Hidden gems in the 1M (tips & tricks)

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by -cj-

I have the trunk button in my car.
[...] I have a valet lock out in the glove box. You flip a switch and your trunk won't open, and you use the valet key in your fob to lock the glove box.

AFAIK EURO 1M's don't feature these gems, but maybe I'm wrong. Can you show us these features with a picture please ?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Artemis

AFAIK EURO 1M's don't feature these gems, but maybe I'm wrong. Can you show us these features with a picture please ?

Here is the Valet switch in my glove box - on my US spec 135i. Your 1M should have something simular. I never saw this switch until last week when someone mentioned it! You can't see it while sitting in the drivers seat! lol

[Aussie_in_London]

We don't have the boot lock switch in the glove box, and we rarely have valet parking facilities lol

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Aussie_in_London

We don't have the boot lock switch in the glove box, and we rarely have valet parking facilities lol

There are valets of all sorts. Most undoubtedly duly take care of your car. However some don't. Even if you have a valet parking facility: prepared to entrust the keys of your 1M to a valet with a "Yes! The 1M! " look on his face ? He might not have access to the (secured) boot, but has full access to the engine...

[mattm]

Flip the valet $5 and say, ok if I park it myself?

[eeghie]

Originally Posted by ///M1

It may be trickier than we think (i.e. not just a matter of a cubbyhole). For example, the US E39 5-series body had a completely different lower dash panel than the E39s in the rest of the world. It was deeper/bulkier, and had all to do with how crash tests in the US were conducted (IIRC the dummies were tested without the seat belts on and tests showed their knees buckled under the dashboard, so for the US they had to be revised.)

Ask me how I know, almost went for the Euro conversion on my M5 (only cost precluded it as I had the full leather interior and the panels were over $2K , but plenty people that didn't have the full-leather options did buy the lower Euro dash which was a few hundred bucks and very much worth the upgrade - significantly less weight and of course the cubbies). I actually helped my friend install his after we bought it from Dave Zeckhausen. Check out the before and after pics.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/eurodash.htm

PS: May be worth doing a Euro conversion for our Ms if indeed its the same case here

Awesome contribution ///M1, the difference for the 5 series seems huge. I'll be exploring this for the 1M, as sometimes during my ED I did get a bit of a boxed-in sensation (Or perhaps that was due to my tears of happiness all the time). Can anyone on the forum confirm that the foot well spatial impression in a US E82 is noticeably smaller than a EURO E82?

Awesome thread!!

[ozinaldo]

So, the NA cars have the trunk button (should be near the driver's door, like down the A-pillar, around knee level when you are sitting) but Euro cars don't, again for some reason. The valet lock in the glove box on the other hand, I am not sure Euro cars have or not, I will check it today.

[ozinaldo]

I checked, no I don't have the valet lock either, like Aussie and Artemis. The base grey colored plastic part is there weirdly. The place of the NA cars' trunk button is also visible, like they decided not to finish what they started all of a sudden in these two cases.

I put the Y-cable for i-pod/usb which came with the car (I thought it was an accessory that I should buy separately, it was a nice surprise to have it free) inside the newly discovered leather pouch, it can stay there till I start utilizing.

The manuals of the car really fit great inside the battery bin like Artemis showed us, nice idea.

Hmmm, what else? The coat hangers on the B-pillar, everyone has them or they are also market specific?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

Hmmm, what else? The coat hangers on the B-pillar, everyone has them or they are also market specific?

Good point. Those come in handy to attach a pullover or something alike to, in order to obscure even more the rear side-window if the sun sits on the side where a child tries to catch some sleep (privacy glass ain't sufficient in full sun). Would be impossible without those discretely positioned coat hangers.



And for the front seats: okay, as in all cars there are both vertical movable sun-panels on the windscreen that can be "unclicked" from their position to fully twist laterally/sideways towards the side-windows in the front (to have some cover at eye-level on the side against sun or wind), but there are also the black movable handles above each side-window to attach stuff to (most car manufacturers fit such handles at the passenger-side only).

Always a good idea to keep a blanket in the boot: if some culprit smashes the side-window in freezing temps and you still got a long way home ahead of you, this might save you a cruel windy trip home: stick/smash the blanket (if impossible to properly close the door: your T-shirt or pullover) between the door and the car-body. Was not aware of this until many years ago a friend of mine had to drive home for an hour or so in chilly winter temps with a smashed passenger window: the heating on max power + a squeezed blanket made it a hard but nevertheless bearable windy journey.

Still another aspect: for those who have the front passenger seat ISOFIX option: the passenger airbag (de)activation key-lock is hidden inside the passenger-door. But that's indicated in the manual, for sure.

[mrow]

Originally Posted by Aussie_in_London

Do you guys not get the iphone/ipod pouch under the arm rest? I place my ipod touch safely out of the way and it is right next to the usb socket....

Yes but I use my iPhone as my iPod and I don't want to be lifting up the armrest and opening the pouch, unplugging it and doing the reverse when I get back in. It gets tedious. If I had a dedicated iPod I would definitely keep it there. I also like that keeping the phone in the tray allows me to see the screen light up when I get any notifications or text messages. I have the iPhone 4S so I can have text messages read to me by Siri and I can dictate messages back and send them. It works over the bluetooth connection too.

[Artemis]

Another gem: if seat heating is activated, you leave and lock the car without switching off the seat heating, and you return after a short period of time for another drive, seat heating is reactivated automatically.

If parked for a few hours, seat heating is not automatically reactivated. I don't know how much time it's on "standby", but in my experience at least 15 minutes.

[Simsims]

The seat heating thing is in all bimmers

[1M SUSI]

Another thing I think is in all new Bimmers, is the little basket drains under the hood. If any leaf or whirly gig runs down the wind shield it ends up in the basket --> it's sweet. Also the head light halos have a little spark at the bottom. It Looks like how an artist would draw or paint a stars twinkle or a twinkle on choppy water. Also --> sweet

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

That should really be an option or standart in every market, so useful details. There are also additional latches in the trunk with the storage pack plus if the car is w/out nav. you get an additional storage compartment that also looks good where you would have the nav. screen and lastly a second cup holder instead of the i-drive.

Found the iphone pouch, really cool, so well hidden I think I could leave a credit card or some cash there if I get too brave sometimes. Who would notice that? I didn't! Thanks Aussie.

After some searching, I discovered that the additional latches in the trunk can be retrofit allowing use of the cargo net. I'm definitely going to do this at some point. Check it out here: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=425060

Originally Posted by ///M1

It may be trickier than we think (i.e. not just a matter of a cubbyhole). For example, the US E39 5-series body had a completely different lower dash panel than the E39s in the rest of the world. It was deeper/bulkier, and had all to do with how crash tests in the US were conducted (IIRC the dummies were tested without the seat belts on and tests showed their knees buckled under the dashboard, so for the US they had to be revised.)

Ask me how I know, almost went for the Euro conversion on my M5 (only cost precluded it as I had the full leather interior and the panels were over $2K , but plenty people that didn't have the full-leather options did buy the lower Euro dash which was a few hundred bucks and very much worth the upgrade - significantly less weight and of course the cubbies). I actually helped my friend install his after we bought it from Dave Zeckhausen. Check out the before and after pics.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/eurodash.htm

PS: May be worth doing a Euro conversion for our Ms if indeed its the same case here

Wow, I had no idea the US market E39 had a different lower dash panel like that. I wonder how many other BMW models are drastically different like that for US crash standards. The Euro dash looks significantly better in that E39 as well. Thanks for the info.

[staianoa]

Has anyone with xenon adaptive headlights noticed that the inside headlight (that is the one closest to the kindey grills) lights up for about five seconds when that side blinker is activated? This seems to be the only time those lights actually turn on (they aren't used for high beams or low beams). Not really sure what the point of this function is but it's kind of cool.

[///M1]

Originally Posted by staianoa

Has anyone with xenon adaptive headlights noticed that the inside headlight (that is the one closest to the kindey grills) lights up for about five seconds when that side blinker is activated? This seems to be the only time those lights actually turn on (they aren't used for high beams or low beams). Not really sure what the point of this function is but it's kind of cool.

Indeed that is the case, also when you turn the respective side switches on, and when in reverse both get activated

[v1k0d3n]

Originally Posted by ///M1

Indeed that is the case, also when you turn the respective side switches on, and when in reverse both get activated

As far as hidden gems are concerns, i think we should mention the US fog light mod for the back tail lamps. i performed that light modification and it works very well.

[Rikx1M]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Here is the Valet switch in my glove box - on my US spec 135i. Your 1M should have something simular. I never saw this switch until last week when someone mentioned it! You can't see it while sitting in the drivers seat! lol

Sweet...just found this switch...now if it would only reduced power also so the valet dude doesn't burn up my clutch...

Great thread OP!

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ///M1

Indeed that is the case, also when you turn the respective side switches on, and when in reverse both get activated

Do you refer to the cornering lights which are part of the adaptive headlights option ?

"Adaptive Headlights are complemented by cornering lights. These are automatically activated at speeds of up to 70 km/h and improve visibility in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle, which is useful when driving along hairpin bends, turning or parking."
Source: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/t...eadlights.html

Adaptive headlights (on a 2010 M3 E90):

[///M1]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Do you refer to the cornering lights which are part of the adaptive headlights option ?

"Adaptive Headlights are complemented by cornering lights. These are automatically activated at speeds of up to 70 km/h and improve visibility in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle, which is useful when driving along hairpin bends, turning or parking."
Source: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/t...eadlights.html

Adaptive headlights (on a 2010 M3 E90):

I believe the stock adaptive xenon lights in the US are slightly different than the ones offered in Europe (Dackel had a post a while back with pictures). In the US at least, when you are in reverse, the inner lights (closest to kidney grill) light up. That is when you have the switch on Auto mode. Ditto when you turn our blinker on/make a turn, the inner light comes on.

[///M1]

Originally Posted by v1k0d3n

As far as hidden gems are concerns, i think we should mention the US fog light mod for the back tail lamps. i performed that light modification and it works very well.

Indeed, glad I carried that part over from my 135i. Only difference was the bezel (you get the chrome surround in the 2011s) but you can easily swap it.

BTW that part has gone up in price like mad. IIRC I bought it for around $30, now it is $140!!!

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-18...-1-series.aspx

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by -cj-

I have the trunk button in my car. I have the iPod pouch under the arm rest as well.

No cubby hole in the dash. I have Idrive, so I have one badly placed cup holder behind the Idrive. I refuse to attach the side mounted cup holder, hate the look. I wish we had pop out cup holders like the 3s. I'd pay for this mod if someone does it lol.

I have a valet lock out in the glove box. You flip a switch and your trunk won't open, and you use the valet key in your fob to lock the glove box.

One pet peeve I have with this car: whenever the headlights decide they need to be cleaned, the headlights turn off while you're spraying them... Don't see why that necessary.

I imagine that the lights shut off so that the wiper fluid doesn't just vaporize ? That or it also may prevent the housings from potentially cracking or at least causing micro cracks which could later lead to a failure.