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BMW 3-Series Maintenance and Repair

5349 messages,  Last post on Apr 30, 2013 at 3:31 PM

You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 160 of 535

#1589 of 5349 Re: Yes... [kyfdx] by shipo

Feb 24, 2005 (12:04 pm)

Replying to: kyfdx (Feb 24, 2005 11:22 am)
My other option was to rent a BMW and really wring it out..."
 
Hmmm, well sort of. Back when I worked for MB-USA, I was for a time shuttling back and forth between Montvale and Stuttgart every month (one month here, one month there, and with a pregnant wife no less), I had the opportunity to rent lots of cars in Germany. Yeah, yeah, I can hear what you're saying, "What? Working for Mercedes-Benz and you needed to rent a car? What's up with that?" Well, as a consultant, I was not able to use a company car (insurance reasons), so I rented instead. The problem is that rentals with any kind of decent performance are prohibitively expensive (at least they were 8 years ago). In the end I usually wound up with something like a 318i, which was kind of embarrassing pulling into the MB lot with all of that high end iron.
 
Funny story; in the fall of 1996, a friend of mine (Klaus) and I drove a rental 318i of mine down to Lago di Garda, Italy for a weekend of mountain biking in the Alps. On the way back (very early Monday morning, rushing to get back to Stuttgart in time for work) I was driving north out of Austria toward Ulm. I had the 318i flat out in the left lane passing a line of cars while climbing a long grade (I'm sure that even with the grade we were moving at something north of 100 mph), when I checked my mirror. A kilometer or so back I saw a vehicle catching me fairly quickly, and while I was estimating whether I had time to finish passing the line of cars, it flashed me to get out of the way. Fair enough, I moved to the right only to be blown away by nothing less than a "Chrysler Caravan" doing an easy 130 mph (remember, we were climbing a grade)!
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#1590 of 5349 Re: Yes... [shipo] by kyfdx HOST

Feb 24, 2005 (1:05 pm)

Replying to: shipo (Feb 24, 2005 12:04 pm)
You don't have to go to Germany to see idiots like that...
 
I was going through the mountains on I-40 between Knoxville and Asheville...
 
Driving my 911 at a nice leisurely pace of 90 MPH.. very curvy for an interstate there.. cutting through the mountains.... Easy for the 911, but you could definitely feel the G-forces..
 
And, a Pontiac Transport minivan just blows by me on a curve.. doing about 100, rolled all the way over as far as the springs would go... I was amazed.. Even in our Accord, I wouldn't go over 75 through there...
 
And, as I'm sure you are aware.. those speed limits are for all the other idiots, not me...

#1591 of 5349 Shipo - 530 to 330 by robopop

Feb 24, 2005 (3:05 pm)

Replying to: shipo (Feb 24, 2005 10:50 am)
Shipo, I was wondering about your reasoning for going from the 530 to the 330 next year. I have a '01 530 and am thinking of doing the same "downgrade". My reasons center on the fact that the 330 is upgraded in size to approximate the 530 of our vintage and the styling of the new 330 is far closer to our 530. Any other thoughts you might have or anyone else out there. Also do you have any info on the relative quietness of the new 330 vis-a-vis our 530s?

#1594 of 5349 Re: Shipo - 530 to 330 [robopop] by shipo

Feb 24, 2005 (4:09 pm)

Replying to: robopop (Feb 24, 2005 3:05 pm)
Hmmm, from break-in procedures to high speed stability to opting for an E90 instead of an E60 after having an E39. Yikes, thread creap is officially here.
 
So, before Pat gets after us, I think I'll answer you over on the 2006 BMW 3-series disscussion.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#1595 of 5349 Fair lease pricing for 325i by loco1

Feb 24, 2005 (5:34 pm)

I have spoken w/ four dealerships in my goegraphic area (Washington, DC metro area) to try to get the best lease deal possible on a 325i. Here's my criteria for the car:
1. Premium package
2. Heated seats
3. Automatic transmission
4. 15,000 annual mileage allowance
5. 3 year loan
6. $0 down payment
 
The best deal quoted to me so far is: $400/mo. on an MSRP of $34,545 w/ a selling price of $32,430 ($500 above invoice which is $32,930). Should I go w/ this price? I floated this mo. rate by two other dealers and they refused to match it so I am assuming that this is as good as it gets. How can I be sure? Also, I have not yet been to the dealer in person. Is there anything that I should be careful about checking into when I get there to avoid extra hidden costs that may bump up the monthly rate?

#1596 of 5349 loco by dhanley

Feb 24, 2005 (9:02 pm)

there's a prices paid topic just for this sort of thing

#1597 of 5349 Re: Fair lease pricing for 325i [loco1] by kyfdx HOST

Feb 25, 2005 (8:25 am)

Replying to: loco1 (Feb 24, 2005 5:34 pm)
loco...
 
Post it here.. and we'll take a shot at it..
 
chipcollector, "BMW 3-Series: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" #3038, 25 Feb 2005 9:41 am

#1598 of 5349 Re: My reverse gear no long works [bmwgjs] by rvt

Feb 26, 2005 (11:35 am)

Replying to: bmwgjs (Jul 12, 2004 2:37 pm)
Hello. I too have a 2000 BMW 323i, only 43000 miles on it. My reverse gear stopped working just recently. It happened overnight. Right now I have it at the dealer and I was just informed that I will need a new transmission. Very expensive. What was the outcome of your experience?
 
Thanks.

Messages Page 160 of 535

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