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Comments
I apologize if this has been covered already, I haven't checked in for a while and I'm working my way backwards through the posts.
JK
I'm still curious for my informal poll
Tried a tester of Vinlex. Didn't work too ell as a cleaner. Don't know how well it protects.
Saw a 3.2 TL-S at Costco. Couldn't believe it was only $32k for 260hp and all the standard stuff -- 6 cd and xenons. I guess if I want to trade my 330 in 2 years I can get a new one then for almost no new money. Too bad it's fwd and bland looking.
-pb
RE: exhaust rust, my car is 2 years old and from the tailpipe to coverter there is no rust whatsoever. hope this helps.
Regards,
DL
Oh the excitement of it all!
Geez, the 16 inchers (standard) perform just fine anyhow, this is a BMW.
Was only on the Z3 model, there are no such payments made to the dealer on 3 series (except M3 which has $1,500 . Just kidding). A couple of us just got Z3 2.5s and we were discussing what were basically off topic issues. Sorry for causing that confusion.
emilyk - Well there we have it. Now I'm thinking that it comes down to, we're talking headlight insert trim here, which would best complement the overall color/option combination. This decision is made solely by the supervisor of the headlight installation station at the factory. It is entirely at his or her discretion and their decision shall be final. Except on Friday afternoons during "Oktoberfest" when all cars shall have the black trim. This is so as to avoid the accidental installation of a silver piece onto, say, a 325 car. I hope this clears everything up.
Got that ?!
I think it's in this order: Just about to go into the garage, the Mercedes service drive at sun-down and the best one of the cloth seats I could manage.
Enjoy-
...................Wow Mike. Beautiful car. Thanks for the pics.
Got that ?!
If you chose to swap the tires on your factory rims, you'd be paying for the mounting and balancing twice a year... it probably wouldn't be too many seasons before the rims paid for themselves. You'd also be saving your factory rims from the harshness of winter.
Only you know if the SP makes sense for your situation and I typically try to avoid posts dealing with subjective issues (color choices, desirable options, 325 vs 330, etc) but the sport-pack is the one item I enthusiastically recommend to everyone. Reading thousands of posts here, on bimmer.org, and on e46fanatics.com, I've never seen a post from someone who regretted getting the sport-pack, but I have seen several from people who regretted NOT getting it.
Did you put on the clears? Nice! How much? How long to install? Good fit?
Steering wheel. is it standard sport? looks thick. I have to look at the profile of mine
AM stereo: learn something everyday
Vinylex: can i get it at a kmart/walmart or do I have to get online?
Even more troubling, I've heard "whispers" that BMW's aren't quite as reliable. Am I justified to now lean towards the Acura, or am I just paranoid?
Test drove the Mercedes C240 yesterday. Was impressed except with the acceleration, I've ruled them out. the Lexus ES300 is too cramped in the back, so as they say on Weakest Link, "goodbye"
Wondering if we're really going to get our cars at the same time afterall.
As for my personal experience, I have a very early production E46 (built in December of 1998), as such if there were any design problems, I would most likely have experienced them. You will be happy to know that so far, I have only had to replace two small taillight bulbs (one on each side). I can live with that. ;-)
It is true that some people feel that BMWs do not have a reputation for reliability. In my opinion, that is ancient history. For a company to design a high-end luxury/performance car so well that even the early production models exhibit no apparent bugs is a very strong testament for BMW and their design and quality control teams. It might be true that the Acura you are considering would be even more reliable than a 3-Series, in my case, I am more than willing to change a few bulbs in exchange for driving a car (large enough for my family) that has a driving experience unrivaled by anything this side of $50,000.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The Lexus ES300 was also a great car with a more luxurious feel with its interior, but it was too much of a cruiser for me...girlfriend said I looked too damn young to be driving it. I'm unsure whether the 2002 model will keep that style or go for a more sportier model. The IS was very nimble and fun, but it should've had a manual, redid the guage layout, added a center armrest, and did away with some of the toyish style.
Actually, I never looked into an Audi A4 either...but either way, I was satisfied... no, make that ecstatic, when I test drove the 325i...I guess I really missed having a manual, too. I was smiling the whole way through the test drive. I loved the layout of the interior...and it's more spacious than I had imagined. It stops on a dime, doesn't feel like a tank around corners, enough acceleration for my daily commute, and it just looks DAMN GOOD! None of the other test drives had me feeling that I wanted to drive more! And in all, it fell nicely within my budget with the options I wanted....can't say too much about reliability until I own it for awhile, but after being on this board for awhile and talking to others who actually own one, I put my purchase request in last month...BTW, I was also concerned about reliablility, too, at that time, but BMW has come a long way with the onset of the 3-series....
Don't let me fill your head with much of my opinion...hopefully, the test drives will unclutter all that is written down in ink or on your monitor!
say, you are going for the exact same car, and put the same amount of down payment. Assume there is no differences in the loan rate (for 60months) vs lease rate (for 36months) -- that is what I got from my bank -- my calculation come up to a $100 difference on the monthly payment, leasing being cheaper.
So after 3 years, you will have saved $100*12months*3years on leasing = $3600. Starting from the 4th year, you go and lease another car for 2 years (for easy calculation later), and lets assume the lease payment comes up to be the same as your first lease. For the second lease, you'll also save $100/month. Over the course of the *first 5 years*, you'll have saved a total of $6000 ($100*12*5) from leasing... but you have to return the car.
If you had gone for financing in the beginning, and decide to sell the car after the 5th year, when you will have paid off the loan, I'd think you can sell it for more than $6000, esp for a bimmer. So, I think buying/financing is better, at least for me.
I guess I now know why I was never able to get my lease calculations to work out and just ended up buying in order to avoid getting screwed. It seems that given the leasing/tax issue in Illinois, it is very hard to justify leasing over the balloon types of programs offered at high-end dealerships. I will have to look into this further, but any thoughts from other Illinois people.
thanks,
Eddie.
Second, reliability and fit/finish issues mean different things to different people. I for one find the opinion offered above that the TL's interior looks "cheap" compared with a 3er to be bemusing at best, and hilarious at worst. Even with the upgrades that came with the E46, I have never heard this described as anything but a weakness of the 3er, never a strength. I don't think there is any body of available objective data [as opposed to anecdotal evidence offered up in a forum like this one] that doesn't have the TL as a car that is more likely to be trouble-free than any BMW, including the E46.
Having said that, to me the most important things you should be thinking about are two-fold:
-Drive both cars over the same route, if possible, and see for yourself how the total experience adds up. No one else's opinion on this topic matters except yours.
-Think about the dealers involved, from whom you will be buying and seeking service and problem-solving. AGAIN, no opinions in this forum are worth two cents if they do not take into account the quality of the business people with whom you will actually be doing business.
Finally, on the latter topic, remember that you are more likely going to need to avail yourself of the BMW dealer than the Acura dealer when it comes to problem-solving. If you have lots of confidence on that topic, then the tactile differences between the cars probably lean toward the 3er. If you have doubts, think hard...
As for problems, there actually have been quite a few for the E46, though a lot of it is old news involving things that have long since been resolved in production. The cooling fan business on the manual trans cars is actually only the latest in a long line of electronic glitches, but they tend to get resolved with reasonable speed, and again assuming you are dealing with a competent, good-faith service provider, shouldn't be a big concern.
A last thought: if you plan to keep a car a REALLY long time, like 10 years or more and in excess of 100k miles, you had better start setting aside a fair amount of change if you pick any German car over its Japanese competition. As cars get really used up, they all fail in one manner or form, but the cost to make it right gets really steep when you are dealing with BMW or MB. It's generally less expensive to run any Honda product to its life-end than anything from Munich or Stuttgart.
We went through the EXACT SAME CALCULATIONS when trying to figure out whether to finance or not.
DEJA VU!!
The only other thing we considered was purchasing "Certified New" every two to three years (assuming you could find what you wanted),
thus avoiding the instant "hit" you take when you drive off the new car lot!
NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM WITH ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!
Not even a stupid light bulb went out! I changed the oil every 3K, and kept fresh tires on it. It was totally trouble-free for all 125K miles I owned it.
Hope to have similar luck with my BMW (but not expecting too)!
1) Does not take into account time-value of money (assume you INVESTED the $100/month).
2) At the end of 5 years, you will have had almost TWO (1.67) brand-new cars while leasing, while buying yields ONE 5-year-old car -- not exactly apples-to-apples. For those who prefer to have a brand-new car every 3 years (not in and of itself a practical decision, but a popular one for auto enthusiasts), leasing makes it economically attractive and relatively painless come car-transition time.
Other reasons, such as tax deductibility for business expenses, also make leasing more financially attractive for certain individuals.
jenne, like I said..."Don't let me fill your head with much of my opinion...hopefully, the test drives will unclutter all that is written down in ink or on your monitor!"
Beyond what is said here, by the dealer, or what's written in reviews, you'll need to really sit down, find what's most important and dessriable to you about your selection, and be meticulous before and during the test drive....
Jennie The TL-S has alot more space than the 3series, performance numbers are similar and the controls is a subjective thing. Personally if I was a hard driver I would go for a stick 3Series if I was a cruiser and or needed space I would opt for the Acura. Right now for me the Acura is the family and long trip car and the 3series is the daily driver.
Yesterday in stating my preferred interior color for each exterior, I said that red with grey exterior would be my preferred choice but BMW apparently didn't agree as they didn't offer it. Seeing your entry caused me to recheck myself and I see I was wrong (obviously). So I go back to stating that red interior with Silver and Grey should look great, assuming the red isn't a bright red.
Don't cheap out! If you're not going to keep the car and "run it into the ground", then lease a new one every three years (unless you live in Illinois, sorry about that!).
Cloth interior - Your dealer will need to phone BMW distribution and, after ordering the car with a valid interior like black l'ette., have them change it to your choice. For example, I ordered mine with blk l'ette. then we phone and fax distribution with a special request, in my case changing from K6SW (blk l'ette.) to E3AT (anthracite cloth). They can also do grey and sand I believe.
Cloth sounds like the way to go for me right now, but if I don't go cloth, a Silver/Tannin or Grey/Tannin sounds good, especially so given midtowneast's description of the Tannin.
While I don't want to spend my weekends polishing this car, I'd invest a couple of days now for ease of maintenance later...Is it worth the effort?
I want to do clears for my titanium silver 330i SP, but am having a hard time justifying $280 for a purely cosmetic upgrade. I'm thinking of doing perhaps just the fronts (~$80).
Know of anyone selling a used set of clears for a sedan?
acura = japanese reliabilty/value vs.
bmw = german ride/heritage/"name recognition"
midtown, we should all be so lucky as to have one of each!