I knew this would happen

I don't get why some people post absolute nonsense such as this. Doubtless you can give an example of any 2014 car that is sold here without any safety equipment as standard. Don't bother, you can't, save your brain power for your next fairy story..

Chevrolet C Cab 2.5LS1, no ABS, no Airbag The higher specs even get ESP though.

Most Toyota and other Pick up base models don´t have ABS too, but two airbags.

If you´re a shitty driver like most of us (compared to professionals) then missing ABS and ESP can decide if you will have an accident or not. That´s neither brainless nor a fairytale. Of course Warpseed would have been able to avoid this accident with his pro driving skills, I might have f***** up when my wheels locked, so would the most of us when there is a moment of shock and lack of experience with dangerous situations.

The problem I have with my Garmin , Is spelling Thai place and street names, too many variations of the same word.

Thai adresses can be totally wired sometimes, it doesn´t matter if I try to enter it in Thai or use the Roman Alphabet.Often it´s impossbile to enter what´s written as an adress, even when you copy it directly from the original Thai.

I love when it goes like "some street 99" in "sometown 10150" and et voilla you will find your destination. But not here!

I also guess it is not about the shortest route (where Google will probably be right) but about the "best" route in terms of street condition, amount of traffic.

But still up to you how much you trust your BL

I use the built in GPS from BMW and it is pretty useless around Bangkok. It just refuses to put you on the tollway. So it'd send you across town. Google has a lot more sense.

Usually its only the last few km of the route i need so i just code it in and leave it on, hit the tollway and just use it to home me in at the end.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I loved using the satnav back home, but in LOS it´s such a big disappointment. Nothing works, finding places and entering an adress is a real pain. It can help to reach a destination but it is far away from the comfort it could actually provide.

Why not stick with the approved route of a local? Navigation can be helpful in Thailand if you are totally lost and no help is near but otherwise I wouldn´t count on it.

I´ve used navigation in BKK to visit someone in the outskirts of BKK. The satnav sent me on a path that was like a road from the camel trophy with very steep wooden bridges, narrow streets with HUGE potholes going through a jungle like area. After our visit that guy showed us a street on the backside of his house leading to the city which was like new But the satnav insisted that we use they jungle path again. Too late, already scratched my front bumper.

With a Fortuner this would have been fun though.......

Speeding up to follow that guy with your family on board is quite a poor decision. Passing on the left (while tail-gating of course!) endangered several others in that video. No enforcement of traffic rules in Thailand so that type of thing is unlikely to cease. Just have to stay away from that kind of behavior and keep your own road rage controlled.

The OP has already the chosen a headline that fits, idiots This could also have ended worse, lucky guys.

I don´t get it why they sell cars in 2014 that come without any standard safety equipment. Maybe the EU is bureaucratic monster, but they also enforce good stuff like every new car HAS to have ESP. We got daytime running light, soon automatic rescue call will join this list. Something good beside all the other nonsense.......

Race trucks, LOL. Embarassing, huge smoke clouds, tractor sounds, whenever I´m overtaken by one I´ve got to

I recently tried to use my Sygic app to navigate with my Iphone 5. I have also used this app with my Androids and previous Iphone 4 and it usually did a good job.

But this time I´m really disappointed, it seems like my phone never achieved to get a good GPS lock or find it´s position. My arrow just kept jumping through the map, just a few times I had the chance to acutally follow the instructions. My first thought was that the phone is broken, but sometimes it seems allright and then suddenly goes back to beeing very inaccurate.

-I don´t have tinted windows

-I removed the bumper

-The phone was in a craddle near the windshield

After I calmed down i tried the 5S of my wife with the same app and it was like night and day. No lane jumping, no poistion losses, I even just put it in the middle console with the bumper on too.

Is the Iphone 5 this bad? How can it be that the 5S is soooo much better? Or is something wrong with mine? I had a fresh install with IOS 7.1.2 just two days before, so everything should be ok. I haven´t used my 5 for navigation so it´s hard to compare if it got worse or something is wrong. I used it with google maps from time to time when we were walking to find an adress and it did ok.

Time to get an Iphone 6 ?

We could get an upgrade from 9M to 13M with a simple call, but it became more expensive, not cheaper. There was no promotion that would have given any advantage at that time. Maybe they would like to give you an entirely new contract or something like that is the problem here. Or just try again, different person, different result

If you want to "play" around a little bit and do some simple diagnosis I can recommend the BMWhat application for Android or IOS (Iphone)

It´s cheap but works very well and even allows some coding of options. Of course not what the OP is looking for but it is a nice to have thing. I´ve got the android version and a cheap ebay bluetooth adatper (10$). No need to carry the laptop anymore

For the 245HP, listen to Woodsie or Mortenaa, their ideas seem good, specially the dyno run. Why not check with what you start before you plan the next step. Maybe BMW just said: Screw these Thais and their tax rules, we´ll just put a 220HP sticker on and that´s it. +/- 10% are not our fault and are in tolerance levels

After a bit of research, the 10th digit of the VIN number should tell you the year of manufacture. For 2014 the 10th digit should be the letter E. If it's a D then the model is from 2013. If you search for Wikipedia and Vehicle Identification Number this will tell you more.

And for the anoraks: What ? You think I had this information stored in my head ?

Many car makers or car forums provide a VIN decoder, it´s quite easy to check your model online. Just google your car maker+vin decoder, there should be plenty of results.

then theres:

not using indicators,

not using mirrors,

not obeying the road rules or even knowing them,

pulling out from the kerb, driveway etc wiithout checking traffic

overtaking on double lines and blind corners

turning from the wrong lanes

using a turning lane to go straight ahead

driving fast through shopping centre car parks

going the wrong way in car parks against the arrows

driving on the wrong side of the road

overtaking with oncoming traffic on that side of the road and flashing their lights expecting you to pull over for them

cutting across the front of your car on a bike when you are turning a corner

basically just about everything

Great! Nothing to add!

Your outline may apply to small country regions and not big cities, I drive daily in a big city with heavy fast traffic and traffic problems are chiefly caused by motorbike drivers not car drivers, as a result many motorbike drivers are killed daily.

Hmm this sounds excatly like Bangkok, not just Nakhon Nowhere. But yes, the biggest pain are the motorcycles, no matter where you are.

If I had a checklist with me on yesterdays drive through BKK I could have marked all of the points above and find many more. It´s a mess, everyone is so fast, angry, frustrated and wreckless, I guess they are all frustrated by their own chaos and react with more agression as a response, a never ending circle.

My new favoruite is overtaking in the parking lot with like 40-50kmh just to be ahead But I don´t mind that, usually I´ll just take one of the VIP lots and pay more to avoid any cardiac events.

Just two month ago some guys tried (failed) get my wife´s bag, so let me be the first to say: Hang them high!! (as an example for all the others)

So because they tried to snatches your wife's bag, they should start to execute people???

What kind of guy are you????

Errr no, don't take this too literally, it means: get them and don't let thainess come out. Dont let them get away with the usual slap on the wrist. Now that there are new bosses everywhere, why not impress them with a nice crackdown on all the criminals that rob and steal from tourists and foreigners as they please?!

In the post where i mentioned the death penalty, i wanted to say that i know that hard punishments don't stop criminals, but specially against foreigners, noone seems to fear any consequence. Now that they want to lure more tourists, make some fine examples of good police work and give them a reason to feel safe.

It's not an attractive car, it looks like a Tank.....

You totoally missed the point of this car then

Right now I´ve got Toyo Proxes T1R in 235/35/19 and 265/30/19. That set is now 24 month old and the tyres have been manufactured 6 month before my purchase. Now they seem to get louder and louder, so loud that I´m thinking of a new set. But actually the tyres still look very good, what a waste of 46K Baht. So I read through some tyre tests in Germany and they tested the Nexen N8000 with pretty good results (B+) in both wet and dry conditions, handling and braking. Not much worse than any other top brand. The only downside was quicker wear and a little worse fuel consumption. But why should I care about that when I have to change my tyres every 24month anyway? And I already need 13,5l/100km, so fuel consumption really doesn´t matter in this case.

Long story short, I´ll try a set of Nexen in the next month, they only cost me half of the money. I rather change the tyres more often than to waste my money on some ultra high performance tyres that I really don´t need here. And if the Nexen suck (what I don´t expect) there´s not much damage done.

1.4 L engine ?

A new matchbox comes to TH market.

Ehhhhhh, Polo

Yeah, the tiny VW engine is coming to the land of BIG BLOCKS 1.2, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6l Hondas and Toyotas)

Ever tried one of these 1.4 TSI? They go up to 170HP as a twin charger, max torque from low till high revs. Great little engines with a BIG punch. That is a million times more fun than any VIOS, Yaris, City can provide. Or Ford´s ecoboost 1.00l 125HP , that´s fun too

I think it is a Farang brand microphones.

I didn't know Farang have to pay bribe to sell their stuff in Thailand.

When rich Farang sells the same to rich Farang, their web site say about 1,700 USD each.

Why rich Farang have to triple the price when sell to poor Thai people.

http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1410170481

You never heard of double pricing? We´ve learned from the best

But Thai people very samart, why no develop own product? Then can sell own crap to Government for double price

No Shin no corruption! was the slogan not long ago

Nothing has changed, just the hands in the cookie jar (and the tanks that now guard the cookies)

I wonder whether this story came up in the forum already?

Forget Malaysia.

This German newspaper source has been quoted by hundreds of articles wordwide.

So far its the only original source.

The process is going on for years.

A billion Euro is not expensive for a major car plant.

There will be no GTI made in Thailand.

Its all about micro/ECO cars.

Mirco and Eco cars

Yes I know, the possibility that VW will also produce cars that we really want isn´t very high as in SEA it´s all about mobility for the masses. But still, Thailand has such a dull car market and everything new to it is good.

If there´s no GTI, a Polo Blue GT would also rock, who wants a Jazz when you can have 150 turbo HP and an (advertised) 4,7l/100km consumption. Please V DUB, give us something cool

A small turbo diesel would be nice!

GTI GTI GTI GTI

just dreaming i know...........

If you've had 7 accidents in Thailand I think you need to either give up driving or increase your awareness of what is going on around you. I could have had numerous accidents but have avoided them by either anticipating or reacting quickly to the lunatic or careless acts of others. 7 accidents with no blame attaching to self? Surely no one can be that unlucky.

Hah!

I´m here 4 years and have been rear ended 3 times already in traffic jams, so it´s not very hard to have 10 accidents in 10 years. What could I have done about that?

Raise my shields and fire some aft torpedos?

Flashing there lights, which normally means "GO" but not here in Thailand , it means , whatever happens I ain't stopping...

I really don't enjoy driving in Thailand......

But not always, nothing is certain in LOS traffic. This moring I wanted to make a right turn and waited till the oncoming traffic passes. One guy came along, slowed down, flashed his lights and waited, slowed down more, flashed again and then stopped. As I didn´t take the chance right away I could finally see him waiving and giving me way

At the very same spot there are usually pickups and buses coming at high speed flashing their lights to tell me that they have no intention to be nice guys

Two things that upset me the most:

Motorcycles with high speed in dense traffic, when you´re busy whatching the other cars they often come out of nowhere in spots where you can´t see them, don´t expect them and most important: where they don´t belong!! I really don´t want to kill one of them!

Overtaking that makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!!! In most sois/streets there are a lot of cars parking on the left side, so most of the time you can use one lane only. But some guys are in such a hurry that they will try to overtake on the left side and then suddenly realise that there is a parking car or a som dam stall and then they come back and cut back in front of you as they could barley make it. And most of the time this happens right infront of a red light anyway, so what did they try to achieve????????????????????

i dont understand why thailand want have friendship with japan, japanese pepole are so rude and rasistic.

That´s the total opposite of Thailand of course ........at least the Japanese are very polite racists (not the look! look! Farang style)

Does this mean it is IP65 or above,or Thai equivilent to IP ratings ?

Not many may know what you are talking about Most things in LOS are IP 00 though. You touched it, you´re dead, your fault, shouldn´t have touch it

I´m courious to see what will happen to Yingluck and all the others bloodsuckers, but I guess it will all end like always when you´re rich and famous here............

This came through my door today ... not literally ... seems BMWs are hard to sell at present.

img007.jpg

Oh!

Good deals actually! (for the Thai market). And the 6th year BSI is free? I didn´t get that

They really seem to want to get rid of the X3, 3 years insurance and 6 years BSI? Nice! I got a call from Millenium 2 weeks ago that they could give me one for 400K less or a

316i for 1,79MB. Didn´t know that they were selling 316i´s here, but there seem to be some around.

http://www.headlightmag.com/webboard2011/index.php?topic=36104.0 scroll down a litte for the price list

Why the 328i? Costs more and it has only 218HP, it´s detuned for tax reasons (220HP or 2.000cc limit) It should have 245 HP. No real difference to the 320i

I´d go for the 320d, much better fuel economy, plenty of torque, fast enough for Thailand.