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Comments
My car's been to the dealership 3 times for the rear-deck rattle. The first time they diagnosed it as a blown H-K subwoofer and had to order the part. The second time they installed the new 'sub', which did sound better, but didn't rectify the rattling problem. Yesterday, they stuffed some kind of foam between the frame and the rear deck. The rattling has ceased!
Thanks.
The foam was inserted between the chassis and the deck. I've seen a post (on e46fanatics, I believe) by someone who used tube-socks to fix this problem. I can't find the link, but he removed the subwoofers from inside the trunk and pushed the socks up through the openings until the deck started bulge just slightly. I'm guessing that is pretty much what the dealership did only without the sweatsocks ;-).
-Murray
Now if I could just not pay fed taxes, I can have my tire costs covered too.
323i - 15 inch
325i - 16 inch
328i - 16 inch
330i - 17 inch
The determining factor is the brake size. The 323i has the smallest brakes, the 325i and 328i share the same brakes, the 330i has the largest.
Best Regards,
Shipo
And finally a few comments. The car seems solid and amazing. I'm just surprised about a few nit picking things like why on a 40k car they wouldn't color key the moldings and bumpers. And why not have a 6CD changer in the dash like most much cheaper cars do? BMW seems to charge extra for a lot of things that one would think should be standard at this price. That aside, I am very excited about getting this car. I went for the sport package mainly because I thought the seats were much more comfortable to me and you seem to get quite a few extras in that package for not a lot (relatively speaking) more $. Any answers and or comments on the above are much appreciated.
Typical American !! You're looking at the the color coded bumpers and CD changer in-dash from totally the wrong angle! While the Ci cars do have all painted bumpers and side strips, the sedans have the unpainted strips all the way round. There are many reasons for this. Mostly, I think it's just style. Whilst providing protection from other cars' doors, I think it gives the car a better over-all appearance. I've often thought that 2 doors, light colors inpeticular, look too mono tone with-out the strip to "break-up" the top-bottom appearance. And no, I'm not a fan of pin stripes on cars before anyone asks! As for the CD changer in dash, there are two ways of doing it and a very German way of looking at it. Now let me say, again before anyone points this out for me, that the new 7 series will include a glovebox mounted CD changer. This is somewhat acceptable, from our German perspective. Think about it - what is the point of a CD changer? 6 CDs at, let's say, 70 minutes of music time each equals 420 minutes of music, or 6 hours. Most cars will run out of gas in less time than that. A CD changer is a fairly large piece of equipment and the glove box area is already not the largest storage place. So what's the sense (remember - we're thinking in German now) in taking up this space when the large area in the trunk of the vehicle is much better equipped for this task! Convenience or laziness? Or neither? At the Lexus/Infiniti dealer (oh by the way, I'm now officially Infiniti sales manager, gulp!), it almost sounds convincing when the sales man points out that they have 6 CD capability in the front - and you can't get that on The BMW !! Who cares! Is it really so much easier to lean over to the glove box than go to the trunk? And if so, where are you storing all of these CDs, in multipuls of six, that you're swapping with the front mounted changer ?! The other way to do it (Infiniti and Subaru) is with the multipul CDs being fed into the head unit. Sounds like a much better idea to me, but now you have a non-standard size radio in the dash. Nothing much wrong with this idea as the vast majority of customers these days don't run out and swap the radio head unit with an after market piece. Okay so some (Subaru, Ford and some Toyotas excl Lexus versions) do have double DIN which I am a fan of, but now we need to give up more dash/center console space for the stereo. Again, before anyone tells me, I know the BMW has an "over wide" face plate but underneath that is an industry standard (DIN-E) sized Blaupunkt radio CD player, for anyone who really needs to do something more special. On my latest system, I stuck with the factory head unit, principally because it uses the steering wheel volume etc controls and is linked in in many other ways to the vehicle. Most importantly of all - ergonomics. BMW's new 3 series is a marvel of ergonomic brilliance. I can not think of any other car sold, ever, with such a well executed interior. Every thing is in just the right place. I have never been so overly impressed with all the different cars I've had (about 40 or so in the last 10 years) as the 2001 E46. I am stunned on nearly a daily basis with how well it does EVERYTHING !! Seriously.
Disclaimer - Much of what I've shared here is my subjective opinion. Nothing more. Oh, and if you have a cassette deck, then I think it's made by Alpine, not Blaupunkt.
"Remember - you must think in German ....... think in German.."
Boy, do I agree wholeheartedly about your comments on the suspension. I too thought that the whole point behind the MB / BMW dynamic advantage was the MAGICAL combination of RIDE and handling in the standard suspension. Short of competitive events, what more do you need? I think the problem here is the automotive press, not the buying public...there seems to be a real imperative to keep tightening suspension settings to win media comparison tests, which are always biased to raw track numbers vs real world road behavior. Toyota fell for this big time in putting together the IS300 for our market - and the result is a car that makes great numbers at the track, but rides much too firmly [especially on SoCal concrete - you know what I mean] to be a decent long-distance tourer. And that's what I buy a German car for - safety, security, and real comfort in long-distance touring situations. The handling has always been there - how far do you need to bug your eyes out on corners to feel safe? Hope BMW and MB don't take this trend over the top - we don't need 40-profile tires and competition spring settings for touring sedans...but if you think you do, that's why the sports option was always available. But let's keep it OPTIONAL.
The E46 CD player is a Blaupunkt unit made for BMW. The radios are made to BMW requirements by Alpine (tape) and Blaupunkt in order that they handle other features such as telephone display.
My personal recommendation would be to buy a dedicated winter tire/wheel package and swap them on each winter. You can do the swap yourself fairly easily and that way won't have to worry about carting them around in your trunk. The cost of the wheels will be partially made up for by not having to pay someone to mount and balance tires twice a year on your OEM rims (I'm guessing about $120 - $150/year). And when you consider that your OEM rims will be saved from the hazards of winter and ham-fisted mechanics, it may actually prove to be cheaper buying the extra wheels.
* The payments on the lease come out to around $450 per month with the 5000 down.
* For various reasons, i dont think i want the car and would like to know what my options are. I am ultimately interested in a non-bmw $10,000 lower priced vehicle.
** right now it is in perfect shape, except for the fact that it is not on the showroom floor and has 280 miles on it.
*** am up the creek without a paddle or do i have options?? ***
i dont mind losing a bit of money getting out of the lease and expect i could sell this type of hot car but the leasing company holds the title) I expect to take a hit one way or the other and dont want to debate the 'how can you not love this car thing'. but thats another issue altogether.
* thanks in advance for solid adivce.
What other car did you have in mind? If you let me know, I can do a better analysis of your situation to see if it makes any sense.
Regarding SP is the consensus that it's worth it in normal day to day driving. I won't race but thought that the seats were much better and I like the look. How do you feel the regular seats do on long rides. One of the car mags said they thought they were too flat and I agree. I am used to MB seats which are firm but very nice for long rides. I was hoping to duplicate that in my BMW and thought the sport seats may be the answer. How much in ride quality am I giving up in with the SP. As for the snow tires, are you saying that I couldn't just put snows on the sport wheel rims? Does anyone have experience with all weathers on the sport package? That may be one way of keeping the more luxurious ride and yet getting the seats and look of the sport model. I don't want to put another 1350 into the car so that I can drive in snow and slush.
A sport suspension is great on an afternoon's test-drive,but I wonder how it would be over the course of,say,80,000 miles.If the standard set-up feels mushy,then OK,otherwise...
An "American" way of viewing cars includes the expectation that once a vehicle reaches a certain price, it should automatically come with "all the bells and whistles". Rather, consider that a vehicle's cost is merely a reflection of the sum of it's parts. The best example I can think of is the floormats one. "A $40,000 car and you don't get floormats?!". If it had floormats, it would be $40,100. Similarly, to simply expect that you should be getting, for example, an in dash CD changer fails to take into account other considerations such as design preference. That's all I meant. I had used that expression with tongue in cheek. No offence intended.
When I test drove a 328i with the SP back in 1998, I found that the sport seats were perfect for holding you in place in the twisties, however, they were too restrictive for long drives. As far as firmness, I found no difference between the two seats, and for my tastes, the standard seats were more attuned to my day-to-day driving habits.
The suspension is another story, admittedly, I did not have the chance to drive on bumpy or irregular road surfaces, buy I found very little difference in the "Ride" characteristics between the two suspensions. I chose the standard setup simply to allow a little more rubber between the edge of that nasty pothole out there with my name on it and the edge of my rims.
As far as putting All-Season rubber on your stock SP wheels, a quick perusal of the tirerack.com site indicates that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires are available in the two sizes required for the 330i SP as well as the size required by the 325i SP. This might be a worthy compromise unless you are intending to track your car.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Shipo
This AFTER I spent an hour washing, drying and pre-treating it. Sheesh!
On a side note, I was amazed by most drivers on my trip. Most actually yielded to faster traffic. I didn't quite know what to do. It almost seemed unnatural.
BUT, when I stopped to think about it, I remembered my OTHER car. It's a silver 1991 Mazda Miata with close to 100,000 miles. Yes, it's garaged overnight and during the day at the office, but people think it's brand new. The shine is amazing. And what have I used for the last 10.5 years on that car? Simple paste carnauba wax. And it does look great! Makes you wonder....
They drivers closer to me drive a little better as I've spent nearly seven years working on intimidating them into keeping right when there are angry looking BMWs coming up on them.
Funny thing about drivers. One of the few people hogging the road was a 5-series. She was too busy talking to the passenger.
Having just sold my 99 328I non SP non PP, with CWP to purchase a 2002 330I SP/PP/CWP here are my thoughts.
The non SP seats are very comfortable on long 3+ hour drives, however they don't have the best lumbar support (I did not get the premium package with the Lumbar option at the time, this would have helped). The Sport package seats have the same padding level in the seat, but they offer a better lumbar support package even before you add the premium lumbar option. The latteral support is much better on the sport seats if you plan on doing any "fun" driving even day to day on the highway. It is amazing how fast one can take on and off ramps.
As far as the suspension feel on the SP and non SP cars, when I test drove the 330I with SP several times I made a point of finding all the bumps in the road that I could and thought that the feel of the two cars was very similar. I am driving a Pontiac Sunfire now while I wait for the 330 to come in and let me tell you the 33o SP handles the bumps a heck of a lot better then the pontaic. I think that the SP cars tend to track on serrated road a little more , but this is not a big deal to me.
Summer VS. All Season VS. dedicated winter tires. Living in Massachusetts, I have plenty of opportunity to drive in snow and ice. The first winter I drive with the stock continental all season touring tires, these were fine in the dry and wet, but give them a little snow and ice and the traction control is kicking on all the time. 2nd winter I replaced them with a set of Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-01's and steel rims to protect my alloys. Unbelieveable difference, much better grip in the snow and ice, the traction control was kicking on 60-70% less. Dry grip was not as good as the all seasons, but not bad. For the 330 I plan on going with Bridgestone LM-22 (higher speed rating snow tire) and alloy Borbets.
Hope this helps.
I am sure glad I don't have to beat myself in the chest anymore! ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I did not have this problem (?) while driving the 320i I had as a loaner.
Both are non sport, the 320i had 15 inch steel rims all season tires, my 325i has 16 inch alloy all season Conti tires.
My thought is that I must be taking the corners much faster than I was in the 320i, 184 vs 168 horses, though it doesn't feel like it.
1. turn ASC off.
2. take the corners slower.
3. get a set of summer only performance tires.
4. check your tire pressure. Make sure they are properly inflated.
Hard to tell your driving style from a distance so please excuse my suggestions if you are doing so already. Another hint is to enter turns smoothly; don't snap the wheel to some position and hold it but rather start to turn smoothly and then search for the the right wheel angle for your turn. By doing this, you let the suspension settle and can compensate for any transient vehicle dynamics (although the tail of my wagon has never wagged -- even in panic lane changes).
I've been fooled by the subjective feel of the car in turns. I would round a familiar corner at a higher rate of speed than my previous car and get a "ho-hum" rather than a "wow" reaction because BMW turns with such ease. The car does not lean, I'm held laterally by the seats and the car tracks the corner with no tire creep - as if the car is saying "ho-hum". Enjoy the margin.
I'll check again, but I thought the sticker stated 30 front 35 rear.
Loren