No more BMW police cars

[bigegg]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I've been grazing the sales listings (as you do, 'just looking') and quite fancy the look of the early GS250s. I'm past the 'boy racer' stage and look more for 'wafting' comfort now - although a bit of 'spirited' progress occasionally is good. For all the miles I cover annually now, I'm sure running costs for fuel and maintenance wouldn't be any more than the beemer?

Fuel:
Mine costs me around 30p a mile - even at £1.60 a litre.
Thats combined short runs, and trips into/around the dales/NY moors.

Maintenance:
Parts are surprisingly cheap.
Dealers are no cheaper than any other marque's.

The IS is the "sporty" version.
The LS is the "limousine" version.
The GS is the middle ground.
The RX is the Chelsea tractor/pretend off roader.
The GX is an upgraded LandCruiser. (And is the one I would love - but never released in UK)

Point to note: I don't know about the more recent ones, but the sedans (IS, GS,LS ) don't have folding rear seats. Some models have a "pass through" hatch only.

 

[premmington]

Fuel:
Mine costs me around 30p a mile - even at £1.60 a litre.
Thats combined short runs, and trips into/around the dales/NY moors.

Maintenance:
Parts are surprisingly cheap.
Dealers are no cheaper than any other marque's.

The IS is the "sporty" version.
The LS is the "limousine" version.
The GS is the middle ground.
The RX is the Chelsea tractor/pretend off roader.
The GX is an upgraded LandCruiser. (And is the one I would love - but never released in UK)

Point to note: I don't know about the more recent ones, but the sedans (IS, GS,LS ) don't have folding rear seats. Some models have a "pass through" hatch only.

Years ago I had an IS300 auto estate in black - inline six cylinder engine. Good on fuel for a three litre (just about 30mpg) - but expensive on parts at the time. Recall pricing up a new throttle body for it and ended up going down the secondhand route.

I liked it - was not very big for an estate car - more a big hatchback than an estate car.

Only Lexus I have ever owned - would have another one - don't know why I have not - just have not.

---------

Don't see may Lexus cars thru my workshop and when they do arrive it is always - stuck/mullered spark plugs and dead auto gearboxes on cars with starship mileage. Driven serveral LS430's and they are lovely drive - one of our customers has a very low mileage import Toyota Celsior in white - real nice car!

 

[brightspark]

 

[Wedg1e]

BMW have had issues with supplying plod with vehicles, there was an issue with the bikes years ago going into a serious wobble,one officer was killed because of it. It was all denied until a camered up pursuit car that was following a bike got footage of this wobble, turns out the problem was unique to plod because of the way the bike was loaded with kit.

Bob

That sounds supiciously like a rerun of the Honda ST13 story: an officer stacked it and was killed, then in attempting to recreate the event another rider also stacked it, albeit with lesser injuries.
The mythical 'Police equipment' was blamed there too - which many people took to mean the weight. But since you can put two 80Kg adults and 30Kg of luggage on without issue, how fat would one copper and his radio and a few lights have to be to cause a problem? Bonkers.
Now aerodynamics, with all those silly tacked-on lights and sirens, that's a different matter.

 

[Trevorleach]

I get enough problems with brand new Sprinters. Nice to drive but feel fragile. Every one I have had plays up. Side doors are a common problem. Oh and front and rears
Various engine management lights come on. You learn to ignore them. Water leaks into the seat belts. Always being recalled for something or other.
And there seems to be very little rust proofing and loads of mud traps.
Oh and nasty burning smells and smoke when the dpf is doing a regen.

Front wheel drive ones are real quality!

 

[8ob]

The mythical 'Police equipment' was blamed there too - which many people took to mean the weight. But since you can put two 80Kg adults and 30Kg of luggage on without issue, how fat would one copper and his radio and a few lights have to be to cause a problem? Bonkers.
Now aerodynamics, with all those silly tacked-on lights and sirens, that's a different matter.

I think its was more of a weight distribution problem, the guildford incident was on the slip road so the bike was not up to full speed. That said aero could come into play.

Bob

 

[James1979]

FiL reckons his works bike was just under half a ton. Not sure if that’s with him on it or not.

Having ridden one briefly I don’t dispute that but as I put above the balance on them is horrendous

 

[Gavlar]

No but there was a cake fine for anyone turning it off!!

Mainly because that meant recovery. Which meant paperwork

 

[Bornfree]

Nissan navara's at work get to 130k and the stretch on the camchain is enough to put the crank and cam sensors out of time so the ecu just shuts down the engine and leaves you stranded on the road. What's wrong with a " Replace cam chain message "

 

[Gavlar]

I'm struggling with the , 'my mate says' comments about BMW police cars being unpopular or unreliable. I was on traffic for 12 years. Initially we drive Ford's, ST220s mainly. Pretty good but thirsty, front wheel drive and simply not good enough on the motorway. They were replaced at around 100k miles. Volvo T6s were so thirsty that you might only get 6 mpg on a shout. Then we got BMWs. First the RWD, then the X drives. Our service intervals went up from 6 thousand to 12k miles, and the cars replaced around 180k miles. They were fast, comfortable, safe (I was sat stationary on the A127 and got hit by a car doing 70, I took the next day off, my colleague sat next to me, bruised her shoulder and took no time off). The BMWs were picked by every officer with a choice over anything else in the fleet. They were far more economical than anything else we had in the fleet and far more forgiving if one did get it wrong. Force fleet service garages are always full of whatever car that force uses, its not a sign of poor driving or unreliability. It's because they do very high milages and are driven very, very hard. Pursuits were so common, especially where I was based on the M11 at Chigwell (criminals and stolen vehicles traveling to or from London from Kent, Essex, Herts Cambridge and to a lesser extent Suffolk and Norfolk) with police cars getting rammed. TPAC involves low speed tactical contact. Higher speed tactical contact is often the safest and quickest way to bring an otherwise dangerous situation to an end. Even after hitting a pot hole or speed hump at speed, we would send the cars to be checked at the garage. I fully accept that not all police drivers are trained as high as i was and of those that were, some were simply not that good. My experience is all before the spontaneous combustion issue so I'm unaware if it was not an issue or if it was yet to come to light. I bought a new 320d xdrive in 2014 because of my positive experience of the job cars. (Sad to say, no police discount) I still have it and its still totally reliable with nothing more than being serviced when the OBC tells me it needs it.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Don't forget that Lexus and Toyota are offering a warranty on all of their cars if serviced by them if they are less than 10 years old and under 100k miles.
That's even if it's not had a full dealer service history.
I doubt BMW or Audi would dare to do that on their latest disposable ****e!

Trouble is the only Lexus Dealership in Scotland is in Edinburgh, a 3 > 4 hour drive away from here.

 

[dobbslc]

Yeah but the coffee is good and you can see the castle.

 

[dobbslc]

Also you can distance yourself from this lot...

Thread 'I wasn't imagining it then! Audi drivers, the worst behaved on the road.' https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum...drivers-the-worst-behaved-on-the-road.126682/

 

[bigegg]

Fuel:
Mine costs me around 30p a mile - even at £1.60 a litre.
Thats combined short runs, and trips into/around the dales/NY moors.

Maintenance:
Parts are surprisingly cheap

I should clarify:

"Service" parts are surprisingly cheap: pads, disks, suspension.

I have no idea for other bits - mainly because I've never had to replace any of them.

Oh.
I replaced the starter motor in my GS300 (same engine as now) for a refurbished one.
£60 off the bay.

 

[Rannsachair]

Trouble is the only Lexus Dealership in Scotland is in Edinburgh, a 3 > 4 hour drive away from here.

Lexus Glasgow too, thats where we got the wife's. Not cheap but has never needed anything bar standard servicing.

 

[Rannsachair]

Fuel:
Mine costs me around 30p a mile - even at £1.60 a litre.
Thats combined short runs, and trips into/around the dales/NY moors.

Maintenance:
Parts are surprisingly cheap.
Dealers are no cheaper than any other marque's.

The IS is the "sporty" version.
The LS is the "limousine" version.
The GS is the middle ground.
The RX is the Chelsea tractor/pretend off roader.
The GX is an upgraded LandCruiser. (And is the one I would love - but never released in UK)

Point to note: I don't know about the more recent ones, but the sedans (IS, GS,LS ) don't have folding rear seats. Some models have a "pass through" hatch only.

My wife has the RX and loves it, big and comfy, about 300hp, so goes ok.

We run it with Michelin Cross Climates and it was the first car on our street to go down the steep hill in the snow this morning.

It is a bit boring, but reliable comfy and averages 35 mpg on petrol.

Though we have a proper offroader too.

 

[bigegg]

My wife has the RX and loves it, big and comfy, about 300hp, so goes ok.

We run it with Michelin Cross Climates and it was the first car on our street to go down the steep hill in the snow this morning.

It is a bit boring, but reliable comfy and averages 35 mpg on petrol.
View attachment 381534

Though we have a proper offroader too.

I wasn't disparaging it as a car - next door neighbour has (on my recommendation) a 300h and highly rates it.
But I wouldn't want anyone to waste their time even considering it if they need proper 4WD.

An RX was my second choice if I couldn't find an IS-sx (estate) - simply because I need(ed) the boot space for two Zimmer frame/walker things + shopping/day trip stuff for mum and mrsEgg.

I'm going to be looking for an LS (probably a 430) as a second car - although if the push towards electric cars continues, it might be a LS600h.
Ill keep the ISsx for my day trips/overnighters (I'm a short-Rse, so I can sleep in the boot with the seat down).

 

[Rannsachair]

I wasn't disparaging it as a car - next door neighbour has (on my recommendation) a 300h and highly rates it.
But I wouldn't want anyone to waste their time even considering it if they need proper 4WD.

An RX was my second choice if I couldn't find an IS-sx (estate) - simply because I need(ed) the boot space for two Zimmer frame/walker things + shopping/day trip stuff for mum and mrsEgg.

I'm going to be looking for an LS (probably a 430) as a second car - although if the push towards electric cars continues, it might be a LS600h.
Ill keep the ISsx for my day trips/overnighters (I'm a short-Rse, so I can sleep in the boot with the seat down).

The LS is a great car, get a good one and it will last a lifetime.

The RX has electric motor drive to the rear wheels, so does better in the snow than the 2wd softroaders, though decent tyres make the biggest difference.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

LS250 would be the one I'd look at, unless GS prices drop a bit more. Would be petrol and probably autobox since well specc'd manuals seem very thin on the ground. Are the autos (with flappy paddles) reliable?

All that said, I'm hoping the e60 keeps me mobile for a while yet as it's got/does all I need, but a bit of forward planning/research never hurts.

 

[bigegg]

LS250 would be the one I'd look at, unless GS prices drop a bit more. Would be petrol and probably autobox since well specc'd manuals seem very thin on the ground. Are the autos (with flappy paddles) reliable?

All that said, I'm hoping the e60 keeps me mobile for a while yet as it's got/does all I need, but a bit of forward planning/research never hurts.

It's an *IS*250, not LS.
IS is roughly equivalent of a 3-series
GS is 5-series
LS is 7-series
These are the _only_ "spec levels", AFAIK.
Older IS came with an option of half or full leather, and some LS came with a gold front badge - that's it.
eg: Any "LS" will have exactly the same spec as any other (of the same year)

In general, only the IS200 came with a manual box. (Might be different on newer models - I stopped looking after 2005)


RX is equivalent of the Xseries. (X5?)

The numbers correspond to engine size:
250 is 2.5L
300 is 3L
600 is 6L (!)
h suffix means petrol/electric hybrid.

d suffix is diseasel. (They only made one - the IS220D. Don't buy one - it's no worse than other marque's diesels - which means its not as reliable as a Lexus should be.)

There are other prefixes - ES, NX, CT. I don't know anything about them.

You do _NOT_ have to buy a new one
Even a 10 or 15 year old one will be as good as a new one - and with a private numberplate no-one would know the difference.
People will assume it's a private numberplate, even when it isn't.

My gearbox is smooth as anything - auto, flappy paddle (actually just buttons on the steering wheel), 20 years old. 250,000miles.
I had issues with the previous (GS) - previous owner had the auto gearbox oil replaced with the wrong stuff, and it was thick, brown, and gloopy.
Full drain/flush/refill fixed that problem: it's 23 years old now, 180,000 miles, and still "on the road" with it's new owner.