zirophil - if I were you... I would "fix" your car by getting a flash tune. All of the top tuners in Germany know what they are doing. And a good tune will make your car (and mine!) feel alive again. IF you do not want a 400 PS tune... there are also other tunes say 350 PS that will make your car feel great to drive at slower speeds you have in France. For me... I really am looking to explore life OVER 250 kph.
As for insurance... well... the Germans also have those laws. IF you get into an accident at a speed over 130 kph on the autobahn... you are are your own. A lot of people do not realize that. That is why the micro (slow cars) only drive at 130 kph max - they are either trying to conserve fuel and/or affraid to drive faster bc of no insurance. AND it is usually these (small under 1.0 liter engine cars)cars that pose a high risk on my Autobahns. Because when then pull out to pass another sub 1.0L car... they do not care about a car coming up behind them at 250+ kph. Because they know the car coming up from behind MUST slow down and yeild to them. Such is Life on the Autobahns.
Well... at least you can come to visit our nice Autobahns.
Dackel