BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier

dave330i

Here's the old rule of thumb which seems sound to me. 1. pay off credit card debts. 2. if you have a stratagy which can beat the car loan interest rates, go for it (CDs don't), else put down as much as you can.

nyccarguy

Sounds good, except I don't have any credit card debt...never have. But I'll definitely take your advice into consideration.

nobee

no problem. hopefully, you'll enjoy your ride as much in Houston. I still have nightmares about those rock chips you got on your hood! I guess that's the price to pay to play on the A-bahn! ouch!

brave, he has the STEP btw! heehee....
-nobee

nyccarguy

so I can expect some imperfections on my car if I Autobahn it for a week!

nobee

actually, I have over 3500 miles on my car and not a scratch! just a couple of door dings =(
-nobee

nyccarguy

I'll be coming your way (to Germany anyway) in October. I've been reading up on travel guides as well as viamichelin & shellgeostar websites...

nobee

you'll be enjoying the great beer while I'll be enjoying wonderful Korean food and soju! I'm off to Korea in Jul!

Well, I'm outta here...gotta get back home and enjoy the evening with the frau. see you all tomorrow!
-nobee

nyccarguy

get a job like his that lets out at 1:00 in the afternoon;) (Joke)

dave330i

10 out here.

brave1heart

You can. You'd have to get up to go to work at midnight, though...

As far as what to do with your money, dave330i's advice is pretty good. Couple of other things to keep in mind: you have to take taxes into consideration. You pay interest on the car loan with after-tax money (unless you finance it through a tax-deductible home equity LOC which would be my preferred approach, esp. if you have considerable home equity built up). You have to pay taxes on whatever interest you might earn from a CD. You'd have to take your marginal tax rate (combined fed and state) and use that to calculate your true rate of return. Let's assume your marginal tax rate is at 35%. If your CD earns 4% a year, your true rate of return would be .04 * (1-.35) after-tax, or about 3% only. If you pay off your car loan instead, that's a direct saving of 5.9% or whatever your finance rate is. With a home equity loan, that return would be .059/(1-.35) or over 8% BTW - all because you save a lot on taxes. One very important thing to keep in mind, however, is that, as Shipo says, cash is king. It's good to have some cash equivalents lying around just in case a much better investment opportunity comes up. I know I'd be pulling my hair if I paid off my 5.9% car loan but had no money left for that great investment opportunity that I might find out about...

nyccarguy

I don't think a HELOC would apply to me...I rent. LOL! Purchasing a Home (Condo in the city) is definitely in my forecast in the next 3-5 years.

yrneh

I saw in the incentive section on Edmunds.com that there is a special lease on 325i for $329/mo and $3350 down (including sec. deposit). When I went to the local BMW dealer and asked them about it, they said that no such thing exists. Is Edmunds info wrong or are they just lying to me? Has anyone gotten that deal from a local dealer? Also, it seems like a good deal but if not...what should I expect to pay for lease on 325i with just auto as option?

530bmw

Without knowing your financial situation, how much you want to borrow and for how long, it is not easy to say which is best for you. There are a few alternatives that you may want to consider.

1. Home equity loan - interests are tax deductible and you should go with a fixed rate . Since the interest is tax deductible if you obtain a 7% interest loan and assuming that your federal and state income taxes total 30% the effective interest rate is 4.9%. Let’s assume you will borrow for 5 years and you put your $16,000 in a conservative mutual funds with average annual return of 5%-7%. If the average return is 5% and you reinvest dividends and capital gains, at the end of 5 year you should have $20,400, $22,400 if it is 7%. Of course you have to pay taxes on this( unless you invest in tax free investments), or the stock market can go bad and you may loose money. You always have access to your money when you need it compared to using the whole $16k towards your down payment.

2. Car loan - if you are weighing between home equity loan and car loan, in this example, your break point is 4.9%. Take the car loan if it is less than or equal to the break point. Still, put your $16,000 in mutual funds.

3. If a home equity loan turns you off then get a car loan and put $16,000 towards down payment provided that you already have enough in your emergency funds. Otherwise, I would set aside some amount for emergency and put the remaining towards the down payment.

I am not a financial planner or a stock broker, and this is strictly my opinion based on my knowledge...TIWIW. I cannot tell you which of these will suit you, only you can decide. Good luck.

seivwrig

I don't think it is in the 5000 rpm range at 130 mph. I will try to post the photos tonight on my website. My brother got a terrible picture of the tach. I would have been better off going no hands, and taking the photo myself. The photo that I have, shows about 131 mph. I cannot figure out the rpm but it is not in the 5000 rpm range. But like I noted in a previous post, I had a downhill gradient advantage.

nyccarguy

Thanks for the advice. a HELOC is out of the question because I rent my apartment (although my rent could be misconstrued as a mortgage payment!)

I like the cash is king idea and may put the money in a mutual fund and withdraw from it as I need (setting aside $ for taxes). I've got to call my financial advisor to check out my options.

brave1heart

If you parents own their home, they can help you with HELOC - you just cover the payments every months. You seem to have a good relationship with them so it should be easy to set it up - it doesn't cost them anything.

You seem to think based on your last post that cash and mutual funds is about the same... It reminds me of a story I read about some guy back in 1999 who was looking for a safe place to park his money and he picked a tech fund which had been going at an average rate of >25% for the past 5 years. The fund lost about 75% of its value during the stock market crash in 2000. Don't know if I should laugh or cry but bottom line is, cash is checking/savings account/CD's. Cash equivalents would typically be bonds/munies but keep in mind that there is risk there as well because as the interest rates go up, bonds' value goes down (they move in opposite directions).

nyccarguy

and again, I'm not sure how this works, but my parents taking out a HELOC on their home (which they might go for) doesn't really help me out in the future. I'm trying to build my credit so in a few years I'll be able to take out a mortgage on an Apartment (which I will eventually rent out and use as a source of secondary income).

Your idea is a good one though brave. I've heard the tech stock mutual fund horror (or funny stories) too. I wouldn't put the money in anything too risky.

I'll let you all know after I talk to my Financial Advisor.

Thanks again. Your ideas do mean a lot!

millerro3

Yes it does exist, what it encompasses is a base 325i with no options, 36 month lease with 10,000 miles/year, all taxes paid upfront, plus inceptions in addition to the multiple security deposits.

This is BMW's national ad campaign, I wish they would stop doing it, but it does draw business in the door:)

I don't know where you live, but I just ran a NJ lease, taxes included, with automatic, 15,000 miles/year, with minimum out of pocket======$441/mo.

hope this helps you out:))

Rob

allano

I went back to Platypus's picture of his 330i doing the limit (134mph) and believe the tach is around 5500 rpm. The picture does not show much of the tach needle so my estimate is +/-100 rpm.

mschukar

Check out municipal bond mutual funds. The prices do fluctuate, but interest earnings (around 4%) are federally tax free and you can write checks out of the account. I find this to be a good "rainy day" or intermediate term savings.

-Murray

mschukar

I would like to take our 325i on a 280 mile, all interstate trip to St Paul next weekend, but the car will only have 600-700 miles. The good news is I should be out of the break in period when we get home, but obviously it will be hard to follow the break in guidelines during the trip.

How much will it hurt the engine if I set the cruise at 70 mph for 100 miles? Should I change the speed by 5 mph every 10-20 miles or should I not use the cruise at all? Perhaps I could take an off ramp every 20-30 miles.

What do you guys do when you buy the car a few hundred miles from home?

Thanks
-Murray

brave1heart

Totally agree with your on munies, just as long they are not the Orange County, CA type ;o)

BMWNA recommends varying the speed during the break-in period but I seriously doubt that a constant speed would do any noticeable harm to the engine, especially past the first few hundred miles. My understanding is that running a new engine at constant speed ends up in the cylinder walls being too smooth for their own good which may result in slightly diminished HP over time - those of you who are more technically inclined please correct me. I've also read that some owners start gradually increasing the RPM's before they reach 1,200 miles, so don't be afraid to go a little over 4,500 RPM's briefly. Remember, these are just guidelines. Curious if there really is a place on the East Coast where you could go for 100 miles with the cruise on without having to intervene?

millerro3

good question...DO NOT USE YOUR CRUISE!!:) You definitely want to vary your engine speed as much as possible. I don't claim to be a master technician, but setting the engine speed steady for 30, 60 or 100 miles will cause the rings to set comfortably at that engine speed, and other engine speeds will tend to feel sluggish, from my understanding. I'm sure others here know more on the subject, but they should be echoing my advice on not using your cruise control during break-in.

Have a safe trip:)

Rob

cnorthrup

FWIW
From what I have heard I would not use the cruise at all and vary my speed and rpm's... might want to try cruising in a different gear for awhile to further vary the rpm range.

Lots of Luck.

CNorthrup

mschukar

I understand what the break in calls for (no cruise control, vary speed & RPM), but I question how much effect it will have more than halfway through the 1200 miles. Obviously, careful driving off the lot would be more critical and after 1200 miles I can do whatever I want.

I'm sure the car will be fine either way, but does anyone have real data to relate to?

I will probably leave the cruise off, shift into 4th occasionally and take a cloverleaf all the way around just for the fun of it :-)

-Murray

530bmw

By the time you finish with your financial advisor you will have $1000 less. I agree with everybody here who advised you to stay away from tech stock since it is so volatile. Your goal is to preserve your principle so tax free bond mutual funds are relatively safe. One of the key ingredients in investment is time(not timing the market)for your investment to grow, personally I think at least 5 year. For sure nobody can guarantee you anything but if you are not greedy and know what you are doing you should come out ahead.

seivwrig

You can try the following links on my website. I'm no guru but you can check out the pics of my car. I will try to get all the info done within a week. I tend to procrastinate when it comes to doing the family website.

http://home.swbell.net/socwlo/page0014.html

also check page 17, 18, 19, 20. I have not placed the hyperlinks on the website

cnorthrup

'02 330i, step.

I would suspect breaking the rules of the owner's manual recommended break-in a little would be okay... completely ignoring it might be a different story, although I have read where people have been told that the break-in is bogus (by people in the business).

Who knows? I was a careful as I could be and no longer worry about it.

I probably went over the 4500 mark 6 or 7 times and redlined it at least twice during the break in. I really didn't intentionally do this I just got a little aggressive and the rpm's really jumped.

Anyhow my car runs fine and has burned no oil at 3500 miles.

CNorthrup

derprofi

I see you met Mr. Fortuna :-) Congrats on the great new car.

So just out of curiosity, do you have any idea what the law is in Texas re: license plates? Can you keep one of your ED plates on the car?

Question for other ED buyers: Are most of you bringing back one of your plates as a souvenir?

langenthal

Well, I finally picked up my new BMW 330Xi yesterday in New York. I was happy (much to the disbelief of the person that dropped me off) that it was snow, ice, and some freezing rain. He wanted to know if I was going to change the appointment, after all, my new car would get dirty. I said hey 1) I want my car, and 2) I may not have a chance until next winter to motor around in an AWD BMW. Really nice car. No complaints (other than the back seat and trunk being a bit small). I did take the car out this morning on some slightly frozen roads because I wanted to see how the DSC worked, very well. I can't wait until 1,200+ miles and I can really motor around.

Happy with his new "beamer" in New York.

bmw323is

langenthal, congratulations on the new "bimmer" (bimmer is a car, beamer is a bike). Now you can also have the pleasure of washing your new car. For me, that is almost as good as driving it

postoak

Yes, I'll be bringing the front plate back as a souvenir.

The law in Texas requires both a front and back plate but I've driven with no front plate on my Miata (destroys the look, IMO) for 8 years with no problems.

I doubt I'll try to put the German front plate on, though. I think that would be pushing it.

riez

If you assume, as I do, that the manufacturer who designed, built, and warranties your car knows the most about it, I'd be most strongly inclined to follow the break-in recommendations as best I could. But then I'd also want to do that for recommended tire inflation, recommended oils & lubricants, etc. Maybe it is just me.

seivwrig

Yes, I brought back the front plate, the floor mats (because I will have rubber mats in my car upon US pickup), safety triangle and first aid kit. I don't know if I was supposed to bring back my manuals with me but I let you know the virdict(sp?) on that. I better have the leather casing that the manuals came in.

postoak answered the license plate question. I don't think it is enforced but I would not try to place the German plate on my car. If I was back in Florida, I would place it back on the car. I will probably call my salesman today to make sure certain things are taken care of when I receive my car.

I think we talk about ED so much, we could probably form another discussion group on ED. Just thinking out loud. This group has definitely provided me with more insight than Bimmer.org. Again, I thank everyone for their advice and hopefully at the end of April, the love affair will continue (God, wife and country still come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd.)

lacker2

I am looking at buying either a 325i or an A4 and my last sticking point is being safe in the snow. I know Audi's Quatro is great and I have always owned front wheel drive cars in the past. However, I fell in love with the 325i (hard not to). I live in Boston and will do most of my driving in the city or on the highways. Ofcourse the salesman tells me it's great in the snow... I am really curious what others think about the handling of the 325i in the snow and ice.

genie1

The 3 series handles very well in winter conditions with WINTER TIRES. Some of the more experienced drivers on this board do use All-Seasons (Michelins, I believe), but I prefer winter tires.

It's a good idea to practice handling a RWD car in different conditions, so you can become familiar with how it reacts to various road conditions.

Read back a couple of months and you will come across several tire debates.

You can also take an advanced driver training course to get more comfortable with the performance aspect of the car.

nyccarguy

nice car! Glad to see you enjoyed the ED experience. Have you ever been to Europe before? How did you find it navigating the different Autobahns and motorways?

nobee

I agree with Genie1 100%. BMW's w/ winter tires work great in snow and on ice. For example, I cruised around in Austria in December in my BMW w/ winter tires and I had zero problems traversing through snow/ice up and down curvy mtn roads.
I don't want to cause a huge debate on whether all-seaons are better that the summer and winter tire alternative, however, I believe all-season tires are not the best of both worlds, but in fact, worst of both worlds. With all-seasons tires you're compromising both aggressive handling and winter handling for tread-life. Just my $.02
-nobee

nyccarguy

nice car! Glad to see you enjoyed the ED experience. Have you ever been to Europe before? How did you find it navigating the different Autobahns and motorways?

Rob...I'm sure those national leases on base cars with $2500 cap cost reduction do bring people into the showroom. The "Wow, I never even considered a BMW before but I can't believe I can actually lease a BMW so cheaply" crowd. Then they probably get somewhat irate when you tell them that the car has a stick shift, leatherette, & no sunroof. Even though as shipo pointed out in the "Best car for $25000" a base 325i is hardly stripped (and then he listed the standard faetures on the car trying to convince the guy to get a base 325i ED, it was great).

rhmass

We have owned several 3 series cars in our family for over 10 years and we also live in the Boston area. I can assure you you will not encounter winter driving problems with a set of snow/ice tires. None of us had ever been stuck in snow. The problem has always been to have to watch out for other drivers, particularly those in SUVs who think they can go everywhere at any speed!

genie1

Nobee is right...all-seasons are a compromise between winter and summer handling...

Winter tires are the way to go, especially in Boston. Tirerack.com has great info on all types of tires.

Are you considering the Sports package which features Summer tires?

mschukar

I am looking at buying either a 325i or an A4 and my last sticking point is being safe in the snow

The key word here is safe in the snow. AWD (Quatro) definitely helps you go up mountains or corner more aggressively in snow, but safety comes into play when your foot is on the brake, not the accelerator. A set of winter tires will be the best safety option you can buy regardless of which or how many wheels are driven. With BMW's dynamic stability control and excellent crash worthiness, I think the 325 would be a great car in winter conditions.

Personally, I've only bought one FWD car (Ford Probe) out of 5 and it was the worst in the snow because it had fat tires and a lousy differential. In my opinion, car companies have done a great job convincing us that only FWD or AWD cars work in snow. How did people get around 20 years ago before FWD became popular?

-Murray

nyccarguy

brave1heart has both a BMW 325i & an Audi A4 and he lives in Boston and often treks to Albany. He can provide you with the insight you're looking for.

john01

while all season tires are compromises to meet the "bell curve" right in the middle, there is a new all season worth considering. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is all season tire that performs just as well or better than summer tires in dry and wet, according to the manufacturer's test. (it was compared to other brands' summer tires) Naturally, it is more expensive, but if dedicated summer/winter sets do not make sense, then it might be worth the price.

langenthal

Anybody know of a good aftermarket CD Changer that will work with a 330 for the glove box installation? The BMW unit costs >$500.

nyccarguy

So if I do ED, you advise to get the CD changer from the local BMW dealer (in Munich) and not from the ED parts counter (or whatever they call it)?

erickpl

Noticing the 134 mph limit there... isn't that kinda against the recommended breakin period? hehehehe

Here is soCal, it is so easy to run on the highway (for me 66 miles to work) without varying the speed a whole lot. Where I live though, I go up and down hills and get to vary the speeds there. It hasn't taken a lot to get to the 1200 mile period. I'm at 1117 right now and I've only had the car two weeks. We're going to San Diego this weekend so I will get to add some more miles and open her up a bit. The 325xi runs great on the hills around here, so I'm looking forward to running on the highway at some speeds!

The more I read about everybody's ED experience, I'm wishing I had taken that option. I guess we'll have to buy a new 330Ci and pick it up there.

nyccarguy

I find it very interesting that you have a 325Xi and live in Southern California. Is there any particular reason you opted for the Xi? Do you go Skiing a lot?

john01

hmmm...., I think you meant to address another person as I do not recall making the comment about the CD changer. However since you asked, and I happen to live in Germany at the moment, I think you may find it to be less expensive over here than in the states. I believe many people order from Pacific BMW in CA or through www.eurobuyers.com as they seem to offer the best price. But if you are doing the ED, by all means, the German dealer price usually is a bit less than the US price and the fact that you can get some of the VAT back may save you even more.

One caveat, for certain parts, you will need to order before you leave from the states due to the availability. It may take up to 2~3 wks. for certain parts. I know people who have done this with BMW dealers in Munich and seem to be not too much of problem.

P.S.: many refer to "the Niederlassung" as the name of a dealer, but it simply means "a manufacturer owned" dealer. BMW AG has about 16 "Niederlassung" dealers in Germany.

erickpl

Well not all of soCal is like Los Angeles. I live up in the Tehachapi Mountains, where we do get snow, ice, and rain. Our neighborhood is pretty remote and we want the security it offers.

Also, yes we do go skiing (I need to get the BMW rack!) and having something besides our Jeep Grand Cherokee to take is nice.

Besides, using the AWD and safety as a justification made it a logical choice for another car. My wife wanted a BMW, I wanted AWD for its safety and performance.

I still plan on getting some pics of my car soon, I just haven't had it clean long enough to do it.

-Paul