The Toreador Has Docked

[gregthegr8]

And now some crappy cell phone pics of my tint. Now I preface this by saying, when they were doing it and when they brought it out, at certain angles it looks like the perfect darkness I wanted, but then at other angles it looks REALLY dark to me. Perhaps it will lighten up a hair after it's fully cured in a few days, but I'm somewhat debating whether I should have gotten the 40% instead of the 30%. I also did the windshield in a special film for that (llumar air-80), which has great heat and IR rejection, UV protection, etc., and you'd never know there was a tint on there.

After they pulled it around front after finishing:




Lil later in the day:



And then here from the side it looks really dark to me, almost like a limo tint to my blind, sunglass wearing eyes.

[AZ-135is]

That thing is freaking awesome looking. Makes me REALLY miss my CI that was that color with the dark tint...

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by AZ-135is

That thing is freaking awesome looking. Makes me REALLY miss my CI that was that color with the dark tint...

Perhaps we haven't lost you just yet Randy!

Sadly, there are still a few remnant bubbles in the windshield tint that they already warned me may get worse in the next day or two, plus it may rain the next couple of days, and my goodness the 313s are caked in brake dust after 24 hours, so I'm going to wait a few days before I take good pics with my digital camera once she's all cleaned up and beautified.

I was just down in my garage staring at the car incessantly, I'm so happy with my color choice, which I went back and forth on a few times. The color to me looks EXACTLY like a color I almost custom ordered on my S5 called Daytona Gray.

And you know...if you get fed up with your dealer's run around, you should either make them or another dealer try to see if they can do a dealer swap and get you an IS like yours ASAP at a serious discount. I know there are quite a few in various colors and options around, and don't think you had any unusual options. Or maybe my baby has convinced you to come onto the dark side and get mineral grey! Once you go mineral grey...you never go...astray?

[Kouper]

Reporting in from Santa Barbara:
O-M-G!!! That exhaust is intoxicating! We don't need no stinkin' stereo.....Love it!

Picked it up from dealer late this afternoon. Haven't driven it much yet, but love the feel of the short throw shifter. Planning to drive back up to Bay Area tomorrow. Full report and photos when I return.

Greg, your color looks awesome, and the tint too!

[mb135is]

Greg - on such a dark car with dark interior, you definitely could get away with lighter tint. Still, it looks good.

I only wanted a slight tint, so went with 50%.

[Bmwbreed]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

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And then here from the side it looks really dark to me, almost like a limo tint to my blind, sunglass wearing eyes.

It's not to dark mana. You can still see the seats through it. It's just all in your head cuz ur noticing every little thing right now while u get acquainted with her

[Pron1series]

Tint looks great Greg! As does the rest of the car. Mine should be arriving to the port this week (it's actually set to arrive in San Diego today so not sure how many more days until port hueneme arrival).

Does the windshield tint really help that much with our SoCal heat? I'm in the San Fernando valley so if it does, I'm absolutely going to do it.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by Kouper

Reporting in from Santa Barbara:
O-M-G!!! That exhaust is intoxicating! We don't need no stinkin' stereo.....Love it!

Picked it up from dealer late this afternoon. Haven't driven it much yet, but love the feel of the short throw shifter. Planning to drive back up to Bay Area tomorrow. Full report and photos when I return.

Greg, your color looks awesome, and the tint too!

Kouper's got the bug!!! It's funny cause mb135is has been saying for months how intoxicating that exhaust sound is, and seemed like hyperbole or that it wouldn't matter that much to me, so I didn't get it...until I got it! What the hell is it about that exhaust sound that makes us want to just hear it more and more and accelerate? The engine alone with no sound makes you want to do that, so the combo is just awe inspiring and addictive. I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip back and tell us all about it.

Tint comments - man, I just keep staring it and going back and forth whether I should have gotten the 40% instead. Then of course I'd be on here saying it's too light! ha! I'll give it some time and see how I feel. I think the combination of getting used to a very dark colored car, plus the dark shadowline trim, plus the dark tint is just a lot of dark on dark on dark for me to take in right now. If it still bothers me in a few weeks maybe I'll have them put the 40 on. LUckily, I'm going with someone in 2 weeks who is likely to put the 40 on their car, so will decide then. Looks good and they said a darker car can often take a darker tint better than a lighter car, but I kinda think it's the opposite.

Anyways, Pron - you will love your mineral grey once you get it. So hard to accurately capture it in pictures and I remember some pictures at dealers almost made it look like it had a brown cast to it almost. But it is a pure dark charcoal, that depending on the lighting, can look sometimes as light as space gray at its darkest, but then look real dark at night or in a parking lot where at first glance from far away you almost think it's black. I may go down and give her a nice spray and wipe down, though alas, there's talk of rain in LA for the next two days?!?!

Oh and Pron - will let you know what I think about the windshield tint as it will be sitting in an outdoor lot while I'm at work and I've never tinted a windshield before, so will get a better sense in a few days. I can say though that driving down to Orange County pre-tint, at 8am I was burning up and annoyed by the sun and glare...on the ride back at 1030, was cool and calm. Was expensive though to do windshield.

One for the road as sadly I couldn't pull into the parking garage where I was running errands to get some food cause can't put windows down. But, in slightly cloudy conditions:

[bp-plickner]

Greg,
What a great looking car. Makes me even happier that I ordered mineral grey. These next couple of months are looking like a year for me...
Enjoy your ride.

[gregthegr8]

Originally Posted by bp-plickner

Greg,
What a great looking car. Makes me even happier that I ordered mineral grey. These next couple of months are looking like a year for me...
Enjoy your ride.

Ah, welcome to the ultra-exclusive mineral grey 135is family then! I've been finding myself just staring at the color and walking around to see it from every angle, etc.

You get the black interior or coral red? Every one I had seen before mine was coral red. And if you got black, did you get the black with blue stitching?

[bp-plickner]

Black with the "exclusive" blue stitching.
I saw the mineral grey at the dealer here in Tucson and it's subtle change in color depending on where I stood was pretty cool. That along with the exhaust note and that push back in your seat torque really sold me.

[gregthegr8]

Ha, sorry, "exclusive" blue stitching. Luckily I was able to see and test drive a mineral grey IS with coral red. Love love love the color almost as much as the exhaust sound. I cheaped out though and got the black leatherette.

I'll probably take better pictures next weekend with my digital camera after the tint is fully cured, I put on the michelin pilot super sports, and give her a nice detail and clean the rims up as they seemingly get very dirty very quickly, though still look good dirty since they are a darker/metallic color as opposed to your typical light allow.

[Bmwbreed]

Gregthegr8 ill tell ya what it is about the exhaust. It's that unmistakable BMW straight. 6 per combined with the fact that its a turbo so it pops and gurgles. Idk if this is the first BMW or straight 6 you have owned but ill tell you what other car makers make the straight 6 but BMW has mastered it in performance and sound. Even the older straight 6s sound great in their own way an have a very distinctive pur to them during acceleration. This is what I've always loved about BMW and is why I'd only drive straight 6 models.

[mb135is]

Greg - glad you now know the intoxicating sound of the exhaust. No hyperbole, brother!

[gregthegr8]

Bmwbreed - I had a 2008 135i two cars ago, but it sure didn't sound anything like this! I THOUGHT that sounded nice, but the difference between that and this with the PE is night and day.

mb135is - I almost feel bad or guilty coasting on the highway and having almost no noise coming out the back.

[Kouper]

Nothing like a 300 mile drive to get to know your new car. Whenever possible, take the back route home (note sign). Over 60 miles of awesome two-lane road:



It rained off and on most of my way home, so car was quickly dirty and not really an ideal day for a photoshoot. And no top-down fun....yet!

Here is a shot from picking up at dealer (with its big brother):



And a shot during my test drive yesterday prior to purchase:



The whole pick up process was extremely painless and the easiest new car transaction I've ever had. They had everything ready and I couldn't have spent more than 15 minutes with the finance manager signing paperwork. Top notch treatment, fantastic deal. PM me if you want my salesman's contact info. I'm wiped out now, but will follow up with some observations.

Oh, and did I mention that I LOVE that exhaust sound?!

[gregthegr8]

Thar she blows!

Congrats Jim! Looks great and can't wait to hear what you think of her. I feel like we'll never stop talking about the exhaust sound first and foremost and man is it a pleasure to drive along the highway. Glad to see you got her home safely after the long and enduring wait.

[KittyBooBoo]

Greg...The car looks awesome! I think the tint is perfect too. Don't doubt your choice. I think I am going to do 35%. My appointment is for 7am tomorrow and I have to drive a loaner car for the day. Its going to be awesome with Tint! I think it's going to rain tonight. I better go study how to actually turn on my wipers

[KittyBooBoo]

Maybe it's because I just got a new BMW, but have you all noticed how many BRAND NEW BMW cars there are on the roads lately? I see atleast 3 every single day on the freeway. Atleast 3 or more. Must be all those other Toreadors.

[gregthegr8]

The tint is growing on me and I'm feeling more at ease. While I wanted 35% and think that's typically ideal for the look I want, I also wanted one of the higher grade ceramic tint films to block out more heat/infrared, which only came in 30% and 40%.

I should probably read up on the wipers, too. Sadly, when leaving the gas station today, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to reset the trip odometer! I was trying to do it with the stalk, then reset everything with the main computer/screen, and was freaking out. Came home, looked it up, and duh, somehow, even though I looked and looked, I didn't see the lil black knob in the instrument panel all the way on the left. What's even sadder...I had a 2008 135i for 2.5 years, so you'd think I'd know.

It's like waking up with amnesia and having to learn everything all over again.

[Bmwbreed]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

Bmwbreed - I had a 2008 135i two cars ago, but it sure didn't sound anything like this! I THOUGHT that sounded nice, but the difference between that and this with the PE is night and day.

mb135is - I almost feel bad or guilty coasting on the highway and having almost no noise coming out the back.

That and the n55 definately has a better exhaust note than the n54.

[KittyBooBoo]

Originally Posted by gregthegr8

The tint is growing on me and I'm feeling more at ease. While I wanted 35% and think that's typically ideal for the look I want, I also wanted one of the higher grade ceramic tint films to block out more heat/infrared, which only came in 30% and 40%.

I should probably read up on the wipers, too. Sadly, when leaving the gas station today, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to reset the trip odometer! I was trying to do it with the stalk, then reset everything with the main computer/screen, and was freaking out. Came home, looked it up, and duh, somehow, even though I looked and looked, I didn't see the lil black knob in the instrument panel all the way on the left. What's even sadder...I had a 2008 135i for 2.5 years, so you'd think I'd know.

It's like waking up with amnesia and having to learn everything all over again.

G-
What color is your interior? I am going to guess it is black. If it is.. the 30% is perfect. Anything darker would turn even darker with black interior.
They gave me a 2013 328 as a loaner and it is fully loaded. That thing drives really really nice. I could get used to that car in a minute!