In the land of engineering, my vehicle is nothing much to gush about. It's a 1 Series BMW, about eight years old, and goes by the name 'Hambone', a name the kids and I agreed on. It's nothing fancy, really. It's not particularly big, but it gets us around and comfortably seats four people, and on demand a fifth, should the kids want to take a friend home.
In Frankfurt, the public transportation system is superb, which is why I use the bus, subway, and trolley whenever I can. If I were to guess, I would say I use our vehicle once or twice a week, usually to the odd place in greater Frankfurt that is not easily accessible by public transportation.
The vehicle was purchased almost three years ago from a Chinese lady who had just moved to Frankfurt. The lady had just moved to Frankfurt and decided that she no longer needed the car. One thing she did not do was take care of the car. She had never taken the car in for service to a licensed mechanic, and the first time I had the oil changed was troublesome: the heavy slush that came out resembled rocks going through a shredder. I shuddered at the thought of what else would be needed, but held off on that until common sense told me otherwise.
Which is why, on one day, I decided to have the car serviced by a licensed BMW mechanic. The results there were astonishing. For beginners, I came there wishing to have the lights and the spark plugs checked, really routine items. The mechanic informed me that the timing chain needed to be replaced, but that this was part of an overall recall effort by the company. Hence, the cost would be on BMW.
What I didn't count on was the fact that the car needed another engine, owing to a design flaw by the timing chain. Oops. Again, no cost on me so far, but a new engine would be needed. Yikes. And to think I had come to have the spark plugs checked. The car itself would be in the garage for two more weeks. Not ideal, for I would need the vehicle.
Not to worry, said BMW. We have just the vehicle for you. Twice I was given a Mini Countryman, brand new, only 120 total miles on it, with an airplane start-up mechanism, meaning you only had to flip a switch to get the car started. The Mini, incidentally, is deceptively big. It actually has more room in the vehicle, including the trunk, than Hambone ever did. Not a bad car at all.
The mechanic also reported that the car had been serviced once, probably around the time it was bought, and that the timing chain was about to break, which would have left me (or us, depending on who was on board) stranded, whenever (not if) it would happen. Smart business by BMW, and it covers their rear ends, let's be frank here.
So that's our BMW, in a nutshell. As cars change, so do the ways of servicing them. Provided you keep your servicing up to date, any mechanic (or BMW dealership) can keep track of your vehicle and what needs to be done with it from the moment it rolls out of the factory. No surprise, really, with the competition out here. But BMW didn't become a world-class brand by sitting and anticipating what the competition does.
Hambone is back and rolls better than ever. What started with the request to change a spark plug turned into a complete makeover...with a new engine. I like it.
In Frankfurt, the public transportation system is superb, which is why I use the bus, subway, and trolley whenever I can. If I were to guess, I would say I use our vehicle once or twice a week, usually to the odd place in greater Frankfurt that is not easily accessible by public transportation.
The vehicle was purchased almost three years ago from a Chinese lady who had just moved to Frankfurt. The lady had just moved to Frankfurt and decided that she no longer needed the car. One thing she did not do was take care of the car. She had never taken the car in for service to a licensed mechanic, and the first time I had the oil changed was troublesome: the heavy slush that came out resembled rocks going through a shredder. I shuddered at the thought of what else would be needed, but held off on that until common sense told me otherwise.
Which is why, on one day, I decided to have the car serviced by a licensed BMW mechanic. The results there were astonishing. For beginners, I came there wishing to have the lights and the spark plugs checked, really routine items. The mechanic informed me that the timing chain needed to be replaced, but that this was part of an overall recall effort by the company. Hence, the cost would be on BMW.
What I didn't count on was the fact that the car needed another engine, owing to a design flaw by the timing chain. Oops. Again, no cost on me so far, but a new engine would be needed. Yikes. And to think I had come to have the spark plugs checked. The car itself would be in the garage for two more weeks. Not ideal, for I would need the vehicle.
Not to worry, said BMW. We have just the vehicle for you. Twice I was given a Mini Countryman, brand new, only 120 total miles on it, with an airplane start-up mechanism, meaning you only had to flip a switch to get the car started. The Mini, incidentally, is deceptively big. It actually has more room in the vehicle, including the trunk, than Hambone ever did. Not a bad car at all.
The mechanic also reported that the car had been serviced once, probably around the time it was bought, and that the timing chain was about to break, which would have left me (or us, depending on who was on board) stranded, whenever (not if) it would happen. Smart business by BMW, and it covers their rear ends, let's be frank here.
So that's our BMW, in a nutshell. As cars change, so do the ways of servicing them. Provided you keep your servicing up to date, any mechanic (or BMW dealership) can keep track of your vehicle and what needs to be done with it from the moment it rolls out of the factory. No surprise, really, with the competition out here. But BMW didn't become a world-class brand by sitting and anticipating what the competition does.
Hambone is back and rolls better than ever. What started with the request to change a spark plug turned into a complete makeover...with a new engine. I like it.
