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Are you wanting to go BMW CPO or not? You'll pay more for CPO.
You should check out BMW NA's CPO locator on their web site. Very user friendly. Plus look over the car ads for sale in newspapers. Used car pricing data can also be found here at Edmunds and on other web sites.
Any used car is only worth what someone will sell it for and a buyer will buy it for. The prices are negotiable! Research and negotiate hard!!!
While summer tires will only last 60% of the mileage an all season tire will, they are safer, and more fun in all but snowy/icy driving conditions.
I just ordered my dream car. I put down a deposit for a black/black 530ia. Dealer invoice is $49970.00...Any idea what I should pay? Options include: Xenon Lights, Preminum Sound/DSP, cold weather, premium and sport package. Arrives early January...Thanks
However, I'm confused: You've already put a deposit down without agreeing to a price? You should always do that first, unless the deposit is fully refundable.
I have been driving manual transmission cars almost exclusively since 1980. The BMW is the most difficult to drive smoothly of all the cars I owned (a Nissan and then 2 Toyota Supras). The problem is the 1-2 shift at medium speed. It takes work to be smooth. I can be silky smooth at both low acceleration and high acceleration, but not at medium speed without concentration. Maybe I am spoiled by the other cars.
Over the last few weeks a momentary dead spot seems to be developing as I let out the clutch as I accelerate from a stand still and engage into first using a lower RPM start. It does not happen every time, but more so when the engine is cold and on low RPM starts. It is almost as if the clutch cable is rubbing against something momentarily, even though I know that cannot be the case. I cannot say if it is the clutch or the transmission gears that is causing this. The more I think about it, the more I wonder, could a gear tooth be chipped in the first gear? I am the only one that drives the car, and I do not remember ever missing a shift and grinding the gears. I also do not drive the car especially hard.
Any suggestions before I have the car serviced?
However, I don't experience the same symptoms you do with this "dead spot." I doubt you have a chipped tooth; those gears are made of forged steel and require a lot of force to simply break off. I have accidentally grinded my gears a couple of times, but shifts are still smooth and otherwise normal. And besides, those gears are rotating at several thousand RPM; I'm guessing a chipped gear tooth wouldn't manifest itself as a noticeable "dead spot."
I'm curious to hear whether the dealer finds anything. For problems like this, I'm sure they'd have to be able to duplicate it fairly easily and consistently before they start tearing your tranny apart. So, you may have to wait until it gets worse (or more consistent) before getting them to notice. To duplicate the cold start, bring the car in the night before and drop it off, come in in the morning and ask to ride along with a technician so you can point it out. Good luck.
One issue has cropped up lately that will go back to the dealer on, but before I do, I want to find out if anyone else has experienced this. I've got a significant rattle coming from the right side (around where the airbag is located). Took everything out of the glovebox (what little fits in there) and still get this rattle. Didn't have it when I got the car, but has developed over the last month or so. Don't know if the cold weather has anything to do with it (NY metro area).
Any clue from our knowledgable clientele???
Any TSB's etc.?
TIA,
metmdx
As for the rattle, there are a couple of possibilities that come to mind:
- Something loose under the seat: Move it all the way forward, up, and tilted forward, and inspect it for anything loose.
- Seat belt mechanism: There's some service advisory about this, so have the dealer check it out.
- Door seals: Apply WD-40 to a rag and coat the entire periphery of the seal with the stuff (good to do on all doors, by the way, once a year to help keep the rubber from drying and cracking.) Door seals usually sound more like a groaning noise over bumps, but I wouldn't put a rattle past them.
Good luck.
Sport package: An excellent set of performance tires (e.g. Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position) go for $165, so with shipping and mounting/balancing that comes to $775. Depending on driving style and environmental factors, they'll last 15k-25k miles. Cost is 3.1 - 5.2 cents per mile.
No sport package: An excellent set of high performance all-season tires (e.g. Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymmetrical) go for $105, so with shipping and mounting/balancing that comes to $540. Depending on driving style and environmental factors, they'll last 25k-40k miles. Cost is 1.4 - 2.2 cents per mile.
To me it comes down to this: Am I willing to spend another 2-3 cents per mile for noticeably better steering response, noise comfort, handling, grip, and hydroplanning resistance? Yes, I am.
Thanks for the reply
I agree with you on the sheepskins and brake dust covers. I was just hoping someone had a different idea to make those sport seats a little softer.
Aside from rolling noise, however, is susceptability to adhesion-related squealing; all-seasons with less traction will break loose and howl easier than their high performance brethren.
Sorry to interrupt with non-technical questions but just returned from Munich where I did ED for my 530i on Monday and had a great experience.
I feel bad for the customers of those BMWs
(and Volvos and Saabs) of the "Tricolor" ship that sunk in the English Channel, spoke to my BMW dealer and mine wasn't on the boat, but apparently there were quite a few BMW custom orders and ED's on that ship headed to many BMW dealerships in USA.
I'm told that if you are one of the unfortunate ones awaiting delivery that BMW will contact you directly and very soon.
I hope that's very few of you on this board.
LA Caroline
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Snagiel, re replacing the Contis at 17K: Sounds like a compound that doesn't emphasize tread life (what's the rating?) . . . or perhaps driving style? If only the outside edges are showing accelerated wear, it can't be inflation pressure, which I assume you're meticulous about anyway.
Nevertheless, it may be on the low side, but certainly not out of the normal range with the Conti's, from what I've heard. They're only rated at 160, which is certainly low even amongst performance tires (Bridgestone S-03's are 220, I think).
I suspect my driving style is mostly to blame; I don't abuse the car, but I certainly drive it in the spirited manner which it's designed for and seems to beg for.
It was a bad ignition switch according to my dealer, Shelly BMW (Southern California). I thought it was really strange so I questioned it because I didn't understand what the ignition switch had to do with the SRS system. The technician took his time and wrote the explanation in detail in the work order. I was very impressed. I don't have the work order with me now however if you are interested I can get it when I go home and let you know. My extended warranty company (1Source) paid for most of the repair, about $250, I had to pay a little over $100. 1Source came through for me again, I have been pleased with them so far.
Spyderred,
-murray
Would the Quattro system found in the Audi be an asset for winter driving? Yes. But do I find that I need the Quattro. No.
Chris
All bets are off when it comes to heavy icing conditions. Last week, we had freezing rain; on my sloping and curved driveway, this was freezing rain on top of ice left over from the previous snow (okay, with my middle-aged back, I've gotten lazy about shoveling). As soon as I backed the 530 out of the garage, the going got hairy. Progress down the driveway was incremental, a series of short responses to steering input followed by all four corners surrendering traction and the car sliding straight down the slope toward the mailbox. The street, also curved and sloping downhill, was no better, at least on my side of the cul-de-sac, untreated from the previous week's storm. Moving forward was no better than moving backward, and this time the target in my path was not a mailbox, but my old Z car parked at the curb. I finally edged over to treated roadway, and the rest of the trip to work was uneventful. I suspect that the winter tires helped, but nothing short of studs would have provided a comfortable margin of control in those conditions.
Scary moments. I kind of miss that. Nah, not really. On my way to work this morning at 5:30am, the temp was a balmy 48 degrees. Boy it was cold. Yea, Yea, I know, I am spoiled now, but hey I paid my dues. 10 years in Chicago is plenty.
http://www.vogue-tyre.com/cgi-local/accessories/search.cgi?setup_file=show_pod.setup&db_id=291&submit_search=on
BMW 5 series sedan: 33,828
Lincoln LS: 35,585
Of course, if you add in the 1,779 5-series wagons sold here in 2002, BMW edges Lincoln by a whopping 22 units. Guess sales numbers are a matter of perspective...
Gold trim, BTW, isn't exclusive to domestics or Asian imports.
http://www.eclipse-auto.com/bmw_gold.htm
Strange but the new 7-series exterior design, except for the rear, is starting to grow on me. And I do like the Z4. Still not sold on the benefits of i-Drive but it appears that it will be standard (with 4 less menus) on the new 5-series. I prefer the cockpit design of my current 02 530iA.
Chris
Say a traveler arrives at an airport after 10-hour flight and somehow gets upgraded car from the rental counter, which turns out to be one of the new 7. How long would he be sitting in the garage before he can get it moving? The exec said, "Until morning".
I wish the new 5 will not have the same "user friendly" interface, but I fear that is not the case. Time to take a look at the E-class.
But BMW had better address the near universal scathing comments about the 7 Series iDrive. Don't replicate that mess in the next 5 Series.
Chris