BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier

kyfdx

Yeah, yeah... I know its not indicative of my per-mile costs.. And the Pilots were already on the M68 wheels I wanted. But, fuel costs and insurance for my 325i are really within 1 or 2 cents per mile of the Honda Accord I leased previously.

Tires on the other hand..... We put 52K miles on our leased Honda Accord in three years, and the tires still passed inspection at turn-in. Even assuming we had to replace them at that point, our costs would have been less than 1 cent per mile. I think the 325i is going to be closer to 4 cents per mile just for tires.

But, my point was, and is... It doesn't matter how expensive a car you can afford.. maintenance and repair costs matter. I see Carl Lindner every once in awhile driving his Bentley Arnage convertible.. I bet every time he takes it in for service, he's thinking that he could pay Ken Griffey's salary for a day, for what that dealer is charging him.

regards,
kyfdx

blueguydotcom

I've never gotten over 20k out of any tires on any car I've ever owned. :O

mitchs3

My 2002 330i does not have sport pkg, so has Conti all season touring tires. This car actually has sport suspension though, right. I have 23k miles, original brakes and the noise has been there for about 7k miles. I drive moderate most of the time, though at times aggressively. I clearly notice the noise more when first starting out, but is most prominent when making turns to the right. I also suspect something rubbing with the brake. I noticed excessive tire wear on the right front, where I think the noise is emanating ... thanks for your thoughts..Mitch

riez

mitchs3... Have you had the dealer take a look and listen? What have they said?

When was the last time you did a 4-wheel alignment and balance? Rotate?

riez

mitchs3... In MY2002, here are what the Sport Packages provided for the sedans:

- 325i: Sport Suspension calibration, Sport Steering Wheel, Sport Seats, Star Spoke (Styling 96) alloy wheels, and 225/45R17 performance tires.

- 330i: Sport Steering Wheel, Sport Seats, Front spoiler and side trim, rear apron and side trim, M double-spoke (Styling 68M) wheels, and 225/45ZR17 front and 2245/40ZR17 rear performance tires.

The base 330i came standard with Sport Suspension calibration and 205/50R17 all-season tires (which can be easily rotated.)

- 325xi: Sport Steering Wheel, Sport Seats, Radial Spoke (Styling 73) alloy wheels, and 205/50R17 all-season tires.

- 330xi: Sport Steering Wheel, Sport Seats, Double Spoke (Styling 79), and Double Spoke (Styling 79) alloy wheels, and 205/50R17 all-seasons tires.

All 330i came standard with Sport Suspension calibration.

The xi, both 325xi and 330xi, did NOT come with Sport Suspension calibration, even if you ordered the Sport Pkg. All xi came with all-season tires, even if you ordered the Sport Pkg.

kyfdx

It was my wife's car... and we all know how you drive..LOL

shipo

Hmmm, based upon your post, I would pull both front brake calipers and carefully check the brake pads for "Squareness". I have seen pads wear so unevenly that they force the caliper out of alignment to such an extent that when I pulled the pads off of my 1999 328i, on the right side of the car, the top of one pad had no lining remaining (and mild scoring on the rotor as well) while the bottom had nearly 1/8 of an inch, the reverse was true for the opposite pad. On the other side, both pads were perfectly square.

Let us know what you find out.

Best Regards,
Shipo

kdshapiro

Interesting BMW Link

webby1

"All 330i came standard with Sport Suspension calibration."
What exactly is Sport Suspension calibration ?
Thanks,
Webby

blueguydotcom

Huh, x3 selling superbly? Uh, that's some weird spin as dealerships have a backlog of them. On bimmerfest some dealer guys are lamenting how they can't move the X3.

albell

Hello all. On Friday, I picked up my first BMW, an 04 325 convertible -- steel blue. What a wonderful machine. Looking forward to learning more about BMW throught this board.

memphis10

I received a copy of a video where they raced the following cars in a track. Porsche boxter, Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z and E46 BMW M3. The camera car which was also in the race was the Nissan GTR twin turbo which I guess is the Skyline. The M3 finished in the second place behind the 350Z and the Boxter was in the last place. The GTR was much faster than any of these cars and the boxter was the slowest. It is quite amazing to see how well the M3 handled the turns eventhough it was 400 lbs heavier than the roadsters. I am trying to get access to a public domain where I can post the file for everyone to view.

shipo

Love to see the video. FWIW, I have an FTP server that I could open up for a week or so and allow you to park the file there. Interested?

Best Regards,
Shipo

blueguydotcom

Wow, that's a beast of a car.

gordonwd

I really like the look of the sand interior on my Steel Blue 325, except that the carpeted floor mats are really light and are probably going to get dirty real fast. That was one advantage to the gray interior on my previous car!

Anyway, has anyone else addressed this issue? I think putting black carpeted mats would look a bit weird, but how about the black rubber mats that BMW offers? Are they decent looking for year-round use? I am sure I'll need something like that for the winter, but could use something darker year round as well.

mark_325i

I, too, have a steel blue with sand leather e46. I also thought that the sand floor mats would look like crap within a few months. I opted for a black set of carpeted ones and think they look good. The black mats coordinate with the black dash trim, and it all looks integrated. Also, my black mats have now been in use for a full year and they still look fine.

kominsky

When I was looking at Audi's a few years back, they had black carpeting mated with their tan interior. Not too many people ever question the beauty of Audi interiors. I think it would look okay. Another option ~may~ be to see what color floormats are made to match that darker brown interior (saddle?). Maybe brown mats are available.

kyfdx

that the natural brown interior has black carpets.. which would have been my choice if I was ordering leather..

regards,
kyfdx

erickpl

Yep. Nat brown interior has black carpeting and mats.

-Paul

530ir1150r

We used brown carpeted floor mats with the sand interior in our 530i. It matches the wood trim and is more subtle than black. I either got them from Griot's or Autosport. They are two years old and still look like new. This was a ED car and the original sand mats looked bad after two weeks.

shap1

Gordonwd, I have the exact same car as yours. The tan carpet began to look dirty almost immediately. I ordered the black rubber all weather mats from BMW and they look fine. Great for rainy days and so much easier to vacuum!

blueguydotcom

My salesguy said the gray ones match. yeah, great, black doesn't show long term wear and dirt though.

kyfdx

I would drop by the dealer.. ask them if you can throw a set of black mats in your car from a demo. Then you'll know... My guess is that with the black dash, it should look okay.

regards,
kyfdx

brave1heart

I bought a set of high end black rubber mats from Bavarian Autosport at one point last fall but they really spoil the interior of the car so I took them out. I got the BMW carpeted mats instead - they look very luxurious and last for good 50K miles.

rgnmstr

<<<both are great cars, and IMHO the infiniti is just the better value. having said that, there is a certain exclusivity to the BMW experience>>>>

I don't know where you drive but in the Balto./Wash area BMWs are as common as Honda Accords.

gordonwd

That's one nice thing about driving any "import" brand in the Detroit area -- they are not common at all. There are so many people out where I live that work for Ford, GM, or Chrysler that visitors to the area sometimes comment on the number of American cars on the road. Right now, just going by observation, you would conclude that the Chrysler Pacifica is the best-selling vehicle in America. Talk about being "as common as Accords." :-)

blueguydotcom

<<<both are great cars, and IMHO the infiniti is just the better value. having said that, there is a certain exclusivity to the BMW experience>>>>

No exclusivity in owning a BMW in so cal. You can't swing a dead cat without scratching a bimmer's paint.

Someone mentioned the Pacifica. I've seen two of those minivan looking things since they were released. Two. Talk about a major blunder.

dogsambam

I have a 2004 325 with BMW Assist. Does anyone know if I can use a bluetooth phone in a 3 Series? If not is there something I can get to make it work? How much does it cost?

memphis10

Thanks for your offer to post the file on your ftp server. Can send me the ip/id/pwd details by email and I will post it tomorrow. My email can be found in my edmunds profile. thanks.

twoof1

Let me understand this...because you have seen only 2 Pacifica's, that makes the vehicle a blunder??

kdshapiro

No it makes it exclusive.

kyfdx

Yeah... Daewoos... they are "exclusive" also.

Daewoo parts.. even more exclusive.

shipo

I'm on the road right now (using a borrowed PC on a dial-up connection, ugh!) and for some reason I am having a problem with the web-mail interface. I'll E-Mail you tomorrow when I get home and then we'll set it up. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

gordonwd

Thanks to several who recommended going with black mats in my sand interior. I think they really set off the interior and look even better than the sand-colored mats in addition to not showing dirt so easily. With the black instrument panel and wood trim, I think it looks really nice and coordinated.

kdshapiro

I really like the sand interior. Had two previous all black vehicles and they really heated up in the sun. Sand stays much cooler.

cotmc

So the natural brown leather must be somewhere in between? Not too hot, and not too cold? ;>)

erickpl

I've been very happy with the nat brown. In the heat of the desert, ANY leather is gonna get hot. Period. Using window tint, sunshades on the windshield and parking into morning sun vs afternoon sun all help to control it a bit. Thankfully I wear pants to work in the summer so I don't get scorched.

If you wanna see the natural brown in my car, check out Webshots:
http://community.webshots.com/user/skimblz_

-Paul

diestelmeier

Hey all -- I've had my 330 Ci (Orient Blue, natural brown leather, 6 speed, sport, premium, heated seats, and 18" wheels) for just over two weeks. I really like the natural brown interior. With the wood trim, it really has a nicely integrated feel to it. The footwells and floor mats are black, complementing the black on the dash and the tunnel. I looked hard at a very similar car on a dealer's lot that lacked the premium package -- so it had the titanium trim or whatever it is -- and the interior didn't hang together well. Really glad I ordered the car instead - Mark

shipo

Mr. Memphis10 and I have conspired to provide a pretty cool video. Just click on the following link and then double click the only file in the directory. The only caution is that at this time of day (Friday evening) my cable modem seems to be more than a little slow (all of the local kiddies playing computer games), so just hang in there. ;-)

ftp://ftp.dkshipman.com/pub/

Best Regards,
Shipo

shipo

...and I checked the size of the video, 51mb. Ouch!

Best Regards,
Shipo

eagleeye3

Hello -

Waiting for my 325i (premium & sport) to arrive and trying to accomplish the little things ahead of time. I remember reading somewhere that the std exhaust that comes with the 325i was not visually pleasing and people recommended buying BMW chrome exhaust tips. Is this true? How much should I expect to pay? Are they easy to install? Please advise... Thanks

creakid1

"Let me understand this...because you have seen only 2 Pacifica's, that makes the vehicle a blunder??"

I guarantee you won't find many Pacifica near the Pacific.

Who the hell had the nerve to use such name on a dorky-looking car? Have you seen a Japanese or Australian car stylings this crude or un-finished/polished?

blueguydotcom

Let me understand this...because you have seen only 2 Pacifica's, that makes the vehicle a blunder??

Yes. I drive 90 miles a day in so cal just for work - I tend to see a wide swath of cars. Heck, this week I drove to Vegas and not a Pacifica to be seen. If you're not selling in california, the biggest car market in the US, then your product is a bust. Of course beyond that bit of simple logic is the fact mopar admitted to the Pacifica not selling when they released the decontented version and offered major incentives on it.

blueguydotcom

Someone was talking about speed limiters on Bimmers. I know for a fact my ZHP will do over 128 now.

scottlp

Wow--amazing footage. Really gives you a feel what it's like being in a racing car. Thanks!

white6

Yes, they're easy to install. Just a very firm shove; friction fit. Your dealer can sell you a pair for around $50, or you can save a little money and go through one of the major dealer websites....

shipo

Thanks! However the real thanks go to Memphis10, he is the one who came up with the video, I just provided some FTP space on my UnixWare box. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

jfedor1

I have a 2001 325i, is the shark injector worth it. My car is completely stock, but it would be nice to get a little performance increase.
The shark injector looks like and easy choice.

thanks

Josh

twoof1

I also live in so. Cal and drive about 150-200 miles a day. I not only own a Pacifica, but I see at least 3-4 a day. As per autosite.com, sales volume for March 2004 for the Pacifica was 8,552 units. Compare that to the same period sales for the X5 of 2,404 units or the new VW Toureg of 2,137 units or even the sales for the same period of 3 series which was 6,219 units and as you have stated, you can't turn a corner here in so. Cal without seeing a 3 series. Trust me, you will be seeing a lot more Pacifica's on the road.

Daimler-Chrysler's marketing has always sucked. They blew the rollout of the pacifica not because of the decontented model, but because of the fact that the initial rollout was all fully loaded models. There were no decontented models available at first.

Out of curiousity, can you point me to where you got the information you state above as "fact"?

As far as the incentives go, it worked great for me. I leased with a locked in 53% residual and a money factor of .001625 (3.9%). While the incentives hurt the buyer's resale, it only helped me get a better deal. Who cares if Chrysler is buying back my lease at the end? at the end of the lease, it's their problem.

This is not the proper forum to debate your extrememly insightful methodology of what makes a good vehicle.

Now let's get back to the regularly scheduled programming.

blueguydotcom

The only way I could see more than 1 pacifica a week - drive near a mopar dealer. Last year in april they sold 1800 of them. The last thing I read about the minivan indicated that it was in need of serious subsidies from Mopar - like all Mopar products. Apparently sales have picked up. Just haven't seen any evidence of it on the road. Maybe it's rental fleet sales?

BTW, I never said a word about the Touring Egg or the X5 - both are lousy vehicles in my opinion too.