Test drove an e90 today

[lemming]

Originally Posted by JST

Not in the near term, though there is always the aftermarket. And, as Sharp11 says, xDrive is an option, too, though that has some handling and weight penalties.

Bizarrely, I still haven't driven the 335 in serious snow, despite spending several days in Northeast Ohio where you can usually count on a good dumping, so I can't provide any thoughts on its all-weather capabilities.

i dunno.

i've gotten stranded by DSC on the CTS-V with snows --i'm dubious that BMW's implementation of DSC is any better and doesn't shut down power completely in slush/ice/snow mixes.

snow tires and RWD are usually fine when the plows have been by several times. sometimes, though, you're stuck on the roads and there's so much traffic the plows can't clear the roads. and that's when it really hits you that electronic nannies are poor substitutes for mechanical LSD units.

believe it or not, that's a deal breaker for me in a RWD car with decent torque. i'd skip AWD simply because it adds weight and complexity where you could get by fine with an LSD and snow tires.

[Jeff_DML]

rwg, congrats on the purchase. Which dealer did you go with? also if you dont mind what kind of deal did you get from them, pm if you dont want to post.

thanks

[equ]

Originally Posted by ff

Agree. We got something like 33 MPG in the Marketing Package (ZHP) 330i several years ago, from Mpls to Tampa. I think that was the only time that I ever used 6th gear.

My uncle claims to get 34-35 HWY MPG in his 525i 6 spd. He also never revs the engine higher than necessary, and always goes the speed limit, which helps a lot.

My zhps never got as much. The one I leased new was better, achieving high 20's in 6th at 75. The sedan 330i zhp that I bought used never saw better than 26-27, so yes the bigger, heavier, somewhat more powerful e90xi beats them in mpgs.

[SCA]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

The cool thing with built in nav is all the cars' functions are displayed - temp, gas mileage (and an alternate gas mileage reading), radio stuff - it's kind of neat in a Star Trekian sort of way......, but that dash hump blows and there's no way it's worth the two grand.Ed

I couldn't have said it any better. BTW, If the i-drive/nav were built into the dash like the E70 X5 then it would be more appealing.

[Rob]

I always did much better in the snow with dsc off. Fwiw. (That was the 330 - the V never saw snow unless it experienced it during manufacturing and on the trip out here).

Jeff, I went to Brecht in Escondido and I have to say, it was a really decent experience. The dealer is close to my house. I paid $1250 over invoice (it was $1500, but when I objected to the $500 maco/advertising fee when it came up, they split the difference). I expect the dealer to make something . . . it's possible I could have got them lower, but then I wouldn't get floor mats included. Regardless, there are no hidden fees once we discussed how I didn't consider the Maco fee part of an invoice price, no acquisition fees, no dealer prep fees . . . none of the B.S. I have seen other places.

I compared prices at BMW of San Diego. THat dealer is close to my office. They wouldn't come close to the price, wouldn't give me a hard number b/c I told them up front I would have to talk to my wife (who planned to come that day, but had a really bad short term flu) and wouldn't sign that day, generally left a car dealer type slimy feel on my skin - sort of like a chevy dealer or toyota dealer high volume kind of feel. Their "acquisition fee" was $825 and they claimed they had to pay that to someone or another so it wasn't negotiable. I was surprised to say the least.

If I wasn't happy with Brecht, I would have tried Cunningham in El Cajon. It's a hike, but I remember being impressed with them during my e36 M3 search.

I haven't tried out the new service center at Brecht yet, but after they got the MINI dealer going, they were trying to service sales of 300 cars/month in a service area that was designed for 50/month. They built a new off site state of the art service center with an entire roof of storage parking . . . it's much nicer. Hopefully I will continue to be as pleased with them in the future. They were always fair with the M3 warranty (both manufacturer warranty and CPO).

[lemming]

Originally Posted by rwg

I always did much better in the snow with dsc off. Fwiw. (That was the 330 - the V never saw snow unless it experienced it during manufacturing and on the trip out here).

Jeff, I went to Brecht in Escondido and I have to say, it was a really decent experience. The dealer is close to my house. I paid $1250 over invoice (it was $1500, but when I objected to the $500 maco/advertising fee when it came up, they split the difference). I expect the dealer to make something . . . it's possible I could have got them lower, but then I wouldn't get floor mats included. Regardless, there are no hidden fees once we discussed how I didn't consider the Maco fee part of an invoice price, no acquisition fees, no dealer prep fees . . . none of the B.S. I have seen other places.

I compared prices at BMW of San Diego. THat dealer is close to my office. They wouldn't come close to the price, wouldn't give me a hard number b/c I told them up front I would have to talk to my wife (who planned to come that day, but had a really bad short term flu) and wouldn't sign that day, generally left a car dealer type slimy feel on my skin - sort of like a chevy dealer or toyota dealer high volume kind of feel. Their "acquisition fee" was $825 and they claimed they had to pay that to someone or another so it wasn't negotiable. I was surprised to say the least.

If I wasn't happy with Brecht, I would have tried Cunningham in El Cajon. It's a hike, but I remember being impressed with them during my e36 M3 search.

I haven't tried out the new service center at Brecht yet, but after they got the MINI dealer going, they were trying to service sales of 300 cars/month in a service area that was designed for 50/month. They built a new off site state of the art service center with an entire roof of storage parking . . . it's much nicer. Hopefully I will continue to be as pleased with them in the future. They were always fair with the M3 warranty (both manufacturer warranty and CPO).

sounds like a solid deal to me.

[Jeff_DML]

Originally Posted by rwg

I always did much better in the snow with dsc off. Fwiw. (That was the 330 - the V never saw snow unless it experienced it during manufacturing and on the trip out here).

Jeff, I went to Brecht in Escondido and I have to say, it was a really decent experience. The dealer is close to my house. I paid $1250 over invoice (it was $1500, but when I objected to the $500 maco/advertising fee when it came up, they split the difference). I expect the dealer to make something . . . it's possible I could have got them lower, but then I wouldn't get floor mats included. Regardless, there are no hidden fees once we discussed how I didn't consider the Maco fee part of an invoice price, no acquisition fees, no dealer prep fees . . . none of the B.S. I have seen other places.

I compared prices at BMW of San Diego. THat dealer is close to my office. They wouldn't come close to the price, wouldn't give me a hard number b/c I told them up front I would have to talk to my wife (who planned to come that day, but had a really bad short term flu) and wouldn't sign that day, generally left a car dealer type slimy feel on my skin - sort of like a chevy dealer or toyota dealer high volume kind of feel. Their "acquisition fee" was $825 and they claimed they had to pay that to someone or another so it wasn't negotiable. I was surprised to say the least.

If I wasn't happy with Brecht, I would have tried Cunningham in El Cajon. It's a hike, but I remember being impressed with them during my e36 M3 search.

I haven't tried out the new service center at Brecht yet, but after they got the MINI dealer going, they were trying to service sales of 300 cars/month in a service area that was designed for 50/month. They built a new off site state of the art service center with an entire roof of storage parking . . . it's much nicer. Hopefully I will continue to be as pleased with them in the future. They were always fair with the M3 warranty (both manufacturer warranty and CPO).

thanks for the info

we bought our wagon from Brecht, I liked the dealership(especially since they sponser SD bmwcca events) even thouth our salewoman ended up being a biattch(she is gone nowadays, thank god). Last time I went there they where adding lowjack or something to all the cars and added that to the sticker? guess you dont have to worrry about that since you are ordering it. Still thinking of trying cunningham for my next Car, if I try brecht I might pm you for your salesman.

We got it serviced there, had no problems with them. They even did tech inspections for me for track events My only complaint is they said our clucth was in spec everytime I took it there eventhough it feels messed up.

[Rob]

They do "encourage" lojack and "perma paint" or whatever it is, but they didn't push it on me at all. They are recommending it "instead of the alarm" b/c it is more effective . . . at least they aren't trying to double dip.

But yeah, it seems they want to put it on every car and it's pre-printed on their order/search form. If you make them locate a car or order it, I can't imagine it being a problem. Personally, I would make them take the lojack off and not pay for the permaclad whatever.

I would recommend my salesman in a heartbeat. He was great.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by rwg

But yeah, it seems they want to put it on every car and it's pre-printed on their order/search form.

Yeah, once it's in print, it's non-negotiable. Gotta love dealers, right?

[lupinsea]

Had to take the ZHP in to Brecht for a warranty claim on our stereo head. The service department was great and easy to work with considering I wasn't really a customer and was 1400 miles from my home in Seattle on a road trip.

If I were down in the area I'd seriously consider them as dealership to work with based on that one service experience.

While we were waiting for the car to be fixed my cousin and walked down to the sales are to play with the show room BMWs and hang out with the sales guys there that day. Cool bunch to chat with.