BMW 3-Series 2006

davidd3

Thanks Shipo. I'll bear your comments in mind when re-reading the relevant section of the owner's manual tonight.

tcboi

In My opinion, the 3 series is alot better than the 5 or 7 by far. Anyone care to guess why?

shipo

Are you referring to the rain sensor? Or are you referring to the entire car?

FWIW, I noticed no difference between the operation of the rain sensors on my 3-Series and my 5-Series. As far as the entire car is concerned, I think that the E90 looks better than the E60 and E65, and with its smaller size and nominally lighter weight compared to the E60, it should be a better handler.

Best Regards,
Shipo

tcboi

Naw i mean the entire car all-together. Keep in mind my dad has one but i have been around since he's had them. Don't get mad!l lol i mean i think the 740i was the worst decision. That's my own opinion, BTW...

shipo

Regarding the 740i, I've never even ridden in one much less driven one so I cannot offer an opinion. That said, my E39 530i SP 5-Speed was the finest car I've ever owned and probably will own for some time to come.

Best Regards,
Shipo

dhanley

I've driven the 740, and if i had $70K that i had no use for, i'd probably get one. Of course, i'd have to have something more sporty besides. Maybe a z8 as long as we're dreaming?

Now, dollar-for-dollar?

dave330i

I never felt the rain sensing wipers were that slow. Even in heavy down pour. I'm sure I never turned it up to low or high. There was interval setting in the rain sensing mode. I think I pushed that up to high once.

dave330i

I haven't driven the new 740i, but I have driven the previous 740iL. It's a big car, but it handled much better than other smaller cars. It definitely handled better than wife's TL (which isn't saying much considering how poorly TL handles).

is3ooguy

In case this helps... on the stalk where the rain sensor button is, there is a up/down switch. Use that switch to adjust the sensitivity of the rain sensor. Even on the mid setting I find mine to be quite sensitive. All the way down = low sensitivity Up= highest. I'm guessing yours might be all the way down?

dave330i

When I had my 330i, I kept it at middle which was fine most of the time. The Coupe doesn't have rain sensing wipers (among other things), and rain season's about to start, so we'll see how it works out.

muck

Hey grahamman or tturedraider,
Could you send me link of the aftermarket Euro tailight. Email is on my profile. Thanks!.

pat

Better yet, let's ask them to just post the link here - that way anyone interested will see it.

corvette

I think the Z8 was more of a touring car/boulevardier than a sporty one. BBC Top Gear was really disappointed with it.

rs1157

2006 325 The Car was 3 months old

Sparkling Graphite
Automatic
Terra Leather
Luxury package
Xenon lights

My Car was pronounced dead today at a time of 11:25 AM EST. May its Car sole rest in peace. No one was injured in the accident the cars occupant(s) were uninjured, Air bag(s) deployed . Damage to the car included distroyed left fender light, radiator ant possible engine damage. In addition to add insult to injury the vehicles fron tire was ripped out of place during the towing process. The wheel was still attached to the suspension.

May its soul rest in peace. It surved me well for the short time we spent together. I will look for an exact match to replace you.

Forgive me for letting anything happen to you.

pat

Wow - glad you (and everyone involved?) are okay. Good luck with what happens next and keep us posted.

saigonboi21

first of all sorry to hear about your car rs1157 . but it's good that everyone is okay.

now...i have a question about the e90 330. I hit 1210 miles few days ago. I then did 105 and noticed something weird about the car. I felt the car kinda rumbled. Now i know i was going 105 but the max speed is like wut - 129 or so??? it was a weird feeling. I felt like the front left wheel was kinda bouncy- the floor felt stiff and was vibrating. I thought something might b wrong. Any ideas??? thanks

saigonboi21

i've done 120 in a camry before but didnt feel anything like i did in the 3. The only thing was that the Tachometer went up to like 6500rpm. So is there something wrong with my 3??

ivan_99

I’ve hit 130 in a G35 and everything felt rock solid/stable. I would expect that the 3 would be similar...if not better.

Bumpy roads? Tire out of balance? Not sure.

Nothing wrong with mentioning it to the mechanic; though I’m not sure where they’d test this out.

tturedraider

Here 'tis - http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2438

dl7265

A leather bound BMW book, containing a DVD , roadside assistance card, OC card and a BMW guide.

DL

dl7265

Sorry to hear that, Unfortunatly I saw a badly damaged SG at my center this week also. Major side intrusion.

DL

sit

I have 325 i and i have been consistently hitting 130 with no problems. It is amazing that this car is so quite and extremely solid at higher speeds.
(I have written "significant improvment" couple of days ago).
When compared to other cars beemer is absolutely superior at higher speeds. Actully i drove Acura TL and I was a bit disappointed how that car performed at higher speed particularly when road turns.
If there is nothing wrong mechanically eg If your tyres are OK, try going up on a different road higher then 105.

corvette

The tachometer in the 3 will not need to go near 6500 at 120 mph unless you are accelerating hard... Sounds like you may have a wheel that lost its weight, or is bent, or tire out of round. It's hard to say for sure without looking at it. Just tell the service center that you're having vibration at "highway speeds."

My uncle used to have a Z28, and was getting a vibration at speeds around and above 100. The first Chevrolet dealer told him they couldn't test at that speed. The second told him (without driving it) that it was probably a driveshaft. Sure enough, replacing the driveshaft fixed the problem.

dvand17

I just got my upgrades to my car. Opted out of the daytime running lights, but got the auto door lock. Also, there were some radio upgrades that occured, though I don't know what they were exactly. For the "clown nose," I asked the dealer if I could have that activated along with a confirmation noise when I locked the doors, my service center said you couldn't have that activated unless you purchased the car alarm. Were you able to have the clown nose activated on your e90?

odessit

Just got very polite email from my SA (Keeler Motor Car Company in Upstate NY) informing me that unfortunately they do not have any BMW’s as a loaner. Only those cars that the Enterprise office located on premises can offer. And last time I got decent car –G35. But is not guaranteed, Next time it can be Ford
So, I guess it varies from dealer to dealer.

dhanley

"I think the Z8 was more of a touring car/boulevardier than a sporty one. BBC Top Gear was really disappointed with it."

Ah. Well, i've never actually driven one, you see...

Z4 it is, then.

tcboi

My dad has low profile racing tires on his bmw xi and i would like to know if anyone else seen or heard of them...? i'm still 17...damnit....lol

rhmass

I recalled you posted recently that you had one of your RF tires replaced. Check out if the replacement tire was put on correctly. It was somewhat trickier to do it right with RF tires and needs correct equipments and procedures. Did you have it done at the dealer? The tire could be your problem for the slight vibration at very high speed.

odessit

I need your opinion. I am buying set of winter wheels/tires from my dealership. Yes, that’s right, not from tirerack.com. I guess the reason for it is my mentality – I’d like some peace of mind even if it costs me more (to a reasonable degree of course). So original alloy wheels and Dunlop Winter Sport will cost me 399 each set. 1600 for all four wheels/tires. Yes, more than from tirerack but I am getting OEM parts. Your opinion? Any criticism? Am I totally stupid? Or there is a hope for me?

shipo

My first question is why?

There should be no difference in the size and/or offset between factory wheels and the wheels that you will get from TireRack (or any other vendor that sells wheels for BMWs for that matter). I bought my winter set from TireRack and in the immortal words of Marisa Tomei, my wheels were a "dead on balls accurate... It's an industry term." fit for my BMW.

Maybe a better question would be to help you refine where your discomfort lies, so...
What issues are you hoping to avoid by buying factory wheels?

Best Regards,
Shipo

odessit

It’s a good question. “Where does my discomfort lie…” well… Maybe because official dimensions of wheels are 16x7.0 and tirerack website lists only 16x7.5? I am not sure how important it is though. Maybe I am trying to avoid the possibility of something goes wrong and the dealer will tell than “..but you installed non-factory equipment…” Or maybe I truly prefer to know that it is the original BMW logo on my wheels? I am a bit in love with that logo
mike

tturedraider

I wrote about this wheel/tire combo on 10/3. Its back up for auction on our favorite major online auction site. Here's the item # - 8005312231

Check it out. 3 days left, but there's also a "Buy in now". Not only wheels, but an extra set of all-season RFs.

I get nothing out of this. Just passing along info I stumbled across.

corvette

Price seems reasonable if they are 17" factory wheels, high if they are 16's.

odessit

No, they are 16’’. 325i non-sport comes originally with 16, And this is exactly the same size that I want to keep for winter.

dave330i

"No, they are 16’’. 325i non-sport comes originally with 16, And this is exactly the same size that I want to keep for winter."

Generally you want winter tire to be 1 size smaller. If your car came with 16", then winter should be 15".

kyfdx

You can't put 15" on a 3-series.. They won't clear the brakes...

dl7265

Just curious you belive $550.00 is too much for a $2800.00 set of OEM wheels and runflat tires ? One damaged wheel/tire would cost that...

I still have my take offs I have not advertised yet, But they are worth more than "moda" from tirerack..... thats my opinon and im sticking to it..
DL

dave330i

"You can't put 15" on a 3-series.. They won't clear the brakes... "

My mistake.... I was thinking of ppl with 17" going down to 16".

davidd3

I'm undecided about getting a winter tires/wheels package. I'm still weighing the hefty upfront cost and long-term inconveniences against the benefit (the limited number of days during the span of my 3 year lease that I'd wish I had a winter package).

I have a 330i with 17" all-seasons. By doing a search at tirerack.com and talking to a tirerack rep over the phone, all arrows pointed toward winter 17s. This is the first for me to hear about downsizing the winter package - getting 16s instead of 17s. Is there a consensus that it is better to go down one size? Maybe I missed that. What's the reason for downsizing? I suppose that downsizing would make my package somewhat less expensive, which would be a good thing.

shipo

It is my understanding that the E90 325i can readily accept 16" wheels (not a stretch since the non-SP version already comes that way from the factory), however, as a general statement, the E90 330i will not accept those same 16" wheels.

Having said that, the 330i has 13.0" rotors up front and 13.2" rotors in the rear, which would leave 1.4" between the outer diameter of the rotor and the outer diameter of the wheel flange. Within that 1.4" you need to cram the diameter of the wheel flange (which contains the tire bead), the structural cross section of the wheel as well as the brake caliper. Based upon that I'm thinking that while it may not be impossible to make a 16" wheel to fit the 330i, I do consider it unlikely unless some fairly exotic materials ($$$) are used for the wheels.

Long story short, even if your 330i came with 17" wheels, you most likely cannot buy a set of 16" winter wheels that will fit.

Best Regards,
Shipo

shipo

An interesting justification for a set of winter wheels and tires:

When I turned in my 530i the inspector came out to my house to evaluate the car. One of the things that he checks is the tread depth, and of my four OEM tires, I had two at 7mm, one at 6mm and one at 5mm. The minimum depth is 4mm, meaning that if you hit that mark, you need to buy new tires before you can return the car OR your friendly neighborhood BMW dealer will buy them for you, and of course pass their own profit along to you in their final bill. In my case it seems that I put just enough miles on my winter set of tires to allow me to dodge that bullet. Funny thing, a new set of rubber for that car would have been about $850 (including shipping from TireRack, more than that if I bought them locally), plus another $100 or so for mounting and balancing. Against that $950 I have my $1,007 set of winter wheels and tires, which after three seasons (and about 12,000 miles) I can still sell for an easy $500.

The fact is that if I hadn't bought the winter set, I would certainly have had to buy a new set of tires, nearly justifying the winter set based on that alone. The fact that I now have a set that I can sell, on paper at least (until I actually sell them), I've saved $443 by buying the winter wheels and tires.

Try that one out on your wife. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

Shipo is correct... as usual...

The new 330i requires 17" wheels...

regards,
kyfdx
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davidd3

Thanks, Shipo. Then winter 17s would be the best choice for a standard 330i which comes with all-season 17s. That's what I thought.

davidd3

Your point is well taken, and just last night my wife re-opened the door to discussing the winter tires/wheels package, which is why I'm back on the fence.

I am leasing my car, a standard 330i, for 3 years. I figure we'll put on about 50,000 miles. If I use a winter package for 9 months (3 winters, 3 months per year), I'll put about 37,500 miles on the all-season tires that came with the car and 12,500 miles on the winter tires. Or, perhaps I could use the winter package for 12 months (3 winters, 4 months per year), in which case I'll put about 33,000 miles on the all-season tires that came with the car and 17,000 miles on the winter tires. How many miles do you think that the original all-season tires could take before they'd have to be replaced by the 4mm rule? My wife does a lot of highway driving (perhaps 80% to 90% of the total miles would be highway miles). I'm wondering if I stand a decent chance of recouping most of my winter investment by avoiding having to purchase a second set of all-season tires before turning my car in. If it is a pay or pay later situation, I'd rather pay now and enjoy the benefits of snow tires rather than pay later for the benefit of the next owner/lessee.

dave330i

Hmmm.... on E46 you could fit a 16" on 330i. It looks like you can't on E90.

The reason for smaller size is price and better contact patch.

You can always sell your winter tire/wheels when your lease ends to offset some of the cost.

shipo

When I turned in my 1999 328i (which also had all-season tires), all four tires passed muster, however, because I never rotated them the two rear tires were borderline, while the front tires still looked nearly new. Given that your 330i does not have staggered tire sizes, you can rotate your tires (I did the OEM tires on my 530i each spring when I remounted them, and the winter tires each fall) and my bet is that they will still have at least 6 or 7 mm tread depth after 40K miles.

Your point about pay now and enjoy more secure winter driving versus pay later, to the benefit of whoever receives your car after you is exactly my feeling in the issue.

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

Even on the E46 330i, it was only certain 16" wheels that would fit.. Most wouldn't clear the brakes...

But, I agree.. You might get away without buying another set of tires before lease end.... And, you certainly can recoup part of the cost of the extra wheels...

But, the biggest thing? Your car will be a tank on winter tires... Unless the snow is over the front spoiler or side sills, you can go anywhere you want, and with confidence... that is worth the price, right there..

regards,
kyfdx
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corvette

I thought the figure was $1600 for a set of 16" OEM wheels and winter tires. I got a set of 17" non-OEM wheels and winter tires for about $1250. If I could get 17" OEM wheels with winter tires for $1600, I'd have been all over it.

lovemyclk

If saigonboi had a tire replaced, is it possible that it could be a unidirectional that was mismounted? I find that high-speed on-car balancing is necessary on a BMW. Balancing speeds are up to 120-130 MPH and the entire wheel/tire-suspension system taken into account.

hawkeye3

I occasionally unintentionally run the RPMs of my 330 up to the red line for a second or two and the limiter kicks in and stops my acceleration and I pull off the gas as soon as I realize what happened. Is this something that will damage my engine? Should I be more careful to avoid this or is it not anything to worry about?

Thanks,