True, before I bought my first MB I asked by father a WWII disabled veteran if that would be ok with him. He said as long as it was post 1945. He then liked to search news paper ads for used MB diesels and tell me found another one for me to look at.

My dad was not happy when I bought my first Japanese car. He fought against them in the South Pacific. He got over it. By the time I went German he no longer commented. He liked big Detroit iron, but did eventually recognize that that was not for everyone. He bought my mother a Peugeot 504, which she and I and my brother loved, but he hated. I guess he had nothing against the French.

How can you have anything against a nation for which you saved their butt,.... twice.

No side in war is clean. That is unfortunately just the way wars are and have been since man started to engage in them.

Some will be worse than others of course. Yet on average they are a bad reflection on mankind.

And who helped create the United States of America in the first place.

Lafayette, nous voilà!

It is questionable whether the Continental Army would have succeeded at the battle of Yorktown without the cooperation of the French, who sustained more casualties than did we Americans.

We have repaid that debt in spades. It would be nice to be treated with common courtesy as a grateful gesture.

I get treated courteously when I am in France.

I am happy for you. I am treated reasonably well when in the touristy areas of France along the Med, but Paris is a whole different deal. In my experience it is all too common for people to be treated rudely in a subtle way once they are identified as an American.

To be fair, both your report and mine are anecdotal. I have spent probably no more than a total of a couple of months in France in my entire life. Maybe I just happen to end up dealing with the nasty ones. I am always courteous and respectful with those I deal with whether they are a client or someone selling me a cup of coffee, but France is probably the place most common for me not to have the favor returned.

We were at a hotel near the Eiffel. I found a family owned restaurant, which I always seek, and had a nice dinner. When I left an American sized tip, the waiter said, “here in France, we don’t tip like that, we round up.” He was trying to be kind to a stupid American. I said, “I know. But I am an American, and Americans tip.” We both understood each other, and smiled. The food was good, the wine price reasonable, the total price fair; the restaurant was in a different Arrondissment, but still walking distance from the hotel. He treated me well, I expect he will treat the next American couple well too.

I took French in high school and was able to avoid it in college. I could, therefore, read and understand it far better than I could hear and speak it, having no one to speak with, but needing to get grades. But, 50+ years later, some comes spewing out. I try, when I am there, and I think they appreciate that.

On a trip to the Laurentian mountains in Canadia, the menu was in French, I ordered the menu items in English, and the waiter answered in French. He spoke in French, I spoke in English, and we enjoyed that game. At the end, he asked, in English, “How was it?” I said “C’est bon.”

I learned almost immediately as a young GI in Germany that if I just TRIED to speak the language that they treated you much better. I think this is true anywhere. It is rude to be n someone else’s country and expect them to speak your language.

My French is virtually nonexistent, but I at least tried while in France and that helped a lot.

I worked quite a lot in Western Europe in the early 2000’s, mostly in Germany. My German was better than I thought and I enjoyed trying. On a plane flight or in somewhere like a Gasthaus, I tried to get by with only German and it was fun. Going to Germany in April and May and looking forward to the using the language. My wife wants to go to Paris and I will accommodate her. I expect it to be a good time, but I fully expect that I will enjoy Belgium, Prague, Germany and Switzerland much more.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Google translate is pretty damn good as an app. It can read and translate signs too. Hold up the camera, and the sign hets translated.

While in Germany, I had my wife take a picture of me under the sign for a jewelry shop.

I have sort of found the problem with the oiling failure on the "twinpower turbo" BMW. The oil pump has an electronic PWM solenoid that changes the oil volume being pumped to the engine, That valve can stall in a weird position and the engine gets starved due to an inherent airlock present in the oil pump - The oil pump on that engine is a variable output sliding vane oil pump like a power steering pump but instead of a pressure relief, BMW used a PWM solenoid to control the volume limit. At startup the system ramps up to maximum pressure (lowest volume) to clear the pump and purge the galleries once settled into regular smooth operation after 5 seconds the system starts functioning This system is the exact same setup like you see on the turbo chevy cruze.

Bad oil change habits can clog the solenoid and the oil pressure sensor too. It is also advised to change the oil when hot and install the filter element bone dry and not forgetting the central standoff which contains an O ring that seals the drainback line to the sump. If that standoff is missing oil is poured back to the sump, the gentle failure is a low oil pressure warning along with some vanos warnings - the hard failure is an engine lockup. (when the system warns of low pressure the oil pump valve ramps to maximum pressure and stays there, shuts down the VANOS and Valvetronic both)

The central piece is easy to miss for novice mechanics as it can sieze to the element and yanking it can tear it off the cap.

On the twin turbo N54 engine, this whole setup is mechanical - you can see the difference in the diagrams too, the N54 has a long chunky piece sticking out from the oil pump which houses the volume valve piston.

A good strategy is to drain the filter first, then drain the sump and plug it as soon as its done draining. Do 4 or 5 starts after charging the engine with fresh oil. Or remove the injection/spark wiring connector from the ECU, and crank the engine 3 times for 10 seconds (this is also BMW procedure to prime the engine after repair work)

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Wow, thanks for the explanation.

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Jim