Companies and governments always release negative news on a Friday afternoon. I know it’s early Friday in Germany, but it was just after 6pm here when I first saw this:
In-car advertising coming to BMWs
Australian car owners could soon have to contend with in-car advertisements during their daily commute.
BMW is developing technology which will allow businesses to market their products through the German car maker’s built-in satellite navigation system.
Yet another reason to always have at least one fully mechanical car?
In a carefully-worded press release void of the term “advertising”, BMW claims the “location-based offers and services” will be relevant to specific route and final destination during each journey.
So far the technology has been developed in a BMW 7-Series testing vehicle, and allows drivers to set their preferences by filtering information or turning the program off altogether.
At least that last bit is (somewhat) reassuring.
Cue the spin-doctor:
“The joint research project paves the way for an even greater level of driver comfort and convenience,” BMW said in a statement.
“Results from this project could allow future navigation systems not only to provide information about the quickest route but also to provide recommendations about special coffee deals at filling stations, the best parking deals or even real-time offers at a sports shop along the route – but only if the driver wants.”
Wow. The PR guy’s certainly earned his pay this week. These ads are merely there to help the driver, to make driving more comfortable and convenient.
BMW won’t make a cent from it, I’m sure.
Just the fact that they’ve thought of doing this is annoying. I don’t want to sound paranoid but it’s already disconcerting enough that there are sensors in a lot of modern cars that allow companies to track where you’re going, how quickly you’re getting there and other things you might be doing in your car during the trip.
The lads and ladies behind OnStar even have the technical capability to listen to conversations between occupants in a car (though they’ve been told in a very deep, serious voice not to by the US courts).
How creepy would it be to have your car company second-guessing where you’re going according to your GPS data and offering you items from that place or places nearby?
It’s one thing to get offers for cheap coffee. What about ‘sex toys 50% off’ when you’ve got the kids in the back?
No, BMW. 1,000 times No.
And that goes for any other car company that wants to try this. The ability to turn it off doesn’t hide the fact that the whole scenario is creepy, which means the people thinking it up are creepy, too.
Fantasy Friday is for cars that you might want to add to your dream garage, featuring a car that’s actually for sale right now. This week: the BMW 2002.
BMW’s Neue Klasse started with the 1500, a compact 4-door sedan, in the early 1960’s. The range gathered steam quickly, changed its name from -00 to -02 and the BMW 2002 was the range-topping variation of the coupe released in 1968.
The standard version had a single-carb, two-litre four cylinder engine producing around 100hp. A hotter ‘ti’ version had twin carbs and 120hp and was replaced by the ‘tii’ version with fuel injection and 130hp. BMW released their first turbocharged car with the 2002 Turbo in 1973. It put out 170hp but only a small number were made. Owners who wanted more power but no turbo could take their car to Alpina, who offered tuning variations all the way up to 200hp.
I remember 10 or so years ago there was an ad that said something akin to “Inside every 2002 BMW is the BMW 2002”. The 2002 really is regarded as the genesis of the BMW sport sedan setup, a formula that propelled the company to stratospheric heights in the last decade. Solid build quality. Rorty engine. Great weight distribution resulting in superb handling.
The 2002 is still highly regarded for its driving experience today, even if it’s not as pretty as the Italians from the era.
Here’s a short video showing the 2002 being driven in the manner the manufacturer intended. Outstanding driving on a wonderful piece of road – and get an earful of the sound! Fast forward to the 1:00 mark where the action begins.
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For Sale
This 2002 is currently for sale in Blairgowrie, a town on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. In what you’d call “cosmetically honest” condition, the 2002 has undergone some mechanical restoration but could do with some paint and some finishing touches.
The seller has given a very forthright description of the car listing both its strong points and the bits that need work. I should mention at this point that the seller is actually my cousin, Kelvin. I haven’t seen or driven the car myself but Kel’s a straight-up guy and if there’s something about that car that needs mentioning, he’ll mention it.
If you’re reading this in Australia and have any inclination towards a 2002, this would be a great starting point and it’s well priced, too.
And if it’s still available at the end of this month, I hope to take it for a spin myself when PJ and I drop in for a visit. Who knows, I might just get 2002 fever!!
The Alfa is now up for sale and (as anyone who knows me could have predicted) another car has popped up on my radar for use as our road-trip car later this year.
Current contenders are the Porsche Boxster S and the Alfa Romeo Brera. I’ve got a few more to explore, too, but while I was trawling through brands in the Carsales.com.au classifieds yesterday, I decided to have a peek at the BMW M3 – and I liked what I saw.
The model I’d be interested in is the E46 that was sold in Australia from 2001 to 2007. I didn’t think this would be in my price range and to be honest, it’ll be a bit of a stretch, but E46 M3’s are getting to the point of regular-guy affordability.
It’s fair to say that I haven’t been the roundel’s biggest fan over the years. It was pretty easy to pooh-pooh BMWs and a lot of that was because they were driven most conspicuously by absolute wankers. That’s still the case in some instances, but many of the most objectionable idiots are moving to Audi as their leases expire.
The second reason BMW were so un-likeable was because the company was touted as some sort of automotive deity. Magazines were falling over themselves to heap praise on just about anything originating from Munich. It’s not surprising then, that BMW have spent the last decade creating niches that no-one knew they needed – they believed they could do no wrong. Take one look at the X6 and you’ll agree that counseling would have been a better option.
So some of BMW’s reputation is confected and some of it is deserved. I think the M3 falls into the latter category. In fact, I think the M3 has provided so much reflected glory that it made some rather awkward and unpalatable vehicles into must-haves and the good news for me is that an M3, from everything that I read, has earned every plaudit its ever received (and then some).
The E46 has now slipped well into $30-$40K territory and whilst that’s more than I planned on spending for anything other than a 911, it might well be worth it for an M3. I don’t think there’s another car out there that can combine the M3’s power, handling, appointments and design.
Yes, I think the E46 BMW M3 is a good looking car. There. I said it.
If I can find a good one that hasn’t been modified or thrashed then I reckon the strength of the M3 badge would hold me in good stead, financially speaking. A portion of M3 owners bought the car for performance reasons. Another portion bought it for prestige. I want to find a prestige buyer – someone who bought the name because they could. If they’ve maintained the car according to schedule then I have a theory they’ll be ripe for under-selling an outstanding piece of engineering at a value price.
The E46 BMW M3 comes with BMW’s famous inline 6-cylinder producing near enough to 340hp (252kW) and a very healthy 365Nm of torque. Most of the E46 M3’s sold in Australia were equipped with the sequential manual gearbox (SMG) that’s been variously referred to as a technological marvel and/or a nightmare. That’s a point for investigation. There are also a few six-speed manuals out there to provide some peace of mind.
Those mechanicals are loaded into the M3’s pin-sharp chassis with near perfect weight distribution. There are all sorts of driving modes to choose from in order to get the best setup for the conditions and that’s one of the M3’s real party tricks: it’s equally at home whether out on the highway, in traffic or out on the track.
For us, one of the main goals is to get a modern highway cruiser that’ll do the job nicely for our planned holiday up the east coast of Australia. Given that I’ll be driving, the choice of car is almost as much a part of the holiday as the choice of beaches we’ll stop at. I’ll own the car as my daily driver for a year or two as well, so it’s got to have some major fun-factor appeal, too.
If I could find one with this color combination, manual gearbox and a price in the mid $30K region, I’d be mighty tempted. This one’s an SMG with 88,000kms on it and it’s currently for sale for just under $38K.
E46 BMW M3
E46 BMW M3
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The M3 seems to tick all the boxes. All I’ve got to do now is get over my historical prejudices and do the sums. The house that M built looks like one that I could live in for some time.
I was fascinated by a recent article I read on Classic Car Investment. Is it really possible to make a little bit of money on an expensive hobby like motoring?
It isn’t easy. Some would go so far to say it isn’t likely. But it IS possible.
If you actually select a somewhat exotic/unusual vehicle and then drive it, that could mean some serious maintenance costs. Think of those as rental fees for pleasure owning the car for a period and it makes the pill a little easier to swallow. Bottom line – pick the right car and it’s possible to buy, own and then sell a vehicle at a profit that’ll allow you to move on to something else.
The best resource I’ve found to help with this is Hagerty. It’s US-based so it won’t necessarily be completely relevant to your market if you don’t live there, but the trend might still be fairly close for the models Hagerty covers. At the very least, it’s an interesting way to pass a few moments/hours/days.
Hagerty has tools that can help you select your vehicle and track its valuation history. Just like stockmarket software, you can create a portfolio of cars and track/compare their valuations over time. They provide base indices, too. For example, are you curious as to how their basket of German Collectables has done over the last few years?
Here it is:
The explanation: The Hagerty Price Guide “Silver Arrow” Index of German Cars is a stock market style index that averages the values of 21 of the most sought after cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche from the 1950s-70s. The list to the left (not shown here – SW) shows the cars that make up the index, while the graph above shows this index’s average value over the past five years. Values are for #2 condition, or “excellent” cars.
Let’s take a look at one of those German Collectables – the BMW 507 Roadster. It’s very rare, of course, and quite pretty. BMW made it in the late 1950s with a focus on the US market but it was too expensive so BMW cut the program after only 252 cars were made.
BMW made huge losses on the 507 but their loss can now be your gain – if you can a) find one, and b) afford it. Here’s the index for the BMW 507 since 2006. The colored lines represent vehicle condition:
A couple of things to notice here…
Even 507’s with some pitted chrome and cracked seats (the red one – Condition ‘D’) are still worth $750,000. That’s a lot of clams. Secondly, that graph starts a few years before the global financial crisis. As you can see, the GFC didn’t do much to hurt the value of this classic car.
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Swade’s theory of classic car investment and ownership – The big money’s always been in genuine, recognised vintage classics from any generation. They will hold a certain amount of value for collectors, always. Think Mercedes Gullwing, Ferrari 250, etc.
Emerging big money classic car buys tend to be seasonal and a move with the age/generation that has the money.
The previously-accessible movers and shakers over the last 10-20 years, for example, are cars from the 1950’s and 1960’s, bought up by Baby Boomers who’d had their kids, made their money and decided to re-live a little of their automotive youth. Here in Australia, Holden Monaros and GT Falcons were relatively affordable 25 years ago. They went through a massive boom 10 years ago but have come down since. Right now, Japanese rotary-engined cars are doing particularly well.
The oldest Generation X’ers are turning 50 right now, which might mean some good news for 1970’s classics or undiscovered/overlooked 60’s cars.
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Don’t have a million to splash on a rare Beamer?
Hagerty also has an Affordable Classics index, which is the one for regular guys like you and me. It’s this list that quite possibly shows where some of the movers and shakers of the future will be. Given that they’re not established classics, however, this index is a lot more volatile and cars from this segment DID suffer valuation falls during the GFC.
This list is also more US-centric, so caveat emptor. But it also includes some interesting models that weren’t just US sellers.
These are cars that might appreciate a bit more in the next 10 years either because they’re rare and they’re getting noticed a bit more, or because they’re widely liked and good examples are getting harder to find. They may not make that much money, but kept in good condition there seems to be a good chance they’ll retain their value or increase in value by a small-but-reasonable margin.
A few cars from the Hagerty Affordable Classic index and a few that I’ve chose out of my own field of interest:
Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 (Swadeology pick) – the as-yet unloved Ferrari. The only one styled by Bertone instead of Fezza’s usual Pininfarina. The first Ferrari road car to use a V8, which became the basis for many of the Ferraris that followed it through the 1980’s.
Porsche 911 SC (Swadeology pick) – the 1982 model has an average sale price of around $17,000. That’s an affordable classic and as you can see, it’s holding that value in good condition.
And of course, my current ride – the Alfa Romeo GTV6
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The key to doing this, as with any investment, is buying low and selling high. There are a lot of things that influence a vehicle’s value and they’re infinitely variable and their relative weight will change with time.
Popularity – this is a supply and demand situation. The more popular the vehicle, the greater the demand. You can’t do much about this except try to track it and predict it. Blue Chip classics are regarded as being ‘Blue Chip’ because they’re more predictable. A Ferrari is typically always going to command good value. A Datsun’s a bit more hit and miss.
Condition – The better the condition, or perhaps the more original (and good) the condition, the high the value. Restored cars can be tricky because some people restore them to their tastes rather than to factory condition. A mint condition factory car should generally be favoured, but they’re very hard to find. If you’re going to restore, the best bet is to do it to factory specs or with original enhancements.
Provenance – If the vehicle’s history is known, documented and most of all, interesting, the vehicle can demand a higher value. The former Pope’s VW Golf sold for nearly a quarter of a million dollars 6 years ago. Your grandma’s Golf is unlikely to fetch as much, regardless of condition (unless she’s more famous than the Pope).
I’m going to figure out how much I need to put away each week to get myself one of those Dinos – along with a house where I can garage it properly…..
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The Affordable Classics Gallery
Porsche 914
Triumph TR6
Ferrari Dino 308GT4
Volkswagen Beetle
Porsche 911SC
Alfa Romeo GTV6
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PS….. None of the above should be construed as financial advice. I’m not qualified to give financial advice. This is just an interesting topic. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions about whatever vehicles you might be interested in.
This video represents the basics of what I would have liked to do with Inside Saab. My mission, as I saw it, was to bring people inside the car company to see what it was like to develop and then build automobiles. We had a good start, but it wasn’t to be.
I did various Saab factory articles over the years but I never got the OK to produce something like this – a start-to-finish car factory tour. There are a few bits missing here and there – e.g. you don’t see the powertrain at all until the ‘marriage point’. This is a still a very informative video, however.
It starts in the press room, stamping parts and panels. It progresses through body-in-white to the paint shop and then on to final assembly. The full video is 15 minutes long – that’s a long time without any commentary – but it’s a great insight into the workings of a modern car factory and just how automated it is nowadays.
My favourite robots are the shrouded paint shop robots. Fun.
Enjoy the presentation, and special thanks to my Mother-in-law for sending it along via email (first time I’ve had a mother-in-law supplied article – outstanding!)
BMW are famous for creating niches and then filling them, often answering questions that no-one’s asking. People seem to flock to showrooms and buy them whether they need them or not, almost as if they don’t know how they managed to survive before they had a 2-tonne faux-coupe-styled crossover that looks like a roller skate with 20-inch wheels and traction they’ll never need, let alone use.
Hello X6.
Following on from yesterday’s article on the Mercedes A250 Sport, here’s another new vehicle that should pique the interest of some Saab fans. Yes, it’s a BMW, but don’t let that throw you off because the BMW 3-series GT is going to be available with 4WD (if you don’t like RWD), it’ll be offered with a number of turbocharged engines and ……… wait for it ………. it’s got a hatchback.
The bigger BMW 5-series GT looks like a lumbering oaf of a car but applying the same hatchback treatment to a 3-series has yielded a nice, balanced result. It’s not as pretty as a Saab 9000 Aero was, or even a Saab 9-5 Wagon to switch body shapes for a moment. But it does look reasonably sleek and there’s no doubting the opening at the back makes a decent load-lugging proposition.
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The BMW 3-series GT won’t be cheap. In fact, here in Australia it’ll start at around $65,000. That’s well above normal 9-3 SportCombi territory when it was around.
The GT does offer some advantages, however.
Firstly, the accommodation is generous. This 3-series GT actually has more rear seat legroom than a 5-series sedan thanks to a wheelbase that’s extended around 10cm or so over the regular 3-series footprint.
Second, it’s going to offer a wide range of proven engines, both petrol and diesel, including the 335i engine that gets people so excited.
Third, well…… it’s available as a new car and the original owner will still be making them in a few years time. That makes a difference.
This is not your average alt-Saab suggestion. It’s bigger and more expensive. But it’s also a car that’s nearly guaranteed to drive nicely, be well made and well equipped.
The styling is a matter of taste. It’s not as easy on the eye as the Mercedes A250 Sport but then it’s a much different type of vehicle. Where the Mercedes is inclined a bit more towards drivers, the 3-series GT could be aimed more towards tourers.
Saab owners – what say ye? Is it an interesting proposition? And if so, more interesting than the Mercedes A250 Sport?
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Supplementary question:
Five years ago, BMW buyers were widely characterised as badge-craving poseurs. Too much money and not enough sense. People who were more interested in the image than the capabilities of the car.
Do you think it’s still true?
I’d like to offer that the rise of Audi in those five years has taken some of the spotlight off BMW as a pose-mobile.
It still doesn’t mean I’ll forgive them the X6, but it’s something to ponder.
