Sell the BMW 540i and get a smart car?

Pinter75

Pinter75

Pinter75

Associate
Joined
23 Oct 2004
Posts
2,441
Location
Brighton
Howdy.

Now the BMW 540i is an awesome car in every respect, fast, good looking, luxurious - BUT, I only really drive about town.

I am also concerened about it's horrendous C02 emmisions. I am not a tree hugger or anything, but me and the GF are in the stages of self building a 100% sustainable energy efficient house. The 540i sorta goes against what I am trying to acheive with my carbon footprint.

I kind of like the smart cars. As I said I work from home so all my driving is around Brighton. I have some issues with them though:

A). In our curent road and travel network, a larger car is going to be safer. There are a lot of drivers out there and some are very bad ones indeed.

B). It is luxorious, I have leather, toys and air-con. (possible in a smart, but not the same experience).

C). I am 6ft 3" - will I fit in a smart car?

D). The 540i is a 4.4L V8 so goes like stink, although I am not to bothered about acceleration and stuff, having the power is nice (from a saftey point of view of course).

E). Repair and tax (possible new gass guzzeler taxes soon) are more then they are worth as I don't use it daily.

If I had a facility to park 2 cars, I would get a smart in a flash for town use, and save the 540i for longer journeys.

Decisions...
 
clv101 said:
What's your mileage? If you were to sell it, it'll still exist just someone else will be driving it. It would be better for you to keep it and to 5,000 a year than for you to sell it to someone else who drives 15,000 miles a year. Also - if you buy a new car, more energy & CO2 will have been involved in manufacturing it than will be used in continuing to run your BMW for a while.
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That actualy makes perfect sense :-)

I drive circa 5,000 miles year.
 
jamoor said:
Frankly?
Your a fool for selling your BM, but then again I am biased :p, why not get something in between that you can at least drive on a motorway if needs be.
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Last time I looked there were smart cars on the motorway...

As I stated, I use the motroways about twice a year.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Whats the point? On an individual basis, none of us are in a position to do anything about it. So rather than sit on your computer blogging the end of the world and shouting WOE IS US, PEAK OIL WILL KILL US ALL, why not simply accept the inevitable and enjoy life?
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It's not just about Oil, it is our generations responsibility to try and change things, if we all sit back and say "oh well it's gonna happen anyway" then yes we are screwed.

This year we have seen the longest warmest summer. The seasons are out of 6 weeks out of sync. I saw tornadoes off the Sussex coast! The warning signs are here and now.

Yes China and the other developing countries are going to be a big problem. The USA is a big problem. At least the UK can hold it's head up high by exceeding the targets set by the Koyoto protocol.

I am in the stages of building a house that does not depend on fossil fuels, this is to avoid the problems (and potental big bills) we all face later when fossil fuels run short.

There is loads of oil left in the world, but extracting it is becoming very hard. The more you take out the lower the pressure gets, the harder that makes it.

If Greenland and Antarctica continue melting at their present rate all costal areas will be in deep water (no pun). Either of these melting 100% will increase global sea levels by 20ft.

Watch http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_classics/aninconvenienttruth/trailer/
 
Ok Fox, If I am going to keep my planet killing barge, have you spoken to your friendly BMW dealer about the bumper yet?

;-)
 
People don't truly understand the problem. It is not just about C02 emmisions, but what the hell do we do when the oil runs out.

This is the major point in my planet loving low-zero emission house. I will not be dependant on energy that is produced using fossil fuels. Ok I will probably live on a diet of carrots and cabbage, as all the supermarket shelves will be empty because there is no oil to transport the stuff about.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Oil will never run out, it will simply reach a point where it is too expensive to be used as a normal commodity.
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True, thats what I said about it being too costly/hard to extract in the coming years.

Large petrochemical companies such as BP, are activly developing biomass fuel and solar energy. Me thinks they know a little bit more then we do.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Errr, yes there is, my 'defeatist attitude' leads to Pinter enjoying driving around town in his lovely 4.4 litre V8 rather than a silly 600cc Smart Car becuase he's on a one man mission to save the planet :)
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Sad to say that is worked, but I will drive round feeling very guilty - does that help?

On a serious note though, I will get shot of the thing when I build this house (If I get planning permission - its a bit complicated). Can't have an eco friendly house with a great big 4.4L V8 BMW on the drive.
 
^ True, look at what happened with the banning of CFCs. The hole in the ozone layer has closed (I think).

Bit of a shame that the main thing that needs to change is heavily taxed.

If it were not, then it would be banned tomorrow :-(
 
My footprint changes as follows:

All in kg of C02 emissions.

BMW 540i = 13,324
Smart car = 11,255

(Uk average is 10,963)

If I stop having holidays in the USA it drops to 8,655!
 
cymap said:
It will when people like you are charged five big ones a year to drive the barge that you have absolutely no need for.

Money talks.
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I can see this happening soon, I don't want to be left with a white elephant that no one wants - and I don't actually need.
 
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