers mentality though. they are amazing to watch. If they can get ahead by 1 or 2 cars by driving down the wrong side of the road, that's perfectly acceptable, regardless of how many people coming the other way get blocked. It's an amazing place. It's little wonder why something like 80 people are killed on the roads every day, in Guangzhou alone!

Regards

John

[shogun]

Who out there has heard of Guangzhou

I know it very well. Lived in Hongkong for 5 years and was in charge for the China operation built-up of our company.
Visited many parts of China incl. far away places like Inner Mongolia etc.

At the time I lived in HK many cars were stolen in HK and transported on speed boats with 4-5 outboard engines to China. The boats were built in China to exactly fit a Benz or BMW, mainly luxury models. Sometimes we could follow the police chases in TV in HK, where they chased the speed boats with conficated speed boats. Like in a James Bold movy.

[Nick.Hay]

Not 100% up with my eastern-block car manufacturers...

Think: the taxis and stuff in the Bourne Supremacy... Thats what I meant!! ;)

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have read the driving is scary, supposedly they have no real process in place to test or license their drivers. Anarchy on the roads. They're growing too fast for the bureaucracy to keep up.

[Lennyz525i]

A guide to driving in china (from wikitravel):

"Chinese traffic does seem to have rules. They generally manage to avoid accidents. However, the rules are quite different from those in other countries. To a foreigner, traffic looks chaotic and many drivers appear insane or suicidal.

Do not assume that Chinese drivers will follow any rule you know.
[edit]
Right of way

The concept of right-of-way does not apply, or at least is very different here.

Cars do not stop for pedestrians, only swerve around them or honk at them to clear the way. Motorcycles and bicycles often do the same on sidewalks.

Making a left turn in front of oncoming vehicles is quite normal. Those vehicles will not stop. They will just swerve around you, even if this means going across the center line and forcing whatever is behind you to swerve around them.

As near as this befuddled foreigner can tell, the only general rule is Keep moving no matter what. Cutting people off, swerving into the oncoming lane, driving on the shoulder, or the wrong way down a divided highway, are all fine as long as they keep you moving in the right general direction.

As an extreme example, consider the driver making a left turn onto a busy street from a minor one. Elsewhere, there might be a stop sign — not in China. Suppose traffic coming from his left is too heavy to allow the turn. Does he wait for an opening? Not a Chinese driver! He turns left and drives the wrong way down the shoulder until he can move right and merge with traffic going his way. "

[jrobbo]

Yep, that describes it pretty well!

:-)