Cost of repair Audi BMW Saab...(crossposting)

On Tue, 11 May 2004 15:14:15 +0200, Peter Bozz
> wrote:

>The top selling cars in Holland in 2003 we

> 2. Peugeot (52.412 exemplaren)
> 3. Renault (47.159 nieuwe auto's)

You mean someone outside of France buys those Frenchy cars? Wow.

dizzy wrote:
> On Tue, 11 May 2004 15:14:15 +0200, Peter Bozz
> > wrote:
>
>
>>The top selling cars in Holland in 2003 we
>
>
>> 2. Peugeot (52.412 exemplaren)
>> 3. Renault (47.159 nieuwe auto's)
>
>
> You mean someone outside of France buys those Frenchy cars? Wow.
>
I know, it's shocking. I guess buyers are lured by the abundant
"standard" gadgetry the French are so fond of, the pseudo-futuristic
looks (you seen the new Megane?), and who knows, maybe they're fun
to drive the 50,000 miles you can manage in them before you
throw them away.

Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
> At least in Germany seeing lots of BMWs and Mercs is no illusion! They are
> top sellers:
> http://www.kfz-auskunft.de/kfz/pkw_n...ngen_2003.html
>
> In the Netherlands I seem to see Mercs on every corner...
>
> DAS

A short drive around where I live revealed 8 Mercs. Now,
it's no Beverly Hills, just a fairly affluent neighborhood of
a big Dutch city (actually, I crossed over into the affluent
neighborhood from the not-so-affluent part of town I live in).
There were a couple of Saabs and a few of the ubiquitous V40/V70
Volvos. I counted 6 BMWs and at least one A6, two A4s, a Jaguar XJ
and a Lexus LS400. Most of the Mercs were of course C series. I
didn't count the CLK Cabrio my local drug dealer drives: he's
hardly representative of the general population and might
skew my empirical data. I guestimate that I must have seen about
500 cars.

Most people here seem to have a, shall we say, predilection for spacious
MPV type of cars, mostly uninspiring brands I coudn't even tell apart.
Think Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Fiat, some Japanese and Korean brands,
whatever.

I wonder, what city was it that you say you saw Mercs on
every corner?

Peter

In what town are you in? Randstad...?...

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Peter Bozz" > wrote in message
...
> Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
> > At least in Germany seeing lots of BMWs and Mercs is no illusion! They
are
> > top sellers:
> > http://www.kfz-auskunft.de/kfz/pkw_n...ngen_2003.html
> >
> > In the Netherlands I seem to see Mercs on every corner...
> >
> > DAS
>
> A short drive around where I live revealed 8 Mercs. Now,
> it's no Beverly Hills, just a fairly affluent neighborhood of
> a big Dutch city (actually, I crossed over into the affluent
> neighborhood from the not-so-affluent part of town I live in).
> There were a couple of Saabs and a few of the ubiquitous V40/V70
> Volvos. I counted 6 BMWs and at least one A6, two A4s, a Jaguar XJ
> and a Lexus LS400. Most of the Mercs were of course C series. I
> didn't count the CLK Cabrio my local drug dealer drives: he's
> hardly representative of the general population and might
> skew my empirical data. I guestimate that I must have seen about
> 500 cars.
>
> Most people here seem to have a, shall we say, predilection for spacious
> MPV type of cars, mostly uninspiring brands I coudn't even tell apart.
> Think Ford, Opel, Peugeot, Fiat, some Japanese and Korean brands,
> whatever.
>
> I wonder, what city was it that you say you saw Mercs on
> every corner?
>
> Peter
>

Dori A Schmetterling wrote:
> In what town are you in? Randstad...?...
>
> DAS

I'm in the Randstad, yes.
Admittedly, not the best place to live in.

"eBob.com" > wrote in message v.net>...
>
> I had a '95 A6(2.8)Q wagon
> The timing belts have been somewhat expensive as I recall, but every
> car needs that at rougly 60K.

Not if they don't *have* them. Most BMWs don't.
--
C.R. Krieger
(Been there; drove that)

That's interesting. Since all of the brands of cars which I have owned have
had them, I just assumed ...

Anyway, how 'bout educating me on two things. Just exactly what do timing
belts do? (Yes, I am pretty dumb in this area.) And what do the BMWs w/o
timing belts have which perform that function?

Thanks, Bob

"C.R. Krieger" > wrote in message
om...
> "eBob.com" > wrote in message
v.net>...
> >
> > I had a '95 A6(2.8)Q wagon
> > The timing belts have been somewhat expensive as I recall, but every
> > car needs that at rougly 60K.
>
> Not if they don't *have* them. Most BMWs don't.
> --
> C.R. Krieger
> (Been there; drove that)
>

In article > ,
eBob.com > wrote:
> Anyway, how 'bout educating me on two things. Just exactly what do
> timing belts do?

Better name is cam belt - as it drives the camshaft. It may well drive
other things as well like the waterpump on some designs.

> (Yes, I am pretty dumb in this area.) And what do the
> BMWs w/o timing belts have which perform that function?

They went back to chains with the twin cam engines. The rubber band to
drive the camshaft didn't arrive - globally - until about '70 - before
that most used chains, although there were other ways.

--
*Why is the word abbreviation so long?

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

On Thu, 13 May 2004 14:22:37 GMT, eBob.com > wrote:
>
> Anyway, how 'bout educating me on two things. Just exactly what do timing
> belts do? (Yes, I am pretty dumb in this area.) And what do the BMWs w/o
> timing belts have which perform that function?

Timing belts go from the crankshaft to the camshaft(s), turning the cams
to open and close the valves at the appropriate times. Some cars use
timing belts, and are subject to frequent replacements, expensive
probelms if the belts break, and so on. They are quieter, though.

Other cars, such as most (all non-V6) Saab engines and apparently some
BMW engines, use a timing chain rather than a belt. It will wear and
stretch over a few hundred thousand miles, but catastrophic failures of
timing chains are very rare...they usually get very rattly for a very
long time before anything goes wrong, giving the driver plenty of time
(months) to do something about it.

Earlier, Saab used timing gears in the V4 engines, which were again
noisier than a rubber band (oops, "belt") but give more positive
and reliable timing.

I don't know which Audi uses, but I personally will avoid any engine
with timing belts. Internal engine components, which you can't visually
inspect, aren't something I'm willing to put up with.

Dave Hinz

eBob.com wrote:

> That's interesting. Since all of the brands of cars which I have
> owned have had them, I just assumed ...
>
> Anyway, how 'bout educating me on two things. Just exactly what do
> timing belts do? (Yes, I am pretty dumb in this area.) And what do
> the BMWs w/o timing belts have which perform that function?

A timing belt drives the camshaft and valves, by taking power from the
crankshaft. The other alternative is a chain and sprockets, which all newer US
model BMWs have. A few cars like Ferraris have gear driven valvetrains.

The only US model BMW engines with timing belts are the "small six" engines,
which are in the 80s 3 Series, and some 5 series cars -- the 325e, 325i, 528e,
and early 525i. The rare 524td is also a small six w/ a belt.

Matt O.