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Where in Paso Robles did you stay? My wife and I are looking to take a trip down to Hearst Castle as well. Are there any tours of Hearst Castle that you recommend?
For the poll: Both my wife and I are 27. We (she) has a 2002 325i (silver, black leather, SP, PP, xenon, heated seats, step)
Plan to order in May: 2002 325i, Electric Red w/Black Leatherette, with SP, Power Seats, Xenon, HK, Steptronic, and either buy the armrest and install it myself, or work out a deal with the dealer for the parts and install, or some combination of the above. I estimate a lease payment of $458/mo, according to BMWNA, with $1,200 off MSRP and another $1,800 down. 36mo, 12,000 mi/year. If I drop the power seats, I can save $14/mo. Haven't decided on that one yet. I have this complicated matrix with the car configured about seven different ways. It's bizarre, but that's the only way I can make the decision. Everything is on the table at this point, except colors and Step.
Question: How late in the year can you order 2002 models, before they stop production and make you wait for a 2003? Will I be OK in late May? Do you guys think it might affect price/negotiating power for better or worse?
2002 325xi Oxford Green Metallic
SP, CWP, wood, leather (natural brown), window tint, xenon, 5sp
As for Paso Robles, I have stayed at Paso Robles Inn (with hot tubs in the rooms - nice) and the Adelaide Inn. Both are near the downtown area with some nice restaurants (like McLintock's). Paso has a very small quaint feel to it. I like it.
As for Hearst Castle, if you haven't been, take Tour #1. It is fairly comprehensive. There are 3 others you can take, and if you schedule them right, you can take several in one day, but you have to pay for each. Book your reservations in advance, especially if you are planning on going on ANY holiday/extended weekend.
If you want more info, email me at paul.erickson@dfrc.nasa.gov or erickson@antelecom.net.
Paul
I didn't know the wife's age was included. My wife is 32 and I have a 10mo old girl.
Drove to San Antonio this weekend by myself in my '95 325 with 91k miles on it and once again, I fell in love with the car. Straight shot, no twisties like the PCH. Would love to live in CA.
Set the cruise on about 90mph and no police to be seen for the 200mile drive. Smooth ride. The car just starts to bloom from 70mph to 95mph. It is effortless. Went about 120mph for 3-4 miles with an infinity I30. She had some trouble keeping up, but we drove 100mph for about 50 miles. The car was solid and I just can't get over how responsive it is even at those speeds. I hope you are not offended. I think 120 is way too fast, but it is fun to test the limit occasionally. The road is straight and relatively empty so I do not think I was putting anyone else at risk.
Sunday went to the Houston Auto show. Not much to talk about there. BMW had a good presence and there were crowds of people looking at them. The G35 got some lookers, but the BMW area was packed. Bottom line is that everyone wants a bimmer.
G35 is still good for the money.
BTW, I agree with bbell4 - get the options. A year down the line you won't remember the extra cost and will continually thank yourself that you went the extra mile and got what you really wanted. Dont spend 35-40k and walk away thinking that you should have gotten the xenons or something. You would hate to spend that much and not be in hog heaven. Treat yourself.
So should I go ahead and get the SP after all this talk? Do you think it will improve the 330i performance since the 330 comes with the sport suspension anyway--it comes down to the tires--will they make the car tighter?
I've had my steel blue 330i with sport pkg. , 18" style 72 wheels and leather for two weeks now. This is my first BMW, I don't know why I waited so long!
And yes I would highly recommend the sp with the larger wheels. Ride comfort is still good. Handling is awesome.
ron
Here are the calculations:
330i
PP
SP
Bi xenons
18" wheels
Steptronic
Metallic paint
MSRP 42,085.
Add tax, title and license and here in Houston it is going to be $45000 out the door.
I don't have a problem with it, but my wife will probably kick me out of the house. She is ok with everything, but will have a lot of trouble understanding the rationalle behind 18" tires.
I better start being real sweet now, so come the fall I can drop this bomb on her.
Does this sound familiar to anyone? Do I need the 18" wheels? I sure would like them.
Don't even go there :-)
If it is ever a question of "need", you will always lose out in the end. Buying a BMW is never about needs, it is about wants and desires. Needs are what result in a Honda or Toyota.
As far as the 18's go, my boss recently went through the same thing and opted not to go with them. He didn't feel a big difference between the 18" and 17" wheels, and liked the styling of the SP rims--it wasn't worth the $$$ to him. One other thing to keep in mind is that the replacement tires for the 18's are probably more expensive than for the 17's.
God, there's SOOOO much to consider!!
1. Would helmets designed for car racing have better clearance than motorcycle helmets? If they do, what brand should I look for? Is snell m2000 compliance same as snell 2000?!? I'd think that motorcycle helmets are designed to protect you better in a slide as opposed to bumping your head against the roof of a car.
2. Would open-face helmets offer more clearance than full-face helmets?
Thanks. First autocross is on Saturday and the anticipation is building up fast!!
My car has 16" wheels and I was sure I would upgrade to 17". Now I think I'll stay with 16's. The larger wheels will improve handling, degrade ride, allow for pot hole damage, weigh more and cost more. However, I can rotate the 16's and get at least 5,000 extra miles on the set. One more consideration - I had a flat tire a few months ago, and even with 225/50's I had a hard time feeling the flat. Would be worse with 40 or 45 aspect ratio 17's. Although the 17" rims on the 330 SP are awesome looking.
Just decide before you go whether you want to buy now or not. As the service advisor mentioned... they just wait for the test drive to push the fence-sitters over the edge. It sure threw a wrench into my grand plans about how I was going to work all the dealers.
Glenn
Brave---I just completed my first autocross school on Sunday at Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland. I did three auto-xs in the fall, and just had a blast. The school taught me a lot of new skills and helped me gain confidence in pushing my car hard. It's amazing what a 3 can do. You'll have a great time, and everyone is very helpful (not many overblown egos to contend with). Talk to people and find out as much as you can--I thought I was a car geek/autophile, but I can't hold a candle to some of these guys. When you drive the course, make sure to look to the two or three gates ahead of you, not just the one you're about to drive through. This is the one thing I learned yesterday that made a difference in my ability to drive the course well. It will keep you smooth and help you drive the right line. Have a blast!!
a 330i with 17" then drive one with the 18"s.
You'll probably won't feel much difference in ride quality. but push it the corners and the larger wheels make you feel more connected to the road.
Just remember, its only $800 more to opt for the 18s. If you wait and later down the road decide to upgrade, you'll be looking at $3000
for a wheel and tire pkg. from tirerack.
Plus over the course of financing your car the additional $800 isn't much per month.
Another factor for opting for the 18s is where
you live. I live in Cali. and the roads and weather are always are good all year.
But if your in the northeast or midwest then I might take the other peoples advice on this board and go with the 17s.
good luck
Thanks in advance.
* There are different snell ratings for different sports. If you go to this snell webpage and click on a given certification, they give a listing of various helmets (brand and model) that have that certification. They might also explain what the differences are in certification, but I didn't look that hard. http://www.smf.org/cert.html
* I have no experience with auto racing helmets so I cannot answer the height/clearance question other than to say I think they will be very close to the same height as m-c helmets. I would also expect full face and open face helmets to be very close in height.
* While looking around, I found Bell has a pretty good page on finding the proper helmet fit. http://www.bellhelmets.com/fit/fit_set.html
What exactly is the purpose of this poll?
Anyone know how much BMW (or the bank) charges per mile if paid up front before the lease begins? How much do they charge per mile for over-mileage at lease end? Does anyone know if BMW is willing to look the other way (or partially look the other way) when trading in a BMW lease that is way over-mileage for another BMW once the lease is over?
I was going to purchase a different sedan for the next 3-4 years which would give BMW time to implement the valvetronic technology in the 3 series. This lease deal has me rethinking that program especially if they would be "forgiving" for return lease customers who are over mileage...
$399.00
$3000 Down Payment: $ 83.30
24,000 extra miles (@ $.15): $100.00
Total: $582.30
An I'm not sure what options you want. You shouldn't walk into the dealer shopping for payments. They love that. You should research the price here on edmunds and other sites (eurobuyers.com). Many people here are paying in the $1200-$1500 over invoice range for their cars (depending on what region they're in).
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Personally, the only reason I stayed in Frankfurt at all was to visit relatives. IMHO, your time is better spent touring around elsewhere.
When we looked at BMW, she was the one to insist we got a manual. Gotta love that! That has the added bonus of me knowing my soon-to-be 16 year old daughter can't drive it.
*WHEW*
Helmet: Brave, I believe the `m' stands for motorcycle. I'm pretty sure you'll need to go to a racing store to get Bell helmets. I don't know if racing helmet will give you better clearance or not.
I'm 6'1" as well, so I have similar problem fitting into my car with helmet on. Couple things to try. Obviously, lower the seat as much as possible, slide the plastic moonroof cover, and play around with your sitting position. If none of these help, just remember that you won't be driving very long with the helmet on.
I can't stomach the payment of a buy: +/-$600/mo as opposed to $460/mo lease. I also don't want to buy my miles up front, since I could get transferred back to the home office and be back to the shorter commute.
My solution: lease for 12,000 mi/year and take my chances. If my lifestyle changes, I'll be fine on miles. If I exceed my miles, I'll try to negotiate with the dealer to forgive the miles when I re-lease. If he won't budge, I'll buy the three year old 325i out of the lease, getting a great deal on a used BMW, with a year of warranty left +/-, on which I know the history of every mile. I can then keep the car and pay it off, or sell/trade it in the last warranty year - probably for more or at least as much as the residual.
That's my strategy today,...feel free to show me where the holes are in it, gentlemen.
Sometime I'm o.k. with waiting, being patient, sometimes it's like " I want it NOW ".
Unless the 18" rims and tires take a lower air pressure, the contact patch area should be the same, only the shape of the patch will change with the width of the tire.
Air pressure in the tires, not the sidewalls, supports the majority of the weight. The contact patch area is more a function of the pressure in the tire, not the rim diameter. In fact, I would think a larger rim would allow the sidewall to support more weight and slightly decrease the contact patch area for a given air pressure.
The larger rim helps cornering by reducing the side deflection of the tire and keeping the tire in more even contact with the road.
-murray
Frankfurt to Munich - have you thought about flying?
Another interesting thing, I remember my first trip to Europe in the summer of 1982, I don't think I slept a wink for at least several days prior to the flight, I was that excited. Last night, I got a full nights’ sleep, and could have very easily rolled over and slept some more this morning when the alarm rang. I envy you folks who are making your first trip across the "Pond", the excitement must be totally palpable.
FWIW, on the Frankfurt thing, I considered that route, however, SAS has a cheaper flight to Munich via Copenhagen ($447 round trip from Newark), than the cheapest flight to Frankfurt. Needless to say, given the SAS price, going via Frankfurt was out of the question. One thing to consider about Frankfurt, my first impression of that airport was that it was just a HUGH shopping mall that had BIG airplanes in the parking lot instead of cars, so, if you want to shop, check out FRA.
Best Regards,
Shipo
On a separate note, I had the most eventful drive to Albany this morning. There was another 911 (this one was the new water-cooled type) and a WRX wagon in the story. I'll only say that the Shtroumpf was faster than both. The 911's driver was clearly missing shifts and the WRX - well, maybe because he had a slushie but the Shtroumpf was faster in the top end. Somehow I managed to narrowly avoid 4 or 5 evil speed traps - V1's help was imprtant but it's also a lot of luck. Life is good, what can I say...
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
HPMan
Any thoughts on this? Today is my last day to add them to my 330 order, then it's too late.
Thanks!
HPMan
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Thanks,
HPMan
However, you should not base your decision on this resale issue. Get them if you like them and can afford them.
--Actual Accident report
"As I approached the intersection, a stop sign appeared where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident"
--Actual Insurance Report
"The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its way when I struck my front end"
--Actual insurance report
"I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision, and I did not see the other car"
--Actual insurance report
"An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished."
--Actual insurance report
"In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole."
--Actual accident report
"Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I didn't have"
--Actual insurance report
--Actual Accident report
"As I approached the intersection, a stop sign appeared where no stop sign had ever appeared before. I was unable to stop in time to avoid the accident"
--Actual Insurance Report
"The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its way when I struck my front end"
--Actual insurance report
"I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision, and I did not see the other car"
--Actual insurance report
"An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished."
--Actual insurance report
"In an attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole."
--Actual accident report
"Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I didn't have"
--Actual insurance report
WOLFSBURG, Germany -- Granted, climbing into a ride that replicates a rollover accident is probably not every buyer's idea of what to do while waiting for a new car to be delivered.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-041602cartown.story
http://www.mawonline.com/photos/shoei_rf900_hlmt_duhamel_tc1_rd.gif