Smoked Topaz 3 Series Wagon
 

It's kind of a weird color. And this has to be close to full price when new, no? Perhaps not.

Good thing I'm not ready to do something stupid yet, though, because other than the color palette and no manual transmission, it has great specs.

https://www.bmwofridgefield.com/inve...8k3c58ja483879

I like the color and there's no chance for a manual on that car anyway. Keep an eye on it and see if it sits a bit so you have some negotiating leverage on price.

It has the track handling package brakes & wheels (as on my f30). I really like those brakes, best I've ever had on a bmw.

Price is super high, but tasty combo... I drove the "30i" 4-cyl in the new 3-series launch. It was quite peppy paired with the 8-speed.

That price seems really high to me but that car is really loaded with expensive options.

In the first picture I thought it was an X3 ... that exterior color is cool and I really like the interior.

Wow- very interesting spec. Very rare to see leather wrapped dash on a 3 series (also strange that there's no corresponding option listed on the dealers website- maybe it came automatically as part of ordering the paint?). Seems like the kind of car you spec and buy with a plan to keep it long term- wonder why the owner traded it in so fast. I guess it could've been a lease, but somehow doubt it given the effort put into speccing it and the longer time required to order an individual car.

I'm less enthused with f30 suspension/steering (even with the THP) but it is what we have these days. Comfortable, but a bit on the remote/soft side.

Just looked at the one image on the dealer website that shows the original price. $71k! :eek:

Once upon a time, Terry had one of the most expensive e46 wagons in the country... This must be some sort of sequel. Ridgefield is a nice area, Ed is around the corner.

It was a lease, so you have to question how much it leased for with that spec...Frankly, the specs are not far off from what I have now. This has the MPE, though. And of course, the crazy colors. We have Oyster in the X5, and it is for sure high maintenance. Looks nice when clean though, and cheery in the cabin. Not very compatible with teenage boys and dogs, however.

Carfax says it was a lease. Strange. Perhaps an executive car? But usually, they say that. Leased in Quakertown, Pa., for a year and a half, which is also strange...https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistor...8K3C58JA483879

This entry in the CarFax is interesting: "Vehicle Manufacturer Pennsylvania"

01/27/2020
17,390
Auto Auction
Pennsylvania
Vehicle sold

01/30/2020
Vehicle Manufacturer
Pennsylvania
Vehicle sold

02/05/2020
BMW Certified Dealer
Ridgefield, CT
Offered for sale as a
- BMW Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle


Hmmm:
BMW of North America's Corporate Headquarters is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Its Eastern Regional Headquarters and Technical Training Center is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. A Vehicle Preparation Center is in Port Jersey, NJ and a Regional Distribution Center is in Nazareth, PA.

That’s exactly the kind of car you lease because otherwise you’d lose your shirt on resale value with all of those options! Also, BMW had really strong lease programs on wagons in the last year or two so it was probably reasonably cheap. Quite pricey right now though!

Yes, it certainly is. Interesting about the incentives.

So, my research is strongly suggesting it was an executive lease for one of the BMW folks at the Lower Nazareth RDC...Bet they got an even sweeter lease deal, and that may also account for the shorter than usual lease term...

Makes sense. Possibly a dealership employee?

Good point. I woudln't surprised if this is the highest MSRP 4 cylinder 3 series they ever sold in the US.

Way back in 1988 I bought a car with a similar past. The car I bought was my (loaded to the gills) 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z. The car had been ordered, and first "leased" to a Dodge Service Rep (drove around to dealers in his service area, working on warranty claims that needed higher up approval)

This might be some exec's car. Back then, Dodge would only allow 4-5K miles on them, then they were sold as "executive demo's"

Seems like they'd have to know how to pull some company strings to get all the special options--not just the special order color, but as Rob points out, that leather-wrapped dash. If my life weren't so complicated right now, I'd just say WTF and buy the thing.

Yeah, my Daytona had a factory installed alarm AND DISABLE kit that was not able to be purchased (yet) I worked at a Dodge dealer when I bought it, and the alarm kit was offered for sale about 5 months after I bought my "used" new car. It also had an in dash AM/FM Cassette player w/EQ, and a console mounted CD changer (also something that was "new" for Dodge, their first CD changer).

Pretty sure when I sold the car I forgot to unload the CD changer, had jewel cases for 5 "missing" CD's

I quickly read this as "5 missing Jewel CDs" and thought, oh the poor person that bought the car from you and turned on the radio for the first time.

Not sure if the expanded "many-corn" trend will continue, but with BaT and all resale might not be too bad on this down the road... All depends if BMW reintroduces wagons to the line up.

It seems like something Enthusiast should snap up.

Terry should buy it!

Yeah- it's definitely a worthy successor to his e46.

Absolutely! His new spine will thank him for it.

automatic and awd you might as well get a X3 but I guess that is just me.

Tippy tippy tippy. I don't like the X3 at all.

Ha. Didn't find the x3 particularly tippy in normal driving - the main reason i'd get this over an x3 is that it looks much cooler.

I much prefer wagons. And I have 150 lbs-worth of dogs to haul around (one dog is getting up there in years)--that is much easier done in a wagon.

I also agree the wagon is much cooler looking. This one of the best looking wagons BMW has done in recent years.

While the THP is not perfect, I can't imagine owning an f30 without it. It's the new ZSP. There is no OEM passive suspension option for xdrives in any case. This all started with the adaptive suspension option on the 335i xdrive that Sarafil noted some years ago, and the THP pretty much tweaks/continues that while adding brakes. I wish it didn't mean loss of fog lights.

Another thing I'd watch on an f30 are the headlights. I'm unhappy with the base LED headlights' illumination. The adaptive option is supposed to help, but I'm not sure if it will be enough. Any bixenon 3er or 5er had better illumination. Even the halogen ones, you could ameliorate with 65W bulbs or HID swaps. There is nothing you can do to the 340i base headlight and it's my biggest complaint on the car.

The X3 is definitely dramatically worse to drive than the F30. Both are pretty bad.

[Answering various posts]

Mine may or may not have been the most expensive E46 wagon, but was told by BMWNA that it was the highest-optioned one they ever sold in the US, and that was before I added all of the unobtainium options (the Individual wood, power folding mirrors, lumbar support, TV that only gets analog channels, yadda-yadda). In fact, when I was talking to Tom Purves once, he said "Oh, you're the person with that one" :lol:

I still have that car and don't have any plans to get rid of it, just keep feeding it front CV joints as a regular diet. :rolleyes: I also don't like the newer wagon designs where the roof drops down toward the rear. The whole point of a wagon is to have lots of room in the back, particularly right at the hatch.

The older BMWs were a lot more user-modifiable - you could take control of the management bus and do things. That's the way the Phatbox works (although it pretends to be a CD changer), but I've also added the Stealth One (integrates the V1 with the nav display) and a gizmo of my own design that reads the rain sensor and if the car was left parked with any window or sunroof open and it starts to rain, it will chirp the alarm once (to let anyone with their arm on the window know things are about to happen), then raise the windows(s) and chirp and cycle that window continuously (well, 10 tries, don't want to burn out the window regulator) if the window pinch sensor detects an obstruction while raising the window. Let's see, what else? The side view mirrors will power fold in if the valet key was in the ignition and the car was turned off. There's a USB port in the trunk which will register on the PC as a compound device called "Terry's BMW" and I have a Windows app (probably need to rebuild it for Windows 7/10 - I haven't used it in a while) that lets me do pretty much all dealer coding functions.

The only thing I miss is BMW's / aftermarket's failure to produce updated navigation DVDs. Since the CarinDB format has been cracked, I could probably take any current Teleatlas map and convert it, but it hasn't been annoying enough (yet) to deal with it.

Regarding the nav system, what about installing one of those aftermarket android based systems that mimics the look of the oem “widescreen” version ?



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Had a nice long reply typed but keyboard slipped and a single ESC wiped it. I fucking hate web browser designers.

Might post a new reply later.

ugh- that sucks.

I could not live with that color.

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...php?p=23565439

some more pics of it in this thread.

Yeah. Not really sure about it. I kind of love it and hate it all at the same time.

Great find. Thanks!

Edit: Apparently same dude had an M3 in that color...

It's a cool color, if you like brown. Which I do.

Price lowered by $1,000. Still too pricey, IMO.

https://www.bmwofridgefield.com/inve...8k3c58ja483879

Something else that gives me pause is how much rain we've had this season and last in Atlanta. We are FAR rainier in inches than Seattle. And it doesn't just sprinkle and mist--it's always a a deluge with surface street flooding. And, because the whole city is ringed by the Chattahoochee and its creeks and other tributaries, there is a ton of flooding.

Makes me think another low-riding car is not the best choice addition to the fleet. Good for dog hauling/bad for clearance and weather.

This is why I keep an eye on the SUV deals as well...

How deep are the waters you cross? The xdrive is more than fine in bad weather. You also pay the SUV penalty with mpg, ride, handling, weight, everything... A light wagon is a much nicer drive than an SUV. A 3er is a nicer drive than a 5er or an a6.