# Are BMW drivers "sad"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536 "2009-10-12T15:51:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/81 "2009-10-20T17:45:27Z")
> [@Endemic](#): > > Interesting. Now that I am aware of the prickish behavior of luxury car drivers I am seeing it everywhere. Some years ago I was driving down the 5 freeway from the SF Bay Area to Los Angeles, and I was flying because the goal was to turn it into a 5.5 hour drive. It’s a two lane highway, there are signs everywhere instructing slower drivers to let others pass. This usually works. When I come behind someone going 100 mph, people move over. Not a big deal, that’s the way it works. **Except** BMW drivers. I told my then boyfriend that BMW drivers are assholes, and he accused me of stereotyping. I told him to put up $10 that a single BMW driver would move over. Not one did. Fact. One driver in particular was in a yellow BMW (seriously, wtf?) and this sonaofabitch would _speed up_ whenever I would try to pass him. Dude, why the hell do you need to be in the left lane, and why is it a crime if there is a driver in front of you? You’re driving 8 miles per hour, so move! I ended up passing him _without_ flipping the bird, but that’s only because the bf told me not to. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/82 "2009-10-20T18:52:42Z")
> [@Iridescent\_Orb](#): > > Every BMW owner I have met claims to drive one because of the way it handles. No one has ever mentioned the status aspect. Essentially, they are claiming that they require a vehicle that matches their incredible driving abilities, and the associated “status” is an unintentional side effect. > > Of course, I have not met every BMW owner, so my sample set could be biased. 😉 I was given my dad’s (and now my) '03 325XI to drive when I was in high school - under the condition that if I received any ticket for a year, I’d lose all driving privileges. He was one point away from losing his license for six months and assumed the car was bad karma and that I’d suffer a similar fate in short order. So for my first few years of driving, I’d only driven a BMW. After a few years of driving the BMW exclusively, I test drove a Hyundai. Yikes! As it turns out, I wasn’t a “pretty good driver” after all, but a rather mediocre one. BMW handling is not just for those with “incredible driving abilities”, but it also upgrades the driving abilities of everyone else. Rather than feeling as though you’re operating a piece of machinery, driving a BMW feels like a natural extension of your body - it takes a natural amount of steering wheel turning to shift lanes, the brakes are very responsive, the gravel-flying-under-me never happens, and so on. The car is now 6 years old and has many problems, it would be wise for me to get rid of it and replace it with a newer Corolla or Elantra, but nothing feels as comfortable or pleasant to drive. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/83 "2009-10-20T19:34:31Z")
Have any of you Bey-Em-Vey fans ever driven a Mazda? I’ve heard them referred to as a “poor man’s BMW,” that they’re sport and they handle real well for something in their price class. Is there any truth to that? I was thinking of trying out something like a Mazda 3. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/84 "2009-10-20T19:43:39Z")
A Mazdaspeed3 kicks ass, including much BMW ass. I doubt the initial quality is as good as BMW, but I can guarantee you the maintenance will be much less. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/85 "2009-10-20T19:50:47Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > Have any of you Bey-Em-Vey fans ever driven a Mazda? I’ve heard them referred to as a “poor man’s BMW,” that they’re sport and they handle real well for something in their price class. Is there any truth to that? I was thinking of trying out something like a Mazda 3. No, but after I turned in my 740i at the end of its lease, I replaced it with a Mitsubishi Diamante, which when introduced in the early 90s, was intended to be a Japanese copy of the BMW 5 series. It wasn’t – or at least, the 2002 version I bought wasn’t. A friend had one of the early 90s Diamantes, and it was very close to the 5 in looks and handling. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/86 "2009-10-20T21:12:05Z")
Never driven a Mazda3, but I will say that my Mazda RX7 and my BMW 335i are not even in the same universe. Completely different missions. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/87 "2009-10-21T03:42:24Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > “Handling?” Is this anything similar to say, “tonality,” for audiophiles? Bingo. Pay an equivalent amount and you can get equivalent amount of ‘handling’ from other car brands. The only difference will be in the details. I remember a few years ago a comparison between economy sporty cars in one of the industry rags. I had a Pontiac Sunbird with the turbo, so I was interested in seeing how it compared. If I remember correctly it won in every category that they tested, yet they announced the winner as the Honda Civic. It was the best economy sports car in everything except performance, so it won the test. I stopped taking car mags seriously after that. I think BMW’s are rated the same way in many cases. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/88 "2009-10-21T03:46:44Z")
Wifey got [Infiniti G37](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=infiniti+g37&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=q4PeStX9J4ayswOmpenXDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CC0QsAQwAw). She happy gurl…no sad in her eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536/89 "2009-10-21T05:59:54Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > My experience of Beemer drivers in the affluent Northeast is that a higher percentage of them tend to be aggressive on the road. My experience of BMW drivers in the affluent Northwest is similar–except I don’t think I’ve ever seen an M-series being driven aggressively. On another note, I think the frowny-face design on recent models is downright silly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-bmw-drivers-sad/513536.md?page=4)