Hi there! First I'd like to thank all those who devote their valuable time to the 'CCA, lord knows I don't have the energy. I just got the email survey re. the LSD and hatchback options, but I'm curious- was there any high level discussion about options that are actually important? How about having the option to not have run flat tires and an actual spare? Maybe an option to give back the dipstick, or maybe the option to not have a distracting and largely useless video screen in the middle of the dash? Just as I love all purely mechanical things, it would be amazing to see a "special edition" BMW that eschews electronic pedal boxes, steering racks, superfluous sensors and a serious weight reduction program- I'd buy that in a second! Obviously the lawyers and corporate profit models aren't going to let any of this happen, it just saddens me that my "old girl friend" has gotten fat and ugly. Please excuse all my sarcasm, I'm refinishing a floor and I think the fumes are getting to me. K.
Where's the survey? I received an email about it, but cannot locate the survey within the Club website.
Already emailed you but for others, the survey is at http://www.bmwcca.org/node/3902. You must be logged in.
Kudos to the people behind the survey! Tire Rack. Marriott. The BMW dealer. All the organizations who do really good work always ask for feedback. The airlines never offer me a survey. The Internet provider never offers one either. The ones you really WANT to give some "feedback" to never do. Until now! My appreciation is sincere; I hope this works as a feedback mechanism to BMWNA, and they keep asking us these kinds of things. "Feedback is a gift"!
I'd be really happy if BMW would once again offer the limited-slip differentials to us mere non-M mortals. I had it on my '88 535i, and with Nokian Hakkappelitta snow tires I was laughing as I drove around stuck 4x4's on the hills. I cannot understand why BMW thought this was OK to drop it. With my 2002 530i, I often get stuck on FLAT surfaces! It's so bad that I pretty-much park the car from October to April.
Should have included comments section in the Survey. I already have a Wavetrac LSD in my 335i. Looking for a new Hatchback to upgrade my 96 318ti M-technic.
@ Olsen - I tend to agree with the other things you suggest, but don't underestimate the importance of a limited slip diff in a rwd car. Try getting stuck on a ridiculously shallow incline in barely slick conditions and experiencing the frustration of having only one rear wheel spinning madly while the other's not getting any power and you're incapable of moving the car anyplace, except perhaps for having the back end slew sideways. Electronic traction controls are a poor substitute for actually having power delivered to both rear wheels. @ KenM - if you wanted to spend the bucks, isn't a aftermarket or stock-modified lsd available for E39's? One would like to think people buying their own lsd's would be evidence to BMW that there's a market, but I'd assume they were dropped because on the whole, not enough were being ordered, and a judgment call was made that QWE/RTY/UIO/ASD/FGH/JKL/ZXC/VBN/DSC/DTC/ATC/ASC/ABS/ETC/ETC/ETC/ETC was 'adequate' for the masses.
