BMW VS Lotus

[ratcat77]

Just wondering if anyone here has both a BMW and a Lotus (probably not) My X5 is really my workday vehicle but my Lotus is for party time! :>)

[ELVA164]

I have an E30 and vintage race a Lotus Cortina...does that count?

[Colo Springs E]

I drive an 03 325i, and my best friend has a Lotus Elise as his daily driver... that's as close as I can come.

[Das Omen]

Definitely don't have a lotus, I love them as a performance/race car but couldn't use one as a daily. I know the newer ones don't have stereo, I need those when driving. Haha
Neighbour down the road has an esprit though, And a Ferrari 458... he's such a douche.

[ratcat77]

I have an E30 and vintage race a Lotus Cortina...does that count?

Yes I suppose that counts, Lotus help design the Cortina.

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Definitely don't have a lotus, I love them as a performance/race car but couldn't use one as a daily. I know the newer ones don't have stereo, I need those when driving. Haha
Neighbour down the road has an esprit though, And a Ferrari 458... he's such a douche.

Why is he a Douche? Just because he is rich or is he actually an arsehole?
Mine has a four speaker Alpine system and its a 2001 but no CD drive = I just plug a USB drive in with about 15 albums on it although I could fit 45 or more just on that old 4 GB Flash drive. I might buy a 32 GB and put my entire collection on it.

[Colo Springs E]

Definitely don't have a lotus, I love them as a performance/race car but couldn't use one as a daily. I know the newer ones don't have stereo, I need those when driving. Haha
Neighbour down the road has an esprit though, And a Ferrari 458... he's such a douche.

My friend has an Elise as a daily driver for 5 or 6 years, and has had zero issues with it.

He also has a Ferrari 360 Modena.

Dunno if he's a douche, but he gets laid a lot.

[BimmerBreaker]

This thread makes me laugh

[Das Omen]

Ratcat- no he's basically the definition of arsehole. He's also like 50 and acts like he's hot stuff. Pretty sure he's doing the mid life crisis thing.

[pizzaman09]

I wish I had an Europa in JPS trim. However it sounds like a bad life decision.

[ELVA164]

I wish I had an Europa in JPS trim. However it sounds like a bad life decision.

It's a bad life decision unless you're 5'2", love sweating and backing into things, and like French motors (unless you get one of the Twin Cam ones, of course).

[Arslan230]

I prefer BMW due to its good shape and fast speed.

[ratcat77]

You took my question the wrong way - I didn't mean to sound pompous as in "no one else can afford a Lotus and a BMW" - I just thought they were slim odds that someone would own both on these forums (actually I should have said an X5 and Elise, those are even higher odds) I'm actually 55 and proud of it, not everyone lives to be that old and anyway mid-life crisis usually occurs at 40 doesn't it? I think I've been through that when I bought my Z3. Nothing wrong with being proud of the cars you drive - shows that you work hard and deserve it. Which Lotus has a French motor? The S1 like mine is a twin cam Rover K and the Toyota engine well they have plants all over the world - actually BMW had shares in rover at some stage so they are linked.

[ELVA164]

The Europa was available with two different Renault inline fours (Euro- and US-spec) and 4-speed gearbox.The Twin Cam wasn't put in until the Type 47 (The S1 was a Type 46) and wasn't in a road car until the Type 74 in '71.

[ratcat77]

The Europa was available with two different Renault inline fours (Euro- and US-spec) and 4-speed gearbox.The Twin Cam wasn't put in until the Type 47 (The S1 was a Type 46) and wasn't in a road car until the Type 74 in '71.

Oh ok, well I was talking about later Lotus - mine is an S2 sorry my mistake, its not an S1, with the rover K series twin cam engine. You seem to know a lot about Lotus... You are a Lotus fan as well as BMW? Its weird these days BMW owns Rolls Royce - who knows what company owns what these days!

[ELVA164]

My Dad and I have a vintage race shop which specializes in British cars from the late '50s and '60s, and I really enjoy that period of automotive history. It's the origin of my screen name and related to the links in my sig, as well.

[EOSphoto]

I had a bunch of BMW's. 97 M3, 95 M3, 09 M3, 10 M3, 07 335i, 03 ZHP and a supercharged Lotus Elise. They are all fun in different ways.

[pizzaman09]

It's a bad life decision unless you're 5'2", love sweating and backing into things, and like French motors (unless you get one of the Twin Cam ones, of course).

No one said it would be a good life decision. I didn't buy an e39 M5 because it was a good life decision, it is fun and life is too short not to have fun.

[ELVA164]

No one said it would be a good life decision. I didn't buy an e39 M5 because it was a good life decision, it is fun and life is too short not to have fun.

I was just agreeing with your assessment. If you're looking for a fun old Lotus, nothing comes close to an Elan. Go S3 if you can, convertible only. Just make sure you NEVER need to work on the clutch.

[Colo Springs E]

No one said it would be a good life decision. I didn't buy an e39 M5 because it was a good life decision, it is fun and life is too short not to have fun.

Then, actually, it was a good life decision.

[ratcat77]

I was just agreeing with your assessment. If you're looking for a fun old Lotus, nothing comes close to an Elan. Go S3 if you can, convertible only. Just make sure you NEVER need to work on the clutch.

Wow Yes EL - ELAN? VA Hmm not sure about anyway what a great way to spend your days playing with vintage English race cars, I love the smell in old Jags having owned a few in my time Old English -I would have bought an S1 XJ6 if I had more room but had to go for the Elise due to space restrictions. Is that your Cortina in your Avatar? Certainly looks like one.

[ELVA164]

Wow Yes EL - ELAN? VA Hmm not sure about anyway what a great way to spend your days playing with vintage English race cars, I love the smell in old Jags having owned a few in my time Old English -I would have bought an S1 XJ6 if I had more room but had to go for the Elise due to space restrictions. Is that your Cortina in your Avatar? Certainly looks like one.

Haha, interesting take on my screen name but not quite. Elva was a British sports car manufacturer from the mid-50s to the late 60s. One of their final actions actually was to help build the first McLaren, fun fact. That is the Cortina in my avatar, here are some fuller pictures of it:

[ratcat77]

Haha, interesting take on my screen name but not quite. Elva was a British sports car manufacturer from the mid-50s to the late 60s. One of their final actions actually was to help build the first McLaren, fun fact. That is the Cortina in my avatar, here are some fuller pictures of it:

Man Oh man that is nice, I would love to take it for a spin or passenger in it if I were living in the U.S. My first ever car was a Cortina - that was 37 years ago!

[ELVA164]

Man Oh man that is nice, I would love to take it for a spin or passenger in it if I were living in the U.S. My first ever car was a Cortina - that was 37 years ago!

I could probably arrange a trip to Australia this winter if you can cover shipping!

Which Cortina did you have? A MkI like ours?

[bmwdirtracer]

I see this thread's gone slightly past the original question, but I'll add my 2 cents, for kicks.

I'm a Bimmer guy, have owned many, and worked on thousands. And a couple of years ago, I owned a Super 7 clone...does that count? Had a Suzuki motorcycle engine, 180 hp, 900 pounds wet. Big fat slicks, fastest damned autox car in Hawaii, by far. In fact, it was too damned fast, and demoralized everyone else, I sold it, and kept the E28 (2500 lbs, 300 hp, even bigger slicks)

I also raced in England for 7 years, and know (old) Lotuses (Loti?) pretty well. And I'll just say that their forte' is also their Achilles heel: "Add lightness". Colin was a genius; and there's a thin line between ....well, you know....

I've autoxed and tracked some Elises with superchargers, very special Ohlins, R-compounds, etc. Nah.....I prefer the Bimmers, every time. If only because the wheels don't fall off when you clip an apex curbing.

[ELVA164]

I also raced in England for 7 years, and know (old) Lotuses (Loti?) pretty well. And I'll just say that their forte' is also their Achilles heel: "Add lightness". Colin was a genius; and there's a thin line between ....well, you know....

Mm. Ask Innes Ireland, or Alan Stacey, or Stirling Moss, or Ricardo Rodriguez, or Jim Clark...