/me boggles
Not that I find anything to disagree with in your post. It's just rare to find someone willing to say a single bad thing about the legendary '02. Let alone one of it's owners. Et tu, Brute?
But can you think of many people --
any people-- that would say
the E21 is superior to the E30? Not just in some respects, but overall?
M
got my head firmly planted on my neck, not up the 02s arse. even though i just about idolize it, thank you very much.
there are plenty of shortcomings with the 02. as an owner i can give you a litany of them; from barely adequate brakes, not quite adequate cooling, weak struts, poor ventilation, yadda yadda yadda. but taken in context, (as the
neue klasse debuted in the early 60s) and for a small car, it was ok. in fact, considering it debuted in the mid sixties, it was great. not many small cars of that era had good
anything.
now mind you, im not saying the E21 was scads better. im just saying in areas where the 02 was weak it was better. and that makes for a better overall car, hence the better daily driver quip. but as a fun proposition the E21s lose to the 2002 except for the euro only (rest of the world actually!!!) 323is becasue they were heavier and had less power but had essentially the same drivetrain.
as for the second question.
i think as time and technology advance, the cars get better. in fact, id say i know that for a fact. some of us stick to certain eras, and prefer the metal/ technology/ feel of a certain era of cars. i personally like early late eighties/ nineties stuff which includes fabolous cars like E30 M3s, 190E 2.5-16 EVOs, AMG hammer, ford sierra cosworth, lotus carlton, porsche 959, buick century GNX, chevy/GMC syclone twins and so on. if its not that era its the late sixties early seventies stuff. 2002s, ford escort MK 1, alfa GTVs, datsun 510s, lotus cortinas, first gen mustangs and camaros and challengers, 68 eldo coupes, nortons, BSAs, triumphs, citroen DS/ maserati clone and so on. but i digress.
the new cars always improve. just about the only ones i can think off that clearly did not improve have been the mitsubishi eclipses after the second gen ones. but the relentless march of technology keeps making the cars safer, faster, more economical, better handling, but albeit bigger. and heavier. compare the chassis stiffness of any two generations of cars and the new one always has 40% better bending stiffness and so on. this translates to better handling, and safer impacts and host of other things. but i dont need to tell you this.
the inexorable forward march of technology usually results in better goods. its only when companies get cheap and refuse to invest in the product that it fails. witness the body on frame SUVs being swamped by the new wave of car based SUVs. mitsubishis combining the eclipse frame with the newer much bigger galant. fords refusal to update the ranger (its was once in the top five best selling trucks annually.) and so on.
the E21 just happens to be eclipsed in some arenas by its predecessor, and in all arenas by its sucessor. but i think that if you follow the genesis of the 3 series, you have to give credit to the E21 for introducing luxury amenities to it. think of it this way; the E30 was the perfect culmination of the light responsive handling of the 2002 and the comfort and luxury (as it were) of the E21. i think without the E21 the E30 is not such a great little car.
but frmo my experience working for benz they tend to invest heavily in one generation, evolve it for the next one, then take the combination and culmination of the two to revolutionise the next generation. this is why the third generation seems to be so much better in certain cases. 2002, E30, E46. all great small BMWs. the ones in between, E21, E36 were good. but really didnt bring the game on a whole lot. IMO
nuff ranting
