Nathan Avots-Smith

Cars are all I know | he/him | :saab: :bmw:

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Last Notes

2025-09-11 23:51:10 UTC

Speaking of champagne-colored 1:64-scale wagonoids, my Tomica Honda Civic Shuttle came today! A Tomica Limited Vintage is a rare splurge for me, but they're always worth the price and the wait. #WeirdCarMastodon #diecast #164scale
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2025-01-26 04:30:07 UTC

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Trixie was almost exclusively an indoor cat, so maybe it was just novelty, but she always seemed to like checking out flowers when she went outside 🤷‍♂️
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2024-12-01 19:00:11 UTC

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I wish there was a Time Machine feature for the street views on Apple Maps. For a while, the street view of our old place had the garage door open, my old 540iT inside with the hood up, and my butt sticking out from under the hood, which was a pretty perfect encapsulation of that period of time.

2024-11-30 21:04:21 UTC

Look at all these Corvairs! I had to make many of them myself, but I have at least one example of every bodystyle offered in both generations, plus a late Fitch Sprint and a Yenko Stinger. Racing Champions did a Sprint version of the early model coupe (big green ’60 in the lower left corner), which is probably pretty hard to find these days. #WeirdCarMastodon #Diecast
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2024-11-25 06:20:51 UTC

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that sounds two-rear-wipers-Camry-wagon kinky

2024-11-20 18:17:21 UTC

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this is part of why I'm swapping the M54B30 into my 525iT. The small six is just overworked in the big, heavy 5-series wagon, so mileage is pretty lousy. The 3.0 is an incredibly sweet engine.

2024-09-05 03:53:01 UTC

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okay, I took this approach: when I was 17, I bought a 38-year-old car. So if I was buying a 38-year-old car today, I’d be looking for a (gulp) 1986 model. And Wolfram Alpha tells me that, in 2024 dollars, I paid the equivalent of $6,854 for that car. So, putting those parameters into my local CL…this has to be the one!
I actually like the looks of the rubber-bumper Spiders, though I’m leery of a seller who can’t spell Alfa. Otherwise, a perfect answer!
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/cto/d/redwood-city-1986-alpha-graduate-spider/7778631063.html
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2024-09-02 03:58:30 UTC

Fun discovery today: my 1:64-scale Schuco S210, which I’ve had for over 20 years, has the same wheels as my newly acquired 1:1 version!
In the US market, these wheels were exclusive to E430 sedans with the Sport Package, so they were never available as original equipment on a wagon here. But fate (or the previous owner, I guess) put them on mine!
https://weirdautos.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/113/065/925/610/325/062/original/bb091a1cd64ef9c6.png
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2024-09-01 21:30:25 UTC

I almost forgot—yesterday, we saw a Subaru Sambar! On the freeway! It was…not going very fast.
Yes, that’s a “Mystery Machine” graphic on the rear quarter panel. #WeirdCarMastodon
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2024-09-01 00:59:18 UTC

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our experience with the i3 is that we use the rear doors so rarely, we often forget they’re there 🤷‍♂️

2024-08-27 00:09:35 UTC

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I would have loved a 124, but they’re so expensive now, and I’m sure I don’t need something even older than this. I think between the 124 and the 210, you really see M-B responding to the surprise challenge Lexus presented in the ’90s. The character of the 210 is much less uncompromisingly German, softer and friendlier and focused on ease of operation and ownership; whereas BMW still saw themselves as playing a different, more enthusiast-oriented game with the E39.

2024-08-26 20:37:05 UTC

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I’ll need to take the Mercedes on some longer road trips, because I think that’s where it will really shine. As an all-round daily driver, though, I’m glad I’m working toward my ultimate E39 wagon.
Also, one more thing—the BMW’s air conditioning is way better. And both of the cars pictured in the first post have some German Rainbow nonsense happening with their paint names: the BMW is Sterling Gray (it’s kinda gray, but also kinda brown) and the Mercedes is Desert Silver (that’s gold, girl).

2024-08-26 20:32:20 UTC

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One thing that surprised me, though, was that the curved rear window of the Mercedes wagon creates a little distortion. Not bad, certainly not dangerous, but I’m surprised they were okay with that.
Overall, on the objective merits, I’d call it a draw. The BMW is more comfortable and feels richer; the Mercedes is more practical and feels better screwed together. Dynamically, it’s your call—the characters are very different. I like both, for different purposes.

2024-08-26 20:29:52 UTC

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The BMW seats hug you front and rear, and are covered in richer-feeling leather. I will say, the Mercedes feels even roomier than the minor dimensional differences would suggest, but the BMW feels more cosseting than confining. Interior materials feel nicer in the BMW, though assembly quality feels higher in the Mercedes.
Comparing wagons to wagons, the Benz is much more practical. The cargo hold is way bigger, the seats fold flatter, there’s a third-row and a real roof rack. No contest.

2024-08-26 20:26:53 UTC

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…Features like auto wipers and lights, nav, and heated seats are all missing from the M-B, though the latter two were available. And a lot of the switchgear in the Benz feels very old compared to the BMWs; the signal/wiper stalk, which you have to twist to turn on the wipers, and the vacuum-operated locks feel straight out of the ’70s.
The M-B also feels much more utilitarian. The seats are the Mercedes-famous thinly padded and barely contoured buckets in front, and a park bench in the rear.

2024-08-26 20:21:22 UTC

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I thought the 530i felt effortlessly powerful in comparison to my 525iT; compared to both, the Mercedes just feels effortless, period. It’s a very rewarding long-distance cruiser, whereas the BMWs shine much brighter on twisty roads.
Okay, so how do they stack up as luxury cars 20+ years on? The E39s date from the same era as the birth of iDrive, when BMW was moving in a more tech-oriented direction, and as such, they feel a bit more completely equipped by modern standards….

2024-08-26 20:17:28 UTC

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The BMW, in contrast, asks a little more effort of the driver, and gives more back in return. The inline-six is also smooth, but more like silk than satin—with a little more bite to its sound and feel. All of the primary controls in the BMW feel heavier, especially the steering, which is also far more communicative and turns in much more eagerly. The BMW’s ride has a harder edge, but feels much more planted, especially in my sedan with the Sport suspension.

2024-08-26 20:13:57 UTC

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So it comes down to character and tuning, and here the two definitely diverge. The Mercedes has a soft, smooth character. Everything feels nearly effortless, almost (but not quite) to the point of feeling numb. The steering effort is very light, and the ride is creamy-smooth, and even a little floaty at times. It never feels like it’s going to lose its composure—it just goes about doing whatever you ask of it as unobtrusively as possible.

2024-08-26 20:10:22 UTC

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On paper, the M-B E320 and BMW 530i are nearly identical. Most dimensions are within tenths of an inch, although the Benz is 2.4 inches taller and has 2.3 inches more rear knee room. Engine stats are very similar, too; the BMW produces 7 more horsepower (228 vs. 221), while the Mercedes twists out 11 more pound-feet of torque (232 vs. 221). Weight is the most significant difference; the Mercedes weighs nearly 200 pounds more, but there is essentially no difference in performance.

2024-08-26 20:06:21 UTC

Alright, it’s been a week and I’ve cured the Benz of its unseemly vibration at idle (engine and transmission mounts) and its oingo-boingo ride (suspension accumulators), so it’s time for the inevitable E39 vs. W210 comparison thread!
The lifespans of the W210 E-class and the E39 5-series are almost perfectly aligned, just offset by one year. The W210 went on sale in 1996, was facelifted for MY2000, and its final year was ’02. E39 hit those milestones in ’97, ’01, and ’03. #WeirdCarMastodon
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2024-08-26 00:51:18 UTC

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A few Pick-N-Pull treasures; I guess $2499 was too much for either the Accord or the Volvo to sell as complete cars. Most of the Volvo’s engine, and a good chunk of its interior, have been claimed, so at least it hasn’t died in vain (and what’s left of the body has some scary rust).
So, #WeirdCarMastodon, Would You Rather: the Volvo or the Accord for $2499, or the wild card VW Fox for super-no-frills funsies?
https://weirdautos.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/113/025/554/003/842/224/original/242e41a0946c4b35.png
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2024-08-26 00:44:20 UTC

Finished my short list of Mercedes fettling projects by having fun with hydraulic fluid!
What should have been a two-hour project turned into a two-day ordeal that was only solved by a trip to Pick-N-Pull to get a replacement hydraulic line, but the accumulators for the rear self-leveling suspension have been replaced, and the ride is much, much better.
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2024-08-25 04:40:51 UTC

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we had an appointment—it made very little difference. We were there nearly three hours.

2024-08-24 18:06:24 UTC

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yeah, I’ve done that with cars bought out of state, too. Pretty much anything to do with titling/registering a car or anything to do with license plates can be done at AAA, at least here in CA.
We had to go to DMV last month to get our Real ID cards, and it was a horror show. So much nicer to deal with AAA.

2024-08-24 17:35:58 UTC

We went to AAA to register the Mercedes (you all do your DMV stuff at AAA, right #WeirdCarMastodon ? It took ten minutes!) and got caught in a freak downpour on the drive there. First chance to see the famous mono-wiper in action!

2024-08-23 16:00:28 UTC

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how can you say it wasn’t a great year when the ’83 Cimarron got a new, fuel-injected 2-liter engine (with no power increase over the previous year’s carbureted 1.8-liter) *and* a new, full-width rear bench seat in place of the ’82’s two-seater with a weird plastic bin in the middle?!?
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