161–170 of 231 posts
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The only way I would buy a BMW is if it were an EV. I’m just not brave (or rich) enough to buy their ICEs.
The BMW inline 6 were the best engines ever. Their inline 4 and other are a strong contender for the worst engines ever.
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Not sure how familiar you are with Renault, but “maintenance problems” pretty much sums up a lot of older Renaults.
Which "older" ones? The original 5 is kind of a tank.
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Which "older" ones? The original 5 is kind of a tank.
I didn't know tank have regular problems with starting, especially in cold weather, regardless of whether the choke is open or not :)
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The bit the gets me more than the sale price is servicing. BMWs have a terrible record for needing expensive repairs. I know you shouldn’t rely on anecdote, but it seems I do.
If you take care of the car it’s just brake pads, tires, rotors. Pads and rotors are really simple to DIY. Tires are more expensive than like… an Elantra, but if you’re buying a 60k car you can afford 1.2k in tires… otherwise don’t buy the car. If you get into an accident or let the bmw get into disrepair via neglect, yeah it’s not cheap to clean up. Body work is expensive on any car though, and I don’t have sympathy…
With daily EV driving you have the opposite problem - regen means you rarely, if ever, actually activate the brakes, so you get rust on them that you need to clean out.
Unfortunately, their Web page does not say a single word about the important problems of their motors. The electrically excited synchronous motors have been known forever, but they had not been used in EVs because of 2 disadvantages. The first is that traditional EESMs require brushes, i.e. sliding electrical contacts, which are worn out by friction, so such motors require frequent maintenance for changing the brushe…
Efficiency schmischiency. I see your 3% and raise you the abolition of SUVs.
I see your motor-brush maintenance burden with my washer fluid, tyres, brakes, seals bearings bulbs filters etc etc. Then I raise you control modules that send your car to three garages and the scrapyard. Cars have wear items, you heard it here first.
A historical pioneer in the complex technology of electric motors without magnets Those who know the history of electric machines will find the title and verbiage very amusing. Motors with no permanent magnets were the first practical ones, and at this point wound-rotor motors are over a century old. It's worth noting that some of the biggest motors have always been designed this way, because the size of magnets requ…
Long ago, when I was in Cub Scouts, one of the projects was to build an electric motor. The parts list was: 1. a plank to form the base 2. several 6 inch nails 3. wire 4. a tin can (as a source of sheet metal) 5. tape No magnets. But it worked perfectly fine when connected to a dry cell. Adventurous science lad that I was, I decided it would work better when connected to AC. So I attached a power cord and plugged it…
"Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement."
I commend your excellent use of bad judgement there, WalterBright (despite your mom's lack of enthusiasm)!
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And epoxy binds to aluminum just fine ? Epoxy is weird. What solid material does it NOT bond to ?
It does not bond to polypropylene and other low surface energy plastics
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Long ago, when I was in Cub Scouts, one of the projects was to build an electric motor. The parts list was: 1. a plank to form the base 2. several 6 inch nails 3. wire 4. a tin can (as a source of sheet metal) 5. tape No magnets. But it worked perfectly fine when connected to a dry cell. Adventurous science lad that I was, I decided it would work better when connected to AC. So I attached a power cord and plugged it…
P.S. I still use tin cans as a source of sheet metal. There was a big storm a while ago, with tree branches whistling by at high speed. (Not a good time to be outside.) Three holes were punched in the house by the branches, 1-2 inches in diameter. What to do, what to do. I took a coke can, slit it and unrolled it into sheet metal. Then cut a disk bigger than the hole, and epoxied it into place. Worked like a charm, a…
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The only way I would buy a BMW is if it were an EV. I’m just not brave (or rich) enough to buy their ICEs.
The BMW inline 6 were the best engines ever. Their inline 4 and other are a strong contender for the worst engines ever.
Unfortunately, their Web page does not say a single word about the important problems of their motors. The electrically excited synchronous motors have been known forever, but they had not been used in EVs because of 2 disadvantages. The first is that traditional EESMs require brushes, i.e. sliding electrical contacts, which are worn out by friction, so such motors require frequent maintenance for changing the brushe…
Permanent magnet motors have higher peak efficiency but EESMs are better in non ideal conditions, particularly low torque high RPM i.e. highway cruising where efficiency is more critical than at low speeds.