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Apoligies If This Is Old Hat But I recently came across It.
READ CAREFULLY

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

what is it about poms and german bashing? The war was 60 years ago, get over it.

Point missed completely sport

Its the drivers of these vehicles (who are very, very British in their attitudes and behaviour) that are the target of the jape. A very hackneyed one at that though.

The car may be German, but the drivers in question are very, very British. In the worst sort of way, of course.

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Keep right on to the end of the road ...

yeah, whatever you say. Funny how I never encounter a high number of these drivers, but them I'm not English... from where I'm sitting poor driving in this country, or any other I've driven in, isn't confined to, or over represented by, any one make or model of car.

Oh you're right of course.
However, for tiny-minded Brits (:lol:) the 'BMW driver' has become a metaphor for a particular type of driver/driving that one witnesses across the spectrum of vehicle types and driving patterns.

I wonder if the germans have the "jaguar driver"?

The French have a term 'Rostbifs' which was once used to refer solely to Brits, but now seems to have been broadened to include anyone of a particularly analy-retentive nature.

Yes, it's definitely old hat, and it wasn't a particularly fantastic hat to start with.

No doubt next we'll have the "BMW lane" email, followed by the lighthouse one etc etc.

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Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

BMW Drivers do seem to take a lot of stick, and I'm sure there are plenty of good BMW drivers out there, I just never remember them!

Johnsher - It never even occured to me that it was based on any anti-German feeling. Interesting idea though. Although somewhat tempered by the usually good driving manners exhibited by Audis and VWs.

think of it this way, it's no different to claiming all cyclists run red lights.
or "all motorists are speeding through this village"
or any other generalisation favoured by the cerebrally challenged. Hmm, is that a generalisation of the generalisers???

Its fair to say that most Beemers tend to win most group tests in the motoring press. I suspect they are excellent cars. Its also fair to say that any crap driver can drive any car.

I tend to see two types of beemer driver, the ones who buy into the engineering and the ones that buy into the image.

But...Its the marketing of the Beemer, particularly the 3 series which has consistently placed it as something to aspire to, with buyers confusing 'arguably the best' with 'definitely the most desirable'. For a big sector of its buyers, it became a designer label for those who wanted the most obviously visible elevation of status that they could afford. So despite the poor old 3 series' qualities, it was often bought and driven by people who were confident that they 'had arrived' by being the pushiest salesman or blagging the most credit. Their belief in the brand mirrored their own belief that they must be seen in the best. For many, the driving habits then followed the self obsession. I'm no sociologist but I think this is probably uniquely British & social climbing/class system based.

As Jeremy Clarkson noted a while back, 3 series sales are outpacing Mondeo sales. They are piles cars, (sooner or later every a***hole's got one). Also the understated alternatives have got much cooler (A4, Alfa 156, Saab 9-3 & Lexus (pre-Partridge!)) and are being bought by middle management, so the effect will no doubt peter out soon.

Can you tell I want to be a motoring journalist? Can you tell that's pretty unlikely?

Logical, but a BMW isn't a car, its a product. It is marketed in extreme depth and complexity. Marketers create a brand and target social groups. It follows that while there are plenty of exceptions, certain types of people buy certain products. They bring their own specific factors to the brand and its image.

Oh yes, I fully appreciate my own prejudices!

And yes, it is a generalisation of generalisers, but 'tis human nature to pigeon hole things, so I wouldn't worry about it!

I reckon the same can be said about pretty much any product that is mass marketed these days. You don't just buy a mobile 'phone, you buy a lifestyle! You don't just buy some perfume, you buy the sex appeal to gain the beautiful/handsome lust object too!

The "pseudo-psychology" of advertising and marketing fascinates me, but at the same time I know I must fall for a lot of it. Quite unnerving really.

for some maybe. Personally I bought the car - not many other new rear-drive cars around that are affordable, drive well and do the boring stuff like carrying passengers/luggage when necessary.

edit: you can tell the people who bought the 'image' as they're the ones who are too embarassed to admit that they bought the base model - ie, the ones who have the badges removed. Pity about the telltale exhaust pipe...

I suspect you wouldn't be using this forum if you'd bought into the image rather than the engineering.

Personally, would love a blat in an M3 or even a 330d as it goes.

Sorry About that Chap

What are they then , haven't seen them personally

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Viral BMW lane joke
Viral Lighthouse Joke

etc...

_________________
CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!