2009 M3 Coupe Melbourne Red

[MMME30W]

Hi all, wanted to say hello to the forum.

I recently bought a 2009 M3 Coupe 6MT in Melbourne Red, with Black Novillo Leather. Options include Premium, Technology, 19" wheels, Heated Seats and Enhanced Premium Sound. 23K miles.

We bought it out of Penske Honda in Indianapolis. They were very professional and quick about the transaction. It appears to be a one local owner car, based on the service receipts. The car came a laminated copy of the sticker, the owners manual set, and a set of receipts from the BMW main dealer where it was serviced. We even found that the PO had laminated the Monroney sticker, which I thought was a good sign. No odd smells, so unlikely to be a smoker.

Last service was an oil change in Dec 11. Also in Dec 11 it got a new rear muffler, due to a broken weld, apparently. In Nov 10 it had a new idle control device replaced under warranty.

So, bad points. It has curb rash on three of four wheels. Tires are Michelin Pilot Sports, original as far as I can tell. Tread depths are 3.5mm on the rears and 5.5 mm on fronts. Not great, but expected at 23K I guess? Also, the under-dash power outlet appears to be inop.

For tires I'm leaning to new PSSs when I need them soon. I had Pilot Sports and PS2's on my E46, amongst other tires through the 100K+ miles I had that car. I still like the PS2s, but believe the PSS are the way to go (not to mention $100 cheaper per tire according to tirerack.com.)

I would have liked to have the Sirius XM sat radio on the car, but the PO did not check that box. Ah well. I have an old 30Gb iPod I connected up to the Aux in/iPod USB interface with a BMW cable. It works great. I've also started listening to HD stations. There are quite a few of these in Atlanta. Quite a lot of the time I don't use the stereo though. I think you guys know what I mean when I say it's just nice to smoothly run up through the gears.

In the paperwork I got is a receipt from the local BMW dealer at the 1,200 mile service in July 09 for something called a "DINAN Stage 1 DME Software D900-4" install. So the car is chipped I take it. I looked at the Dinan website and identified the part, it is apparently a DME reflash from what I can tell. I would be curious if any other members of the forum have this item installed. As I don't have much to compare it to other than test drives, I'm not sure what to expect from this. For certain the car is very very drivable.

Need to give it a good wash and wax soon; I have been too busy driving it. I’m still getting used to iDrive and the navigation system. I’ve never had a navi in the car.

We took it in to United BMW in Roswell Ga for a few items: new wiper blade inserts, and a intermittent brake fault callout. They inserted new blades, and replaced both rear bulb carriers to address that issue. I have been pretty happy with United's service so far. It seems like a fairly switched on dealership.

My SA also connected me up with one of the internet CA's to sign us up for the BMW teleservices/safety plan to identify us as the current owners. They also told me that the car had a 6 year / 100K BMW service contract on it. This apparently retails at $3,000+. I'm not sure personally I would have bought this, but it is certainly a nice discovery to make about a previously owned car. (I used to do the routine maintenance on my cars, am subscribe to the Mike Miller/BMW CCA old school maintenance schedule.)

I am loving the coupe, and especially the size of the trunk, fold flat seats and pass through. This weekend we turned it into a pickup truck. We went up to Norcross to get a couple mirrors and a floor lamp, and a set of drapes. We just folded down the seats and just stuffed it all in the back. Yesterday I went to Lowe's and got a 6' drapery rod and inserted it into the ski pass through. Plus I got to gun it getting on the on-ramp of I-85 hehe.

As a noob, I am wondering, naturally, about a few things; but I’ll start watching the threads here and see if my questions get answered by the more experienced M3 owners, if not, maybe I can interject here or there.

If anyone has any advice to offer, I would be glad to have it. This is my fifth Bimmer, but first M car, and you can learn something new every day.

For sure, the car’s potential is way way way above my skill level at the moment. But my lovely wife has been making encouraging noises about traveling to Spartanburg soon for a certain two day, ah, classroom and track school experience, with the letter “M” in the title.

Previous to this car, I was driving a '11 328i 6MT with sports. I did not want to get into the whole forced induction thing when I bought the E90, so I skipped out on the 335.

With this car being the last of the V-8, NA M-cars I kind of felt it was about time.

I really am wondering why the he** I waited till now to buy an M-car. And with no disrespect to the E9x 335 guys, or meaning to start a flame war, there is just no comparison to an M3. This car is a totally different animal.

It sounds, well, glorious. It starts, stops and goes like a beast. It is an absolute blast to drive.

I am a happy guy.

[PhillyNate]

Welcome. There's a wealth of information over here.

[aajami]

Originally Posted by H8onM3

no one is reading all of that

I know I'm not supposed to feed the troll, but it did make me

[Mike van D]

Congrats on the ride.

[BLACK OPS]

Pictures? Drapery rod and all...

[studntloan]

congradulations on the new car

[Sean05]

Bro too long to read on a monday... but congrats...

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by H8onM3

no one is reading all of that

I read it all, slow start to the morning so far lol



Congratulations on the purchase

[j2m]

Nice story, congratts on the new ride NOW post some pics ASAP

[Ken37.73]

Originally Posted by SchnellM3

I read it all, slow start to the morning so far lol



Congratulations on the purchase

Could you do an executive summary ? I'm 38, don't have long enough left to read it all LOL.

[MMME30W]

Originally Posted by Ken37.73

Could you do an executive summary ? I'm 38, don't have long enough left to read it all LOL.

Aging baby boomer buys M3 coupe.

Has fun bouncing off redline.

[kmarei]

Damn
Used my monthly megabyte allowance from AT&T downloading that post on my limited unlimited plan
I wonder how many kilob

[dyolfknip]

I read it, cause I am at the "gaining as much info as possible before buying" stage.

/although pics would have been nice.

[img]

Congrats on the ride,enjoy !

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by Ken37.73

Could you do an executive summary ? I'm 38, don't have long enough left to read it all LOL.

Sorry after that I did get busy lol


Here is your TLDR Summary:

OP got a new to him 09 Melbourne E92, he's happy very happy and hoping we welcome him and his future long posts

[MMME30W]

Originally Posted by dyolfknip

/although pics would have been nice.

Plan is for first serious wash / wax this weekend. Pics to follow.

I used to show an Austin Mini Cooper S 1275, but I don't go all anal compulsive on detailing these days. It's my DD. Cleaned, waxed, interior vacuumed, is about all the time I can afford.

Funny that car was Tartan Red with a black roof too.

[mdosu]

read the last line, good enough.

[skins333]

Congrats man, I was highly considering buying this exact car a few months ago...great options, condition. I was going to have the car brought to a Penske dealer in another state so I didn't have to pay the crazy Indiana sales tax (I think ~7%). Enjoy!

[MMME30W]

Originally Posted by skins333

...so I didn't have to pay the crazy Indiana sales tax (I think ~7%). Enjoy!

Yep

Fortunately the price was reduced just before purchase, which helped some. Plus they were not aware of the $3,295 BMW maintenance warranty, nor the fact it had a Dinan Stage 1 DME installed, either. So that helped some.

[skins333]

Originally Posted by Llando88

Yep

Fortunately the price was reduced just before purchase, which helped some. Plus they were not aware of the $3,295 BMW maintenance warranty, nor the fact it had a Dinan Stage 1 DME installed, either. So that helped some.

That actually helps a lot, how in the world were they not aware of the BMW maint warranty (or even the dinan) ahead of time?? Either way, great deal for you so don't sweat the little extra sales tax.

[minigearhead]

one thing we did was after negotiating, make the dealer include a sirius xm radio because we cant live without it in a car.

[SoTempted]

Originally Posted by H8onM3

no one is reading all of that

Truth! I saw all them words and immediately scrolled to see the resopnses to get an idea of what this thread was about.