production complete...waiting to cross the pond....

[K-M3]

Hi everyone,

was waiting to post this till I made some concrete progress on the ground and the car was a reality. The production update came this last weekend and the BMWUSA website displays the car as a "production complete" and awaiting shipment status. So from being a virtual concept (order sheet) to a concrete event (although still in Germany) - its a great feeling!!!!!

ordered it through Ryan Amico at Stevethomas BMW and its been a great experience so far. Hassle and more importantly haggle free. other than a few delays, mainly 'cause of him being so occupied with new deliveries, its been great!!! PLus I cant complain...... people have been waiting on their 2012's forever, so they do get priority!!!! Jim from finance and Francesca have been a great help too!!!! thank you all!!!!

My PCD date has been provisionally confirmed by the performance center on 02/20/2011 (I know its way off considering that my car is already built, but that was the earliest that I could manage).....and yes!!!! the wait killsss......

Here's my build, nothing special, just a combo of available options, nothing individual or custom, but I like it.....

Alpine white, extended fox red leather, carbon leather trim, stock 18 inchers (love these....)
6MT, DDC
cold weather package, premium package, sat nav
enhanced premium sound, satellite radio (1 year), BMW apps (plus the blue tooth, i-pod and USB that comes standard with this combo of options)

Accesories ordered -
BMW performance exhaust
- cannot decide on the carbon front splitters of any manufacturer so have kept this on hold, but will likely add the carbon mirror covers to this list. Still ambivalent about the black grills and gills. Want to see the car with my own eyes before deciding on these (I have a feeling I just might like the chrome on white look after all; considering that everyone here has the blacks on their AW's)
- also am on the lookout for smoked front bumper reflectors. do not like the body colored ones at all (yes!!! have seen them in person), but have a gut feeling that smoked ones (if available) will look smashing to me....... will keep searching......if I get these, then these+gloss black grills+gloss black gills may make the grade as a combo...will see.....

now , just waiting for the car to be shipped and the day of the PCD delivery to dawn.........

any thoughts/suggestions are absolutely welcome....flames too.....lol!!!!

- plans for the road trip back home as well as practical accessories planned for that trip will be in a separate thread......

[GOLFFRR]

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

yours should be built too..... u were the same PW as me......u'll probably get urs before I do....so do post the pics when u get it...i'll try to live vicariously till I get mine......

[CBS]

Congratulations and Welcome!

Agreed: take delivery first and then decide what would look good on the car.

[GOLFFRR]

I hope your right! I haven't been following it that close just waiting to get a call saying its in I figure we will get our in Jan sometime.

[Quag's M]

Originally Posted by K-M3

Hi everyone,

was waiting to post this till I made some concrete progress on the ground and the car was a reality. The production update came this last weekend and the BMWUSA website displays the car as a "production complete" and awaiting shipment status. So from being a virtual concept (order sheet) to a concrete event (although still in Germany) - its a great feeling!!!!!

I am with you in sooo many ways.....the anticipation is rough.......

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by Quag's M

I am with you in sooo many ways.....the anticipation is rough.......

oh cool!!!! congratulations!!!!! The wait thing sucked for me initially, but work's just gotten crazy busy, so its taken off my focus for a while, which is good. Plus now that I have a confirmed PCD date, its eased up on me a lill bit now.

Are you doing PCD too??

Now that's the exact status that I am on, in my account on BMWUSA. Doesn't it feel great??!!! I think I can actually smell the leather!!!!!

I will actually be passing through knoxville, nashville and memphis on my way home from the PCD. I am planning to spend a night or two in Nashville, never been there plus I hear its a fun city, so am planning to check it out........ any recommendations for a good drive in that area?? Plus if you have your car by then, we can do a lill meet up somewhere....it'll be fun!!! (MY PCD is in Feb)

[Superfly_M3]

How does a smoked body reflector look like?

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by Superfly_M3

How does a smoked body reflector look like?

I think they look pretty cool. I like them better than the body colored ones. The body colored ones to me look like stuck on's accentuating the fact that they should not have been there in the first place!!! The smoked ones atleast break up the front bumper monotone in a chic way!!!

there's a couple of pics of them here on this forum (just do forum search and it will take you to these) and I think Jlevi makes them. I have asked them to send me a pic of what they have (the one on their website is not sharp enough) and then I'll decide to get them or not........ my ideal color set up is smoked reflectors - gloss black front grills - gloss black hood vents - gloss black side gills with tinted indicator lenses on my AW M3. Am just waiting to get the car to take a final decision........

[DDS2015]

Originally Posted by K-M3

I think they look pretty cool. I like them better than the body colored ones. The body colored ones to me look like stuck on's accentuating the fact that they should not have been there in the first place!!! The smoked ones atleast break up the front bumper monotone in a chic way!!!

there's a couple of pics of them here on this forum (just do forum search and it will take you to these) and I think Jlevi makes them. I have asked them to send me a pic of what they have (the one on their website is not sharp enough) and then I'll decide to get them or not........ my ideal color set up is smoked reflectors - gloss black front grills - gloss black hood vents - gloss black side gills with tinted indicator lenses on my AW M3. Am just waiting to get the car to take a final decision........

Check out mod bargains for the reflectors, they've got a pretty good selection. If your doing carbon mirror caps, and splitters, you may be interested in the carbon reflectors that they have. Haven't actually seen them in person, but I agree that the body colour ones don't do it for me. Black grills, gills, and exhaust tips would look pretty good too IMO. Then throw on a carbon rear spoiler and you're good to go!

Congrats on the new ride and post up some pics when she gets in.

[Quag's M]

Originally Posted by K-M3

oh cool!!!! congratulations!!!!! The wait thing sucked for me initially, but work's just gotten crazy busy, so its taken off my focus for a while, which is good. Plus now that I have a confirmed PCD date, its eased up on me a lill bit now.

Are you doing PCD too??

Now that's the exact status that I am on, in my account on BMWUSA. Doesn't it feel great??!!! I think I can actually smell the leather!!!!!

I will actually be passing through knoxville, nashville and memphis on my way home from the PCD. I am planning to spend a night or two in Nashville, never been there plus I hear its a fun city, so am planning to check it out........ any recommendations for a good drive in that area?? Plus if you have your car by then, we can do a lill meet up somewhere....it'll be fun!!! (MY PCD is in Feb)

"Smell the leather"...I like that statement. Don't think I'll have time for the PCD; work has me flying in and out of places like crazy...it's like lockdown. I hope your trip home does not have any bad weather for the travel. There's always the Tail of the Dragon if you want to make a small detour......but if you're like me and the car is still below 1,200 miles, don't do it brother. you'll be revving like crazy....ooooopps. definitely do a driveby in Knoxville; PM before you leave. I pray my car will be here. Be careful of that Nashville traffic.

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by DDS2015

Check out mod bargains for the reflectors, they've got a pretty good selection. If your doing carbon mirror caps, and splitters, you may be interested in the carbon reflectors that they have. Haven't actually seen them in person, but I agree that the body colour ones don't do it for me. Black grills, gills, and exhaust tips would look pretty good too IMO. Then throw on a carbon rear spoiler and you're good to go!

Congrats on the new ride and post up some pics when she gets in.

will do...will do.......when I get it.........the wait is starting to get to me (and my GF ..... lol...... she was like..... dudeee.....i'll track the ship for you if you promise to shut up......... ;-)) ........... it still shows up as awaiting shipment on the BMW website........

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by Quag's M

"Smell the leather"...I like that statement. Don't think I'll have time for the PCD; work has me flying in and out of places like crazy...it's like lockdown. I hope your trip home does not have any bad weather for the travel. There's always the Tail of the Dragon if you want to make a small detour......but if you're like me and the car is still below 1,200 miles, don't do it brother. you'll be revving like crazy....ooooopps. definitely do a driveby in Knoxville; PM before you leave. I pray my car will be here. Be careful of that Nashville traffic.

I am actually planning to do the tail of the dragon....my plan is to detour onto 74, then up the tail into tenessee......... thats the approximate route that I think will get me to the tail........dont really know the exact route number for the tail, but will look it up this month to have the route down........

my only concern is....like you said, the weather. Hopefully it shouldnt be too bad considering that my PCD is towards the end of Feb. As long as the roads are driveable, i am going to try it.......will abandon the plan if its snowed out!!!!

any particular things about the nashville traffic that I should watch out for...... like too many M3 haters??? etc..........

[Ateam]

ARRGGG the worst wait for you ever! Man waiting for your car is one of the toughest things I have ever had to do (toughest in the scheme of not really tough things)

Very painful that is forsure!

Congrats-you may like the chrome as it is so definetly check it out. if I had white I would leave it chrome. Black and white look SOOO played out to me and boy-racerish, ricey etc. Blue with black I think looks grand! The totally murdered out look on any car is trashy so does not sound you are at risk for that anyway.

Start with the exhaust and go from there! Just my .02 but I would stay away from the carbon mirror covers and splitters-I think it just makes it a rice-mobile, especially with white.

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by Ateam

ARRGGG the worst wait for you ever! Man waiting for your car is one of the toughest things I have ever had to do (toughest in the scheme of not really tough things)

Very painful that is forsure!

Congrats-you may like the chrome as it is so definetly check it out. if I had white I would leave it chrome. Black and white look SOOO played out to me and boy-racerish, ricey etc. Blue with black I think looks grand! The totally murdered out look on any car is trashy so does not sound you are at risk for that anyway.

Start with the exhaust and go from there! Just my .02 but I would stay away from the carbon mirror covers and splitters-I think it just makes it a rice-mobile, especially with white.

you think like me..... i have seen a couple of AW m3's with the standard chrome grills and that was a very mature look to me, liked it. I do like the gloss black grills, but not so much as to straight away jump for it.....i think I'll be using the car pretty much stock anyways for the first year or so (aside from the smoked reflectors - now those, I do like......)

and yes...... will definitely be getting the M3 performance exhaust, love that sound and am not too inclined on tearing through a brand new muffler.....

as far as carbon goes, only the CF mirror caps for me, definitely no splitter...... as much as I like to travel by the road, i am going to screw up the splitter anyways (yes, the m3 will be my predominant DD and intercity commuting car). same reason I did not go for the comp package, need the extra sidewall and suspension in my neck of the woods......

so other than the M3 perf exhaust and CF mirror caps and smoked reflectors, no more mods for the initial year of ownership. In fact, I am planning to invest in some practical accessories for the road - a jack, full size spare, bungee cords to hold it in place, one or two quarts of oil, jump wires, one of those emergency road side kits that are on the BMW website........from my past experience, I have needed almost all of these on one occasion or the other....and they pretty much made the difference between a screwed up work schedule as opposed to a delayed albeit a peaceful ride home.......

oh.... and i forgot to mention a colgan car bra for my ride home from PCD till I can get the front clear bra'd...... even with the clear bra, I'll probably be using the colgan bra on long intercity trips.......

[Ateam]

Originally Posted by K-M3

you think like me..... i have seen a couple of AW m3's with the standard chrome grills and that was a very mature look to me, liked it. I do like the gloss black grills, but not so much as to straight away jump for it.....i think I'll be using the car pretty much stock anyways for the first year or so (aside from the smoked reflectors - now those, I do like......)

and yes...... will definitely be getting the M3 performance exhaust, love that sound and am not too inclined on tearing through a brand new muffler.....

as far as carbon goes, only the CF mirror caps for me, definitely no splitter...... as much as I like to travel by the road, i am going to screw up the splitter anyways (yes, the m3 will be my predominant DD and intercity commuting car). same reason I did not go for the comp package, need the extra sidewall and suspension in my neck of the woods......

so other than the M3 perf exhaust and CF mirror caps and smoked reflectors, no more mods for the initial year of ownership. In fact, I am planning to invest in some practical accessories for the road - a jack, full size spare, bungee cords to hold it in place, one or two quarts of oil, jump wires, one of those emergency road side kits that are on the BMW website........from my past experience, I have needed almost all of these on one occasion or the other....and they pretty much made the difference between a screwed up work schedule as opposed to a delayed albeit a peaceful ride home.......

Where do you plan to keep a full size spare in the car?

[THE TECH]

The wait was horrible but oh so wonderful when the car arrived!! Good luck!

[Time]

Congrats. If you have the vin you can track its progress via the shipper

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by Ateam

Where do you plan to keep a full size spare in the car?

in the trunk......there should be enough space in there....i dont expect it to fit in the "trunk well" but as far as laying it in the trunk is concerned, I think it should fit...... even if that takes up about a third or more of the trunk space, it should still be okay, my medium sized duffel can go on the back seat.............

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by ///MMB

Congrats. If you have the vin you can track its progress via the shipper

i need to ask ryan about the vin, he's been pretty busy with deliveries as of late. will probably email him tomorrow....does the car get a vin once production is complete?? or do I have to wait a little bit more before it gets a vin assigned.??....

[Time]

Originally Posted by K-M3

i need to ask ryan about the vin, he's been pretty busy with deliveries as of late. will probably email him tomorrow....does the car get a vin once production is complete?? or do I have to wait a little bit more before it gets a vin assigned.??....

My sales person called me with the VIN after production.


Since your one the east coast I'm pretty sure they will use the same company as they did for me;

http://www.2wglobal.com/www/wep/

The vin number is the cargo id

[K-M3]

Originally Posted by ///MMB

My sales person called me with the VIN after production.


Since your one the east coast I'm pretty sure they will use the same company as they did for me;

http://www.2wglobal.com/www/wep/

The vin number is the cargo id

thanks!!!