E46 Fanatics Forum banner

Who knows best about bimmers?

  • Americans know better that's right

    Votes: 17 34.7%
  • No Europeans know better

    Votes: 15 30.6%
  • Neither, Hulk Hogan knows best!

    Votes: 17 34.7%

** American knows best

4K views 61 replies 17 participants last post by  Goughie 
#1 ·
Why is it that americans, in my humble opinion, manage to develop a great wealth of knowledge around BMW, which goes far beyond the average Euro BMW enthusiats one?
Of course there is extremelly knowledgable BMW enthusiasts in Europe too, but the trend seems to be in favour of the americans.

On a second note the level of sophistication when it comes to modifications is far higher in the US. I very rarely seen a very well tuned bimmer in Europe. Most of the time it is down to some stupid badges, or body kit. You got your fair share of stupid tuning in the US too, but far ore in Europe I believe.

Most of the time US modded bimmers are extremelly well done like this one for example, you can argue with the color of the following cars, but this are still a sick and clean mods. Plenty of other very tasteful US cars and mods all over US forums...




So guys, what are the reasons for this ?

:thanks:
 
See less See more
2
#3 ·
I concur. I've been using US forums for technical insight on my bikes & cars for years.

On Dutch BMW forums, the only good advise you'll get is to go look for a different forum if the question is about anything other than bumpers & spoilers.
 
#5 ·
Because American cars suck so we devote our time/attention to Euro models. You don't see the European guys/gals lining up at the docks waiting for their arrival of their Chevy Cobalt or their Pontiac G6, do ya? And then...starting a forum about those cars? Ha!
 
#12 ·
This is because in Europe, England especially you find that people who buy Bm's have bought exactly what they want and dont see a reason to mod. Modding is left to the guys with crap cars who want to make them look like something they are not and these guys cant read or write so you wont find them on here.
 
#17 ·
I wouldn't say more knowledgeable at all, but I approve of having a very good modding taste when it comes to our cars, which is also explainable to an extent.

Most of the good car mods are either only available in the US, extremely expensive to import, or are not street legal in, say, Germany. If you don't believe me, try getting and full CF Vorsteiner part through our TÜV without laying down some serious cash. There ya go. The same applies for wheels and performance mods.

Then we have the problem of having a whole different crowd of enthusiasts over here. In general, we have the standard driver, the ///M lover (which is also in the same league as the track junkie), and... *sigh*, the "Euro r!cer".
Since "classy" mods are either unpayable or illegal over here, the last category mainly consists of tasteless modders similar to your wannabe JDM teenies in the States, but over here they drive 3 series and Golf's two to three generations back. The most popular rice cars over here are still the Golf III and the E36, but since the price drop they are slowly moving to the E46 model. We call them the "ebay-tuners" and "gas station gangsters", as they mainly hang around gas stations and fast food restaurants blazing their cheapo subwoofers until the windows pop out. You get the picture.


So. It's not that we have less knowledge about our cars our have a worse taste in them (except given r!cers, which exist everywhere), but our car cultures are just different and have their own qualities.
 
#19 ·
So. It's not that we have less knowledge about our cars our have a worse taste in them (except given r!cers, which exist everywhere), but our car cultures are just different and have their own qualities.
Yeah well I exactly said the countrary. Never meant to say americains have less knowledge and taste since I think this is the opposite. this is the point of this thread.

The thing that amazes me is the fact you take your bimmer upside down. Engine, trans, diff, everything. That helps to understand how the car works.
Culture is different that's correct. EU peps don't take their car upside down.
Well I do, but that's a rare exeption I believe :)
 
#21 ·
I have a hard time agreeing that any country has better modders.. Every country has good and bad modders. Sure America has most of the parts that come pretty cheap, but they also have that Honda that was made to look like a BMW. I'd just say the online community knows how to mod their cars tastefully as a whole, and r i c e r s ruin it for everyone. Oh, and I guess America has all the know-how because they have like 300 million people and BMW's are popular over there :dunno:
 
#27 ·
Cars are a way of life in the USA.

I would venture to say that BMW is a driver's brand and attracts people that want to enjoy their driving experience. If you spend a lot on a car (or much more than the Honda Civic it's parked next to), you probably won't junk it up with a giant wing or primer grey bumpers. Since it's hard to improve on a BMW with mods such as a NOS sticker or a fartcan muffler, you are forced to research your modifications if you really want to improve on the car. As a result, there are people out there that really know their stuff about engine and suspension tuning and can extract a little more performance out of these cars. I think more of these people are in the USA because we are the most willing to spend our money on our cars.
 
#28 ·
if you pick up Performance BMW mag half the cars shown are not from the states
:confused: what makes you think they are not into tuning as much as the americans?

they even have their own forums inregards to most of the mods we do.

HK & Japan is in another world with their mods
 
#31 ·
if you pick up Performance BMW mag half the cars shown are not from the states
:confused: what makes you think they are not into tuning as much as the americans?

they even have their own forums inregards to most of the mods we do.
EU do tune their car sometimes, but it rarely is as tasty and professional compared to what I see in the US.
I have seen a few very nice examples in EU, but this is bloody rare.

Some EU examples. A big lack of taste if you ask me...



.





 
#39 · (Edited)
I'm not sure if there was a defining era in Europe like the 60s-70s muscle car era in the US, but that's what most people point to as the reason the USA appears to be the culture most in love with cars.

With regard to r1cers and the dub crowd, nobody ever told them that you can't polish a turd. $2000 wheels don't make a $1000 car look better.
 
#49 ·
I think it has alot to do with the availability of the car. In the US, BMW is seen as an upscale brand where as in Europe it is much more prominent in vehicles available. BMW is to EU what Ford or CHevy is to the US with an assortment of vehicles from relatively inexpensive to very expensive loaded vehicles. In the US, we only get the premium line of BMW's and no base line.
 
#50 ·
I think it has alot to do with the availability of the car. In the US, BMW is seen as an upscale brand where as in Europe it is much more prominent in vehicles available. BMW is to EU what Ford or CHevy is to the US with an assortment of vehicles from relatively inexpensive to very expensive loaded vehicles. In the US, we only get the premium line of BMW's and no base line.
Then tell me why you don't get the BMW Individual system, or you didn't get the CSL :confused: :facepalm:


I agree that your base line is way cheaper though. A brand spanking new M3 costs 55k USD base price, whereas we pay 66K EUR. Do the math.
 
#54 ·
I think there is couple of reasons:
1. In US the BMW is something special - that way it attracts enthusiasts
2. It's huge country with large population where everyone speaks the same language - the knowledge in Europe is scattered into smaller regional forums
3. as noted before - rules for modding not as strict as in EU
 
#57 ·
Part of the reason that BMW's are cheaper in the US is that the US-spec cars have a lower level of trim and equipment than the UK. Ergo, my 2000 330d sport has features not found on US models, e.g. black headliners, etc. Not much on their own, but all of these bits add up to a saving for US car owners. US car buyers are simply less demanding when it comes to standard spec on new cars - otherwise car manufacturers would offer these items.

There is certainly something in the argument that US owners try and "Euro" their Beamers - hence the CSL clone thing you've got going on over there. This in itself means that US owners research their cars more than Euro owners whose stock cars are already more to their taste.

In your quest to Euro-your-rides you naturally develop a taste for the finer things in life that us Euro's take for granted and voila, you end up paying more for an equivalent car than you would if you could buy a Euro spec car off the lot - it's a conspiracy, I tell you!:lmao:
 
#58 ·
Part of the reason that BMW's are cheaper in the US is that the US-spec cars have a lower level of trim and equipment than the UK. Ergo, my 2000 330d sport has features not found on US models, e.g. black headliners, etc. Not much on their own, but all of these bits add up to a saving for US car owners. US car buyers are simply less demanding when it comes to standard spec on new cars - otherwise car manufacturers would offer these items.
No disrespect intended, but do you seriously think that a black headliner option and clear corners are the reason behind the 100%-200% price difference? European cars are more expensive for one simple reason: tax.

Yes, there are differences between Euro-spec and US-spec models but these are not simply because they have a 'lower' trim level. US-spec cars e.g. are usually prewired for nav and cellphones. Euro-spec cars are not.

I doubt that someone in the Netherlands driving a stripped down 318i with cloth seats, manual rear windows, and 15" steel rims will agree that US spec cars are always of lower trim level.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top