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Comments
The down side, of course, is that the WRX is ugly as heck. But still, that's a lot of performance for that price.
Motorweek airs in my area on Thursday night at 8:30, and I am looking forward to seeing this week's review of the 330xi. Anyone interested can also check out Motorweek reviews at www.motorweek.org. The 330xi review isn't up yet, and I suspect will not be until after this week's show has finished airing.
I logged average fuel consumption of 26.1 mpg - mostly highway but also a couple of hours of city driving and about 60 miles on NJ back roads. And this remarkable mileage was achieved in mostly pouring rain and/or the AC running and/or above-average speed and/or some city driving. Couple of minor complaints about the car: The windows fog up VERY easily when raining or even when it is very humid. Turning on the AC for 10 secs or so takes care of it but I found myself doing that every 5 min during pouring rain. Does anyone have any recommendations about products that prevent the windows from fogging up?? There's gotta be sth like Rain-X or one of those. The ride gets a little lumpy and noisy with the SP over grooved pavement and very uneven roads but the car still handles like a champ on any surface. My wife slept through most of the trip and she said she had not felt any discomfort even on grooved pavement and that the SP was not more uncomfortable than her old Jetta. I am fine with the ride and if my passengers are as well, I can't complain. One more thing: I was hearing a barely audible clicking noise from the seat belt tensioner on the driver's side. It was on and off and not loud enough to bother me but I'll probably have the dealer take a look at it whenever I bring the car in for service. I also have to mention that the 325i exceeded my expectation for handling on wet surface by a long shot. Even with almost an inch of standing water and going significantly faster than the rest of the traffic, the car only once or twice pulled slightly to the direction of the puddle. The tires never slipped during hard acceleration at any speed or aggressive cornering in rain. The Quattro in our A4 was impeccable in similar conditions but not enough for me to justify AWD for heavy rain alone. See, snow and/or ice might be a very different story.
Well, acceleration seems to be getting even better, the throttle response is quicker and just about everything is smoother. It's been a total of 1,500 very happy miles. I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over again.
I need a car, however, that will hold up for 120-150,000 miles. I drive 20,000 a year and want to keep the car at least 5 or 6 years. (scheduled service, oil changes, etc. aren't an issue - major repairs are).
The certified's have a 100,000 mile warranty so that's some comfort. What are everyone's thoughts?
Oil change: don't worry about it. Just bring the car in for service when the number approaches zero.
Kleen Wheels: I think Alp has a good system going on. Mine is primitive: I bought a natural bristle 3" paint brush and I brush off the wheels once a week. Takes just a couple of minutes and it works fine for me.
2. The seatbelt tensioner ticking noise is well known from previous posts here (I think) and on bimmer.org. There doesn't seem to be a clear solution, because replaced tensioners made same noise. Mine does it too, but I don't really notice it anymore unless I "try" to hear it.
I think a lot of people who complain about BMW's being fussy high mileage cars do it for a few specific reasons:
dave
Depending on when it went 112, it will be a finished car in 1-2 weeks!
Has anyone pealed off the airbag stickers on the visors? I think I'm taking those off too.
You also get to ask the next trivia question. Do I see corporate sponsors lining up to fund the winners?
Funny you should mention that the 3-series pulls fast. You know, I still can't gauge how fast I'm pulling away in this car sometimes. I know I'd downshift it and punch it at speed and then I look in the mirror five secs later - everything's smooth, all right - and the car that was on my tail is like 7-8 car lengths behind me. It must be faster than it feels or I wouldn't know how to explain the fact that I gain ground so fast w/o really feeling it in my stomach.
Can you please check on the status of my car? It's the 330 xi, 5 sp, black/black, PP, SP, CWP, X, CD going to Freeport, NY. I ordered it 4 weeks ago and it's still "on order." Even if the car is in 112 status, does it still say "on order" on Owner's Circle?
Thanks
THANKS Mike!!! Finally some progress! DO you think there is ANY chance I can take delivery in June before the 5.9% financing expires?
Roc - Since we ordered week 25 cars on the same exact day and mine just went 112, I am crossing my fingers that your has too!! We've been together on this from day one, so I hope we can take delivery at the same time.
According to what I have read, the 330 delivers 90% of its max torque (which is 214 ft/lbs) at 1500 rpm, reaches peak torque at 3500 rpms, and keeps delivering peak torque through 4500 rpms. I am not sure how torque drops after 4500 on the 330, and I am not sure how different your 325 and 323 would be in terms of overall torque delivery.
As you both know, the torque band I just described is incredibly broad. It allows one to use higher gears earlier for better gas mileage, but also allows one to use lower gears at higher revs for better acceleration.
Thoughts?
I think it has to be 150 to move to the next stage on the website.
Also, keep an eye out for the Motorweek review of the 330xi. According to lewparker, they rate the 330xi at 6.2 seconds in the 0-60, which is a full half second faster than I have seen anywhere else, and faster even than the 330i. Apparently they say that better traction off the line gives the xi the edge.
Actually, come to think of it, MotorTrend rated the 330xi at 5.8 seconds a few weeks back, but I had written it off as a typo. Hmmm....
For stocks, if you're starting out I would recommend index funds. Vanguard has a host of funds that can suit any investment goal. Investing decisions should be made based on your investing time frame. If you have a long-term goal, invest in something fairly aggresive like Vanguards Index Growth fund. I would avoid individual stocks or the Nasdaq index until you have a few well diversified indexed mutual funds. Then you can have some fun by investing in individual stocks. FWIW, that's the approach that I've taken and I've been fairly successful, although I can't say I've bested the S&P500. Since I'm investing for my retirement, I'm not interested in beating the S&P, as long as I keep pace I'll be in good shape in the end.
I also think it's not a real good idea to try to predict what's going to happen in the stock market or the economy at large in the next 6 months or year or whatever. There have been people trying that approach forever and very few ever succeed. IMHO, the concept of dollar cost averaging is the best approach for long term growth. Invest for the long term and don't worry about what's happening this year or next.
Back on topic:
My boat docks today and the car should be at the dealer by the end of this week, or early next week! I spent a couple of hours clearing out a space in my garage for the car this w/e, I can't hardly believe that by this time next week I should be driving a brand new bimmer - what a thrill that's going to be!
At 8%, this is not particularly cheap money. My mortgage and my cars have significantly lower rates. Thus, if one feels inclined to pay down debt, student loans are a good place to look (assuming that the person has already paid off any and all credit card debts).
Of course, it is important to remember that one can get a return of at least 10% on some investments with very low risk. Municipal bonds, for example, routinely deliver returns in this range with very very low risk. This return would more than offset the interest one is paying on student loans, and would be a net positive to your bottom line.
I think one benefit to paying off debt that some people don't necessarily take into account is monthly cash flow. Basically, for me, it comes down to this. If I can get a big year end bonus that will allow me to pay off a loan in entirety -- thus removing that loan from my list of payments I have to make every month -- I consider doing it. I have done this a few times since I graduated from law school. Such a move creates an immediate benefit to my monthly cash flow, which allows me to direct my resources with greater flexibility.
On the other hand, simply throwing an extra $100 per month at a loan strikes me as spitting in the wind. Doesn't change your monthly payment obligation, and that money would have yielded a better return if it had been invested.
All IMHO.
I am realy hoping I can take delivery by or before June 30 to take advantage of the 5.9% financing.
Also, if most of our driving is in slow city traffic does it make more sense to get a BMW in the Steptronic--how much of the BMW experience do you sacrifice?
I appreciate any input you may all have on these questions. Thanks.
I'm not sure when Motorweek is on in NY, but I would have loved to have seen them review the 330xi. The talk that the 330xi is faster than a 330i is hard to believe (except in 6 inches of snow) because it weighs 200 lbs more, but it's a nice thought.
Even if the cars are on 112 as of Sunday or Monday, from what I've read on this board, the cars stay in 112 for 5-7 days before moving onto 150. It takes about a week to build the car and usually sits on the docks for another few days to a week to be picked up. Then shipping from Germany to the port in NJ should take another 2 weeks or so and another few days for prep and delivery. So at the very earliest I estimate our delivery to be the final days of June, but more likely first or second week of July.
Until I get delivery I will go on a hunger stike.
As a consequence I went with a 330xi sedan. I think it was fully worth the extra few grand I spent on it. However, Braveheart has in the past made the good observation that if you're going for a sedan without AWD, the 325i is plenty quick.
Funny how a few hundred extra pounds makes that much of a difference.
Hello my friend, glad you had a great trip to my neck of the woods. After getting a dose of the roads in the NYC metro area, you can see why I opted not to get the SP on my 328i. As for the seat belt tensioner, I too have heard the very tiny Click, Click, Click. While I have never taken apart a BMW tensioner, I have looked at the one that MB puts on their cars, and it is my GUESS that the pendulum that is used to sense motion is what we are hearing when on bumpy roads. Maybe the GURU or somebody who works for BMW can enlighten us further.
Jmochel1,
I have a 1999 328i and I would not be at all concerned about it being able to achieve WELL over 100K miles.
Sierra58,
My how times have changed, you are asking if a 325xi wagon might be considered underpowered. In 1982, I bought one of the original Audi Quattro's. This is a car that the press was simply goofy over, they were totally impressed by the power, traction and overall performance. That car had a turbo-charged 2.2 liter 5 cylinder engine that put out a (then) astounding 150HP.
Best Regards,
Shipo
My car is also on the ship Tellus, due to arrive in Charleston on 5/31. Also being delivered to MOSS Motors (c/o Richard Foard).
FYI, Richard mentioned to me that the time from ship to dealer could vary anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks. All depends on how quick they get processed, preped, etc. The transport people have been moving quicker lately, after several dealerships complained that "sold cars" were sitting in Charleston way too long. Probably as a result, a couple weeks ago Richard received a vehicle 3 DAYS after arriving in port! Keep your fingers crossed.
Curious. How do you plan to get to Lafayette?
Figure 10 days for construction and to get on a ship.
Figure 15 days on the boat.
Figure 3 days to get from the terminal to my dealership in MD.
It sounds to me like I have a long shot chance of getting this baby delivered on or before June 30.
Crossing my fingers...
http://www.e46fanatics.com/faq/
3. I would recommend against ANY mutual funds, including index funds. This is the easiest way to underperform. Mutual funds typically charge annual fees, they impose withdrawal restrictions/penalties, and many other fees. Worst off, managers' hands are tied because they have to invest pretty much all the proceeds into the fund and they cannot play the short side or hedge their risk efficiently like a hedge fund. Most of you probably know that 2/3 of all fund managers cannot beat their benchmark index on an average year. See, it's a zero-sum game - if 2/3 of them are doing worse than the index, then somebody must be doing better than the index and it ain't the mutual funds. I agree that for the average investor, sticking with the indices is smart but that's why they invented tracking securities like the Nasdaq 100 QQQ's and the S&P500 SPY's, which are a lot more liquid than a mutual fund and the fees are typically lower ($10-20 for the transaction only)
4. You've been reading Peter Lynch too much. That's what I call the Camry approach (boring but it works pretty well for the masses). His major point is, just keep averaging and think 30years down the road; don't get caught up in the short term. See, reality is, 30 years down the road, the size of you retirement portfolio would vary widely based on whether you got in at Nasdaq 5,000 a year ago or if you got in at Nasdaq 1,600 two months ago. Timing is everything; don't let mutual fund managers fool you. The problem with timing is that it's impossible for MOST people to time the market. That's why you have to go with those who can and who have consistently done it (Jim Cramer from the street.com, Bill Meehan, and especially Don Hays as of late). Again, if you are not interested in doing research and you just want it safe, buy QQQ and SPY and vary the allocations depending on how aggressive you want to be. But please, do yourself a favor and don't buy mutual funds - you really don't need to subsidize that 25-year old portfolio manager's M5.
5. "I'm not interested in beating the S&P"?!?!? No comment but at least you know why I am very skeptical about accountants' investment advice. My best man is a CMA and we've had all these conversations. He's so focused on managing his taxes that he typically misses the big investment picture.
I try to not make the love of money a priority in my life.
Just my .02
what is yout business backround? your argument against mutuals was very persuasive. after paying taxes on my fund losses last year i will think very seriously about the tracking stocks. but isn't a problem that the nas still has crappy .coms in it? Also for 401k mutuals won't get taxed.
BTW, not sure why NJ is the butt of jokes when it comes to states but I gotta tell you, half the characters you see at gas stations look like taken right from the Sopranos cast. "Tony, I'm dying ovah heah"... Lots of hair gel and the whole nine yards. We stayed at a friends' house in Florham Park on Sunday - very nice area. Not sure what town you live in but I hope I'll have the opportunity to meet you some day and shake your hand. Well, both our frinds are around 55 years old and drive BMW's - one of them is an ED '98 528 and the other one is a '97 328is SP. They are really happy with them. Oh, almost forgot to mention that I avoided sth like 12 speed traps on our way back to Boston. I don't use a radar detector - I think common sense works better but it was like Big Brother Watching - typical long weekend driving.