Just got a call from the truck driver and my M3 will be arriving tomorrow morning. I have yet to drive an SMG so hopefully it won't be too difficult to get the car home. :cool:

Anything special I should know about the break-in period and an SMG besides whats in the manual?

Hope it's a decent weekend for a road-trip :wave:

Icehawk

Just don't stall it :D ;)

No really, congratulations. Have fun!

Congrats man... when I picked up my car, I put about 900 miles on it the first day ;)

I remember that Kev, didn't you have to wash it right away? :lol:

Icehawk: What other options did you get? Also, colors?

Originally posted by ///MDriver
I remember that Kev, didn't you have to wash it right

Yup... I had to wash it the next day, in 30 degree weather. You should have seen the look on the service manager's face in S.Carolina, when he asked for my address...

He was like "You're from Florida" :eek:

Ha! That's the best way to break in a car. I bet you had a hard time keeping the proper break in procedure.

Kev, is that why you went out of state for a cheaper price on the car? or just to drive your car 900 miles.


Also, Is your car a daily driver?

Mine is and i feel like a beater car is a must

Was there a good reason for going all the way to south caronlina to buy the car? If it was a cheaper price, I am sure you didn't save much with all the gas you had to put in to get it back to florida :)

Originally posted by MMJ4mil
Kev, is that why you went out of state for a cheaper price on the car? or just to drive your car 900 miles.

Originally posted by Sticky
Was there a good reason for going all the way to south caronlina to buy the car? If it was a cheaper price, I am sure you didn't save much with all the gas you had to put in to get it back to florida

Actually, I bought the car right here in S.Florida. Next day I went on vacation to S.Carolina. Stayed in S.Carolina a couple of days to get the 1200mile service. Then drove back the day after the service.

About 2000 miles in 4 days.

Also, Is your car a daily driver?

Yup, I drive it every day. I thought about buying a beater... but why spend all this money on a car and not drive it. Instead of putting the money into a beater, i'll put the money into this car for preventative maintanence.

heya guys,
Got the car last night at 11pm, it was shipped via truck from Georgia. The truck driver called and asked if I wanted to meet him at 11pm, or wait till the next day at 10am...you can guess my immediate response :)

I did manage to kill it right away though. For some reason the SMG was in the 5 setting, plus the car hadn't been run in a month or so during shipping to me so it was a little tempermental to start. Once I figured out the SMG and put it into the 2 setting, then ran the car for a while to get it warmed up everything was great.

My neighbors probably thought I was pretty crazy out washing my car at midnight, but it was really dirty from it's cross country journey on the truck. Plus I couldn't have my work buddies seeing it all nasty today.

The car is Topaz blue, with the grey interior. It has SMG, premium and the sound upgrade.

Only problem I've seen so far is the tire pressure light goes off all the time. I double checked all the tire pressures and they were fine, so I think it's just a malfunctioning light, but I'm going to call my local dealership and get it in to be checked right away. (anyone else have that problem?)

I've got a nice weekend getaway planned so hopefully the breakin period will be over soon :)

Icehawk

Congrats on the car! It sounds gorgeous. You will have to post a pic. Did you get a good deal from out of state. In my experience the Seattle area has got some of the highest car prices in the country!

Where in Seattle are you? I'll keep my eye out for ya.

Flat Tire Monitor

Initializing the system
Initializing is necessary to familiarize the
system with the correct inflation pressures.
Repeat this process after any changes
in tire inflation pressure, tire rotation or
replacement.

1. Check the tire inflation pressures in
all the tires, comparing them with the
inflation pressure table on page 25,
and adjust them if necessary

2. Turn the ignition key to position 2

3. Press button as long as you need to
until the indicator lamp in the instrument
cluster lights up. After a little
while, the indicator lamp will go out
by itself

4. After a few minutes, the Flat Tire
Monitor will accept the current inflation
pressures as the values to be
measured against, and from that
point on can detect and report a flat
tire.

To activate/deactivate the system

The system is automatically activated in
ignition key position 2 and consequently
is on whenever the vehicle is
operated.
To deactivate the system: tap the button,
the indicator lamp will light up yellow.
To activate the system: tap the button
again; the indicator lamp goes out.
Deactivate the system when snow
chains are mounted, since false warnings
and undetected losses in pressure
are possible under these kinds of conditions.

Flat tire
The red warning lamp in the
instrument cluster lights up to
warn of pressure loss and tire
failure. In addition, an acoustic signal is
sounded. To come to an immediate
stop, reduce speed, while avoiding any
sudden, jerky braking or steering
maneuvers.

To reset the warning lamp: the red indicator
lamp has to be switched off manually
after putting on a new wheel. At
this point, hold the Flat Tire Monitor
button down until the indicator lamp
goes out. Reinitialize the system afterward.
The Flat Tire Monitor cannot provide
you with advance warning of
sudden and severe tire damage caused
by external factors.
Another factor which the Flat Tire Monitor
does not recognize is the balanced
and very gradual pressure loss that
takes place in all tires over an extended
period of time.

Kev, you beat me to it. But that is the exact problem that he seems to be having.

I followed those steps to reset the monitor last night and it still kept blinking. But I'll give it another shot before I take the car in. Thanks for posting them.

And yeah I got a much better deal than ordering from the Seattle area. Had I ordered from Bellevue BMW I wouldn't have had a car till July, and they quoted me lease payments approximately $250 more per month than I found online.

I'm on the eastside in the Bellevue/Redmond area (working for the evil empire).

Do you go to the local BMW club events? I did their initial training class last year at Bremerton and had a blast (in my 328). Probably going to do the SIR (pacific raceways?) one this spring as well.

I'll take some pics and post them tonight.

Icehawk

cool. I am on 148th just off 520 . . .not far from the evil empire.
Seattle is my place of residence. I just got my M3 in december, so I haven't really done anything yet. Looking forward to the spring! Can't wait to see the pix!

Congrats! sounds like a sweet ride. Do post some pics of it

sounds like we are very close then. My offices is actually in the Cedar Court complex off 148th...right next to Azteca. So maybe I'll see you on 520 one of these days :)

Icehawk

that's funny. I am in the Land America Building which is on your right as you get on westbound 520 ( I hate that road!!!). It is at the dead end of NE 29th Place. I could almost throw a rock and hit your office! I will definately be looking out now. As my sig says I am in an e36 M3. Blue with cleared out sides and corners. I have the rears on back order. I'm sure I will see you around!

-Zach

Originally posted by Icehawk
I followed those steps to reset the monitor last night and it still kept blinking. But I'll give it another shot before I take the car in. Thanks for posting them.

And yeah I got a much better deal than ordering from the Seattle area. Had I ordered from Bellevue BMW I wouldn't have had a car till July, and they quoted me lease payments approximately $250 more per month than I found online.

I'm on the eastside in the Bellevue/Redmond area (working for the evil empire).

Do you go to the local BMW club events? I did their initial training class last year at Bremerton and had a blast (in my 328). Probably going to do the SIR (pacific raceways?) one this spring as well.

I'll take some pics and post them tonight.

Icehawk

Be sure to check out our regional forums for information on local meets.

:) Yes, we will have to get a seattle meet going over in that forumm...hmmmm.

icehawk- do you live out toward Redmond or Seattle? I saw a blue e46 with temp plates going from Redmond to Bellevue and I was wondering if that was you???

I live out off Avondale in Redmond, so that could have easily been me going from Redmond to Bellevue.

finally got some pictures online -

Topaz blue M3 pictures (http://groups.msn.com/TheBensons/)

I was going to attend the local BMW clubs event at Pacific Raceways this Friday, but I won't be past my break-in period yet. They have another one later in April though that I'll try to hit.

Icehawk

:eek:

Great looking car! . . .that was you unless someone else out there has a brand new one exactly like yours. I am currently the project engineer for a golf/housing development on Novelty Hill Road call Trilogy at Redmond Ridge. So, I drive out Avondale a little every day . . .
:wave:

called . . .not "call" I am typing too fast!

aha, then I'll probably pass by you just about every morning. Our house is in a development called Lake of the Woods east which is about 300ft away from the new Trilogy development.

Any word on when the golf course they are putting in there will be ready to go? :) And are you guys forcing Verizon into offering DSL in the area or will it still be cable modems only?

anyway, send me some mail at mikeben@microsoft.com that way we don't litter up the M3 forum with a bunch of non-related talk :)

Mike

Congrats, I wouldnt get your hopes up though cause they truck driver who delivered my car told me the next day for a week and a half