2019-04-01 BMW Car

APRIL 2019 3

FIRST WORDS

BMWCarMagazine @bmwcarmag

While doing the research for this month’s buying guide on the E90 330i and 330d models

I was struck, once again, by the high mileages covered by ‘modern’ cars. In the article, we

mention cases of owners with 200,000-mile E90s, and an M57-engined E39 530d that

comfortably reached 300,000.

Casting my mind back to my early days as a motoring writer, back in the early 1980s,

such mileages were all-but unheard of; cars just weren’t capable of covering those

sort of distances. Rust or mechanical frailty would drag them down and, in those days,

secondhand buyers would think twice about a car with 50,000 miles on the clock, never

mind 150,000.

What’s more, the road miles typically covered by cars 35 years ago just weren’t as

demanding as they are now. Cars didn’t pound the motorways as they do these days,

stop/start motoring was far less of a mechanical ordeal because vehicle numbers were

perhaps half what they are now and road surfaces, generally, were better. So, the cars

around in the 1980s had it easy compared to today, and yet they still didn’t last.

This, of course, speaks volumes for the advances made in vehicle design and

manufacturing techniques in recent decades. Engineering tolerances are much fi ner

across the board, and there isn’t the gulf that once existed between the so-called prestige

manufacturers, and those churning-out more aff ordable vehicles.

Factory-applied anti-corrosion

measures, and the quality and

effi ciency of modern vehicle paints,

no doubt have much to do with

overall durability, as does the use of

superior mechanical components

and improved raw materials. Rather

ironically, though, it’s the electronic

complexity of modern cars that could turn out to be their Achilles’ heel. Rapid depreciation

combined with the high cost of electronic component replacement, as well as the

technical expertise required to diagnose and deal with problems, could be responsible for

consigning many vehicles to the scrapyard in future, as repair bills outstrip vehicle values.

So, perhaps today’s cars won’t fail because they get worn out or structurally weakened,

but simply because they become uneconomical to repair. The sheer electronic

sophistication that engineers have worked so hard to integrate into modern vehicles, could

prove to be their ultimate undoing.

Chris Graham, Editor

Welcome

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

Andrew

Everett

Bob

Harper

Elliott

Stiling

Guy

Baker

Neil

Furber

Shane

O’ Donoghue

Workshop guru

and technical

expert

All-round BMW

afi cionado

Something of a

serial car buyer

Market and

sales trend

expert

Performance

driving coach

Chief road

tester

Independently written for real enthusiasts

Can you really see a

current, tech-heavy

M760Li xDrive lasting

as well over 30 years

as the E32 750iL has?

No, nor can I!

ISSN 1353-

http://www.kelsey.co.uk

The road miles typically covered

by cars 35 years ago just weren’t

as demanding as they are now

Part of the Fast Car

Entertainment Family

http://www.fastcar.co.uk

BMW Car, Kelsey Media, Cudham Tithe Barn,

Berrys Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG

Website: http://www.bmwcarmagazine.com

EDITORIAL

Editor: Chris Graham

Email: [email protected]

Sub-Editor: Rachel Eady

Art Editor Lorna Mansford

Contributors Guy Baker, Andrew Everett,

Neil Furber, Bob Harper, Shane O’ Donoghue,

Matt Robinson, Elliott Stiling

ADVERTISEMENT SALES

David Lerpiniere Tel: 01732 446757

Email: [email protected]

PRODUCTION

Nick Bond, Zoe Whitehead Tel: 01732 445325

Email: [email protected]

MANAGEMENT

Managing director: Phil Weeden

Chief executive: Steve Wright

Chairman: Steve Annetts

Finance director: Joyce Parker-Sarioglu

Publisher: Phil Weeden

Retail distribution manager: Eleanor Brown

Publishing operations manager: Charlotte Whittaker

Audience development manager: Andy Cotton

Senior print production manager: Nicola Pollard

Print production manager: Georgina Harris

Print production controller: Alicia Stewart

Events manager: Kat Chappell

Subscription marketing manager: Debra Hagger

Subscription marketing executive: Bronwyn Southren

SUBSCRIPTIONS

13 issues of BMW Car are published per annum

UK annual subscription price: £64.

Europe annual subscription price: £

USA annual subscription price: £

Rest of World annual subscription price: £

CONTACT US:

UK subscription and back issue orderline: 01959 543747

Overseas subscription orderline: 0044 (0) 1959 543747

Toll free USA subscription orderline: 1-888-777-

UK customer service team: 01959 543747

Customer service email address: [email protected]

Customer service and subscription postal address:

BMW Car Customer Service Team, Kelsey Publishing Ltd

Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG, UK

DISTRIBUTION

Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT

Tel: 020 7429 4000 Email: http://www.seymour.co.uk

PRINTING

William Gibbons & Sons Ltd

WEBSITE

Find current subscription off ers at shop.kelsey.co.uk/bmwc

Buy back issues at shop.kelsey.co.uk/bmwcback

Already a subscriber?

Manage your subscription online at shop.kelsey.co.uk/myaccount

INDEPENDENCE

BMW Car is published monthly by Kelsey Media for all owners, drivers and

enthusiasts of the BMW marque. It is available entirely independently of

BMW UK Ltd or its dealers, or of any club or association.

CLASSIFIEDS

Tel: 0906 802 0279 (premium rate line, operated by Kelsey

Publishing Ltd. Calls cost 65p per minute from a BT landline; other

networks and mobiles may vary. Lines open Monday-Friday, 1 0am-4pm)

Address: Kelsey Classifi eds.

c/o Talk Media Sales, Kelsey Media, PO Box 13,

Cudham, Westerham, Kent TN16 3WT.

Email: cars@kelseyclassifi eds.co.uk

Kelsey Media 2019 © all rights reserved. Kelsey Media is a trading

name of Kelsey Publishing Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part is

forbidden except with permission in writing from the publishers.

Note to contributors: articles submitted for consideration by the

editor must be the original work of the author and not previously

published. Where photographs are included, which are not the

property of the contributor, permission to reproduce them must

have been obtained from the owner of the copyright. The editor

cannot guarantee a personal response to all letters and emails

received. The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily

those of the Editor or the Publisher. Kelsey Publishing Ltd accepts no

liability for products and services off ered by third parties.

Kelsey Publishing Ltd uses a multi-layered privacy notice, giving you

brief details about how we would like to use your personal information.

For full details, visit http://www.kelsey.co.uk, or call 01959 543524.

If you have any questions, please ask as submitting your details

indicates your consent, until you choose otherwise, that we and our

partners may contact you about products and services that will be of

relevance to you via direct mail, phone, email or SMS. You can opt out

at ANY time via email: [email protected] or 01959 543524.

Kelsey Media takes your personal data very seriously. For more

information about our privacy policy, please visit kelsey.co.uk/

privacy-policy. If, at any point, you have any queries regarding

Kelsey’s data policy, you can email our Data Protection Offi cer at:

[email protected].