Re: BMW 325ix 4 wheel drive ?

[rdh@sli.com (Robert D. Houk)]

   > The only real thing I remember thinking at the time was that the system
   > seemed like an afterthought kinda grafted onto the base car, and not
   > "designed in", like the Audi.

   WHAT, an afterthought.  The Audi seemed like an forethought that never was 
   developed all the way, just kidding no flames.  But the bmw is a 

Nolo contendre...

   excellent car and I would go as far to say it has a much better engine than
   a five wor pot that Audi had to stay with because of political reasons.  

Ditto...although I didn't know there was politics involved.

   I still would like to know what you mean by 'designed in' which Audi was 
   not by anymeans either.  Do you really believe that the car was on the 
   drawing board and they said "hey dont forget it will be 4wd".  All but 
   the newest audis were reversed engineered to accept 4wd or they would not 
   have had so many differences between the cars because it would have saved 
   alot of production cost for two parts where one would do.  And also Piech 
   said so in a interview I read.  Think of the engines audi could have now 
   if it had not been confined to the 5cyl, granted in some forms it is very 
   good but not in the plain jane versions. 

Yeah, I tend to agree overall. They've made some pretty amazing progess
with that ole 5-banger. But just think if they'd'uh given all that money
to Lotus to develope a "real engine". Sigh. Drool.

Certainly, the "Uriginal" quattros were to a very large degree "put to-
gether out of available parts" (which selection of parts tended to vary
from week to week!). But Audi still put a lot of thought and effort into
the "re-design". The BMW on the other hand "struck me" as very much too
little too late, much as I wanted to see AWD survive and thrive. Little
things like "there's this engine in the way / eh, just drive a hole through
it for the front half-shafts", and the like.

Just my vague rememberences, I certainly don't want to assault anyone's
theology wrt BMWs as the World's-Most-Perfectly-Engineered-Automobiles
(I'm in quite enough trouble as it is...)

					-RDH