Took Delivery Today Through Pentagon (Germany) - 2012 E92 M3 (6MT Space Grey)

[runnerguy1979]

Hello Gents,

I'm a very new member of both MFlight and the M3post forum, since December 2011, around the time that I finally decided to bite the bullet and order my new 2012 E92 M3. The day I ordered, I had the opportunity to meet Hans and get introduced to MFlight, before he left for deployment.

I have to say, M3post and MFligtht (mainly through emailing and the Facebook page) has been an absolute WEALTH of knowledge which came in handy throughout the entire ordering/research and delivery process. I truly thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences and turning me into a very very very educated consumer/fellow M3 owner.

Today was the day I took delivery of my new baby. I'm working in Europe so I took delivery from a great sales outfit Pentagon BMW Sales near Kauserslauten, Germany. Through a mutual friend that also ordered an M3, I met my SA, Mathias Hemmer. He was extremely professional and helpful throughout the entire experience and took very good care of me. I highly recommend Mathias if you're in the market for a BMW. Euler BMW in Germany was also very professional with getting the car prepped for delivery.

I could hardly contain myself as I drove my new baby the 300 km trip home. I've never felt such a feeling as this car gives its driver. My last car was an S2000 and I had high expectations for the car. It certainly didn't dissapoint. It's a truly satisfying and addictive feeling to start up and drive this machine. Slow speeds, fast speeds, back roads, motorway...it's all brilliant. And, the 6spd manual is a thing of beauty. I feel no knotchiness/rough shifts. In fact, I find the shifts crisp and grin-inducing. And, the tech-package in the M3 is incredible. Automatic rain sensors, iPhone integration, a great satnav and features like comfort access, etc....it has everything. And, the great suspension set-up, firm but not jarring.......oh, and did I mention the seats.....what a machine.....I truly am in love and we've only just met ;-)

thanks again to everyone.
I'm glad to be in such a tight-knit community of car enthusiasts.
And look forward to being a contributing member to both MFlight and M3post.

I've attached a few pics from today's experience. I hope these pics help you all relive your own "first day"
1) delivery :-)
2) winter set-up (blizzaks w/ breytons....thanks Ben @ TireRack for your recommendations on a pair of shoes and great service)
3) my first (of many) fuel fill-ups :-)
4) interior (complete w/ cheesy airbag warning I should have removed).

cheers,
Brian

[MrD1198]

Congratulations! The Breytons look nice on the Space Grey. What size tires did you go with for the Blizzaks? I can't wait to get back from this deployment to take delivery of mine!

[runnerguy1979]

Hey MrD,

Thanks for the comment on the black wheels. They really do look GREAT on the car, far better than I could have hoped and better than pictures show. Hope you're staying safe while deployed and hope you return soon to a nice, new M3.

Here's some info on the wheels/tires which will hopefully help you. I ordered them from Ben @ Tirerack (highly recommended), w/ the BMW center caps and TPM sensors installed and longer lug nuts and wheels spacers for rears. The tires are Blizzaks LM-60...Front 255/35R-19 and Rear 275/35R-19. They ride really nice. The only concern I have for these wheels (through research on the forums) is these wheels don't have the best track record for durability. These wheels became a big hit with the 1-series crowd and have been known to bend and micro-crack (forgot the real name for this) from normal road use. Something about the size of the wheel combined with the quality of metal, etc. This didn't stop me from buying the wheels since they were the best LOOKING winter wheel/tire combo that Tirerack sold at the time. I suppose time with tell if these wheels standup to the abuse Belgian and Dutch roads can throw at a car

Another option that I would have gone with had I not ordered the Breytons first was Alufelgen wheels. They make a very nice wheels for the M3 (about the same price as the Breyton) called the SF-71, which I believe they also make in black. Here's their email address (sales@alufelgenwheels.com). Just do a search on this forum and you can see pics and reviews of the wheel (all positive), they sort of look like the old CSL wheels.

Ask anything else and I'll do my best to help. Space Grey really is an amazing color. It great at night, in the day, sunlight, clouds...and the black wheels change the look of the car nicely. A friend of mine said it looked like a "stealth fighter" with the grey/black combo.

[Mike van D]

Congrats on the new ride and welcome to ///M Flight. Sure we'll see you around as we should start having regular monthly meets in March. Enjoy!

[Slalom]

Congratulations. Your cheeks will hurt for a few weeks from all the smiling!

Did they set your radio to US or Euro frequencies?

[runnerguy1979]

Hi Slalom,
I receive all the euro stations (local) but I'm a bit disappointed I can't get a good new channel in english, like the BBC. I figured out a way to get it through bmw apps web radio, but this uses my iPhones data connection.

What made you ask the radio station question?

[tiggers m3]

Congrats, i just took delivery of my e92 ///M AW, speed cloth, DCT in December, i just took the winters off!! I LOVE the car!!

My car has Navi also but since it's US specs they only have the US channels which means we only get the odds like 100.1, 100.3, etc. But, with Euro readio tuners their cars tune to every decimal point, both odds and evens. 100.0, 100.1, 100.2 etc.

You can go to "Fix the Glitch" on AFN Europe to see how to hook up an FM modulator to your car if you like, but i'm not going to bother. if you're lucky the base you on has your AFN radio on an odd decimal and you'll pick it up just fine. but here in Vicenza it's 106.0 so we ca't get it. but i have heard that if your BMW does NOT have the NAvi then there is a way to get both on the normal radio but not with the Nav system.

Welcome and Enjoy! Jeremy

PS: I did my 1200 mi service myself, pretty easy and straight forward, plus tons cheaper than going to a German dealer.

[M3 Piotr]

Congratulations. If I wasn't able to get the color I have now, Space Grey was my next option. I went with Avant Garde M359 (M3 GTS replicas) for my winter set up and I'm very happy with them. ET18 front and ET25 rear. Now I want to leave them for summer too.

If everything goes good we should have our first M Flight meet this year on 31 March.

And Pentagon Car Sales rocks!

[PIMP "E"]

very nice

[jonasaurus]

Nice one. Congrats!

[Slalom]

Originally Posted by runnerguy1979

Hi Slalom,
I receive all the euro stations (local) but I'm a bit disappointed I can't get a good new channel in english, like the BBC. I figured out a way to get it through bmw apps web radio, but this uses my iPhones data connection.

What made you ask the radio station question?

My car came with the radio coded for North America. So I do not get any stations other than .1 .3 etc. In Europe they also use .0 .2 .4 and in Italy they use .05 etc.

I get enough swiss radio with what I have, but the is a safety issue. Many tunnels broadcast emergency messages on the .0 frequencies. That mans that if there is an accident in the tunnel I could find myself not getting the message to use exit A but not exit B. Since many tunnels here are over 10 miles long this is important information.

So far BMW understands the problem but it has not filtered down to the technical folks who understand what to do.

[BMWSpeedFreek]

Apologies - can't quote...
"Here's some info on the wheels/tires which will hopefully help you. I ordered them from Ben @ Tirerack (highly recommended), w/ the BMW center caps and TPM sensors installed and longer lug nuts and wheels spacers for rears. The tires are Blizzaks LM-60...Front 255/35R-19 and Rear 275/35R-19. They ride really nice."

RG79 -

Very nice setup! I am interested in understanding what you got from Tirerack. What size spacers did you get for the rear? What is the offset of those wheels to allow the wider track tires? Do you have any rubbing issues at the front? (or rear for that matter!) Can you PM me approx what you paid for them? incl shipping?

Many thanks, and I'll see you at the next meet!

SF

[BMWSpeedFreek]

Apologies - can't quote...
"Here's some info on the wheels/tires which will hopefully help you. I ordered them from Ben @ Tirerack (highly recommended), w/ the BMW center caps and TPM sensors installed and longer lug nuts and wheels spacers for rears. The tires are Blizzaks LM-60...Front 255/35R-19 and Rear 275/35R-19. They ride really nice."

RG79 -

Very nice setup! I am interested in understanding what you got from Tirerack. What size spacers did you get for the rear? What is the offset of those wheels to allow the wider track tires? Do you have any rubbing issues at the front? (or rear for that matter!) Can you PM me approx what you paid for them? incl shipping?

Many thanks, and I'll see you at the next meet!

SF <edit: found it - will sort out on next post>

[tomwac]

Originally Posted by M3 Piotr

If everything goes good we should have our first M Flight meet this year on 31 March.

Hi, any more info on this meeting? I would love to meet some fellow M3 drivers as there aren't too many around here...
Love how your car looks, I was 3 weks too late to order a 4 door, so went with a slick coupe

[tomwac]

Originally Posted by runnerguy1979

Hello Gents,

I'm a very new member of both MFlight and the M3post forum, since December 2011, around the time that I finally decided to bite the bullet and order my new 2012 E92 M3. The day I ordered, I had the opportunity to meet Hans and get introduced to MFlight, before he left for deployment.

I have to say, M3post and MFligtht (mainly through emailing and the Facebook page) has been an absolute WEALTH of knowledge which came in handy throughout the entire ordering/research and delivery process. I truly thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences and turning me into a very very very educated consumer/fellow M3 owner.

Today was the day I took delivery of my new baby. I'm working in Europe so I took delivery from a great sales outfit Pentagon BMW Sales near Kauserslauten, Germany. Through a mutual friend that also ordered an M3, I met my SA, Mathias Hemmer. He was extremely professional and helpful throughout the entire experience and took very good care of me. I highly recommend Mathias if you're in the market for a BMW. Euler BMW in Germany was also very professional with getting the car prepped for delivery.

I could hardly contain myself as I drove my new baby the 300 km trip home. I've never felt such a feeling as this car gives its driver. My last car was an S2000 and I had high expectations for the car. It certainly didn't dissapoint. It's a truly satisfying and addictive feeling to start up and drive this machine. Slow speeds, fast speeds, back roads, motorway...it's all brilliant. And, the 6spd manual is a thing of beauty. I feel no knotchiness/rough shifts. In fact, I find the shifts crisp and grin-inducing. And, the tech-package in the M3 is incredible. Automatic rain sensors, iPhone integration, a great satnav and features like comfort access, etc....it has everything. And, the great suspension set-up, firm but not jarring.......oh, and did I mention the seats.....what a machine.....I truly am in love and we've only just met ;-)

thanks again to everyone.
I'm glad to be in such a tight-knit community of car enthusiasts.
And look forward to being a contributing member to both MFlight and M3post.

I've attached a few pics from today's experience. I hope these pics help you all relive your own "first day"
1) delivery :-)
2) winter set-up (blizzaks w/ breytons....thanks Ben @ TireRack for your recommendations on a pair of shoes and great service)
3) my first (of many) fuel fill-ups :-)
4) interior (complete w/ cheesy airbag warning I should have removed).

cheers,
Brian

Congratz on the new car...looks fantastic...
Are you in Belgium or Holland?

[THE TECH]

Nice car. Congrats.

[runnerguy1979]

Originally Posted by Slalom

So far BMW understands the problem but it has not filtered down to the technical folks who understand what to do.

Slalom,

Can you pass along this technical solution you're referring to so that the other US Spec M3 owners living in Europe can have our BMW techs fix it?

thanks for passing on the wisdom.

Brian

[runnerguy1979]

Originally Posted by tomwac

Congratz on the new car...looks fantastic...
Are you in Belgium or Holland?

Tomwac, thanks. I'm in Holland but right on the border. Would love to meet up sometime. Nice car list, btw.

[tomwac]

Originally Posted by runnerguy1979

Tomwac, thanks. I'm in Holland but right on the border. Would love to meet up sometime. Nice car list, btw.

thanks...the 116d is nothing special, but does a good job as a DD...the X3 is a very nice driving car for family trips, but not a 'man' car ...
yeah, it would be nice to meet up to have a blast to the ring or the ardennes just let me know

[MrD1198]

Brian,

Did you get a chance to take the car through any snow over the winter? Just curious how the winter tires held up.

Thanks

[Slalom]

Originally Posted by runnerguy1979

Slalom,

Can you pass along this technical solution you're referring to so that the other US Spec M3 owners living in Europe can have our BMW techs fix it?

thanks for passing on the wisdom.

Brian

Things are still stalled with BMW on the fix. As I see it I have three options -

1. Go to a coding specialist
2. Live with the problem and use an iPod nano as a tuner, or
3. Retain a lawyer

Since I am at the 5 month mark with BMW I am less leaning to a combination of 1 and 3.

[runnerguy1979]

Originally Posted by MrD1198

Brian,

Did you get a chance to take the car through any snow over the winter? Just curious how the winter tires held up.

Thanks

sorry it took a second to answer your msg....I drove it both in light snow (nothing deep) and wet/dry freezing temperatures. With winter tires and keeping dsc on, the car was very capable but the blizzaks were a bit "slidy" on dry/cold pavement. I think you'll be happy with the tires.