Patrick, thanks for the mission statement. Jalopnik’s been my “first thing in the morning” site for quite a while now and it’s continued to get better and better. I had close to a 40 year subscription to one of the major car magazines but they just seemed to get lazier and lazier...and for the business side of the…

One of the few things I miss about my frequent flying days is coming in over Lake Michigan from New York on a clear night...especially on a Friday night when there’s dozens of planes strung out in a two-row landing pattern headed for ORD. And then you get this view coming in over downtown Chicago before landing. Still…

Recovered. Thief (or theives) too lazy to drive it out of state.

Do I have to shave my head and lose thirty pounds?

Ever experience driving with a non-working fuel gauge, and having to guess when your car might sputter out and die?

Amen. I’d still be driving my beloved 1995 Maxima SE but for the fact it didn’t have ABS and decided to mate with a Yukon class III hitch....

Wouldn’t be Normal, then? Worst speed trap I’ve ever lived in...tickets for 33 in a 30.

Was this in central PA? I got a similar “ticket” where I could take my chances on 3 points or just pay a fine for some completely different infraction with nothing on my driving record. Since it’s an eight hour drive to get to this place I just paid the fine. But it was pure shakedown...out of state plates are like…

There have been accidents, and yes, people have died. Now Expedition Portal reports that a few days ago a couple from Florida was trying the Pass, got freaked, tried to turn around, and wound up parking their vehicle on its roof.

Looks to be a cross between Wilfred, Pee Wee’s Playhouse and a slightly bad dose of psychedelics.

Any idea why the pilot would be flying so low over the highway? I did notice there seemed to be a treeline beside a good deal of the road so perhaps that provides some cover.

I’d highly recommend M5Board (go here for E39 M5 discussions: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-…). Bimmerzone is bigger but if you’re researching an E39 M5 buy I sincerely doubt there is much ground that hasn’t been covered — and is searchable — in the M5Board E39 forum.

I’m not sure of all the Dinan mods...it has the cold air intake, it’s been seriously chipped and has the Dinan exhaust but the previous owner Dynamatted (is that even a word?) the trunk so you can hear yourself think inside the car. He also put coilovers and a better rear sway bar. This last mod is something I have a…

Thanks for reminding me that I’m old enough to understand that gag.

Originally in the American Midwest. But it’s like that everywhere. And it isn’t a written policy...just part of corporate culture. Some things are changing; one of the sales reps I work with drives a really sweet Maserati convertible; one of the sales managers now drives a CTS-V (love the Recaro seats!).

No doubt. I work in a very large corporation that has a long-held cultural quirk about fancy cars. Being in sales it’s not cool to drive something really nice. For example one of my coworkers did the whole go-to-Germany-and-get-your-new-BMW thing. He got a modest 3-series convertible. After that he got endless shit…

Ha! Mine’s a Dinan (courtesy former owner with more money than I do) as well. I hear you on the unplanned maintenance. My M5 was a regular traveler on whatever flatbed was closeby for the first couple of years but I’ve fixed most of the things that go South (e.g. fuel pump).

Unless there is damage to the actual bumper parts, a cracked bumper — actually just the bumper cover — should be around $800 to replace...about $500 for the bumper cover itself and the rest for labor and paint. For reasons I’ll spare the reader I’ve had my front bumper replaced twice. Not that they are particularly…

I was going to answer this but you said it so much better. And you’re right about the $30K mark. After taking shit from my manager I asked her what she thought my car was worth. “At least forty thousand, maybe more” she replied. Ha ha. I told her that her ten year old Acura TL was worth more but I don’t think she…

2000 M5 owner here.