modern cars p**s me off

[Andy70]

My partner has an e90 330i not as modern as some but still relatively modern in the sense they are running out of ides of yet more crap to chuck on them these days, just to make them heavier and less efficient, (yes she has stupid lights under the doors in case you can't see the door handles etc..). Sorry but in 30 years of driving I've never not found my door handle.....
Now where was I :-) I believe these cars are supposed to hold 6.5 litres of oil? So I done an oil change today and put in 5L and checked the oil level, not with a simple dipstick but the stupid computer read out on the dash that told me it was full, so I gingerly put another litre or so in, because I was sure they hold more than 5 litres and the level still said full, now is the crappy sensor knackered or do they hold only 5 litres or is that just how they are?? WHATS WRONG WITH A SIMPLE DIPSTICK, THEY WORK??, and you can check the quality of the oil when you buy a car, but with this system, you have no idea what the condition of the oil is unless you are able to take the filter housing cover off, which would be silly. My mechanic told me that the sensor also tells you the condition of the oil too, well that's crap because the oil filter was like treacle and gooey as the last oil change must have been some time ago. the problem I got is that the only faults cars seem to have these days are SENSOR faults, now of all things, an oil level sensor is something you don't want packing up surely, because you'd never know how much oil is in the car or not, or if its that in accurate you could only be running with say 4 litres of oil in the car which could register as nearly full. Am I the only sane person on here which would prefer cars to more basic and light and just work? Imagine the extra power and fuel economy you'd be able to utilise if modern cars weighed as little as a ford sierra for example (1200kgs not 1600kgs or so). rant over. any opinions on this?

[Andy70]

its a 2005 e90, not sure what engine, its the 258hp version. yes cars are more reliable these days, but like I said in my post all you hear about are sensor faults, but I'm not arguing old cars verses new ones, I'm just saying something like a MODERN 4L M3 for example with NO electric seats etc (I'm the only driver of my car and they never move), so what's the need to carry around all that weight for nothing, yes airbags are a safety issue, so cant argue that, although Id sooner not have them, nor abs nor traction control. (but that is just me). its the unnecessary crap they put on, just because people are materialistic and want them, what's the hardship in pulling up a leaver to move a seat for example? that's assuming you ever need to do it. Id prefer to be able to utilise the full power the car produces, not using half of it to pull around stuff I don't want or need and get a few extra miles per gallon too with less weight to pull, engines are soooo efficient these days but half of it is wasted because people want every extra on a car and as Clarkson says, weight is a killer, it kills fuel efficiency, it kills power and handling.

Thanks for the tip about engine being up to temp, I didn't know that (easier to check a dipstick though lol :-) )

[Andy70]

I realise its all a matter of opinion before I stir up a hornets nest but surely some things are better left alone and simple because it just works.

[Andy70]

DuraAce said:

Don't forget with some cars it's easy to add a dipstick. My audi didn't have one but it did have a tube with a rubber in it. Dipstick bought for £6,bung out. Job done.
Lots (not all) of cars have the tube but no stick, the mechanics use their own adjustable stick to quickly check oil level after a service rather than messing with the computer.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Engine-Gauge-Level-Dipsti...

do BMW's have that option? I was having the same rant with my mechanic and he didn't suggest that was a possibility, he just said that's the way cars are going now

[Andy70]

Thanks for that Mr tidy, not sure it has a temp gauge to be honest, that's a point, I forgot that one, because its not my car and rarely drive it I don't take much notice, but I remember looking for the temp read out once but couldn't find anything

[Andy70]

cerb4.5lee said:

I share exactly the same view as you, I have a E90 330i too and it's weight annoys me and it never feels 200 plus bhp because of it, I also had a E92 M3 with over 400 bhp and that suffered from the same flaw because of its weight.

Now I don't know whether it's because I used to have XR4x4's/200sx/TVR(all around 1200kgs) but the weight of modern cars just takes the piss.

Traction control and all the other crap they have on them I don't understand either, I had a TVR Cerbera for 6 years without any safety crap on it and kept it out of a field so why have it when you don't need it.

The problem is nowadays a car needs over 500 bhp to actually feel quick to counteract the fact it weighs so much, I've said it a few times that with cars the past was far better than the future for sure.

I used to have a Chimaera and selling it was the biggest mistake I ever made, not just for the fact its worth twice what I paid for it now but the lightness and nimbleness and the V8 rumble with the roof down never failed to bring out the 12 year old in me. (we will have to move forums if this nostalgia continues)

[Andy70]

greghm said:

I totally agree with you.
- I wonder when are we going to see actually driverless Uber cars? 2018 ?
- When is it going to be considered as irresponsible and dangerous to have a human driver on the roads ?

I was watching an old top gear the other day, of Dave of course and Clarkson was talking about driverless cars and suggested that at some point the computer may need to make a decision if there is an inevitable crash, either run into the lorry and kill you, or swerve onto the pavement and kill the school children walking down the road, so he said the car will kill you as it would be a numbers game, scary thought eh? lol, there was more to the point than that, but that summed it up a bit

[Andy70]

bmwmike said:

Bit of a leap from no dipstick to hal 9000 going on a killing rampage lol

yeah!!

[Andy70]

[quote=LocoBlade]You realise the door handle lights are actually there to light up the floor don't you, not show you where the door handle is?! If you park in crappy car parks that become a maze of puddles when it rains or on a muddy verge they sometimes actually serve a purpose seeing what you've got to hurdle when getting back in the car.

But yes agree in general, my 2012 Audi S4 even had a hole for a dipstick but with a blanking bung in the top because it obviously saves a few pence FFS. Luckily one from the 3.2 engine fits and can be ordered from the dealers for a few quid. Having sold the S4 and temporarily trundling round in an '02 325ti Compact whilst I await the arrival of my M240, driving an old car with analogue feeling controls and not too many electrical additions is quite refreshing

Light up the floor? they the beam doesn't travel half way down the door? its a feeble light, if they were to light up the floor, surely you put them under the bloody car like the boy racers used to with their neon lights??? lol I used to have an S4, but now I drive a 325ti, tremendously gutless in comparison but yes its simple and I like it, to a point

[Andy70]

LocoBlade said:

They're called "puddle lights", the clue's in the name Agreed they don't give you a floodlit arena but when it's dark they give enough of a glow on the floor to spot something you'd probably rather not stand in.

hers must be knackered then because they don't reflect on the floor at all

[Andy70]

LocoBlade said:

They're called "puddle lights", the clue's in the name Agreed they don't give you a floodlit arena but when it's dark they give enough of a glow on the floor to spot something you'd probably rather not stand in.

oh, still pointless though what ever they are for because puddle or not you still have to get in the car and stand in the damn thing lol (provided its a big one of course)

[Andy70]

interesting points regarding the reasoning behind all this electronic madness though, I don't necessarily agree with it all, but sort of get some logic behind it. Basically if something works then why mess around with it, with really what is essentially a blind system, what I mean is, you are never quite sure are you? As when cars get older sensors pack up all the time unless you can see for yourself using a simple level gauge of some sort. the manual says to check oil when engine is up to temp, so you could be driving around on empty until engine is warm enough to check it, but you don't know when the engine is up to temp, because there is no temp gauge, so you have to look at the manual and find out that 6.5 miles the engine is there.... what a f******g faff

[Andy70]

not necessarily, my rocker cover went on my car and the gasket at the bottom of the oil filter housing, quite a bad leak too, having to top up regularly till I got it booked in, the was NO oil on the floor as you have the skid plate things underneath. All I'm saying is, if you got a dipstick, you can check it and you know for definite