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Comments
Simple.
House has appreciated over 30% in the meantime, and mortgage rates went way up. If we had waited until we had 20% to put down, the market would have run away from us and we would have gotten a much worse rate.
Regardless, it's a better deal than borrowing over 80% on one and paying PMI. I did the math back when we were structuring the deal and, as said above, it was a no-brainer.
hey aaron330..it could be worse..you could still have 1-2 months. ugh.
Don't go rushing to your dealer for cloth interiors or any special order. I just learned that the last week of May was the end of 2001 MY special orders. Worse still, they may not consider special orders for 2002 MY until January. Cloth is (was!) available in grey or anthracite only.
The answer to this question in the FAQ is a link to the checklist.
"Q: Is there any type of pick up checklist?"
jnscheong
BTW, did you say you lease a new car every 11 months? I've never leased so I really have no idea but was under the impression that the shortest lease is 24 months?
what are definitions of 105, 111, and 112 status???
thanks... and i'll see you in late aug/sept on the road!!!
stg
105 = Order out of Production Period
111 = Order Accepted at AG
112 = Order scheduled for Production
http://www.e46fanatics.com/faq/status.html
I usually do a 3 year lease, although I did a 24 month on my 330, I just pay the lease off/get a new car every eleven months. You can always get out of a lease same as normal financing. You or the dealer phones the bank/finance company and gets a payoff, then you hope the trade in/what you sell it for is about the same.
I had to put my name on the list....I was #2. They called me up a few months ago. I went in. Paid a little over sticker and left. If you want one now, you can look in the papers and pay 5 to 10K over or you can put your name down and wait.
M3 Frank
This looks like a good idea (80-10-10). I'm looking to buy within the next 6 months. Sounds like it is worth researching.
Once I have a place I can order my 325i.
kom -- I, too, have had Hondas (Acuras) and Toyotas in the past. Even my GS-R, a very rev-happy engine (and one that MUST be revved in order to extract its power) spent less time in the upper ends than does Gretl. It's just so EASY to do with these engines -- 6,000rpm feels like 4,000rpm in most other cars. Feels like you can live all day at redline -- actually makes you wonder if the engineers set the redline too low.
I guess it's safe to assume that I'm not the only one who's ever driven several miles down the highway at 70MPH before realizing that I never shifted into 5th.. ;-)
Of course...if would be easier if there was an M3 sedan.
http://www.e46fanatics.com/phorum/read.php?f=1&i=5896&t=5821
jnscheong
M3 Frank
Acceleration
Handling
Braking
The regular vette provides 1 and 3. It is hard for a big heavy car to handle well. I know cause I still have a 5.0 Mustang. Not as much horsepower, but lots of torque, but handling sucks in American cars. They should make more cars like the 93-95 RX7, but with more low end torque. In fact, it will still blow away almost anything on the road. The Z06 is a different case and handles almost 1 G. I hoping the 2004's will be similar. I bet it will since they will have the Z06 engine and be 400+ HP. However, not sure if I want to get rid of my M3, but I will see in the next few years.
Did you ever fix your car? Did you ever find the driver who hit you?
M3 Frank
When they had those in the mid 90's, for BMW that was a bad idea. The 4 door M3's looked sorry and some of them even came with Automatic Transmissions which ruined the appeal.
I actually should have waited for the M Roadster which is just coming out instead of my new M3. Because of the smaller engine compartment, it produces a little less HP than the Sedan version. I'm also eagerly awaiting the new look of the Z3. I know the M Roadster (2003 or 2004) will change its style to match the new look of the Z3 so it might be better to wait. Then again, I'll look at the new Vette when it comes.
New Z3
M3 Frank
Sorry for the off the topic folks. BMW has a credit card, but it is junk and gives you basically nothing. :-)
M3 Frank
Also, I found it interesting that you haven't washed your car in 4 years (I know it's not a daily driver) using the speed shine products. I'm trying to get used to them, but it's hard for me to wipe on my black car with only a mist of that stuff and a dry cloth - just doesn't seem right. Still have to wash with water regularly, or the wheels would be the same color as the exterior.
tcn2k, thanks for the info on the installation of the chrome exhaust tips. But you mentioned a bolt and a nut (nut was missing). Does that mean you have to drill a hole through the tail pipe or is it just a tightening bolt on the bottom of the tip? Are there two separate tips or is it one piece over both tailpipes?
My previous BMW consumed 1 qt in 4000 miles consistently over 97000 miles. My Honda consumed 1 qt in 6000 miles over 163,000 mile. Engines are designed to consume some oil and if you break them in according to manufacturer instructions, they will consume that amount over their life. The break-in process is important because you are polishing the piston/cylinder walls (along with bearing surfaces) over a wide temperature range. This polishing process helps to maintain low oil consumption.
[skip this part if you are not interest in why] The manufacturer of a car with tight clearances will want you to change speeds often during the break-in process. A very simplified explanation: when you increase speed/load, the pistons heat up faster than cylinders, close the tolerance between the two and polishes the surface with a film of oil brought up by the oil ring. When you slow down, you let the pistons cool/contract faster than the cylinders and allow more oil to get between the two for the next expansion cycle. Well polished surfaces (cylinders, piston and rings) not only keep compression ratio up but also prevents excessive oil consumption because you don't have a "pools" of oil film left to burn in low spots of any "rough" surface.
You also brought up a good point about the capacity of the oil sump. For similarly sized engines, it seems BMW's capacity is about 30-50% greater than other manufacturers'. Greater safety factor and less viscosity break-down. Combined with the synthetic-only reco, it becomes more reasonable how oil change intervals can be stretched to 15,000 miles.