SGM = Super Great Monster

[roadburn]

I picked up my SGM 135i today, and I realized a few things....

1. The SGM paint job catches every variation in the lighting/color of the environment and throws it back at you in weird and wonderful ways. It's so much fun to stare at the hood while you drive down a tree-lined lane that you could deep-six it in a ditch if you weren't sorta paying attention.

2. The engine, even babying it at 4,500 rpm and 85 mph, eats ordinary autos for breakfast. It's like driving an Albert Einstein relativity machine: a heavy press on the pedal, and suddenly you're in a different time and space, and the cars that had been around you are way back in your rear-view mirror.

3. iDrive is a blast! Maybe you don't need it, like wheels and tires, but it's a whole lot of fun. "Telephone, call John!" And when I set the nav unit for my home address after picking up the car, it said, "You have arrived" when I turned into my driveway. And I thought, "No shit. I HAVE arrived!"

4. The nav unit has a special setting for the twistiest, most-fun roads. Forget the fastest way there! And the trunk is big enough to run moonshine. "Pull a Curtis Turner turn on the 1-lane bridge one half mile ahead."

5. Chicks love it! Well, actually, my wife loves it. But she says that she can make it worth my while to be a 135i owner.

6. It is SO much cooler in person. While I was trying to conclude my purchase in my BMW center, three different customers walked in the door and said, "THAT's the car I want." One couple was vocally disconsolate when they saw the SOLD sign.

7. First stop. Where's the first place you'll stop, get out and admire your 135i? For the little lady and me, it was Polly's Freeze, a retro roadside ice-cream stand. The forsythia was reflecting in the hood, and the fish-and-chips never tasted better.

8. Reading about this car doesn't prepare you for driving it.

[3toM]

I have SGM on my current 325i. It is an interesting color and seems to change hues in different scenarios. It's great!!

[TP 135i]

CONGRATULATIONS...............GEE WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COLOR
But then it looks just like mine and I'm in love with mine.
Your description of the color picking up the surroundings is spot on....but wait till you see it in all the different lighting conditions......it gets better

[0002s]

Good to hear you like the color. I actually haven't seen it in persona and mine has been delayed in shipping until Monday.

SMG/Coral is the best.

[joelk]

Originally Posted by roadburn

8. Reading about this car doesn't prepare you for driving it.

Congrats! nice car.

That quotation pretty much sums it up. I'd only add that seeing photographs of the car doesn't quite prepare you for seeing one in person either.

[larryn]

Love the car, roadburn! I have to turn in my e90 SGM/Terra 330i in a few weeks, and I'll miss the color.

[roadburn]

SGM/Coral/aluminum had the CAs talking at my dealership.

Their basic position: If we want to sell cars, why don't we have demos like this one?

It was flattering, but a lot of people were breathing on my car, so I didn't hang around to bask in the adulation.

[edge350]

Originally Posted by roadburn

And when I set the nav unit for my home address after picking up the car, it said, "You have arrived" when I turned into my driveway. And I thought, "No shit. I HAVE arrived!"

Awesome! :smile:

[Jockey]

God SGM looks good, the only other color that I've been considering next to AW.

[runNgun]

Congratulations and thanks for the great writeup of your first day experience! It helps keep me somewhat sane as I wait for my June delivery.

[Troyn]

Congrats!

[dclee1]

Congrats and nice write up!

[bimmernet]

[quote=roadburn;93412]I picked up my SGM 135i today, and I realized a few things....


3. iDrive is a blast! Maybe you don't need it, like wheels and tires, but it's a whole lot of fun. "Telephone, call John!" And when I set the nav unit for my home address after picking up the car, it said, "You have arrived" when I turned into my driveway. And I thought, "No shit. I HAVE arrived!"

Nice to see positive remarks about iDrive. I started selling BMW's just after iDrive Mk.I was introduced on the 7 Series and then shortly thereafter the 5 had it and it made showing he cars a real drag because the press did and still does pan it mercilessly when it's a reasonably good solution for the issue of how to control all the functions cars offer now; AM/FM/FM-HD/WB/CD/DVD/iPod/SAT just for Audio! Then add Phone/Navigation/Climate all with sub-menus. I was at a training where we had the competition's cars to compare in person and I counted 55 Buttons, Switches and Knobs in the center stack of a SLK350 and it didn't have all the items above! Has anyone noticed that Audi, Mercedes, Lexus and others are introducing similar controls? BMW had iDrive early because they were one of the first to offer Bluetooth Handsfree Phone, iPod, SAT and Voice Command all on one car. It's not perfect but it handles a lot of stuff relatively simply.

Bimmernet

[adc]

Originally Posted by bimmernet

BMW had iDrive early because they were one of the first to offer Bluetooth Handsfree Phone, iPod, SAT and Voice Command all on one car. It's not perfect but it handles a lot of stuff relatively simply.

And now for a different point of view: my 335 has all of thee but no iDrive and I feel absolutely no need for one. All I mostly use are the buttons on the steering wheel anyway.

Oh, and so does my wife's 05 X3. :iono:



Nevertheless, beautiful car OP. SGM is what I'm considering too...

[Crowley]

Very nice .. !

Crowly