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Comments
Sounds like a classic win-win situation to me - the kids learn some important stuff and BMW makes future customers. The article says they use 3-Series coupes and sedans.
Pat
Host
Sedans and Women's Auto Center Message Boards
jnscheong
a 2 month wait.
Has anmyone tried the Zymol line of products? I just recieved the starter pack today and they had shipped me the pack for dark colors and when I called them and told them that my car was silver and that I had ordered the pack for light colors they said that the dark would work for silver too.
Hmm...doesn't really make sense to me.
Has anyone tried the dark color pack on a silver paintjob?
Also has anyone noticed that with the steptronic in manual, the car starts off in second gear and not first?
Another interesting point about the Step: in a manual tranny, you can instantly tell what gear you're in by the feel of the shifter's position in your hand -- WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road. With the Step, on occasion I will forget what gear I'm in (although most of the time I'm in the proper gear matched to speed). In order to verify, because the shifter is in the same position regardless of gear, you must take your eyes OFF the road to glance at the readout. Another subtle nuance of the Step, but worth pointing out...
Brave1Heart - No, they wouldn't call it an Acura if they sold it here unless they didn't call it an Accord. This would not be unfeasible as the Europe Accord is, in fact, a totally different vehicle than the US car (platform, suspension, engine etc). It most likely would be a Honda (as should all of the "Acura" cars) Accord. It would clash with the TL type S, but complement the Accord line with, in true Honda fashion, a hot "Type R" model. I can't believe they haven't done it already. You'd have thought a car maker like Honda would have noticed, during their drive to and from work, how many "slammed", spoilered, big wheeled and tuned Accords there are driving around and that might represent a good marketing opportunity. Anyway, at least I feel better knowing that none of them do 7.0 to sixty !!!
goody4 - drag's use an auto tranny for totally different reasons than you suggested by way of your comparison. They're usually one or two speed 'boxes as the power is delivered rather differently than on a road car.
am I starting to be a troll?
Brave1Heart - (sorry, again)... The Getrag 6 speed transmission in a 540i is a more expensive piece of equipment than the ZF 5 speed auto box. Hence the higher price. Remember also that the stick shift has the sport package as standard, a $2,800 option on the auto.
Would you happen to know if you are going at 55 mph and you stepped on the gas so that you go into kick down mode. What gear is the kick down mode? I did a bad bad thing lastnight. My car has 1050 miles on it and I raced an Audi A4. I went into kickdown mode and the rpms actually hit above 6000. Engine did not cut out.
I hope I didn't hurt the engine. It was a silly spur of the moment thing.
I'd also be happy to meet up with any other Austinites for a beer, picknick, whatever.
Can't wait to get my car...hopeing by the end of June.
*crosses fingers*
Best Regards,
Shipo
http://www.bavauto.com/hid/hid.html
GOLFNUT7 :I took a nice drive thru the Ozarks last summer and must say MO has some of the greatest twisties around allbeit dangerous as welll.... enjoy the ride
ALARM: i would recommed to you guys getting LO -JACK instead, of course it wont help for just a break in ....
325i-330i debate, in Dallas traffic real life driving id invest the extra 5k , cause u arent going anywhere fast anyhow ....
AARON330I : WHAT A FRIENDLY INVITE KEEP US INFORMED MAYBE ILL HEAD DOWN THERE ...
OH one more rant, while we are comparing 325-330 its funny the 3 series is allways called sport and the C class MB lux, after driving a C320 , id say my lowely 323i felt more powerful and really more lux with full leather not "partial " and the fact that in the C u can't even get a in-dash CD player , what is Lux about having to go to the trunk to play a CD ????? folks i think we win on both account's
Regards
DL
fast slow fast fast slow .........POE
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MANUALS
Optimizing 0-60mph or 1/4-mile runs requires the driver to be able to modulate the throttle, clutch, tires, and surface to achieve the best launch possible. Too many rpms and popping the clutch may result in excess wheel spin, costing precious 0.1's at the line. Too much "clutch spin" and too little rpm's, on the other hand, may result in unused friction potential between tires and road being left at the line. It's a fine balance, and even shifts carry some amount of variation, though not as much as at the critical launch. Many variables, much driver subjectivity.
==========================
This makes perfect sense to me. I think this point is what lies behind the vastly different times quoted in different publications on the 0-60 times for the 330i and the 330xi.
I suspect that one can rev higher and drop the clutch more aggressively in an AWD 330xi (as compared to a RWD 330i) without significant wheel spin, because the torque is being delivered to four rather than two wheels. I believe this explains the better 0-60 times quoted in MotorWeek and Motor Trend for the 330xi (6.2 and 5.8 seconds, respectively) than for the 330i. Both publications seemed to confirm this as well.
For $1,450 I'd hope it's not that
"only what the body touches" BS...
Thoughts on Sport Package:
The coupes come standard with the sport
suspension and sport steering wheel. The
seats and wheels, while nice are not a necessity
for me. Instead I took that $1000 and added the
Xenon and alarm. If the suspension was not standard I would most definitely have taken the SP. I'm 5'10" and in shape, but the sport seats actually felt a little restricting for me. Also, I have seen one or two year old cars where the side bolsters look completely worn.
The above is only my opinion...
Has anyone considered adding the BMW phone? I know it's much safer, but kind of $$$...
My real beef here is with BMWNA. Under the circumstances, I thought it would be reasonable for them to at least move production up so that I would not have to wait 6 months (original order in January, until July for delivery of second car). I thought this was the least BMW could do in light of the fact that they KNEW about the fan problem, didn't do anything about it, didn't tell dealers about it, and then sold cars with these problems to the unsuspecting public.
The customer service folks at BMWNA (including a "supervisor") said, "We never move production up, and there is NOTHING we can do for you." Hell, they didn't even offer to send me a hat or a shirt for my trouble! And remember, it isn't the dealer who produced the vehicle, while knowing about the fan problem and not saying anything about it. Sounds like something Chrysler would do.
I guess my question to all of you out there is this: Should we be concerned about BMW's apparent lack of concern for its customers? What if something else happens down the road and the dealer is not as willing to handle the problems?
Just curious....what do you think?
There's quite a lot of bimmers here in Montreal but come to think of it now, I don't see many of them in the heart of the winter.
I've never owned a bimmer. My current car, coming off lease, is an Audi A4 AWD (with all season tires).
An alternative might be to propose accepting a vehicle that is currently available. Would you be willing to accept a similar or even maybe upgraded model?
Just a suggestion.
The ad (maco, dag, whatevever)fee you paid is legit as well, and is added if you purchased in a major/metro market...
Too late to ask for mats and locks? Never too late to ask for anything. Tell 'em you assumed the deal included mats or something. I think most all dealers offer to throw them in. THe mats are around $80, and the locks are $25ish, so we're talking about $100....worth a shot!
I can appreciate your dilemma. I agonized over whether to pull the trigger on a 330xi. Loaded with options, a 330xi will cost almost US$40K before taxes. I decided that it was worth it.
I can tell you that I would not look forward to a Quebec winter with a RWD car.
off of list. There are three BMW dealers within a 30 min drive and all offered the same discount.
I've also been thinking about usable HP for everyday driving. It seems that there are a lot of new cars coming out with some dizzying levels of HP: 240 HP in the Altima, 270 or so coming up from the WRX and about the same from the Mitsubishi Lancer to name a few. It's all good stuff. I like seeing vehicles like that much more than those waste-of-space, butt-ugly gas guzzling vans turned SUVs like the Excursion. As far as usable HP for everyday driving, to me at least, any car that has a 0-60 time in the range of 5.5-7.5 secs is reasonably fast. Anything over this range would be too slow for my taste and anything faster that that is overkill when it comes to everyday driving. Track driving would be a different story. In everyday driving, any car that has a power-to-weight ratio that allows it to accelerate in the above range is sufficient. You can get to triple-digit speed territory reasonably fast in a car like that and I would not recommend that to anyone that cares about their license anyway.
OK, it's dinner time. Thank you for attending the daily affirmation with Brave Heart.
koala - winter tires are better than awd. i'm in boston and got the 325i sp. if i were you, i'd get the 325i or 330i rwd and put in snows from november till april or so. keep in mind that you can only fit in 17" over the 330's brakes and those snows are a lot more expensive. with the 325, you can fit in 16" wheels over the brakes. one thing to keep in mind is that both the 325i and 330i sp have a pretty low ground clearance. their non-sp and esp. awd counterparts are higher and you should consider their ground clearance if you drive in deep snow a lot. good luck - whatever you choose, the 3-series is a great car and i think you'll be fine with either awd or rwd and snows.
faq - good point - it's first-come first-serve and the bravest wins
Although the following article has been decried and roundly criticized by many of our fellow posters, I will provide it for your reading pleasure. Take it for what it's worth.
http://www.aacbg.com/firstlook/textreviews/2001330if.htm
I recognize that there are disparate viewpoints on this subject, but I thought Koala should read this article. That said, I did qualify the link with a "take it for what it's worth," and I made sure to inform the reader that other posters have criticized it. Fair enough?
as far as winter driving experience, i routinely used to go 20 mph faster than the rest of the traffic in heavy snow with my jetta vr6. more to the point about rwds and snow: my wife had a used rwd nissan 240sx for at least two winters in new york city commuting 30 miles each way every day and she was fine. it was a manual, it din't even have electronic stability and the tires were just all-season and not nearly brand-new. she's just an average driver, i wouldn't rate her higher than that and she wouldn't fight me about that (she's laughing right now sitting next to me here). she wants me to mention that she did spin 180 degrees a couple of times but she was ok. i really think the 3-series would be fine, esp. with all-season/snow tires and electronic stability. but again, awd allows you not to have to be so careful accelerating and it can get you out of trouble more easily in corners if you start sliding.