lex400sc

Hermosa, is your SC400 a 1998+ model? If so, you could possibly beat a 1998 540i auto. If you have a pre-98 SC400 the only 540is you'd ever smoke would be the slow *** 93-94s. The 1997 540i 6-speed did the quarter mile in 14.1 seconds at 101mph and 0-60'd in 5.4 seconds (the automatics were 14.7 and 6.3). The SC400 for that year quarter miled in 15.3 seconds and 0-60'd in 6.8 seconds. The new 540i automatics are much quicker now too.

dpakman91

a friend of mine just got a 2001 540i automatic and it's absolutely quicker than the older ones...nice ride too.

Hermosa

I look not at magazines for figures but speak from actual experiences. There are many things to consider such as weather, road conditions, fitness of the vehicle, driver, etc. Remember that every car is different and some run faster or slower than the same model right out of the factory. IMO the 540i figures are bloated as well as all magazine numbers for just about any car. Realistically you will rarely see someone on the street get those types of numbers.

MadMaxSC400

Saw a late 90's 540i do a 14.9 then a 14.8 at Sears last week, I started to run 15.0s probably would have gotten into 14s if I didn't have a girlfriend riding along Stock, my SC400, dealer maintained all its life, ran a 16.1 @ 86 mph. Using synthetic oil and changing it more than every 5000 miles (lunacy.. the dealer oil looks like old black paint at 4000) and keeping the other fluids changed will probably bring you close to your stock (real, not rubberized track ringer runs done by magazines) times, 15.6 or so. The only way to improve your traps of course is more power, which means mods.

dpakman91

yeah, i know ws6's one year had a magazine 0-60 time of 5.4, but no one i knew that had them actually got that ...go figure.

dkny_112

hermosa,
what year is your sc???
not that i don't believe you or anything but i don't see how a stock pre-98 sc400 can take a 97+ 540i.

however, i know an sc4 can take a e430 because i killed one today on the freeway...
anybody got times for those cars????

MadMaxSC400

Yeah, overweight and underpowered, like the rest of their cars

dkny_112

yeah you're basically just paying for the name.....
my moms ml430 is barely eight months old and we've already had a s**tload of problems..... brakes, rotors, etc.......

well at least they provide decent service...

MadMaxSC400

I saw an ML430 with an AMG package pull up to the turn next to Blockbuster (not even a stop sign) here. When I got out of Blockbuster about 20 minutes later it was being loaded onto a flatbed, from the very spot it had stopped when I glanced at it.

dkny_112

i have to say though that the entire mercedees lineup is very classy and elegant in appearance particularly the new e class.

does anybody else here think that the new bmw designs are ugly?
i don't find the new 7 series attractive at all and i almost puked when i saw the upcoming 5 series in road and track.....

Lex Luthor

We had an ML, no problems with it, Mercedes has been very good to my family over the years. And I think the new BMW designs are very nice, the new 7 doesn't look BMW-ish to me, the M3 has a great look to it, and the 330Ci is nice too, isn't that the old M3 motor in there? As far as the motors though, that's another story, i'm told they've been having camshaft problems, and I was in at Champion motorcars the other day and they had an M3 there that had incinerated it's valvetrain, valves were chewed up like pieces of gum, just wads of metal in my hand. After looking it over and finding out what the owner was like though, we agreed there was just as good a chance the guy had over-revved the **** out of it. Who knows...
- LL

dkny_112

lex, when i said i didn't like bmw's designs i wasn't referring to the current 3 series lineups since i think they're attractive looking cars...
i just meant all their next generation models such as the 7 don't look "all that bmw".

lex400sc

Actually, that's not an isolated incident. Of the BMW forums members alone, there have been about 70 brand new M3 motor failures. Some the dealer admits the engines were faulty, some the dealers adamant deny and accuse. One guy found out that his dealership alone had 28 E46 motors on backorder. The same problems seem to occur, a connecting rod snaps, or the head gasket leaks and corrodes. There are rumors that BMW is using recycled motor parts for their new M3s. I wouldn't be surprised, after all, almost none of their cars are made in Germany anymore. They are built in Thailand and South Africa.

Read the archieves...
http://members.roadfly.com/jason/m3engines.htm

http://www.mfailure.com/

moshlub

The ES300 has a 3.0L V-6, same as the Camry V6. I don't know about horsepower ratings.
The SC300, IS300, Supra NA, and GS300 all have the similar 3.0L inline-six, NOT V-6. Of all these (correct me if I'm wrong) the SC and GS have the most horses, at 225bhp. The Supra has 222bhp, while the IS rounds the bottom at 215bhp.

dpakman91

moshlub, maybe you, or anyone else can settle this dispute. i have a 1996 SC300, and a friend of mine has a 1997 ES300. He says our cars both have the EXACT SAME 3.0 liter V6, except his is tuned for 210hp, and mine for 225hp. What is the correct thing here?