Folks,

Caught a new 328 in my E430 mirror as I moved into the left highway lane. Expected, as I floored it, to see the leetle beemer drift back... back... waaaay back. Nope. So I stayed into the throttle up to 130mph... and had to slow down for traffic before my Teutonic speed governor said hello.

The blasted leetle Bavarian got a bit smaller in the mirror as I out accelerated him, but not by as much as I would have LIKED, ahem.

Questions --
-- Time for an E55?
-- Time to congratulate the leetle straight six for perkiness and verve?
-- Time to assume he just hit third with a manual at the right time, and the cars a more closely matched than I want to think?
-- Is this just another example of my car feeling slower on hot days... it was 102F on the car thermometer with the air on? [It does tend to move better and give much sexier induction noises in on cold dense air.]
-- Or is it just a matter of perspective... e.g. I did pull away, but it would have been a lot more fun to make it show more?
-- Should I break down and buy some new wheels and tires so I at least look better while going not as fast as I hoped...

Now don't take me wrong. I did elect to buy this E430 on the basis of refinement over the more boy racer likes of the 540i I tested. Besides, there ARE a lot of 328's in every high school parking lot around.

The nice part of this whole deal is that I was puffing on an Ashton Churchill the whole time with the windows down and a serene look on my face.... so at least when the roundel caught me due to traffic I was properly unruffled.




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GParker
'99 E430