As most of us here, I have been living in this car vicariously through BMW press, the media, and our ROTW (rest of the world) friends. Nothing, NOTHING, compares to the real thing, in looks or experience.
I will not go into depth, because the weather was really crappy here when I picked it up (maybe not compared to Ohio or Toronto) with rain and cool weather (low 40s). So, I chose to drive straight home, and just took it our for another short spin, so only 20 miles so far.
The dealer (Rasmussen, Portland) did the detailing themselves to get it to me quicker (they normally have a detailing shop do it.). Looked really good; only miss was they forgot to take the blue protective plastic off the dead pedal (
edit: probably left on to protect the finish prior to delivery).
Arrived at the dealer with my wife, and was greeted by my salesperson within 5 minutes. I dropped off a bottle of wine to my service guy who hooked me up with the buyer for my '01 M3 (perfect timing, as it sold 2 days ago).
Scott walked me through the basics, then went up into the upper garage to see the car. Looked stunning in the flesh. Twin was setting in the next parking spot, except black leather instead of Fox. He said they had just gotten a black sedan in and had it prepped that morning, and it sold immediately to the first person who saw it. Front license plate holder was NOT installed, per instructions. 10 miles on the odo (seems a little high, but hey, not going to complain about that). Full tank of gas.
After a brief fondling, went back to the the CA's office, then down to the business office. Paper work was signed and done with in 6 minutes. Requested Oregon custom plate "V8 M3" or "E92 M3". Only $50 "documentation fee". Scott gave me a whole bag full of BMW detailing stuff, a quart of oil, etc. M3 mats were also in the car at no cost. Went back to the car for familiarization. Spent most of half an hour going through all the iDrive settings, since I have not played with it before. Doesn't seem that daunting, but will take some playing around. He expalined that almost all the settings are key-dependent, so you can program almost everything for each driver.
I got Comfort Access, Bluetooth and iPod, so he showed those to me. iPhone dock with music capability would be great.
After that, I basically just drove home, since the weather was crappy. VERY initial observations:
- Car feels so much tighter and better than my E46. It would feel antiquated getting back into that car.
- Why is there a fog light symbol constantly illuminated in the instrument cluster? I'm taking that puppy apart and blacking it out soon. (
edit: indicator is for parking lamps/low beams)
- Seats feel great. Bottom bolsters feel just fine for street use.
- Not even sure what setting the EDC was in (assume "normal"), but the feel was both comfortable and sporty at the same time. I think BMW has lived up to it's suspension reputation on this one.
- A few 7/8 throttle blasts to 5,500 tonight felt really good. There is a good exhaust note, maybe 25% too subdued for my tastes. Rear exhaust system is definitely in my future.
- Clutch is light, but easily adapted to; not a negative issue. Hill holder fuction is nice. Shifter feels light and precise. Made me realize the synchros on my old car were wearing.
- The Significant Other (wife) likes it a lot, though she hasn't driven it yet.
- Enhanced Premium Audio sounds superb. No overly thumping bass, but very good reproduction thoughout the range for a car.
- HD radio sounds equal to CD quality; iPod significantly less. May be switching my music to lossless MP3.
- Ambience lighting is subtle, but nice.
- Some controls (like wiper stalk) are hidden behind the wheel spokes in normal position.
- Oh, and Fox Red? Under the lighting I've seen it I like it a lot. I haven't seen it in sunlight yet. I wish it was a "little" more red than orange, but I think it is a far better choice than the other "blah" colors.
- Carbon Leather looks really good, to my architect's eye and even to my furniture manufacturer's rep. wife's.
I've been so overstimulated on waiting for this I just had to leave it in the garage tonight, to be played with this weekend. I will get good photos when the weather clears up. Will install the color-corrected halo and cornering lamps tomorrow. May test fit the RG4s and do all the iDrive and HomeLink programming. Alarm should be here next week.
I'm leaving for Sun Valley in a week, so I'm glad it got here so soon. It's been a long wait (10/05 deposit for me), but believe me, it's worthit!!!! My sig pic is getting changed soon.
