BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

X1 owner checking in. It's the 1 series hatchback with a slightly raised ride height for Americans. It's also almost $8k cheaper than a 3 series wagon. Enough cargo room for my family and it was a decent compromise between what I wanted in a vehicle (more fun to drive than a fridge) and what my wife wanted in a vehicle (SUV).

Is it the best car out there? Nope. The start/stop is kind of clumsy, there is no way you can fit a 3rd person in the back, and the NVH isn't nearly as good as the 3 series. But it's a fairly flexible vehicle that has a great BMW interior and all the toys that I need to comfortably shuttle my family around while getting decent gas mileage.

Also looking forward to that loyalty discount for whatever car I end up buying next.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 02:38

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 13:47

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

priznat posted:

Thanks! I am keen on the 35i just because I wanted that engine in a touring here so bad and it never happened. I will drive a 28i too for comparison of course.

How's the stop start? All the reviews I read say it is annoying, but can be shut off. Also is the 8 speed auto nice? I think the 35i has a 6spd without the stop start.

It does look like it may be the combo of drive ability and practicality that I'm looking for, the VW GTI seems a bit too small.

Do you have the backup camera? How's the rear for backing up, the window does look a little small/high.

Stop start is very harsh. The thing that sucks is that you have to turn it off every time you start the car or drive it in sport mode. The loaner 3 series I get when the X1 is in service has a much better start/stop.

The 8 speed AT is very good for an automatic.

I have the backup camera / sensors. I don't really use them but it's a nice fallback for the really tight parking spaces.

Don't be fooled, it has about the same interior space as the GTI; it makes it tricky to have rear facing infant seats because you have to push up the front passenger seat as far as it goes in order for it to not touch the back of the front seat.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2015 05:31

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

SlapActionJackson posted:

Which particular baby seat did you try this with?

I've been trying to talk up the X1 to Mrs Jackson as a reasonable alternative to the cute utes she's drawn to, but if it can't take an infant seat and a rear-facing convertible and still allow two 6-footers to sit in the front comfortably, I'll have to take it off the list.

Graco SnugRide Classic Connect 30 and Nuna Pipa + ISOFIX base. We ended up getting the Nuna Pipa since it was only a few bucks more expensive and had the bar at the bottom to brace it. Mrs. Kimcicle is 5'7", and she prefers to sit behind me and have the rear facing infant in the passenger side rear than sit in the front passenger seat. I think a 6 foot tall person could sit in the front passenger seat with the infant seat behind it, but it would be tight and fairly uncomfortable in my opinion.

I think it's a better fit with the seat in the middle, but the anchors don't work in the middle position. Also the infant seats are wide enough that it makes it pretty difficult to sit next to it too.

priznat posted:

Auugh smaller than a golf? I was not expecting that. Gotta see it in person but that doesn't sound good.

I was hoping it would be more E91 size since it's on that platform but I guess the length can vary a lot.

Oh well should be fun to take a xDrive 35i out for a spin on the weekend! The dealer I bought my (used) e46 from almost 10 years ago has one on the lot.

I wouldn't say smaller, but it's pretty even in terms of interior space. I think the rear cargo area is slightly larger in the golf due to how the back doesn't slope nearly as much as the X1, but it makes up for it in other places. The ride height is higher, which gives it a small illusion of having more space. The transmission tunnel cuts into the rear legroom.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2015 06:07

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Jimmy Carter posted:

Today I learned that you can un-gimp the US version of the i3 w/ range extender by essentially editing a text file, and now I'm seriously considering getting one now.

Wait what??! Details!!

# ¿ Feb 21, 2015 23:59

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

I had a loaner 428gc over the weekend. It's really handsome and drives well. I wish it was in my driveway.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2016 17:12

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Ether Frenzy posted:

I saw a rare M Convertible today, I didn't even know they sold these in the US.

I hope he appreciated my slow, sad head shake as I drove by at least.

At least it's an 435 instead of a 428...? :shobon:

# ¿ May 12, 2016 19:29

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Powershift posted:

don't they make a 340i gt or a 440i gran coupe lift back?

3GT, 5GT and 4 Series GC are all lift back.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2017 18:51

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

White Phosphorus posted:

I saw a 2014 335i xdrive grand tourismo. $30k 18000 miles. What do you guys think?

I was looking for a fast wagon but car makers are getting rid of them or they are obscenely expensive, so a 4 door hatchback is the next best thing in theory.

If you're considering the GT, why not a E84 35i instead?

# ¿ Jun 12, 2017 19:12

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Lord Ludikrous posted:

They should really bring the 1 Series hatchback to the US.

Combine with a good set of roof bars and it�s a great adventure-mobile.

That would be rad, but nobody buys hatchbacks. The old X1 is probably the closest the US got to a 1 Series hatch.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2017 23:41

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Ether Frenzy posted:

(my tires wear perfectly/alignment is done by an M3 guy here in LA)

Can you share his info? My F30 is wearing the outside fronts too fast but the last alignment I got said that everything was fine.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2020 18:11

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Ultimate Mango posted:

BMW Ultimate Driver is back, without the full competition part. Free autox event or $250 half day instructor led sessions. I�m doing autox next weekend because I can�t get away from work for the midweek instructor sessions. Looks like m340i and 235 gran coupes on the autox this year.

I went to this yesterday for the autox sessions. Weird having an instructor on radio, but it was fun to do. The 235i didn't like to be pushed hard, but the 340i was pretty great even in the super small / tight courses.

Somebody brought their gokart racing gloves (?) and then promptly ran over 4 cones in a fast sweeper turn.

They had the new M3 / M4 on display, and you can climb a small dirt hill in a X5 and do some on-road test drives in a bunch of other cars but I didn't bother waiting for that.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2020 19:04

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

As one of those idiots that leases new BMWs over and over again, I went ahead and leased another one.

Everything feels like an improvement over my F30 330e. Especially the color.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2021 17:27

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Warbird posted:

Anyone here have hands on with the newer hybrid x3 models? We�re thinking about getting one but I�m not sure if it�s worth getting over a conventional or dedicated electric car. How is the actual combined, ya know, �hybrid� aspect of the car?

I leased a 2018 330e, so I have some insight. It claimed ~18 miles of electric range and my wife's commute was under 15 miles round trip, so she could make the whole trip and back home on electric power and charge overnight off a 120v plug. Gas motor would kick in when you ran out of charge or if the car decided you were pushing the battery too hard and you weren't in MAX E-DRIVE mode. If she had to run and errand or two after work, it wasn't the end of the world.

It was nice to not be punished for forgetting to plug in the car overnight as the car would just fire up the gas engine. It was also nice not having to stress about finding electric charging at destinations, but rather a nice bonus if there was one there and available to use.

Downsides to the setup was that it ate a good chunk of trunk space for the batteries and the 'handoff' between electric and gas power was kinda abrupt. People say that it's smoother in the newer cars, but I haven't tried out a newer one yet. The brakes are also a bit touchy since there's some regenerative braking to charge the batteries going on so it just never felt natural to me as to how much brake I was getting versus my inputs.

When I started driving the 330e, the main benefits started to evaporate. I have a ~40 mile round trip commute, so I'd eat up most of the electric range on the way to the office. They didn't provide free charging at the office, and when I did the math it was cheaper for me to just buy more gas than to pay for the charging at work. I'm sure my MPG was slightly better than if I was in a gas car overall, but it was annoying at best when the battery would be close to empty and the car couldn't figure out if it wanted to use the gas or battery so it would flip between the two repeatedly. I would end up putting the car into sport mode, which forced the engine on.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2021 05:50

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

It's not like in the Tesla / Leaf where the car is actively braking for you to get energy, but rather just harvests whatever energy it can glean off of your car's forward momentum. So don't expect the car to slow you down, but rather it'll try to charge a few percents if you're coasting down a hill.

I tried for a while to track our MPG, but while the wife drove the car on her super short commute we wouldn't even refill the gas tank for like, six or seven weeks. I was getting closer to 40-ish when taking into account depleting the batteries on the morning drive in and using only gas on the drive back home.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2021 06:23

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

MY INEVITABLE DEBT posted:

are you sure it's just a blank space? the left bar has an icon that looks like it would extend to fill the space. i didnt watch the video so i dunno if he does more stuff with it

It is a blank space but I think the angle of the shot makes it look bigger.

But if you look at the G20 with the base screen the bezel is even worse.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2021 18:39

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

I have so many questions. Why the Pacific BMW plate frame? Why the torn temp plates, despite being registered in California for the last 3 years? Why put the effort into photoshoping the background but not cleaning the inside? Why not use the rags crammed in the passenger door to give it a quick wipe?

# ¿ Mar 13, 2021 00:21

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Blue On Blue posted:

G20 - a card is shipped with each car, in the little slot inside the manual

Not all G20s had them come in the manual; some were taped to the NFC pad. If it was a previous demo car I would wager that it was taped there and somebody promptly took it.

I got mine and it's a neat idea but I've used it zero times outside the one time I set it up and tested to see if it worked. The digital key on my phone gets used more often.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2021 04:35

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Blue On Blue posted:

So therein lies the frustration with all that

I want to have the key card so i can take it biking if I have to drive my bike somewhere first

I would love the digital key on my phone, but for some strange reason my car doesn't support it, I think it was a build date a month before they started including the digital key

Not sure why they can't update it with firmware but here we are

Yeah, it has to be a build date after July 1, 2020. They claim it's due to different NFC hardware to support the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) digital key format. *shrugs*

# ¿ Apr 23, 2021 17:32

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Crunchy Black posted:

such horseshit. Even if there was hardware to change, there is ZERO reason why my f87 shouldn't/couldn't support it; especially after the "oh we won't make you pay for CarPlay" debacle.

Related, has anyone downloaded the new app?

I've been using the new app, and I don't notice much of a difference functionality wise. It looks nicer, but I really don't see why this couldn't be an update for the existing app (I'm sure there's -some- reason).

# ¿ Apr 23, 2021 23:36

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

bergeoisie posted:

My hot take that is shared by no one is that the cross-hatchy grille is just as awful and tacky as the buckteeth.

100 bux and an hour of effort away from swapping in the 330i grille if that's more your jam.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2021 02:03

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

KillHour posted:

Not anymore. You used to be able to find ~8-10% off M5s through a broker but now it looks like they're at about 2%

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bklCluQDLgmdchr7Y4_X3MI07uwHHtOBuq9ee5ZhiOA/edit#gid=1911616781

Even the fleet discount got hosed - used to be ~$2500 on a 3 series (including M cars) but now it's just $500 and it can't be combined with anything.

Leasing as a whole got hosed with the whole inventory / chip shortage. Hopefully things will be back to normal-ish when my current lease is up.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2021 05:19

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

THE BIG DOG DADDY posted:

Where's the I4 being made

At the moment just the Munich plant. https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0316346EN/bmw-group%92s-home-plant-ready-for-bmw-i4?language=en

# ¿ Aug 18, 2021 04:24

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Blame Pyrrhus posted:

I took delivery Saturday.

Congrats, enjoy it in good health!

# ¿ Aug 31, 2021 01:39

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

GoGoGadgetChris posted:

What sort of out the door pricing can you expect for a new M3 right now? I ditched the m340 due to some Bullshit

In my neck of the woods (SoCal) most dealers have a few thousand markup, but every now and then you can find one for MSRP. This one is marked at MSRP but who knows if they'll try to jack up the price when you walk in: https://www.crevierbmw.com/inventory/new-2021-bmw-m3-sdn-rear-wheel-drive-sedan-wbs53ay02mfl57943/

# ¿ Sep 5, 2021 18:15

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

bergeoisie posted:

Dravit looks so much better in person (or really, in any other photo than the configurator). I was down to either Dravit Grey or Portimao Blue and given where I (and probably you?) live, I need something other than grey for the 7 months out of the year where that's all I see.

Portimao Blue is also really good in person. The kids in my oldest kid's class all know when I come around to pick him up because "it's the cool blue one." I wouldn't blame you for taking Dravit Gray because it's pretty clean, but blue cars are pretty rad too.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 06:39

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

KillHour posted:

The last good 3 series always was and always will be whatever the current 3 series is -1

Nobody will ever say that the F30 was a good 3 series.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2021 02:25

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Thanks I hate it.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2021 02:05

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Does that have every option clicked? The base 240i is within spitting distance of that price; why not pony up the extra 3k?

# ¿ Nov 29, 2021 05:09

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

is this the point where bmw has finally jumped the shark?

# ¿ Nov 30, 2021 10:11

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

bergeoisie posted:

Anyone have opinions on Cravenspeed for a tow hook mounted front license plate holder? Looks like US Millworks doesn't have anything for the G20 yet. I finally got my plates and I don't want to drill into my bumper (or maybe I'm too dumb to figure out how else the dealer provided front plate holder would attach?). And yes, I am in a state that cares about it.

Instructions for the dealer provided front plate holder is to line it up and drill into the bumper. I couldn't bring myself to do it so I've been running without a front plate in blatant disregard for the law.

KillHour posted:

GTS is an M4 competitor on price (and loses), but much smaller and down on power. In reality, it doesn't compete with any BMW and is more of a Lotus Emira or Jaguar F Type competitor.

Wouldn't it compete with the Z4 M40i ish? Or would that be more for the base model / boxster s? I'd love a cayman but realistically can't justify one until at least one of my kids is out of the house.

# ¿ Dec 1, 2021 21:17

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

What's weird is that I thought the grill on the 3.0 CLS hommage looked great, but for some reason it didn't translate to the M3/M4 like I thought it would.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2022 01:26

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# ¿ May 5, 2024 13:47

kimcicle: Feb 23, 2003

Must post blue.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 05:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > BMW Thread: this is the bmw thread. we drive blue cars