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I have two questions: they are offering a fourth year of full-service for $875, and an extended warranty for 7-years/100k miles for $2,200. The fourth year doesn't sound too out-of-line, but the extended warranty sounds really high. It's supposedly with a German insurance company that all BMW centers accept. I offered $1,100 but they wouldn't budge. I declined both, but can change my mind. Has anyone considered these?
Thanks, I'm looking forward to being part of the happy BMW owners here.
Topaz blue was my first choice of color. My wife and 2 daughters, however, had other preferences. Titanium silver worked out to be the consensus (and, remember, I will have the car after all, so the color compromise seems a sensible concession.) But I have seen a couple of topaz blues around and must say it is a beautiful color: it has dignity and flair, and stands out from all those silver cars running around. Go Blue!
Hope this helps.
Option Code 0415
MSRP $300
I think it's a great option. Only offered in the 330. Also, a very expensive option if it's after your car is built, since they have to install, versus ordering it during your car's production. If you already have your car, it may go into the thousands.
Jeff
Without this info, impossible to say if good deal or not. Gives you an extra 3 years and 50,000 miles but not sure on what. However, extended warranties on luxury cars usually aren't cheap. If this is a good warranty from a good established insurance company, then $2,200 might not be bad.
As for the 1 year extended maintenance, think I've seen a lot of posters here purchase this for around or slightly under $500. The price they are offering ($875) seems high.
When I was looking, I e-mailed every dealer in PA with an e-mail address on their web-site and made them the $1,500 over invoice offer. Two accepted without any hitches. New Motors in Erie was first. Another dealer out east (Mechanicsburg?) accepted a few days later. Because I lived in Erie for a few years and because it's an easy two-hour (at the speed limit) drive up 79, it was a no brainer. However, because they accepted so fast--within 12 hours--I couldn't help thinking that they might have gone for $1,200 or $1,300 over invoice. Oh well. BTW, they threw in the floor mats too. E-mail Tom Hoida if you're interested.
After New Motors accepted, I went back to Sewickley and asked them if they would do the deal for approximately $100 less than New Motors would (nice round number). After checking with the sales manager (of course!) and calling me back, the salesman there said the best they could do was about $300 more than I would pay in Erie. You already know what I did.
Here's a tip, if you do end up buying from New Motors in Erie, after picking your new baby up, come back 19 instead of 79; it's a hoot!
To all you guys with Topaz Coupes (or any color coupes for that matter), all I can say is "Must be nice!" How I lament the passing of my coupe days.
Waiting anxiously for your response.
Nina
Re. topaz blue, great color, go for it (if you can overlook the curse--LOL)! ( Mine's steel blue; second choice was steel gray [grey?]--hey, I'm from Pgh, it's gotta be "steel" something.)
Did get to have little fun with a 911 though. We were both stopped at a red light near the raceway. As soon as the light turned green, we both took off, or tried to anyway (tough to really take off on wet roads). I like the sound of the I6 under my hood, but nothing quite compares to the sound of the boxer engine in a 911.
I haven't had any vibrations while accelerating.
-Paul
PS Found some nice twisties by my house this weekend. Damn, wish I was driving my xi at the time.
Silver - 40%
Black - 20
White - 10%
The other 8 colors comprised the remaining 30%. So when I said that Topaz blue "wasn't too rare", I did so with that less than 4% average in mind. Most days I don't see one.
Postoak:Classic in Richardson has almost the exact #'s you post on the lot.There was like 1 sapphire black, and maybe one red.
I happen to own the "too common " T Silver, as someone posted. But it cant be beaten for looking good 100% of the time and then thers that Texas heat issue...;)
DL
Regarding ordering a car and discounts: There was some speculation around here that dealerships were more than willing to give discounts that were at least a good as the ones for "In Stock" cars. The reason is that (in theory at least) the dealership moves the car almost as soon as it hits their lot, thus minimizing the inventory cost of said car to a bare minimum.
In my case, I walked into a dealership back in 1998 to order my 1999 328i, and the salesman told me that "The price was the price, regardless of special order or stock". By that he meant that the "Price" was the price he quoted me, which worked out to about $1,775 below MSRP. I ordered my car (1999 328i, Metallic, HK, In-Dash CD, Xenon, PP), which because of 5-Speed and lack of SP, or PP and lack of Automatic, made this car fairly atypical for a car ordered for stock by a dealership.
Regarding Topaz Blue: I have seen several, and I like them. If you like it, order it, and to Hell with what anybody else thinks. ;-)
DL7265: What color is the, ummm, errr, car (I use the term loosely) that you drive for, ummm, errr, work? I hope for your sake, it is white. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I too had to give up two-doors (during the car-seat days) for awhile, but now my kids are 8yrs and 10yrs so they're big enough to crawl in the back themselves and small enough to not mind doing it.
dcomeau "BMW 3-Series Owners: Photo Gallery" Dec 16, 2001 12:31pm
This past weekend I installed 1) chrome exhaust tips (part #82-12-9-410-926), 2) a front license plate bracket replacement molding strip (#51-11-7-030-611), and 3) a leatherette center armrest. All were purchased from Pacific BMW where I had also purchased a universal transceiver (garage door opener) which I had also planned to install last weekend, but the kit that they sent me included a wrong face plate for my car, which doesn't have a sunroof (hard to believe I know, but there are a few out there). Onward...
Chrome exhaust tips - these are a must have. They look fantastic. You have to hammer them on, though. Use a rubber mallet or, as I did, put an old rag folded a bunch of times behind them and hammer on that. No damage was done. They're also held on by a screw underneath--probably completely unnecessary.
Front license plate bracket replacement molding strip - this is a hugh disappointment! Not difficult to install (although I did nick my molding a bit getting the front license plate bracket off) but the part doesn't span the gap left when the license plate bracket is removed! When centered, there's a gap of about 1/4" between the old moldings on the left and right side of the front bumper and the replacement molding strip. I was told by Circle BMW that there wasn't a replacement strip that fit right, but others told me that there was a new strip for cars built after 9/1/01. I have the new one but it still doesn't fit right. For $12 (I think) it still looks better than the unnecessary front license plate bracket. Not very noticeable from a distance, but just not right anyway.
Center armrest - This too is a must have. IMHO the PP wasn't worth $2,700(?) to get the armrest. (The brushed titanium trim looks great with my black leatherette interior, too. Very sporty!). Paid $128.04 from Pacific (plus shippling, but no tax). Having it makes a big difference in driving comfort. Installation wasn't all that difficult except for bolting the armrest to the console. These bolts have very fine threads and are very stiff to tighted. The real problem, however, was that, except for the rear one, they go in at very odd angles, no doubt different on each car. It took me an hour to fiqure this out. I had visions of having to have my retired machinist father drill out the holes and re-tap them. But, alas, I was able finally to get them started and then tightened.
Hope this helps somebody.
I want to thank everyone on this board for all of the wonderful advice. Though I haven't posted many questions, I have been reading this board for quite some time.
The only problem that I see with owning this car is fighting my husband over who gets to drive it when we go out as a family. Since the car is mine and I will have the pleasure of driving everday, I guess I will have to let him have a little fun driving every once in a while.
I look forward to reading this board even more, now that I am an actual owner. Keep all of the good advice coming. Have a great day everyone. Kim
I also have been looking for the front license plate bracket replacement strip. Could you post a picture of what it looks like with the gap?
Thanks!
Dale: well, car is white sans fenders and trunk lid, and im sure you can guess that color
Ultimate Drive: i just checked the schedual and do not see any dates, does anyone know if they have been canceled ? ive enjoyed going the last 3 years, especially when our group wins the relay race.
DL
The cable is difficult to find. I could not find it and they had to take most of the panels out of the trunk before getting to it. It should be on the left somewhere. It is sortof a hassle. I was glad to give them a $100 to install the thing.
This is about what I paid:
$400 for a pioneer 6 CD changer
$75 intallation
$50 for the cable adapter
I love the thing. It interfaces perfectly with my head unit in the car and from inside you cannot tell that it is not a BMW installed option. The dealers wanted $900 to put one in my car -- $595 for the unit and another $300 to install it.
So if any of you all are in Houston and are looking to do the same thing, call All Star Audio Video at 7134648203. They knew tons about BMWs.
I like silver and white, too. Its just that everybody has silver, and we already have one white car in our house, which I do love, but its not really a color. The dark colors are awesome, especially orient blue, but they're just sooooo high maintenance and I think the AC works much better in light color cars. Plus, I'm getting black interior, so every little bit of heat mitigation helps.
PS: I'd hate to clean your rims (did have lace-type rims once, so I know your pain). I don't think brake dust adds character to the car - it just adds dirt, and Porsches are the worst for it. I actually think the rims on the base 325i are beautiful (the brochure doesn't do them justice). They are a brighter silver, which I will need to accent the Topaz Blue!
I've had my very dark green Maxima for 3-1/2 years and been pulled over twice (once for speeding and once for expired inspection (that was the year PA decided to realign inspection with registration and not with the month you bought your car - Oh, and they never bothered to tell us). Both times I got the ticket. So, go figure!
BTW, I'm still trying to find a body colored Euro-plate bracket for the front of my coupe (like the one pictured in the Coupe brochure). Maybe one of our newer posters can help me find one... anyone?
1. Apparently ED is really picking up in popularity. The day i was there the BMW worker showing me my car told me 120 people were scheudled to pick up that day. I asked if it was just like that because of the weekend and he said it is like that almost every day...
2. Zurich is something that should be on the schedule of anyone doing ED if at all possible. Even if you don't drive there, it's only a 4 hour train ride and well worth a day trip. It is much smaller than munich, but still has great ped. areas with bars and restaurants and fabulous scenery. It is a very wealthy town and has great shopping if that is what you're into.
3. My color combination of steel blue and tan looked even better in person. I'm suprised more people don't consider this over silver.
4. Finally, I have a bunch of pictures and will try to scan and post if possible. If anyone considering ED has any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer.
chewie5 - Re. part numbers for chrome exhaust pipe tips, I believe there are different part numbers for different model years. When I ordered them from Pacific BMW they asked me for the year and model of my car. Re. a picture of the gap in the front molding, I don't have one at present, unfortunately. I'll see if I can borrow a digital camera from some one and take one. I'll probably then need some help posting it here. I'll see what I can do.
dl7265 - I'll bet an 'ette arm rest would match up pretty well with leather but I think it's only about $25 dollars more for the leather. If I paid $1,500 for leather interior, I'd go with the leather arm rest.
1pierce - I believe all BMWs come with the front license plate bracket. I've heard of others, though, asking their dealer to replace it before they took delivery. That's what I should have done, but I think I would still have the gaps because I think there's a problem with the part. I agree that the roundel logo stainless steel license plate is redundant and I don't want it either (it's also about $30!).
kominsky - I see that you have a 2001, is there any gap in your front license plate bracket replacement molding strip? I think the problem is unique to the '02s.
More on the front license plate bracket replacement molding strip, I held it up with the front license plate bracket and they appeared to be exactly the same length (width?). I don't honestly remember if there was a gap in the molding when the bracket was on. I don't want to put it back on just to find out because I think the more you take those things off and put them back on again, the looser they get. I think I would have noticed, though, if the gap was as big as it is now.
The Pioneer 6 CD changer cost $220 and the cable adaptor cost $120 so after installation, the total cost will around the $400 mark. I also wish that the stereo had better speakers. The standard speakers tend to be weak in dynamic range at the bass level. However, I don't think that I am brave enough to start cracking open the doors and installing speakers.
Likely configuration:
325xi, 5 speed, xenons, PP, CWP
I live in the NE and this will be my only car, which is why I'm leaning towards the x. Any opinions on how the 325xi drives vs. the 325i would be appreciated. How reliable is BMW's all wheel drive system? Are the xenons worth the extra $700?
120 people per day doing ED! That's incredible! Is it just Americans or can anybody pickup their car at the BMW delivery center in Munich?
Sunnybrook: I think we're around the same age (Mid 20's) and I was wondering what expenses you incurred while doing your Ed trip. I just bought another car instead of doing ED this fall (due to budgetary constraints) which I couldn't be happier with. Thanks!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I also have a 1/4" gap on either side of the center piece, but you get used to it. It was explained to me by BMWNA (I called to confirm that I got the correct post 9/01 part) that this was designed so that the piece could be easily removed without damaging the surrounding trim.
Billiam70: Great car. If I go Topaz, mine will be a 325i w/out SP, so it won't have the chrome trim or the M wheels.