[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Omtoatom

Are you guys sure?? The car is barely a week old. IIRC, both the 525d and the 530d use the same BMW N57 family 3.0-liter straight-6 in different states of tune.

Yup when the 530D's engine was upgraded to 258bhp the 525d got a 4 pot with 218bhp and 450nm I think.

[Omtoatom]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Yup when the 530D's engine was upgraded to 258bhp the 525d got a 4 pot with 218bhp and 450nm I think.

That's right. The main reason for downsizing the engine on the 2012 was to improve fuel economy and cut emissions over the outgoing 2011 car's straight 6.

[kri$hna]

This thread made me recall my experience when i sold my black hawk (baleno) to a S/W Engineer from a major MNC.

He came with his friends for a test drive, he liked my ride, the deal went through & then one fine day, i handed over the keys to him. After a week, the gentleman calls me, the conversation:

Me: Hey, how are you? hows the experience of baleno ? liking it ?
He: Well, it is really awesome. I like the power in 1st gear!! It is really fast.
I had a doubt, so wanted to clarify with you. When shall i use the second gear ?
me: Sorry, didnt get you. (i was actually confused and thought i missed some point)
He: see, we have two gears in baleno right? when should i use the second one ?
Me: ok, you actually have 5 gears to move forward in baleno, use however you want, but ideally one after the other. 6th gear is only for reverse.

He: I know that. I am talking about the second gear, which is seperate from first gear. I used it, but see no difference in speed, it actually reduced.

Me: Now, i thought he must be doing something with brake or etc,... so which second gear did you use ?

He: the one which has to be pulled, i can pull it even without pressing clutch, but nothing happens !!

Me: (finally getting it, and controlling my laugh) You should use that gear only to stop or hold the vehicle in one place. it is handbrake, not gear !!!


Same guy, calls after 3 months of ownership.
He: I think the headlights are overheating, and due to that, heat is coming inside and ac is not very efficient ! what should i do ?

Me: Ok, can you switch on the lights and tell if there is a blue light glowing on the dashboard (high beam indication)

He: yes, yes.. I see that every day. Is it a problem ?

Me: Nothing, that is why your ac is inefficient. Now, hold the lever on the right of steering & pull it towards you, till the blue light is gone.

He: Done. Thanks a lot. mechanic was asking 3000/- to do this small thing ?

Me: No. What you did now, will not heat up the headlights much. But next you need to get the ac checked for leaks & recharge the gas. go to a mechanic !!

Now, this guy calls me up whenever he or his friends need help with anything with cars. I enjoy getting the ROFL laugh whenever his conversation ends !!!

PS: sorry for the long post

[fre2bpowerless]

Originally Posted by Omtoatom

Are you guys sure?? The car is barely a week old. IIRC, both the 525d and the 530d used the same BMW N57 family 3.0-liter straight-6 in different states of tune.

Oh maybe this is part of BMW's engine downsizing program globally.

Oh, trust us buddy! This is all that we do in our spare time

They did use the same engine for the longest time but with the new emission norms & fuel efficiency norms, this sort of downsizing will continue through the entire range of BMW & most other brands.

328i replaces the 330i but uses a 2 liter, 4 cyl turbo engine instead of the 3L, I-6 NA.

[Omtoatom]

Originally Posted by fre2bpowerless

Oh, trust us buddy! This is all that we do in our spare time

They did use the same engine for the longest time but with the new emission norms & fuel efficiency norms, this sort of downsizing will continue through the entire range of BMW & most other brands.

328i replaces the 330i but uses a 2 liter, 4 cyl turbo engine instead of the 3L, I-6 NA.

Oh, then trust me buddy; it isn't just you guys in that club

I did recall reading about this downsizing business in February earlier this year - which is what I've also written in my previous post. Just that the right neurons didn't fire somehow!

Thanks for pointing it out nonetheless Akshay.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by kri$hna

He: see, we have two gears in baleno right? when should i use the second one ?
He: the one which has to be pulled, i can pull it even without pressing clutch, but nothing happens !!
He: I think the headlights are overheating, and due to that, heat is coming inside and ac is not very efficient ! what should i do ?

Sorry that we are not allowed to use more than two smileys! You had me in splits today! Man I can imagine how much you would have laughed after this conversation with him. Poor fellow! The last few comments are really worthy for Jokes thread!

[sree83]

Going through the thread reminds me of my conversation with my cousin sister(who is well known for her self discovered logics) 5 years ago when she purchased a new Honda City.
Few days after purchase I visited her house with my brother to take a look at the newbie.
After having first look at the vehicle my brother noticed something weird at the rear.It was a tail pipe extension protruding more than a foot from the rear bumper.Gaping at it I asked her why on earth she needed such a long one. Seeing that we didnt know the very purpose of it eventhough we had been pretending (for her) as severe petrolheads brought a broad grin on her face and proudly replied." This is to protect the car from being banged from behind as any vehicle (for that matter a car or a bike) will come and hit only the protrusion thus saving the car's bumper.I have specifically asked the mechanic to make it longer".Myself and my brother thanked her for the invaluable information and didnt even dare to ask her anything further.Even after five years the car still has the masterpiece attached. Eventhough the poor guy has tried his best, the rear bumper has been put to test at several occasions resulting in some cognizable damages!

[dgupta]

This is from an evening almost five years ago when on a short journey of 20 minutes from our home to a restaurant resulted in me taking a wrong turn on every possible occasion. We were a family of around 9 out for dinner, 5 in one car, 4 in another. I was not aware of the way to this new restaurant my cousin brother has discovered at some place in Andheri. He asked me to follow his car, I obeyed. There was only one flaw in this plan, his wife begged/threatened/convinced him to let her drive this car for the first time. She used to drive a Swift regularly, this was an Ikon. She is driving the Ikon, me in a swift following her. She indicates left, I indicate left, I see her turning right, I am forced to turn left. I come around, this happens again on the next turn, then again and then again. I was so pissed, I passed her, signalled her to stop in a safe place and went to ask what the hell is she doing.

Me: What the hell are you doing ?
Nidhi: You are dumb, you don't know how to drive, why can't you follow me ?
Me: You indicate left and then turn right, how am I supposed to follow that ?
N: No, I am doing it properly, you are illiterate!!
Me: Show me what you do when you have to go right.
N: *Click* This
Me: Your left indicators are blinking
N: No, look (Points at the indicator light blinking near the dials)
Me: Its a light just to indicate you have switched on indicators (The old Ikon had just one light to indicate both, with a kind of <> symbol on it)
Me: Come out and have a look

N comes out, looks and says
N: This car is broken, there is a cross connection
Me:

I explain to her, the Ford has the indicator stalk on the left hand as opposed to being on the right hand which she was used to. She was pulling the left hand stalk down to go right, as you would do on your right hand stalk and vice versa

Finally I asked her to drive the Swift and I followed in the Ikon, a journey of 20 minutes completed in almost an hour.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by dgupta

She was pulling the left hand stalk down to go right, as you would do on your right hand stalk and vice versa

Finally I asked her to drive the Swift and I followed in the Ikon, a journey of 20 minutes completed in almost an hour.

This is the dumbest case I have ever heard. Who learns it by way of pulling up or down? Isnt clicking it in the direction you are going to turn the steering the most logical way to do it??

[dgupta]

Originally Posted by Tgo

This is the dumbest case I have ever heard. Who learns it by way of pulling up or down? Isnt clicking it in the direction you are going to turn the steering the most logical way to do it??

Absolutely, I explained this to her and she still would not budge

I finally gave up and asked her to let me drive that car, she nearly missed banging into another car at one of the turns, I could not afford to risk peoples life anymore.

In the end, I told my brother "Bhagwan teri raksha kare" (God help you)

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by Tgo

This is the dumbest case I have ever heard. Who learns it by way of pulling up or down? Isnt clicking it in the direction you are going to turn the steering the most logical way to do it??

Well, her logic would be "I push down to indicate right in Swift, same for Ikon". Kind of understandable, in a way. The mind will think that way if the connection between direction of turn-turning steering-indicator stalk pushing has not been made.

Similar case on usability is the classical elevator button problem. You are on the 4th floor of a 15-storey building. Lift is on the 10th floor, you want to go to 7th floor. You press the button to call the lift. Do you press "UP" or "DOWN"?

Half will say "UP" because I want to go up.
Other half will say "DOWN" because I am calling the lift and it has to come down to my floor.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

...You are on the 4th floor of a 15-storey building. Lift is on the 10th floor, you want to go to 7th floor. You press the button to call the lift. Do you press "UP" or "DOWN"?...

When in doubt, 'take stairs; stay healthy'!

Jokes apart, India should have a mandate on the standards to be followed in such cases. I always have a tough time when I swap cars with LH orientation! Some times wipers instead of indicators & other times windscreen washer jet instead of flashing lights!!

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Similar case on usability is the classical elevator button problem. You are on the 4th floor of a 15-storey building. Lift is on the 10th floor, you want to go to 7th floor. You press the button to call the lift. Do you press "UP" or "DOWN"?

Half will say "UP" because I want to go up.
Other half will say "DOWN" because I am calling the lift and it has to come down to my floor.

OT reply. This should go into "Quirky comments from non-elevator-head friends"
Correct solution : Doesn't matter where the elevator is, you register your request according to where you want to go. You want to go up, press up, if you want to go down, press down. Its up to the system to service your request efficiently and you are not supposed to take into consideration the elevator's current location to make a decision of what button to press.

If you look closely, on the first floor, the only button is "up". That wouldn't make sense if the button specified the direction for elevator to move in order to reach you rather than where you want to go.

[shiju.dba]

1) Mahindra launched diesel engined gearless scooters.

2) Ambassador back seat comfort is better than Mercedes Benz S Class !!!

3) Maruti Gypsy's actual top speed is highly classified information since it is using by Indian Military.

4)

[DWind]

Originally Posted by KiloAlpha

Half will say "UP" because I want to go up.
Other half will say "DOWN" because I am calling the lift and it has to come down to my floor.

You forgot that there is a third group who press both the buttons and get into the lift regardless of the direction it is going thereby

1. inconveniencing the people who are going down (in this case) and
2. once the lift reaches ground floor and starts upward it has to wait again in the 4th floor and who join with others in giving that angry sigh when waiting for the invisible person to join the lift