Rain in Southern California!

[Bobbak]

i want a jeep now

[CirrusSR22]

You Cali people are funny A little rain and dirt? It's not going to hurt a thing. My car (and about 10 million others in the upper midwest) look worse for a good 5 month span every winter season. Ice, snow, mud, dirt, ice ruts, sand, salt, etc.... It's doesn't hurt them a bit, despite some people's opinions.

[cooljess76]

There's a difference between driving your car through rain and snow for a season and literally taking your car mudding and offroading on a regular basis. Just saying that there's purpose-built vehicles that do a better job and can handle that type of punishment. The OP is gonna do what he's gonna do and nobody is going to stop him. He'll find out the hard way that his car isn't an offroad vehicle, it's a BMW. Maybe he doesn't care if his car rattles and falls apart later down the road, who knows. I just hope others don't get the idea that it's cool and go out and destroy their 318ti's, but hey do what ya like. I'll leave this thread alone now.

[zoner]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

You Cali people are funny A little rain and dirt? It's not going to hurt a thing. My car (and about 10 million others in the upper midwest) look worse for a good 5 month span every winter season. Ice, snow, mud, dirt, ice ruts, sand, salt, etc.... It's doesn't hurt them a bit, despite some people's opinions.

Seriously? In all of my travels to the midwest and east coast, the only truly nice cars I've seen that are more than 5-7 years old are ones that get garaged in the winter and/or are meticulously maintained (I'm assuming that, since you apparently drive it in the winter, you also maintain it well to prevent bad things from happening).

A few years back, I used to sell auto parts online that I would strip from cars in wrecking yards here in So. Cal. and I would say that 80%+ of my business came from east of the Mississippi. The #1 reason for needing to buy parts from me on the west coast? There aren't enough donor cars that are in salvageable condition b/c of the rain/snow/road salt, etc.

[tiFreak]

all this talk about Jeeps made a JC Whitney banner ad come up for Wrangler parts, lol

[CirrusSR22]

Originally Posted by zoner

Seriously? In all of my travels to the midwest and east coast, the only truly nice cars I've seen that are more than 5-7 years old are ones that get garaged in the winter and/or are meticulously maintained (I'm assuming that, since you apparently drive it in the winter, you also maintain it well to prevent bad things from happening).

A few years back, I used to sell auto parts online that I would strip from cars in wrecking yards here in So. Cal. and I would say that 80%+ of my business came from east of the Mississippi. The #1 reason for needing to buy parts from me on the west coast? There aren't enough donor cars that are in salvageable condition b/c of the rain/snow/road salt, etc.

Well, over time, but some people think once salt touches a car it'll instantly rust. Head over to e90post and read the paranoia. The corrosion protection on modern cars is good enough that'll it'll take a solid 10 years of exposure to start to show body rust. My 318ti is over 12 years old (173,000 miles) and showed it's first rust just after last winter. It's entire life has been in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

You even see ads for cars, in Roundel for example, where the owner says they've never driven it in the rain. That's the kind of stuff I laugh at....

My point is, how about people do whatever they want with their cars? I'll drive mine till it's 20 years old with 250,000 miles and falling apart. I tow with it. I don't wash it, I drive in all weather. The car is a tool for me to accomplish things and have fun with, not to look at. Although, I do very strict maintenance. Pretty anal about the mechanics, otherwise it's "use it to it's fullest"!

[Maverix]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

"use it to it's fullest"!

Amen!

[M332TI]

thats why cali cars are more expensive and last longer?

[jordanmc]

jess makes it sound like Im out on gnarly ass roads every day

All of the dirt roads around here are either soft sand or light clay. They are WAY off the beaten path, and the usual dirt road plagues such as a washboard/potholes/rocks are just not there.

The pounding that I put on my suspension driving this road every day probably puts much more strain and wear then doing some doughnuts and sweeping drifts in the mud.

[Kohote]

You are so lucky!
I wish I had some sick roads like that on my commutes. My trips are always full of red lights, stop signs, and the only turns are 90 degree street intersections.

[jordanmc]

it quite frequently is the best part of my day, it was foggy around here couple nights ago, and it really put thanksgiving into perspective knowing that I was driving the road WAY faster than someone who didnt know the road could do.

With about 15ft visibility (if that) i was thankful that I could drive that 4-5 mile stretch in my sleep.

[Kohote]

Haha, yeah, whenever I commute by bike it usually turns out to be the best part of my day too.
It is nice to see you are enjoying your ti. Whenever people say it is bad for the car or whatever I always just say that the car was meant to be driven and enjoyed.