Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Frank, I disagree with your comments about BMW automatics. They are smooth, quick shifting and give up only a few 1/10ths of a second in 0-60 and a few MPG in economy. They also have a very nice sport mode and tap-shifting mechanism for manual selection. In comparison, many Merc automatics default to a second gear starting mode unless really thrashed and have a notchy shift gate. That said, I do prefer manual transmissions in general and find BMW's manuals to be the best shifting of any car i've driven. I agree with your comments about Mercedes being ill suited for automatics due to the foot parking brake; an easy enough fix if they decide to target the manual-shift buyer segment (and challenge BMW as "the ultimate driving machine"). Regards, Rob McClure Upper Sandusky, OH Current BMW: 2004 325i (5 speed) Past BMWs: 2001 BMW Z3 3.0 Coupe (5 speed) 1996 BMW 318ti (automatic) On Jun 4, 2005, at 3:27 AM, Frank Dernie wrote: > Hi Mike, > I think different cars appeal to different people. One thing I have > noticed, as a long time Merc owner, is that Mercedes have had to lower > quality to keep their prices competitive with other brands, some of > which have gained a good reputation by marketing despite being very > cheaply made. > > Another point about gearboxes. The Merc cars do not particularly suit > manual gearboxes, they have foot parking brakes and their latest auto > 'boxes give away no performance and little economy to the manuals. > BMW's OTOH are much better as manuals, firstly it suits a sporty car > well second the BMW autos kill the performance and economy. > Frank >