M3 overrev class action (long)

["Andrew D.Mendez" <AMENDEZ@xxxxxxx>]

A few days back some hapless guy with a blown
engine posted asking for info on an M3 overrev
class action. Many digesters responded with robust
condemnation of the poster (jeez, talk about
hitting a guy when he's down), but no one came
forth with any actual information. 

Just out of idle curiosity does anyone have any
actual information?  such as: (1) whether such a
case has ever been filed, (2) if so, in what
jurisdiction, (3) whether a class has been
certified, etc. I'd like to read the petition and
other publicly-available info. 

Personally, I think such a case is shaky and very
unlikely to succeed. I recently read a Louisiana
Supreme Court opinion affirming a defense verdict
in a case where the 16-year old plaintiff was
rendered a quadraplegic because his 'Vette rolled
over in a high-speed turn when he attempted to
brake mid-turn (if only he'd been to a PCA driving
school, where the mantra is lift and you die). 

His claim? Chevy fraudulently marketed the car as
having foolproof, unflappable handling, and
impliedly warranted that the fancy (in '85) ABS
brakes that would get the driver out of any jam. 

Result? Didn't work; court held admen's image
marketing campaigns are "puffery" and can't be the
basis of warranty/fraud liability. This is only
one jurisdiction, but very representative of the
law elsewhere; good luck proving the M3 was unfit
for robust driving ("defendant introduces exhibit
number one, Bubba Duane . . . "). 

Finally, in the prevention is worth a pound of
cure dept. . . . a while back someone (Scott
Miller?) noted that UUC's BL/SS web page had some
suggestions on shift techniques which will prevent
mis-shifts (including pictures of proper hand
positions for all up/downshifts) and suggested
everyone take a look. I did and heartily agree and
think these suggestions are worth a look for
anyone save expert drivers (not me). 

Just for sh*ts and grins I started to use the
suggested techniques (basically, backhanding
shifts from 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, and 5-4). This was
awkward at first for me, but now seems to be
pretty easy. The backhand position seems to make
it harder to accidentally put the car in the wrong
gear (for example, it's much easier to
accidentally go from 5-2 when trying to do 5-4 if
you're holding the shifter as you would a gun, as
opposed to backhanding it; doing this backhanded
requires weird contortions you're unlikely to do 
accidentally). 

Andy '95 M3 no overrevs (knock on wood) 

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