I have a Nissan Note for the day

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll) 05/10/2017 at 13:49 • Filed to: None

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Yes, Rustholes- there are worse things than a non ST or RS Focus. E61 is at the BMW dealership for some maintenance, and I picked the cheapest loaner program (Opel Rent) they had, a BMW would have cost more. Well, that’s my punishment for being a cheapskate.

Notice how these are all stock photos? Well, it’s such a bland appliance that I couldn’t be bothered to take some myself. It has a 1.2l 3 cyl petrol engine with 80hp mated to a 5MT, which is ok around town or to keep up with traffic on clogged up B roads. It’s just veeeery noisy! The noise isn’t even too bad, they managed to make the 3 cyl sound somewhat race car-ish, the constant drone is whatt gets old pretty fast.

The interiour is.... well, fuck it, who cares? I could go on and describe how the steering is too light, or how I wasn’t able to find a comfortable seating position, but no one is interested in that.

Final verdict: It’s a cheap runaround, that doesn’t try to hide that fact (the key doesn’t even have a folding blade) and is surprisingly roomy inside.

I will now answer your questions:

Q: Mr Schmoll, you just bought that E61 two months, so what went wrong?

A: Rough idle at cold start plus CEL. CEL goes out once engine is warm and it purrs like a kitten again. Code 29D2 “misfire on cyl 6". -> New coil pack for cyl 6. I can heat up the engine before starting using the auxiliary heater, but that means parking where I can see the car through a window, so that the remote works. Easy at home, trickier at work.

Q: Why did you bring it to a BMW dealer, are you made of money?

A: No, I am not. But you might know that I live on an island in the Baltic sea, so the number of shops to choose from is limited. Also, my indie BMW mechanic in Bavaria has just had a stroke which erased roughly 10-20 years from his hard drive. He is back in his shop right now, being trained by kind people like a rookie. We’ll see how this plays out. So I thought it might be a good idea to give the local BMW shop a rather simple task and see how they perform.

Q: Do you regret buying one of the most complication prone cars vet?

A: Noooooooo!!! I knew what I was getting into and consider this just a minor hiccup. There is no such thing as cheap luxury, you will pay one way or another. Plus, when it runs right, it runs ooh soooooo riiiiiiiiiight. That fat fucker makes me smile every day!

Thank you for your attention!

Bytemite > Klaus Schmoll 05/10/2017 at 13:58

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Lexus is cheap maintenance luxury though.

Klaus Schmoll > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 14:02

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What a predictable comment. They are still either rather boring or totally fuck ugly.

benjrblant > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 14:03

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As long as you don’t put a lift on it.

http://overland.kinja.com/what-it-cost-to-own-an-80-series-11-months-and-20-000-1794518103

Bytemite > Klaus Schmoll 05/10/2017 at 14:15

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:( I think they’re good looking.

smobgirl > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 14:21

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My mom thinks so too, but she drives a Camry so her opinions are questionable.

benjrblant > smobgirl 05/10/2017 at 14:27

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Says the Tercel owner.

smobgirl > benjrblant 05/10/2017 at 14:28

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I never said the Tercel wasn’t ugly :)

Bytemite > smobgirl 05/10/2017 at 14:35

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I think the IS looks way better than the 3 series at least. And then there’s the LC of course.

Klaus Schmoll > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 14:37

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

People like to shit on the E60/61 for being Chris Bangle’s worst crime. I don’t care.

Ash78, voting early and often > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 14:42

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There are exactly three of them on the entire European continent, so sort of hard to come by. Plus they don’t check all the “prestige” boxes for European buyers because the company doesn’t have its roots in building tractors or whatever...

Ash78, voting early and often > Klaus Schmoll 05/10/2017 at 14:44

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Is this the same one we call the Versa Note (a trimline for the Versa, also known as the Tiida or Pulsar on some markets)? At least you didn’t get the sedan, which is inexplicably popular in the US because it’s not a hatchback. And a little cheaper.

Klaus Schmoll > Ash78, voting early and often 05/10/2017 at 14:56

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Wikipedia says that you got the previous gen (E11) as a Versa note.

This is an E12, which isn’t sold in the US (again, according to Wiki). Hard to tell the difference, though.

Textured Soy Protein > Klaus Schmoll 05/10/2017 at 14:56

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I also have experience with 1.2 liter 80-something hp hatchbacks.

Klaus Schmoll > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 15:02

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As Ash pointed out, the problem with Lexus in Europe is that they are pretty much non-existant. No dealerships outside of the metro areas. Not many used cars to choose from. And no indie mechanic has ever wrenched on one.

Only Caddilac is worse in that area.

Klaus Schmoll > Textured Soy Protein 05/10/2017 at 15:05

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Read that when you first posted it. Awesome trip!

Cé hé sin > Bytemite 05/10/2017 at 15:07

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But who buys them? I’m told they’re popular with Americans but you won’t see many on this side of the pond.

Cé hé sin > Textured Soy Protein 05/10/2017 at 15:48

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Cute. I drove one of the previous model around Iceland a few years ago. Manual windows, manual locks, manual door mirrors and (far worse than these) no intermittent wipe.