2002 BMW M3: What an Elegant Solution

Please explain to me the "elegance" of a hood release latch? Are you implying that the M3's hood lever cost more than the more typical placement in the cockpit of the car? Give me a break. I have never found reaching down to your knee to pull a simple latch annoying or troublesome. This type of BMW praise is just nauseating.

edit- i meant to say is the little finger any more convenient to use the reaching under the hood and flicking the latch

my Audi S4 does the same thing. convenient? yes. elegant? no. slightly phallic? perhaps.

It is a nice feature, but my 2000 VW Jetta has it too, which means the BMW is nothing special, or perhaps it means that the Jetta is something special......

"Please explain to me the "elegance" of a hood release latch?"

I don't think you read the article all the way. The BMW still has the same release as everyone else in the cockpit. The difference is when you go around to the front of the car to release the safety catch.

On almost every other car, you have to fumble around with your finger tips under the hood trying to find a latch you can't see.The BMW puts that latch in plain sight.

It's brillant.

Mercedes has been putting that on all of their cars since at least the mid-70s.

Oh come on, my mercedes does the same too. Why always BMW?

"Oh come on, my mercedes does the same too. Why always BMW?"

Because Erin wasn't driving a Mercedes, she was driving a the BMW.

Why would she comment on a Mercedes?

Since the big three German auto makers do this, but I have not seen it on too many other cars, perhaps we should just appreciate Teutonic thoughtfulness in a general sense, rather than bickering about automakers.

Not all Mercedes have this lever. I have a 2009 Mercedes C300 & it does NOT have this little lever sticking out from the grill. It has the convential latch under the hood.

I have always loved that the Germans have done this, it just shows that there was a little extra thought in the design phase. It has always surprised me that more automakers have not adopted similar systems.

And farvy, the new C-Class' grill does not lift up with the rest of the hood therefore it is not necessary to make the latch jut out from the grill. The CLK, CLS, SLK, and SL also have the conventional release because they have fixed grills like the new C.

The worst hood release system is Euro-Ford's key behind the blue oval logo. So much for smart German engineering...

My M Coupe does NOT have this feature and its grill lifts up with the hood so I don't think that’s the deal. It's great that the other German auto makes have this feature but I've never seen it before so it’s probably just coincidence that Erin first noticed it on a BMW, not some conspiracy.

I think it is safe to say that that is a German Automaker thing. If it is standard on a Jetta then really it is no big deal.

It's definitely a convenient feature. I hate opening the hood on cars I don't know and ending up with grimy fingers, either from the actual latch or in the search for the latch. I don't want to have to go wash my hands at a gas station just because I wanted to check the oil in my car. Good to hear BMW isn't the only car company that came up with something smart like that.

Echoing the hate for having to fish through the grille for hood latches. I'm always fearing pulling my hand out covered in grime or worse reaching under and grabbing hot metal. Not to mention having to fish and stoop to peer through and looking like you've never worked on a car in your life.

People hate it when you compliment a "favorite"....even if it deserves it.

I would much rather have my hood tilt FORWARD, like the old 80's BMWs. It's so much easier to actually work on an engine with the hood NOT in the way from the side.

How much air is in your tires now? I just bumped my cars up to ~38 PSI all around, but I think it's ~2 PSI too much considering how hard the rubber has become in the cold weather. My tires started tramlining.

My 06 Civic SI oil consumption has gone from 1 quart every 1500-2000 miles (was like this up to 26000 miles) to 1 quart every 4000-5000 miles (was like this up to 50500 miles) and now at 55000 miles it appears to be consuming oil at a rate of 1 quart every 9000-10000 miles.

And I still check it about once every week or two :)

Joe

The current-gen E90 BMW 3-Series doesn't have this feature anymore unfortunately, but that's actually because the grille no longer lifts with the hood.

The new catch is right in the middle though, and operates by squeezing against the underside of the hood as your hand naturally falls on hood edge to lift it.

Lincoln Town Cars have this also, so it is really nothing magical. It is indeed a convenient feature to have. Instead of hunting around under the lip of the hood for the lever, it just pops out for you.

""Please explain to me the "elegance" of a hood release latch?"

I don't think you read the article all the way. The BMW still has the same release as everyone else in the cockpit. The difference is when you go around to the front of the car to release the safety catch. ""

firstwagon, read the next post starting with the "edit-", I think you should read properly instead of chavis10..

"I would much rather have my hood tilt FORWARD, like the old 80's BMWs. It's so much easier to actually work on an engine with the hood NOT in the way from the side"

a lot of german cars allow the hood to be opened to almost a 90 degree angle. when you first pop them open, they only open to about 60 degrees or so but if push it further back and it will hold.

Why are some people on this site so jaded about BMW? It's a clever feature. It's not exclusive to BMW or German cars for that matter, but it is relatively rare. Get over it.

There are quite a few little things like that on their cars. Flashlight in the glovebox that gets recharged automatically, toolkit in the trunk, tilting passenger side mirror, etc. Nothing remarkable but I don't think I've seen them on many other cars.

My two favorites: the front section of the seats that slides forward for more support, and the fact that the windshield washer reservoir takes an entire gallon. No more nearly empty washer fluid containers littering my garage.