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Car Forum / BMW Cars / April 2007advice on used BMW to learn manual transmission
last month, bought myself a '03 325ci coupe, my first Beemer and i love it...however it is steptronic so it's a 'wannabe' manual ;-) but still it is a step up from my '95 honda accord anyway, I would like to get a second Beemer to learn how to drive manual. I'm looking for something cheap, perhaps a 318? I searched and found a 318 coupe, 1994, with about 145k miles. This would be a 'learner' car for the most part, in addition to a 'snowy/icey roadway' day to go to work here in the DC area..overall condition is ok, ripped drivers seat, normal dings scratches on outside panels, little bit of dull paint, would this be a suitable model to learn manual transmission driving? Any other model you would recommend? in the state of VA, we have to pay a yearly property tax on our vechicles so I'm not looking to get something that would be 'valued' high in terms of Kelly Blue Book values.... thanks for your opinions and advice > last month, bought myself a '03 325ci coupe, my first Beemer and i > love it...however it is steptronic so it's a 'wannabe' manual ;-) [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > thanks for your opinions and advice Oh I don't know I had a number of manual cars before my first auto (on medical advice following two broken ankles), but despite being a manual lover and now many years later I virtually never use steptronic manual side of the gearbox. Car 1 censored 2200cc 4sp manual. Car 2 Triumph 2500TC 4sp manual with overdrive Car 3 Rover 3500SD1 5sp manual Car 4 Rover 3500VP 5Sp manual Car 5 BMW 735i 5Sp manual Car 6 BMW 735iSE 5sp manual all excellent cars car 7 BMW 735iASE 4Sp auto OK car 8 BMW 740iASE 5Sp switchable auto good car 9 BMW 735iASE 5Sp steptronic auto excellent Nowadays given the amount of town driving I do, how crowded the remaining roads are and the surfeit of scameras, there are few places off track to drive a big manual, so I will stick with autos! So should you. >Oh I don't know > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >roads are and the surfeit of scameras, there are few places off track to >drive a big manual, so I will stick with autos! Well, to be brutally honest, you've always driven big fat pigs of cars, so stick vs. automatic didn't make a whole lot of difference. >So should you. The OP at least drives somewhat smaller, lighter cars, so stands to gain a lot more enjoyment from a manual if he's inclined that way. So why tell him what he *should* do? Some of us derive great enjoyment from driving manuals. I have owned automatics, but only in trucks and vans whose purpose was to trailer horses or race cars. I've never owned a car that weighed over 2900 pounds (and probably never will) -- all but two under 2500 pounds, actually -- and all my cars have been manual. Even my wife wouldn't have anything but a manual in her 3-series. Oh, BTW, we're well inside the Beltway, too. -- Larry (but then I'm only 60, so who knows?) >>Oh I don't know >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > stick > vs. automatic didn't make a whole lot of difference. At 2025mm (6'8" in the Olde English units the US still uses), so I just don't fit inside a lot of small cars. A manual 735 was an enjoyable drive. With the exception of the X5, I wouldn't call any BMW [saloon] a "big fat pig", although this epiphet is entirely aposite for the vast majority of cars produced in the USA in the last half century - very large, resource hungry, inferior performance and [desperately] poor handling. >>So should you. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > what he > *should* do? Perhaps there is more road space in the US (missed the 'DC area' in the OP) and less enforcement, so a manual big engined manual can be driven with some enthusiam. Here in the UK finding an open road is not easy. > Some of us derive great enjoyment from driving manuals. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > -- Larry (but then I'm only 60, so who knows?) >last month, bought myself a '03 325ci coupe, my first Beemer and i >love it...however it is steptronic so it's a 'wannabe' manual ;-) [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >thanks for your opinions and advice Do you mean you want to be a learner STREET RACER or just to learn how to drive a stick shift? If the latter then ANYTHING will do if the former then tell me when you intend to do this and I'll stay at home.
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