| I'm sure you feel very strongly that you're correct and that the systems were incorrect. And that's fine. But the fact that you disable the TCS in your BMW indicates that it's the technology you dislike and not the Mercedes implementation. I'm happy for you that you've found a car you like. For me, I don't feel BMW has the same track record of safety innovation, but even before I grew to value that, what disuaded me most from owning a BMW is the fact that they use runflats only. And even if you've got a salesman willing to swap them out with conventional tires, there is no place in the trunk for a spare without it just sitting in there rolling around, taking up space. But I respect that BMW makes some fine cars and they feel very different on the road than does a Mercedes. The criticisms you have about making drivers "lazy" is the same thing some people said about antilock brakes. And in fact, I have an uncle who swears as you do that if he had full control over the brakes, he'd have avoided an accident. For me, knowing that these safety systems -- able to react in fractions of a second -- are there to help save my life and keep safe the woman I love, is invaluable. And I believe that for every one of your stories, there's dozens or hundreds of stories where these things led to a person walking away from an accident than they may not otherwise have survived. I think the average person would agree. A system that beeps if you fall asleep at the wheel? Yes. A system that nudges your steering wheel fi you drift over the centerline? Yes. None of these things even augment your driving, they just direct yoru attention to the road. In fact, the only thing I mentioned that does intervene in your driving is the blind spot intervention. Anyhow, glad you didn't have any serious issues. And I hope we both know how fortunate we are to be able to sit here and debate the relative merits of one German sports sedan vs another. |