Sorry Bill but that's just......Oh heck I can't think of anything which wouldn't be deleted....
No offence you understand...
;-)
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Humph, did you mean that urban suv drivers have arrogance bred by perceived invincibility?
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So I drive an SUV and used to drive BMWs and would choose one without hesitation tomorrow.....shame I don't know any little people to be superior to :-(
Edited by Pugugly on 30/08/2009 at 20:54
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Um ...no.....
I think I meant that there is a deal of truth in the maxim of not judging books by their cover.
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Do you know any "little people" Humph - I feel now I must find some to be superior to !
Edited by Pugugly on 30/08/2009 at 21:06
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Ill find a rusty Transit and you can "little people" me with your nice shiny suv.:-)
Edited by Old Navy on 30/08/2009 at 21:08
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Well, you just have to console yourself in the knowledge that one day they'll do it to someone who is driving his banger to the scrapyard and frankly would quite like to have it wiped out in a no-fault incident.
I've been driving a car that will probably fail its MOT for a few weeks now and there have been a couple of occasions where I've been tempted to "forget" to stop for a barger. Never had the bottle though.
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Trouble is when you're on a bike "going for the RTA" can result in you hurting or dying or at least wrecking a much loved machine, hence the video idea - Name and shame on YouTube.
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>>Humph: Twonks drive all manner of cars.
I agree totally. Like I said, I see bad driving from all makes of cars. It just seems to me that there is a higher likelihood of it when that car happens to be an X5.
>>Humph: They are just more visible when stereotyping is allowed to colour opinion.
Yes you are right - it CAN affect judgment. But I don't think that I am stereotyping in this case. I'm not saying that all SUV drivers are like this, and I am not anti-BMW either. I drive one and respect the brand.
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Take comfort in the fact that X5 drivers are paying loads of lovely tax money to the government - rather them than us eh? With the UK so heavily in debt we could do with a few more X5 drivers...
I was once 'barged' out of the way by a women in a small city car, so if you have the 'balls' to do it anyone can barge their way through.
If my memory serves me well, think of a quote from the girlfriend of a now deceased member of the back room:-
"Why would you want to be part of HIS problem?"
I'll be well impressed if anyone can remember who originally posted that...
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Pugugly - Well done! I seemed to recall it was GRolwer - am I correct about the other details?
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I dunno, sounded like a GRowler type comment.
(His wonderful girlfriend was Catherine. We miss her too. HJ.)
Edited by Honestjohn on 31/08/2009 at 00:09
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That was back in the days when every other post was about numpties driving with foglights on and that if the price of petrol ever hit £1 per litre it would be the end of the world...
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It most definitely was THe Growler.
Kevin...
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sorry misspelt his trademark !
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THe Growler was a real character and I enjoyed his, all too infrequent, posts from the colonies.
I miss him, we had alot in common.
RIP THe Growler.
Kevin...
Edited by Kevin on 30/08/2009 at 23:55
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I am now doubly well impressed, gold stars for both Pugugly and Kevin.
Although having said that I would have expected PU to have found the original post, what with being a Mod and all that...
PU - good attempt, but could do better :)
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Hey it was less than a minute far quicker than forum software !
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Yes, I was amazed at how quickly you responded to that one - the mods here are seriously quick - how quickly can you delete a spam post? Must be down to milliseconds :)
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W=As quick as an X5 taking an inside line - that quick !
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and equally agressive when it comes to editing posts...
:) :) :0 )
Note extra smileys to ensure sense of humour is conveyed - dont want to go upsetting the mods...
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They're also prone to parking in mother and toddler spaces or disabled spaces because they don't want us minions damaging their paintwork.
They think lane 3 on the motorway is for them, and they only pull off to the exit at the last minute.
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They truly are the spawn of the devil and responsible for all the evil in world. Burn them!
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Good tale of X5 in the desert in Charley Boorman's book "Race to Dakar"
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I see poor and aggressive driving every day of the week in every vehicle imaginable, the trouble with vehicles like the X5 and RR sport is that they are very quick for their bulk and with their full time 4WD can plant all that power straight down with scarcely a thought to the road conditions.
They stick out like a sore thumb then when they drive stupidly where a smaller car would go unnoticed.
I too find the X5 quite a pointless vehicle but each to their own, unfortunately they do seem to be quite popular with tattooed shaven headed heavy browed baseball hat wearing types..;)
I should imagine the driving seen is just as upsetting to the majority of decent X5 owners as the idiotically (read bully) driven truck is to the majority of decent truck drivers.
Only two or three weeks ago a very high profile truck (got their own army of spotters) pulled right to the very end of the slip rd queue at s'bound M6/A14 jct on Friday afternoon and stopped in lane 2 to force into the A14 slip, caused a very dangerous 5 minutes on the M6, no doubt all witnesses were uttering oaths at typical lorry driver scum, i could cheerfully have caused him a mischief.
One thicko forcing in at the last minute in something big tars the rest with the same brush.
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381 reads
30 posts
this is feeding the kind of drivers that drive pimped up arrogent look at me cars like these
best thing is to ignore them and they might just revert to a car they really can afford and have a bit of fresh food in the fridge for their little loves to eat
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I don't disagree with the main sentiment in the thread, but it's unfortunate that the X5 is the subject because I find it is the one BMW where I like the styling. I've never owned a BMW and don't particularly want to, regardless of the image they give off (different things to different people) because I just don't like the look of them.
The 1 series is ugly, I don't like the sharp-edge styling of the 3 and 5, and the 7 is just too big. The X6 is the ugliest vehicle on the road and I can't begin to take it seriously. But the X5 is the one where I think they've got it just right. I wouldn't own one, but as a large SUV they look better than most of the competition.
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To answer "Why are so many BMW X5 drivers arrogant?" scientifically
We need to gather following details
1. Demographics of BMW X5 drivers
2. Statistics of how many are actually driven badly
3. Psychological reasoning how driving behaviour changes when driving a bigger car
I'd be very interested to know if some researchers have actually studied the bully driving behaviour and managed to figure out the root cause of this.
My personal theory is like this - a lot of people buy expensive cars assuming they are (ie cars not owners) special. However, after sometime, they discover that their expensive cars are not really any better than cheaper cars (even though their cars can do 120 mph law prevents them from doing so etc.) So, out of their frustration of "unable to show their speciality", they try to behave so that it attracts attention (that why we're discussing here exactly this)
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But he might be an East European or a Russian with even less regard for you.
No chance. No self respecting Russian gangster would be seen dead in an X5. Has to be a Cayenne or one of those ginormous Merc GL things. Obviously in black with running boards and 22" chromed wheels. An X5 is for girls, any regular visitor to Moscow will confirm this.
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There seem to be a lot of these premium SUVs in traveller camps. Frequently uninsured, untaxed and often stolen as most people know but curiously the ANPR vans aren't pointing their way. One x5 nearly flattened a policeman around here. Saw the vehicle a few hours before having watched it come out of the camp, hurtle off up the road at about 70 nearly going head on with another vehicle on a blind brow only avoiding it by pushing in the line of traffic.
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What's your evidence for the assertion regarding the stolen/uninsured/ANPR stuff ?
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A person on another forum that is involved in retrieving stolen vehicles has said that's where they seem to have the most luck in retrieving them. Another person I know from a forum had their vehicle stolen. They saw it on the nearby traveller camp and the police wouldn't go and retrieve it and told him he couldn't go and fetch it back either, even with his own spare keys, as that was considered to be a crime. Just about everyone locally knew that is where stolen vehicles were ending up. This is what really annoys people.
With no permanent address, travellers are outside the normal channels of law enforcement. Insurance needs a proper address and proper ID. Car registration needs a permanent place of residence so instantly if you move around you're not traceable so you can do what you like.
Everyone I know that lives anywhere near a traveller camp mentions the same issues. Somehow they have got themselves a reputation for being nothing but trouble. There are no end of problems locally. They're their own worst enemy. Just about everyone you speak to has had problems with travellers or knows someone that has.
www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Travellers-orde...l
www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Martin-Tideswel...l
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If you find yourself in the way of one of these things flashing its lights 3 metres from your exhaust pipe then the thing to do is button up whatever anger you feel and get out of the way asap. The driver might be an arrogant toff city broker or investment banker. But he might be an East European or a Russian with even less regard for you. No point in getting yourself killed just so he gets arrested and charged for it is there? And no one is going to thank you for closing the motorway for 12 hours while the 'crime scene' is investigated.
Exactly - it might be the likes of Kenneth Noye and he demonstrated what he did to people who got in his way..
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HJ, what has the putative nationality of drivers got to do with anything? None have monopoly on arrogance nor on disregard for human life. Why bring it in to the disduccion here? I know, your ball etc.
Is there a league table somewhere, rating nations on their regard for human life? Is England top of it? Is Russia bottom?
As Humph says further down in defence of X5 drivers, sounds a bit "ist" to me.......
:-(
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My personal theory is like this - a lot of people buy expensive cars assuming they are (ie cars not owners) special. However after sometime they discover that their expensive cars are not really any better than cheaper cars (even though their cars can do 120 mph law prevents them from doing so etc.) So out of their frustration of "unable to show their speciality" they try to behave so that it attracts attention (that why we're discussing here exactly this)
Nice idea; can I put my variation on it.
I think some of the owners DO actually think they are special and that the rest of the world should get out of their way. Some of them are the kind of people who are impatient and want everything now; they won't queue, and they pefer to give orders, not take them. So they drive with that mentality, hence the arrogance towards others. This causes the "normals" to dislike them and react accordingly, which winds up the X5 drivers even more. So a vicious circle develops.
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I think it's because, when you drive any kind of SUV, you can't help but feel superior to "the little people" (as my ex-boss's wife used to refer to car drivers) because you sit above them, and that, coupled with the stereotypical type of person who chooses a BMW, produces the kind of driving that you see so often in X5s.
Exactly!
You could rephrase the question as "why do arrogant drivers drive BMW X5s?". And that's an easy one - X5s are a) SUVs, and b) BMWs. So it's the perfect combination for them :-)
Edited by Typ 8L on 31/08/2009 at 15:41
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Why are so many non BMW X5 drivers mean spirited bigots?
All getting a bit "ist" to me.........
:-(
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 31/08/2009 at 16:35
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I think Humph has answered the question here - it's the same question essentially as "why am I always in the wrong queue at the checkout" and "why does toast always land butter-side down".
I'm wondering why all Priuses seem to be driven badly - I suspect they aren't, but every time I see one that is, it 'confirms' my bias.
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It would be an interesting scientific experiment to video day to day driving and count the instances of bad driving with various makes/models and then correlate that with ownership and average driving distances of those models. If there are more certain make cars doing more miles then the probability of those certain make cars being seen doing something bad is greater than if there are fewer of them covering lower mileages.
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Never get involved, life is too precious
Regardless of make / model some people feel enormously empowered sitting high up or in a big vehicle. Its an attempt to salvage dominance and with this type of person it is usually a reaction to deal with current insecurities elsewhere or from their past. Therefore it is always best to just get out of their way.
The classic case is the chrysler 300c; it is the ultimate affordable empowerment car.
As for tarring everyone who drives an X5, 4x4 or whatever with the same stick is wrong. Many of them choose these cars for the right reasons, some for status, which is not the same as empowerment, although the same type of person can cross into both boxes.
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>>Many of them choose these cars for the right reasons, some for status,
Now there's a value judgement. What's the point of status if you can't signal it? (About the only signal that a BMW usually gives - sorry!)
I think the only thing we can be sure if is that people choose cars for different reasons, few of them rational. My instinct is that many people, possibly unconsciously, are influenced by a desire to fit in with their particular herd, or sometimes more aspirationally, a herd that they'd like to belong to.
I don't know what my subconscious reasons are...
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I saw the stereotypical X5 driver tonight. Except it was in a Range Rover.
Joined from the sliproad in bucketing down rain, got over to the outside lane in one move through heavy traffic, sat on the backside of the cars in front and then when it became time to leave the motorway, rather than queuing at the sliproad she roared up the outside lane to the last minute and then cut across all lanes and forced her way in. Unbelievable.
However, on a more relevant point could it be that the majority of these cars are automatics so the drivers can just simply point and press the pedal, no need to remove hands for gearchanges etc? As been mentioned before they have extreme acceleration as well.
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It's true! They are out there. I have just seen X5 *** on the A6 north of Preston. It was indeed black. The question should really be 'Why are so many X5 drivers complete idiots?'
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 02/09/2009 at 20:33
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Are they really arrogant? Just as often they are edging cautiously around getting in the way out of panic and incompetence.
I don't relate poor driving to makes or models. They are all much of a muchness. Of course bulky or hulking vehicles, which need to be positioned on the road correctly in tight traffic, become a particular nuisance when driven clumsily. That said though, a really rubbish driver, and there are a hell of a lot of them, can take up an amazing amount of space in a small car.
Even in London, where many know what they are doing and standards are high, significant numbers of drivers cause obstructions at junctions by waiting across two lanes and ignoring or not understanding the road markings. People are resigned about it and go round them, although the occasional irritable toot is heard.
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Easy to deal with.
Get yourself a large white sprinter, preferably a V6 (sadly MB website does not give max speed).
Then you can intimidate any 4x4.
Surprising how much difference there is between how you are treated driving a car and a big white van - even by 4x4 drivers. They actually look quite small from the cab of a Sprinter.
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The Mercedes Sprinter van that passed me on the M25 a while back must have been doing 95 because I was ' making progress '. I got out of its way smartish.
I have only been in an X5 once in Doha, Qatar where it seemed to fit in with all the other 4 x 4's , the Cayennes and most of all the Toyota Land Cruisers, Hummers and anything else that looks like a truck on wheels.
I have seen some frightening driving there , much more so than in the UK and I do not scare easily.
Large slow lorries with oil equipment and Macho Arab drivers racing everywhere do not mix well.
It may be coincidental to the number of 4 x 4 's in the country but according FCO guide for travellers you are 30 times more likely to die in a road accident in Qatar than in the UK.
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