OppositeLockMT
Active member
Hi guys,
So I woke up this morning in a good mood, ready and set to get my daily proceedings in full swing. This is my last week home before I leave for England to study so I've been trying to make the most of the time I have left - for a fanatic like yours truly - a large part of that entails spending some quality time with the car that proudly bears the blue propeller badge.
I walked into the garage and as always, there she was, staring back at me with the eagerness, enthusiasm and intent that is (more often than not) exclusively associated with the Munich brand; for a car labeled as "The Ultimate Driving Machine" we've come to expect no less, it's firmly embedded in the car's character to have "purpose" as its primary trait.....I digress.
I got in and started her up after a couple cycles of the key from "off" to "accessory mode" to prime the pump (wake her up), something E46 driver's may be all too familiar with. She sputtered and coughed to a consistent idle and I was off, basking in her purposeful glory. I always make it a point to wait for the temperature gauge to rise to an appropriate level before I push her above 2,000Rpm - any feeling of a "lack of power" is usually ignored at this stage, after all, none of us get up and start sprinting immediately after a long sleep (if you do then I would appreciate it if you tell me what you're on, I would like some).
I stopped at a T-Junction (as one normally should), turned down the radio and winded the driver and passenger's window down - something I usually do when I'm in the mood to revel in her sonorous straight six howl and conservative bellow from the twin-pipes. There was no traffic coming from either side and there just happened a large patch of sand on the tarmac so I thought I might as well cease the moment and indulge her audacious nature and get a little rare sideways action :fencelook: I look both ways just to make sure there is still no traffic and then go about doing pre-drift procdure: DSC Off, Steptronic, "M1", right hand on the "11 0'Clock position (turning right) - All systems go. I put my foot down and NOTHING...no power, the revs momentarily dive and re-surface, the car hadn't moved an inch...quite possibly the most monumental anti-climax I have ever experienced. I came to a quick conclusion that it was completely down to driver error/miscalculation so, with my ego slightly bruised, I went about taking that right-hander like a normal, civilized, tree-hugging Prius driver (no offence to them, most of them drive too slow - they should have their own lanes).
After 10minutes of problem free driving, I approach a long queue of cars waiting for their opening to overtake a semi truck that is struggling to make its way up an incline. The 5 cars in front of me finally make their pass after a considerable amount of time as there was a constant – though somewhat erratic – flow of traffic coming the other way (two-way street), they also didn’t seem quite confident in their car’s overtaking attributes either so most of them were waiting for a “safe opening”. I was in a bit of a rush now to get to where I was going so any opening to get past the truck would have sufficed. I was well aware of the oncoming car about 200m away but it was safe enough to overtake, well, at least it would have been if it all went to plan. The car geared down and started to pull – though slightly lethargic, it was still enough to get me moving quickly. Halfway through my overtaking routine the car starts to jerk, bog and just stalls out, the car chose the most dangerous time to have a sudden mood swing. I found myself in the overtaking lane with oncoming traffic coming right at me, there was no way I could duck back into the left lane either as the truck’s long trailer was blocking me. The only thing I could do was brake hard (with no more brake fluid circulating and the engine was now off) and hope the oncoming car could stop quickly enough…which it thankfully did. I managed to pull off to the side, which wasn’t easy, and managed to catch my breath after realizing how close I was to a bad accident.
I’m not particularly pleased with my car right now, just had the fuel pump replaced about 3months ago. I’ve left the car at the workshop so it’s probably the last time I’ll drive it for plus/minus 6months.
Not the goodbye I thought it would be. :nonono:
So I woke up this morning in a good mood, ready and set to get my daily proceedings in full swing. This is my last week home before I leave for England to study so I've been trying to make the most of the time I have left - for a fanatic like yours truly - a large part of that entails spending some quality time with the car that proudly bears the blue propeller badge.
I walked into the garage and as always, there she was, staring back at me with the eagerness, enthusiasm and intent that is (more often than not) exclusively associated with the Munich brand; for a car labeled as "The Ultimate Driving Machine" we've come to expect no less, it's firmly embedded in the car's character to have "purpose" as its primary trait.....I digress.
I got in and started her up after a couple cycles of the key from "off" to "accessory mode" to prime the pump (wake her up), something E46 driver's may be all too familiar with. She sputtered and coughed to a consistent idle and I was off, basking in her purposeful glory. I always make it a point to wait for the temperature gauge to rise to an appropriate level before I push her above 2,000Rpm - any feeling of a "lack of power" is usually ignored at this stage, after all, none of us get up and start sprinting immediately after a long sleep (if you do then I would appreciate it if you tell me what you're on, I would like some).
I stopped at a T-Junction (as one normally should), turned down the radio and winded the driver and passenger's window down - something I usually do when I'm in the mood to revel in her sonorous straight six howl and conservative bellow from the twin-pipes. There was no traffic coming from either side and there just happened a large patch of sand on the tarmac so I thought I might as well cease the moment and indulge her audacious nature and get a little rare sideways action :fencelook: I look both ways just to make sure there is still no traffic and then go about doing pre-drift procdure: DSC Off, Steptronic, "M1", right hand on the "11 0'Clock position (turning right) - All systems go. I put my foot down and NOTHING...no power, the revs momentarily dive and re-surface, the car hadn't moved an inch...quite possibly the most monumental anti-climax I have ever experienced. I came to a quick conclusion that it was completely down to driver error/miscalculation so, with my ego slightly bruised, I went about taking that right-hander like a normal, civilized, tree-hugging Prius driver (no offence to them, most of them drive too slow - they should have their own lanes).
After 10minutes of problem free driving, I approach a long queue of cars waiting for their opening to overtake a semi truck that is struggling to make its way up an incline. The 5 cars in front of me finally make their pass after a considerable amount of time as there was a constant – though somewhat erratic – flow of traffic coming the other way (two-way street), they also didn’t seem quite confident in their car’s overtaking attributes either so most of them were waiting for a “safe opening”. I was in a bit of a rush now to get to where I was going so any opening to get past the truck would have sufficed. I was well aware of the oncoming car about 200m away but it was safe enough to overtake, well, at least it would have been if it all went to plan. The car geared down and started to pull – though slightly lethargic, it was still enough to get me moving quickly. Halfway through my overtaking routine the car starts to jerk, bog and just stalls out, the car chose the most dangerous time to have a sudden mood swing. I found myself in the overtaking lane with oncoming traffic coming right at me, there was no way I could duck back into the left lane either as the truck’s long trailer was blocking me. The only thing I could do was brake hard (with no more brake fluid circulating and the engine was now off) and hope the oncoming car could stop quickly enough…which it thankfully did. I managed to pull off to the side, which wasn’t easy, and managed to catch my breath after realizing how close I was to a bad accident.
I’m not particularly pleased with my car right now, just had the fuel pump replaced about 3months ago. I’ve left the car at the workshop so it’s probably the last time I’ll drive it for plus/minus 6months.
Not the goodbye I thought it would be. :nonono:
