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i.e. ones definetly TO have and others to AVOID.
thanks,
stg
Here's a couple of hints:
Golf courses and yacht clubs, thoroughbred horses and shopping festivals. Wadi bashing and 4x4 caravanserai, gold souks and gold faucets.
Sharp Car! Your gonna be one happy dude!
Got to check mine out for the first time. My wife thinks I'll need cosmetic surgery to get the smile off my face. Don't think I'll sleep from now until Tuesday. It was sitting over by the "spa". Man, it looked sweet.
Let us know what your reaction was when you saw your baby for the first time.
Incidentally, prospective first time owner trying to decide b/w a BMW 325 and an Audi A4. Any thoughts/opinions are appreciated!
Thanks.
brislance, Sounds like you have good taste
That color combo DOES look sweet and with the California sun beating down on us all the time, should keep the BMW cooler. I'll most likely get the windows tinted soon after delivery and even looking into getting the wheels chromed. Haven't checked on prices for the chrome process yet.(don't know if a wheel shop would have an chrome exch yet for the new wheel design) If it's too much money, I'll skip it.
Just thinking out loud...
Enjoy your ride!!!
I've looked everywhere and my dealer doesn't know yet.
Appreciate any help/guidance
Might just have to buy a coupe...
Any input as to how long more until I see my car?
My understanding is that the actual time for a 325i will be dependent on how many production slots your dealer has for a particular month. If the dealer has sold their all for a particular month, you move to the next month. I also understand that production on the 325xi has been severely delayed with many people who ordered for this model year not receiving their car before the change to the next model year. I would assume that the wait for any new xi orders will be substantially longer than 3 months.
You may want to wait for gurumike on this forum to give you an answer. He works at a dealership (I think on the West Coast) and would absolutely have more definitive information than I can give you.
Sorry I can't give you more solid information. My comments are based solely on my own order experience and what I have read on this and other forums.
I, too, couldn't hide my grin when I first saw it. After some paperwork, I had to go back down and looked at it again. Can't wait till tuesday. : )
But I'm actually a little sad knowing that I have to part with my 89 Accord, though it has been with me for only 5 years...
The step in manual is great- almost as good as with a clutch- 3rd gear is strong!
Got caught in a rain storm, roads were flooded- it went through fine.
Put 120 miles on in 3hours in mixed driving- car handles better than my previous 97'328.
When would you recommend using Zaino on it?
My two final color options were the Steel Gray and the Orient Blue. I really like the Gray but I've always liked a dark blue car and decided to go that way. There's something about BMW paint colors that just looks "right".
On the way out of the lot I took a detour to go look at mine again too. As soon as I took the turn towards the Spa area, My wife just shook her head and laughed.
You're not kidding about Tuesday.
yacht clubs - ok we are by the sea, hmm all arabic countries I know do have acces to the sea (Mediteranean, Red, Persian Golf or Indian Ocean)
thoroughbred horses - arabic horses are called by no coincidence
shopping festivals - try not to haggle the price and you insult the seller
wadi bashing - wadi is dry (mostly) river bad where one can drawn when it rains, correct ?
4x4 caravanserai - looks like Saharan Safari
gold souks - souks are everywhere, gold less often but quite popular
gold faucets - Kuwait ?
Krzys
After sitting in the I30, I decided not to bother test driving it and left to test drive the BMW and VW.
I actually like both the V and the BM Ws, but for either I will wait for 2002 models.
The VW had a more luxurious feel than the BMW and everything moved super-slickly (even moving the gear shifter from Park to Drive felt "elegant.")
The only disappointments in the VW were that the Monsoon stereo was not impressive at all and the Passat is unavailable with navigation. However full MSRP for the 2WD GLX model tops out around $30K compared to around $35k for a 325i with similar options
I liked the 325i and the HK stereo had very good sound.
Neither car seemed to have much power to spare, but they were adequate. The back seat of the 325i was not as small as I expected and it had a very firm and tight driving feel.
If I decide to lease the 325i, I want to special order a 2002 white with tan leatherette interior, Steptronic, Premium package, HK stereo upgrade, and navigation and get it this November.
I am not sure if I want to get the leather. I will probably get leather also if it adds enough to the residual value that it doesn't raise the lease payment much.
(By the way, the salesman, off the top of his head, said he thought I could lease a 2002 325i with those options for 3 years/45K miles and $0 down for a payment in the $400-$500s per month range. I'm not sure if those are realistic payments.)
I read the previous post #7607 that has some info on changes for 2002, but I had some additional questions.
Is the new navigation system going to be DVD-based (with the detailed maps of the entire US on one disc) or wil it use multiple CD discs instead? Will you lose the ability to play CDs (since a CD player is now standard for 2002) if you get the navigation option?
I saw a picture of a European 2002 3 series with navigation and it shows that the screen flips up to reveal a CASSETTE PLAYER!!!
Mercedes' COMAND navigation system plays CDs, but if you insert a music CD, the navigation is disabled. Both scenarios would require a CD changer to play CDs and have navigation at the same time. Does anyone have details on the CD/Navigation functionality for 2002 BMW 3 series?
Are there any "secret" unpublished options available for the 2002 325i like power rear sunshade, special paint colors and cloth seats that I heard were available for 2001 3-series models only if you knew their unlisted ordering codes?
Thanks
PS: it does seem that the discussion there is melting down.
Got a '00 Maxima SE.
Good car- reliable, comfortable and had some power.
However, it didn't handle like a BMW.
Traded in the Max for the 325.
I found the 325 to have enough acceleration for my needs, especially when using the step. The handling and cornering of the 325 is superior to the Max- the Max was sloppy in comparison.
The 330, though quicker, just didn't seem to justify the additional dollars.
thanks for listening to my rants!!
I'd hate to mess up the warranty though.
The Passat wallows like the overweight, softly sprung, front-driver it is in twisty corners, it bottoms out to its bump stops on abrupt verticle transitions and it is certainly not up to par with my 2000 BMW 328i for handeling. I might call the Passat fun-to-drive, but I would certainly not call it a "sports sedan" which is exactly what the BMW 3 series has always been.
I have to say thanks to everyone because after reading these 8000+ posts I know more than my salesman.KNOWLEDGE=POWER!!
The car has auto, leather, premium pkg, cold weather package, and mettalic paint and retails for 34750. The purchase price will be 33250 (1500 below MSRP).
I also got a lease quote for $450 a month with $2000 down. This was the best I could do from BMW dealers in the DC area.
Is this a good deal?
Nevertheless, like everyone else on this board, I love the way the car drives....that is when I'm not busy stalling out the engine (very little prior experience with manual cars--my first one). I'm sure with some more practice, the experience will get better and better, especially after the break-in period is over.
I'm going to bring the car to the service department today to try and get the light fixed. Hopefully it will not be a long and painful procedure.
Anyone else with xenon light have this experience?
Also, when exactly is the best time to apply Zaino to my new car? Should I do it A.S.A.P. or can I wait a month or two?
My car was ordered on 5/17, produced on 6/1, arrived at the port on 6/18, shipped on 7/13, arrived at VPC on 7/21, and arrived at my dealership on 8/1...of couse some of these dates are delayed a bit I'm sure from how much the tracking system is able to keep up with the vehicle in realtime. Otherwise, the car from SA is absolutely perfect...accelerates as smooth as silk, handles curves like a cheetah on the prowl, and brakes on a dime! I looked over the car maticulously...and found only one thing that I wasn't too worried about...about a half inch of stitching was coming undone on the leather in the corner of the back seat. Otherwise, it's everything I dreamed...so, tenet1, you should have no worries about one manufactured in SA, man. Although, I've only driven it 250 miles, 150 on highway....it's purely exhilerateing!
kominsky,
I only drove my father's '84 Ford Ranger , a '90 Honda Civic HB through college, and a few other Japanese models my friends owned, so I don't have as much experience with classy manual trannies as others. However, I didn't find the BMW's long throw to be a problem at all. It shifts very easily...very smooth. The trip point is bit higher than I've noticed on some other Japanese cars, but overall, it doesn't take anything away from how FUN it is to drive. After my first 25 min commute in bumper-to-bumper traffic to work, of course, it required some more tedious work apart from driving the '98 Camry previously (automatic, of course), but I knew that already! Even with a little more attention required, I still found the commute completely enjoyable...cept for every Tom, Dick, and Harry taling me! Oh, well!
Everyone else,
I picked her up on Saturday morning, and it is absolutely a gorgeous ride! I'll post more of my impressions later, but believe me, after ony 250 miles, it's everything I've dreamed about...and more! Steel Grey on Black Leather 325i PP/SP, HIDs, and CD....Thanks to everyone who helped me through those 10-11 weeks!
"The US buyers often lament the lack of the Individual program offered by BMW to every other nation. When buying a BMW with the Individual program, one can select features not available in the standard packages. Such items as Techno Violet Metallic paint, interior trim options, wild color leather inserts are available to the lucky BMW owners outside of US.
When asked as to why this program is not available here, Tom went into a rather lengthy explanation that made sense, even though it was still disappointing. Boiling it down to the bare essentials, the size of the US market and the potential complications for both dealers and clients makes the Individual program problematic. If you order your car in Techno Violet with Kiwi leather inserts and you lease it for 3 years, the probability of the dealership finding another person willing to buy the car is approximately 2,572 to 1. We made that number up, but the point is, BMW NA has a potential money looser on their hands.
As the US is the second biggest market after Germany, it is important that BMW offer cars which can be resold quickly and without hassle. Hence the packages that BMW NA puts together. They assure that the cars can be sold at an affordable level and that sales levels are kept high.
Hope that helps,
JRC330
Violet paint and kiwi colored leather is not a problem for resale in Europe?
Cloth seating or a rear sunshade is not going to make the car impossible to resell. The residual value just will be a little lower for not having leather and the rear sunshade might even help resale a little.
My 325i (non sport) is here in Canada enroute to Toronto, so maybe another week or so.
I think the BMW shifter is great! The throws are not too long and the gating and smoothness is fine. It's just not QUITE as good as the Integra I drove. As far as the clutch goes, there I think my BMW is considerably harder to perfect than many others, but once you get the hang of it, works very well.
No pricing yet but with all the options that I added, some dealer installed, the price worked out to be about $1,500 above invoice. I am expecting about a 1 to 1.5% hike over the 2001 pricing.
No harm done. You would definitely know more than I about the manual tranny. I am by far no expert whatsoever. I rev it, engage it, and drive merrily along. Hell, I'm still having a little trouble getting in reverse and making smooth transitions from 1st to 2nd!
Impressions, impressions! I'll do what I can in the short time I have before a meeting, but...
Performance: I've already talked about the manual transmission, but overall it is still silky smooth (I just need more practice!). Like I said, I am no expert, but with the limited experience I have with performance-type manuals, it seems to work with you nicely! I really have no earthly idea at what RPM range I'm actually supposed to be in when I shift (still go by ear), but I've been keeping it above 3000 for now...I've popped into second and third at around 4000 and found a hell of alot of torque it seems. I can't wait until I get through breaking this baby in. The sales manager at the dealership I purchased the car from also test drives every series including the M3 and M5. He told me as I'm traveling back to Dallas to range my speed...even to hit 110MPH if I'm comfortable with it. I did for a short period on a few occasions! It NEVER lagged a bit above 70MPH and felt confident and strong! The car simply has more than enough acceleration for me...PERIOD. Of course, I can't imagine what 330s or M3s feel like! I decided to go with the SP, and, man, am I glad I did. For those who think the suspension will deteriorate your comfort level, think again! I've had to travel through construction on the way back and the streets of Dallas for Christ sake, and all the divets, creases, and bumps (no potholes...those I avoid at all cost with those low-profile performance tires!) were an afterthought! My girlfriend was impressed. I've driven the non-SP, and I really can't tell the difference (yet, more inexperience). The ride was near if not as comfortable as say a Lexus, and I'm not knocking Lexus. I haven't really taken on any notorious curves, but the ones I have accelerated through were a piece o'cake. The 17 inchers (I think they're Continentals) simply stuck to the road! Braking is impeccable...need only apply them, not stomp on them! I try to downshift as much as possible, so I don't need to brake with tremendous pressure. I feel very confident with them, however. Otherwise, I must have gotten the new (not the new-new) power-assisted steering, because it is over assisted by a pretty damn good amount, I'd have to say. My poor little Civic had no power-anything, and I actually liked a heavier, snap-back-to-center feel. Oh, well. Yeah, it's great when I'm parking in those tough spots, but I'd rather have what the previous models had as per what I've read on this board. And besides the steering, it performs like a champ. My descriptions or mechanical depth may not be great, but I try. I simply look forward to driving, PERIOD, much more even than the '67 289cu V8 Mustang I used to rag out and race in high school (it was an automatic, however).
Ergonomics: Besides the comfortable ride, I was also very impressed with how quiet it was. With the A/C down to its lowest level (hey, it's Dallas, TX!) and no music, I could only hear the sweet zzzzzzzzzip of the engine. If you're worried about any rattles and squeeks, I couldn't find any on mine so far. I didn't hear the clicking sound of the seat belt either that some have heard. I feel as though I'm entering a cockpit every time I get in and buckle up. The powered sports seats, 3-spoke steering wheel, nicely placed shifter, and telescoping steering column allow you to easily confide with the vehicle's performance...isolated it is not! The SP does seem to give that cliche balance of a luxury/performance ride, I must say. The controls are, well, the controls. I don't find them necessarily difficult to understand or reach. It is taking me a bit to get used to the window controls on the center console instead of the door. Whoopdy-doo! My 6'2" friend didn't have any problem in the back seat, 'cept my rusty shifting technique! The leather is not your typical smooth-as-a-baby's-[non-permissible content removed] leather like those in typical Japanese models. It is more rigid yet rugid. Overall, it IS leather, and it feels and smells great. I like leather in cars, and I didn't have any qualms about this type...just don't expect Lexus' Coach Edition....I said I liked leather in cars...I didn't want the car to be my girlfriend's next-to-favorite wallet/purse! Visibility is not great on the driver's blind side, however. BTW, my passenger side mirror does tilt down in reverse when the switch on the passenger's side setting. The dash is my favorite! Beautifully lit in majestic orange, all the gauges are easily recognizable, perfectly sized and spaced apart, unlike the IS300 (one of the problems I had with it). The non HK system/CD is fine by me...I am no audiophile, but the mid range and bass were sufficient...wouldn't mind a bit more bass, but I am not at all unsatisfied with the stock system. I actually consider now that for the price, the HK system may be a pretty decent deal, but I have no regrets. Lastly, still on my first tank, I'm getting 23.4 MPG, 150 of the 250 miles were on highway, the rest on the streets of Dallas. Not too shabby, I'd say. The car feels like it should have a `welcome' mat on the driver's side! Wish BMW had an option for an in-dash CD changer, but everything else make's up for it. I find like others that the sound of the engine keeps me just as happy as a good CD, HONESTLY!
Otherwise, the black leather interior looks tough...very masculine against the steel grey shell. My car has to stay in the sun at work, but with a sunshade, it's fine with me. Lower the windows, and let the autoclimate do the rest. It's 100 degrees out here, and at lunch time, I didn't find it to be the least uncomfortable. Yes, it would be cooler to have lighter colors, but, man, I couldn't pass up the combo I chose! I tell ya, you will find yourself glancing over at your car ALOT! I have to look back and peek over, because, IMHO, it's about the best looking 4-door sedan out there! The car has simply fulfilled all my expectations after reading so much on this board! I was paranoid it would not, and the board has come in for me there! I am yet another "heart-in-my-throat-when-I see-and-drive-it" satisfied owner!!! Thanks for everyone's help and patience with me...
BTW, the dealership experience at Garlyn Shelton in Temple, TX, was just as perfect! Friendly, organized, and willing to work with you (although, I arrived at the dealership at 11:00AM with no other browsers in sight!). The wait was hell, but "YES", it was well worth it!!!
Aaron,
I was there for close to 2 hours (I like to talk!)....
Thanks a lot
Please don't do it. I can understand why owners of look-alike econo-crates go in for these tacky things; if you've got to drive a tan Altima, you do what you can to make it distinctive. How else will you find it in your bowling alley parking lot? But your car was born beautiful. Why attach a downmarket accessory to an upmarket sports sedan?
On my way home from work today, I spotted a current generation 5-series that was wearing a spoiler. It was all I could do to keep my lunch down.
As a side bar, I saw one of those brand new M3 convertibles today - stunning car IMO. We were in stop-and-go traffic, the driver had the roof down and every other driver was staring at it in oblivion. Some car!!
P.S. What's the deal with the lack of posts for this board? All of a sudden, over the past few days people have stopped posting and it's a pain to go to the sedans board to look for 3-series.
Thanks in advanace for your assistance.
So far, I'm not wild about the integrated foglights that I've seen in pictures. I am more encouraged by the earlier comment that the front end may look like that of this year's M3, and I hope this isn't just limited to those with the sport package (I decided against the SP cause I didn't want to burn through expensive sport tires every 15,000 miles). I would also like white blinker lights, and I was wondering if anyone had experience with ordering those as an aftermarket item?
Has anyone else signed up at the BMW international website to receive a newsletter about the new 3 series? I signed up about 3 weeks ago and haven't received any emails about it.
BTW, I just read in a european BMW magazine that only the sedans will have body style changes, while the coupe will stay the same. I have a feeling that more 2002 news will be coming out soon....I hope!
The Sedans and the sport wagons will get the redesign, the coupes and convertibles will stay the same.
Other changes for 2002 model Sedans:
Hill Descent control on XI models
325I sport package will get type 96 wheels
Run flat tires and wheels available as option on 330I and XI
BI-Xenon high and low beam option
Automatic Headlight on option with Premium Package
Harmon Kardon standard on 330I with Single CD. Tape deck now a no charge option
Titanium finish trim now standard on all models
Bigger 16:9 screen with Nav system
Black Sapphire now offered as exterior color
Natural Brown leather now offered as new leather color.
Re interior colors: I have no wish to get caught in the leather/leatherette crossfire, so I'll stick to the colors themselves & voice a preference for grey because, to my eyes, the steel blue / grey combination is truly elegant.