The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T(Vol XIX)

[ATM]

Cheburator mk2 said:

Best of all - ULEZ exempt and being 55 reg, it goes in the £300 odd tax band, rather than in the stupid £700 that post 2006 cars get clobbered with...

£415 now

[barchetta_boy]

The 550i is £700 pa tax, I now realise

[dscam]

Took a wander round the BMW dealer the other day. Absolutely struck me the only appealing car was a 2021 M550i and an i3.

What the hell has happened where these are the flagship models at c.£100k:

[Cheburator mk2]

ATM said:

£415 now

I stand corrected... I sold our 4.8iS in Feb 2020 and somehow I thought it was still nearer the £300 mark...

Paying £1400 for the current X5 and the Maserati stings... and the pot holes get bigger and bigger...

I know it's not Road Tax, but I would just like to have a wee moan...

As for BMW current design... It's beyond ste... Chris Bangle, would you like to come back, pretty please?

[W00DY]

dscam said:

Took a wander round the BMW dealer the other day. Absolutely struck me the only appealing car was a 2021 M550i and an i3.

What the hell has happened where these are the flagship models at c.£100k:

Everyone and their Mums are wannabe gangsters these days. "Look at me, my car is so aggressive"

Tragic.

[Crook]

W00DY said:

dscam said:

Took a wander round the BMW dealer the other day. Absolutely struck me the only appealing car was a 2021 M550i and an i3.

What the hell has happened where these are the flagship models at c.£100k:

Everyone and their Mums are wannabe gangsters these days. "Look at me, my car is so aggressive"

Tragic.

It's a weird phenomena isn't it, the whole "murdered out" black/black/black look? It's visibly awful and yet so commonplace.

[ATM]

Cheburator mk2 said:

ATM said:

£415 now

I stand corrected... I sold our 4.8iS in Feb 2020 and somehow I thought it was still nearer the £300 mark...

Paying £1400 for the current X5 and the Maserati stings... and the pot holes get bigger and bigger...

I know it's not Road Tax, but I would just like to have a wee moan...

As for BMW current design... It's beyond ste... Chris Bangle, would you like to come back, pretty please?

Feel free to moan. Electric cars are free [or cheap], but why? When did we vote on road tax being based on emissions? I have 6 vehicles now and road tax must be getting close to 2k - if I tax them all.

And yes I'm still lusting for a full bangle 7. Even though I'd feel short changed with a little 4.4l.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285424020741

[braddo]

Crook said:

It's a weird phenomena isn't it, the whole "murdered out" black/black/black look? It's visibly awful and yet so commonplace.

With the funny irony that the blacked-out look has become the new default suburban Mum wagon.

[L100NYY]

Changing the subject a tad;

To cut a long story short (link below) -

Mclaren have one Speedtail slot left, Mika and Rowan are left. Mclaren give the slot to Mika, as in his own words “Ok, this is not like other supercars, this is going to be very special.”

Mika then proceeds to put a whopping 50km on it and is now selling it.

Now call me a mis mogs, and I like Mika, but I’m pretty certain that Mr Atkinson would have actually driven his had he been given that last build slot.

Link to artice:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/mika...

Link to advert:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/mclaren/speed...

[Blown2CV]

dscam said:

Took a wander round the BMW dealer the other day. Absolutely struck me the only appealing car was a 2021 M550i and an i3.

What the hell has happened where these are the flagship models at c.£100k:

the appeal of the 5 series is only relative compared to the horrible appearance of the rest of the range

[Crook]

L100NYY said:

Changing the subject a tad;

To cut a long story short (link below) -

Mclaren have one Speedtail slot left, Mika and Rowan are left. Mclaren give the slot to Mika, as in his own words “Ok, this is not like other supercars, this is going to be very special.”

Mika then proceeds to put a whopping 50km on it and is now selling it.

Now call me a mis mogs, and I like Mika, but I’m pretty certain that Mr Atkinson would have actually driven his had he been given that last build slot.

Link to artice:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/mika...

Link to advert:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/mclaren/speed...

Mclaren should make another build slot.

[L100NYY]

And on the subject of the man himself;

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_WvJmQlI55g&pp=y...

[Crook]

I used to love his column in Car along with Alexi Sayle's and the music producer in New York.

[Patrick Bateman]

Crook said:

It's a weird phenomena isn't it, the whole "murdered out" black/black/black look? It's visibly awful and yet so commonplace.

This seems the case on many higher end cars, especially the wheels.

Take the latest FF Range Rover, an excellent design IMO and can be specced in some excellent combinations yet look at the number of rich yet tasteless buyers choosing black wheels. I don't believe there's a single car in existence that won't look better by avoiding them.

[L100NYY]

Crook said:

I used to love his column in Car along with Alexi Sayle's and the music producer in New York.

Yup, father has every issue of CAR in his mancave, every one from the first up until around 5 years ago.

I also have a letter from the late great Phil Llewellin and he mentioned me by name in his column. This issue in fact -

[ATM]

L100NYY said:

Not being argumentative ... but ... are these wheels black?

[L100NYY]

Racist

[GeniusOfLove]

Patrick Bateman said:

Crook said:

It's a weird phenomena isn't it, the whole "murdered out" black/black/black look? It's visibly awful and yet so commonplace.

This seems the case on many higher end cars, especially the wheels.

Take the latest FF Range Rover, an excellent design IMO and can be specced in some excellent combinations yet look at the number of rich yet tasteless buyers choosing black wheels. I don't believe there's a single car in existence that won't look better by avoiding them.

Gloss black wheels make every car look like a tired old knacker to me, I'm not sure if it's because they just inherently look st (they do) or if my view has been coloured by a million 15 year old VAG dustbins with rattle can black wheels. Probably both.

[CKY]

Patrick Bateman said:

This seems the case on many higher end cars, especially the wheels.

Take the latest FF Range Rover, an excellent design IMO and can be specced in some excellent combinations yet look at the number of rich yet tasteless buyers choosing black wheels. I don't believe there's a single car in existence that won't look better by avoiding them.

Agreed. The only instance I feel it can work for the car is in the case of the latest BMW M cars, or those other monstrosities posted above, whereby the dark hue serves to not only 'hide' the dreadful styling, but also conceal some of the girth of the bloody things; seeing a current-M4 in a light colour just amazes me how big they are now - the area around the rear wheel arches behind the doors is just one massive slab of panel, looks dreadful to me when compared to something like the preceding F82 M4, or even E46 M3.

[Stick Legs]

L100NYY said:

Yup, father has every issue of CAR in his mancave, every one from the first up until around 5 years ago.

I also have a letter from the late great Phil Llewellin and he mentioned me by name in his column. This issue in fact -

I have that somewhere.

Great article on the lack of progress in 1990.

Blimey they’d be disappointed now.