[MIKEYMIKE]

Originally Posted by Desert Bimmer

Kinda off the topic a bit but I had a silly question...

Do people name their bimmers? I mean like when we have a boat or ship we give them a name...do we also name our bimmers? And if so, are they female or male names? LOL Don't ask me why....it just popped into my head..LOL

Yea, I decided I'm naming it a German female name. After searching a bit I found "Nella", a 15th century German name with a connotation of being a "Bitch". Haha, Perfect...Nella it is.

[unxdawg]

Originally Posted by MIKEYMIKE

You'll be fine. I went with the 6mt....but I was extremely impressed with the auto tranny...it's definitely not the traditional "slush box" on other cars. And if you decide you made a mistake, just trade it in for the 335i 6mt

I ended up going really conservative. Jet Black on Black leather with a 6mt. I decided to go with the aluminum cuz I felt it was more sporty than wood and matched the idrive knob, shifter, and aluminum pedals nicely.

Black on black is a classic combo, very nice, I think you'll be extremely happy with it.

Regarding TiAg, It's interesting that, at least in the Bay Area, the majority of E90s I see are SG, then black (BMW marketing has alot to do with it this time around). With the E46, you see tons of TiAg. My current E46 is Topaz Blue with Natural Brown and I can honestly say that I have not seen 1 such combo around here among the hundreds of Bimmers I've seen over the last few years.

Other things I'm curious about as we wait to take delivery of our cars:

- What brand of RFTs will we have? Are they really as noisy as everyone says?

- How well bluetooth/nav voice commands work. I'm really excited to try this out.

- I wonder if the aluminum trim causes a nasty glare sometimes when there's alot of sun out? Sometimes, when I put my Motorola RAZR in my car at the perfect angle, i get blinded :-)

- Whether or not the factories, given that we're probably end of model year builds, have worked out alot of these annoying rattles people keep talking about? I hope so.

[teodulog]

Terra is actually more brown than red. I had an opportunity to see in a local dealer on an SG exterior. I couldn't find a single picture on the net that looked like what I saw in person. For me it was the only enterior that stands out. Especially with black carpet.

[Ghunger]

Just to chime in myself, I ended up with Monaco Blue and a Terra interior. I wasn't sure about it at first but after living with it for two weeks, I was completely sold. 6MT here also, I tried the step, which was one of the best auto's I've driven, but I just like driving a manual, and it didn't hurt that it was cheaper.

I didn't think the tires were that noisy. My car (330i with SP) came with the Bridgestone RE050's 225/40R18 front, 255/35R18 rear.

I never had a problem with my aluminum trim. I don't really think there's any trim located in a place where it would reflect much. It's a pretty matte finish too.

In my 2 weeks I didn't have any rattles that stood out to me. If they were there they weren't bad enough to bother me.

Oh, and no name for her yet.

[Desert Bimmer]

Originally Posted by MIKEYMIKE

Yea, I decided I'm naming it a German female name. After searching a bit I found "Nella", a 15th century German name with a connotation of being a "Bitch". Haha, Perfect...Nella it is.

Yeah Mikey Mike...good idea on giving her a German name. Hmmm...now I have some thinking to do. Trying to think of some sexy German female names now...lol My buddy lives in Germany right now, I'll ask him if he's banged any hot German gals lately and if he can remember their name(s)...

[edawg]

well i loved to get the apline white with black interior and i accually had ordered the car when i went for another look at the show room floor and saw a 545 with terra interior and i ran to my CA and told him to change it ...oll i was sold and have never chang my mind since,,,i saw another 325 sedan alping white whitg terra and fell in love again....

[MIKEYMIKE]

I believe the 5 series is Auburn brown, its not terra.

[Desert Bimmer]

I'm sure there are some posts our there referencing tint but I wanted to ask us Hojin guys what your thoughts are on window tinting? Since I am in Arizona I am seriously considering going with the 20% tint all the way around. I have the black leather interior (b/c I have kids) or else I would have gotten the beige leather which looks very classy and clean. And I am going to opt-out of the visor tint b/c I don't think it looks good.

[Ghunger]

Personally I wouldn't go much darker than 20% just to make sure nightime and driving in the rain won't be a problem. Just make sure to get ceramic there in Arizona. It will be much better at keeping the interior cool. I'm getting 35% all around myself, but I live in Seattle so it's not as hot, and not as sunny.

[gos]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

I live in Seattle so it's not as hot, and not as sunny.

Understatement of the week?

[Ghunger]

Originally Posted by gos

Understatement of the week?

I was just trying to qualify my statement as to why I wasn't getting ceramic and a higher transmission tint.

[Desert Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

Personally I wouldn't go much darker than 20% just to make sure nightime and driving in the rain won't be a problem. Just make sure to get ceramic there in Arizona. It will be much better at keeping the interior cool. I'm getting 35% all around myself, but I live in Seattle so it's not as hot, and not as sunny.

Thanks for the advice Ghunger. I just spoke with a local tint shop here in town that uses FORMULAONE and they say they only do 38% by Arizona state laws and that it is better than the 3M product out there. I'll have to do some more research on it but I think it's the best option for now. And yes FORMULAONE uses the ceramic.

[gos]

Originally Posted by Ghunger

I was just trying to qualify my statement as to why I wasn't getting ceramic and a higher transmission tint.

haha I was just goofin, sorry.

Looking at the films in person, I think the ceramic HO seems to transmit light with a bit more clarity than the non-ceramic films... makes the car a bit more expensive. Something like a good pair of sunglasses versus a cheap pair, you can definitely tell a good lens coating from a bad one.

Heat rejection is nice but not as essential here in colorado, I guess I'm doing it more for the look. It'll probably help protecting the dash/leather too from UV. Then again, I didn't get the sunshade so it'll probably be a nice to get tinted up too just to keep the interior a bit dimmer.

--gos

[MIKEYMIKE]

On my past 2 cars I did 5% limo tints...but I'm kind of sick of getting harassed by the police here in Socal. I think 20% is perfect, not too light, not too dark.

[leitrim]

Originally Posted by MIKEYMIKE

On my past 2 cars I did 5% limo tints...but I'm kind of sick of getting harassed by the police here in Socal. I think 20% is perfect, not too light, not too dark.

I've always done limo tint on the back 3 windows and I love it. I plan on doing it on the bimmer as well. The back 3 windows are legal to tint it whatever % you want here in CA. However, any tint on the driver/pass windows are illegal. But if you go really light you should be ok.

My wife and I have both been pulled over recently for tint on our driver/pass windows. We got pulled over for just the tint and nothing else in 2 different cities in NorCal. Talk about some bored cops.

[MIKEYMIKE]

^
Yea, same here in LA. Usually they are cool about it, but every so often I get pulled over just for the tints.

[edawg]

personally i have never been a fan of tint..dunno why. My new truck has its windows tinted and i like it but i dunno if i will get tint on the wagon (that why i got rear shades)...only if i could get the light blue tint that mercedes uses then maybe ill do it..hmmmm..what to do

[Desert Bimmer]

Ok guys...this is our weekend! I'm crossing my fingers that our ride had some good head winds and is getting closer to the canal...

[unxdawg]

Originally Posted by Desert Bimmer

Ok guys...this is our weekend! I'm crossing my fingers that our ride had some good head winds and is getting closer to the canal...

Have any of you guys gotten ETAs for when your car will be at your dealership? My sales guy says he thinks between June 15th-22nd.

[gos]

Originally Posted by unxdawg

Have any of you guys gotten ETAs for when your car will be at your dealership? My sales guy says he thinks between June 15th-22nd.

Only date I've seen from my CA was docking 6/6 in PH, and vehicle arrival at VPC by 6/7.

From there, it's anybody's guess as to who may have damage on their car and need repair, or how long the wait is on a truck to a given part of the country, etc.

I'm hoping for 6/15 myself, but am not going to get too wound up about it because of some of the VPC delays I've read about.

--gos

[unxdawg]

Originally Posted by gos

Only date I've seen from my CA was docking 6/6 in PH, and vehicle arrival at VPC by 6/7.

From there, it's anybody's guess as to who may have damage on their car and need repair, or how long the wait is on a truck to a given part of the country, etc.

I'm hoping for 6/15 myself, but am not going to get too wound up about it because of some of the VPC delays I've read about.

--gos

Damage and repair ...yikes :-(. I wonder what % of cars need some sort of repair or reconditioning.

[MIKEYMIKE]

Originally Posted by unxdawg

Damage and repair ...yikes :-(. I wonder what % of cars need some sort of repair or reconditioning.

My guess is quite a bit. I think the rule is, if the damage is less than 5% value of the car it doesn't get reported to the dealership.

My dealership told me they are expecting the car at the port on the 6th. But I know it takes some time to actually get it to the dealer. In my mind, I don't feel like I'm going to get it til the end of June but we'll see.