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You might want to try Pacific BMW as they also have online sales of parts.
http://www.pacificbmw.com/new/parts/frame2.asp?prodid=108&mod- elid=506
Best Regards,
Shipo
Do the snow tires perform better on other rims other than the OEM from BMW?
Taller, narrower tires work best on snow tires. So most people go from 17" to 16" of 16" to 15". If you do this, your OEM wheels won't fit the snow tires. Plus winter is hard on alloy wheels. Salt, washings, etc. Cheap steel wheels are a great way to go. Why destroy your nice OEM wheels during slushy winter season? Wheels don't tend to look nice during winter anyway.
The wheels on these cars are a bit delicate, relative to old-school steel wheels, so the winning cold-weather compromise is to have a set of winter tyres mounted on a separate set of wheels.
2) Less wear and tear on the bead of the tire.. mounting and dismounting tires (both your summers and winters) up to six times is not good for the tire..
I bought a set of used BMW alloys for mine.. I like the idea of the car looking good all year round. And, no... I don't swap them myself.. But, I get the job done much quicker, since mounting, balancing isn't necessary.
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Add up the cost of mounting and balancing vs. just rebalancing your wheels once per year (one set one year, the other set the next), and you will find that a couple of years of labor costs for the re-mounting more than eats up the money saved by not buying the extra wheels in the first place.
Using my 2002 530i as an example; a spare set of Borbet alloy wheels costs $396 from TireRack.com. At the same time, according to TireRack, the shops in my area charge between $25 and $32 per wheel for mounting and balancing compared to the $10 that I pay just for balancing. So, if I was to have used my OEM wheels year round, my cash outlay would be at least $200 per year for the remounting/balancing vs. $40 for just the rebalancing. Hmmm, let's see, @ $160 per year of savings, it took me less than 2.5 years to justify those wheels. Of course this does not even take into account the extra time required for the remounting process (more money in lost productivity) and the more expensive/less effective wider tires that I would have to use on OEM wheels.
To my way of thinking, I more than paid for those wheels the first year just based upon the screwing around time that I didn't have to spend waiting around for someone to remount the rubber. Yeah but what about the time I spend waiting for my wheels to get rebalanced? Hehe, I drop them off at my local shop for rebalancing before I do the wheel swap. Almost zero time lost as that shop is in my normal area of travel.
All things considered, I can only think of a single argument for not buying the extra wheels; you only plan on driving the car in question for a single winter season.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Could someone please comment on the availability timeframe for the 530Xi? I was planning to take euro delivery and am looking for any information that might be available on pricing and availabilty.
Th in advance.
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That seems to be the general consensus.. I'm sure some people like it...
regards,
kyfdx
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And this is completely apart from stories of service/reliability problems with SMG.
Get a regular auto, maintain marital bliss, maintain resale value, get something else for yourself with a stick.
Re "good deal", a 545 has at least several thousands of dollars of mark-up, but depending on supply, I don't think you can expect much more than a thousand or two off the list, they seem to be selling pretty well.
I bought 2005 545 six-speed (SP, CWP, NAV, HUD, SAT Radio)last September. Initiallly the salesman quoted me about $62K. I counteroffered $2K above invoice and he accepted. I also did the Eurpopean delivery which save about $5K
Yep, that’s the way to do it. First, don’t waste their time, but make them sure that you are a serious buyer, then lowball. Even if it is too low, they’ll make a comeback offer knowing you WILL be buying, and if they all make an offer, you can get them to compete each other down. The problem is that 545s seem to be in high demand with low inventory so you probably won’t be getting a steal. It can happen though.
On the subject of dealers making money. I have a friend in another type of business where there is a lot of negotiation. He tells me that some people often walk away with very close to dealer cost. I asked him how he can allow them to do this. His answer is that it doesn’t always happen but when it does, his and other dealers' attitude is “I can walk from New York to Chicago and not make a dime. If I make a quarter here I’m ahead.” Well, catch a car dealer who subscribes to this and you’ve got yourself a bargain. This is why I say your chances are much better if you don’t make him labor with you, and at the same time are willing to walk, or at least give him this appearance.
BTW, the friend I was taking about? He’s loaded. Obviously there are more than enough people who don’t want to rake him over the coals. The world is nice place indeed.
;-)
Had you considered ED? The money you save more than pays for the trip. Lufthansa has a deal with BMW that allows a companion to fly for free. Picking up the car in Munich is effortless and you can either drive it around Europe and ship it from any of a dozen locations or ship it right there in Munich.
You'll love teh SAT redaio, CWP, NAV and SP.
Please let us know what you finally do.
That evening when the 530i was safely tucked back into the garage, I went out and took a look-see. Yup, she had basically destroyed the front bottom of both inner fender liners. Today I needed to pick up her Caravan from its 36K service appointment, and since the local BMW dealership is just down the street, I stopped in to see about some new fender parts. Right in front of me was a guy buying the new (and very cool) "BMW Approved E39 Cup Holder" which fits under the arm rest where the little rolling door covers a basically useless tray. While he was waiting for his part, I inquired about the fender liners, and when he saw what I was asking about, and that the price was something like $17 per side, he told the parts guy to get him a set as well. When the parts came out, the guy behind us (who had just come up to the line) saw them and asked for yet another set. Hmmm, it seems that these parts are either too delicate for the job and/or were deliberately designed to be sacrificial parts, thus saving other more expensive parts from damage. Either way, for $35, it will be a cheap fix. ;-)
Anybody else have torn up E39 fender liners?
Best Regards,
Shipo
Is a MPG gauge more important than a temperature gauge? And, although I could use the i-drive without running off the road and without reading the owners manual first (and I am sure there are short cuts I did not find in one night) but is rotating the knob for stations, using the steering wheel buttons for volume and a mute button on the dash really an improvement over the previous system. I still believe i-drive is an answer looking for a question.
On another note, my 6'5" son could not get comfortable in the passenger seat, he can in my car, and what are all the chimes that go off apparently at random, not seat belt or outside temperature?
Just miscellaneous ramblings.
As most iDrive owners will tell you, yes the damn thing is counter-intuitive but, most of the settings are one-time affairs. And you can assign a lot to the steering wheel. The things you use iDrive for regularly are fairly easy and become automatic.
I think the cupholder you saw is probably the TEC unit.
http://www.tecaccessories.com
It's a bit steep at just under $100, but given the cost of replacing the stock things a couple times, it may be worth it. I'd like to see it in person though and it may be worth a trip up to Nashua.
The only difference is that the one sold through BMW dealerships actually have "BMW" stamped into the metal cup base instead of "TEC". I got the impression that you could order this cup holder from any BMW dealership as BMW is now officially considering this one of the E39 accessories. In my case, as I didn't even know my car had cup holders until a few weeks ago (from this forum no less), I am obviously not much of a candidate for buying one of these goodies. That said, if I found myself tooling around with cups of flaming hot coffee on a regular basis, I would certainly pop the "C" note for one of these.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Anyone heard anything differently?
You were serious?! I thought you were kidding!
I solved that little problem last week: I took the car with the real cupholders. The bimmer stayed home.
The only time I need cup holders anyway is when I'm traveling with the family, which by default means that we take the rolling Family Room, which is the newer/nicer of our two Caravans. That one has a complete surround sound audio system with an in-dash DVD player (screen on the ceiling behind the front row of seats), wireless headphones for the back seat passengers and something like 12 cup holders!?! Twelve cup holders, what's up with that? I mean REALLY, it only seats 7 people.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The 5 would just be faster for the simple fact that you don't have to stop as much - so you don't need the DVD, cupholders, etc.
-Paul
Best Regards,
Shipo
"Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt..." ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I guess no one at Dodge is good at math...12 holders for seven persons means two someones don't get two drinks. But we won't get into why anyone would need two drinks...
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Best Regards,
Shipo
And I repeat, they don't know their math at Dodge, because two drinkers get shortchanged.
12 cupholders for six passengers.. I'm telling you, those German engineers know their stuff!!
And, anyone can root for a winner like the Patriots (do the cupholders hold wine glasses?).. Only real football fans root for the Bengals.. ;-)
regards,
kyfdx
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Oddly enough, while I like sports a lot, I don’t really spend much time watching the games (well, in 1985, I didn’t miss a single Bears game). Through it all, I have actually managed to get to a number of games (counting college football games, the number is even higher), however, I’ve never taken any BMW to a tail-gate party. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
Let's see...
Seven NCAA basketball finals.. Four championships (in case you wondered what the KY stood for)
Six World Series.. Three Championships..
Two Super Bowls... no wins (damn Joe Montana).
Not familiar with the terms "hockey" and "stanley cup"? lol
And, I've been a Bengals season ticket holder since '89.. And, will admit being a Cleveland Browns fan prior to '81...
And (to get back on topic), prior to last year, our primary mode of transport for tailgating was a '94 Grand Marquis (six of us)... Not that comfortable for six adult men, but it is a short trip.. (I wouldn't take the BMW, either)
regards,
kyfdx
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clpurnell, "New M35/45 vs Lexus GS vs BMW 5 vs E-class vs A6 vs RL" #, 8 Feb 2005 4:53 pm
Maybe my experience can just serve as a warning to potential new 5-Series (and other convex-dashboard BMW models) buyers - TAKE A LONG HARD LOOK AT YOUR STEERING WHEEL ALIGNMENT and decide whether it's acceptable to you. On the other hand, for it's touted autobuilding expertse, I'm just wondering why BMW apparently doesn't align the steering wheel of their new models to the driver.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Am new to this board and to BMW products. I currently drive an Infiniti G35 on which my lease is up in a few weeks. I decided to move into the New M35X, however, yesterday a deal came up on a brand new 2004 545i. I test drove the car yesterday and was blown away by the drive.
I can get into the BMW which is a CAD $ 74,000.00 for about $120.00 more a month than the M35X which is priced at CAD $ 58,000.00.
I will be leasing so depreciation is not a concern.
If I go with the BMW, I will have to give up AWD, A/C seats, Intelligent Key, Rear parking assist.
For 545i I gain 3 years/ 60,000 kms scheduled maintenance, plus 8 CYL instead of 6 cyl .
The lack of AWD on the 545i is a concern however after thinking about it and reading some posts here, 4 winter tires will probably do the trick, can't be worse than my G35 plus when you look at it AWD is only useful for about 4 months of the year.
I have some decisions to make and would appreciate
any feedback. Thanks
The transmission analyzes throttle position, braking, speed, etc.. and "senses" when you are going downhill (increasing speed, throttle closed, application of brakes) and holds the lower gear or even downshifts to provide engine braking...
If this is it, you can experiment by finding a hill where you can increase your speed... Then, when the car is taching 4000, give it a little gas.. it should upshift and allow the car to coast, increasing speed.. It probably won't downshift again, until you apply braking pressure..
It is either that.. or it's broken..
regards,
kyfdx
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