Michigan 1 owners: This is your post-whore thread.

[jtsherri]

OK, so I finally got out to Bavarian today and drove another 1... As [I think] you guys know, their demo car has the ZF tranny - any reason I shouldn't even consider it?

I was blown away by how good it is and am generally on the same "manuals are 213847329487x more fun" boat that I'm sure you guys are... Seriously, I was super impressed.

Hit me with your thoughts!

[0002s]

^ 2K+ more FTL....seriously you are going to pay for this???

[RWD FUN]

Hey guys, new to the forum, have a 135 manual on order. I only got to drive the auto demo car, before I ordered. Not bad, but I thought the shifts could be more firm. It was better than most auto's, but I think the manual is the way to go. Nothing like the feeling of coming off the line, hammering 2nd, then after your really moving jamming 3rd. Maybe its in my mind, but it always feels like the shear momentum of the 2-3 shift makes the car jump forward. Yeah thats probably in my head. I still have a hard time getting into the new automatically shifted manuals (DSG's) that many new performance cars are coming out with. I know they are faster (better?) than the manual versions, I just don't think they are as much fun. Also, as 0002s said theres the money factor.

On another note the original reason I posted was to ask a question of those that have their cars. Was anyone as obsessive as I was about tracking their car as it moved across the pond? If so, I entered my VIN into Wellnius auto tracking and it said my port of destination was SC, not NY. I didn't opt for the PCD, so I am thinking it should be off loaded in NY. Is this normal or should I call my CA and see if there is an issue? This is sort of a copy of a post I have in the ordering forum, which has gotten some views but no responses.

Thanks
RWD FUN

[0002s]

Normal. Mine went to SC as well

[hooner35]

So was mine.

[RWD FUN]

Its the shipping company's website, where you can find out what ship your car is on and then track where its at from a couple of other maritime tracking sites. There is much more info in the ordering, pricing, tracking discussion forum. Its a sticky near the top.

If SC is normal does it take longer from there then it would from NY. How long did it take from the VDC to dealer for you guys. From other people it looks like 7-14 days, but that was to other areas of the country.

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by 0002s

^ 2K+ more FTL....seriously you are going to pay for this???

Well, as cool as my wife is, she doesn't drive a manual like yours (I strategically used the word "manual" instead of "stick" )... She's hated the last 5-10 cars that I've owned and absolutely loved the One when we went to test drive it. She went on about the seats and how nice the interior was, etc... After hearing me go on about just how good the auto was, she asked if I was going to get it, so I've at least considered it. :iono:

Do I want to spend $2k more...? No, not really, but I've at least contemplated it. More than likely I'm going to load up the car with the exception of a few things (i.e. HD Radio, Active Steering), so $2k is somewhat minimal compared to the big picture...

[0002s]

Originally Posted by jtsherri

Well, as cool as my wife is, she doesn't drive a manual like yours (I strategically used the word "manual" instead of "stick" )... She's hated the last 5-10 cars that I've owned and absolutely loved the One when we went to test drive it. She went on about the seats and how nice the interior was, etc... After hearing me go on about just how good the auto was, she asked if I was going to get it, so I've at least considered it. :iono:

Do I want to spend $2k more...? No, not really, but I've at least contemplated it. More than likely I'm going to load up the car with the exception of a few things (i.e. HD Radio, Active Steering), so $2k is somewhat minimal compared to the big picture...

I'll teach your wife to drive a stick for a free dinner....:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

It's cheaper to teach her.

[FreeBMW.net]

[irc switches on cuz Jason is a geek like me] /me hands Jason his S30V Benchmade knife with instructions to cut his balls off and put them in a jar for later. [/irc]


1. BUY THE MANUAL!!!!!!
2. Teach your lady friend to drive the above metioned manual
3. ENJOY
4. Profit??!!

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by FreeBMW

[irc switches on cuz Jason is a geek like me] /me hands Jason his S30V Benchmade knife with instructions to cut his balls off and put them in a jar for later. [/irc]


1. BUY THE MANUAL!!!!!!
2. Teach your lady friend to drive the above metioned manual
3. ENJOY
4. Profit??!!

Ha - love the switches! :biggrin:

I guess I can't claim that she doesn't know how... She did learn, but has never been out on the road and I don't feel she could do so safely with her current level of "skill."

Also, I'm suppose I'm almost trying to justify it because I thought it was a really damn nice tranny... :iono:

Either way, the $$$ is better spent on Dinan (or whatever I decide to go for tune-wise). Ugh.

[jtsherri]

Well, finally pulled the trigger. The car is as-follows:

135i Coupe in Jet Black w/Coral & Silver trim.

Options include: Premium, Sport, STEPTRONIC (yes, w/Paddles), Comfort Access, Heated Seats, Navigation, & Premium hi-fi

Since I'm generally one of the hecklers myself, bring on the auto-bashing comments! Although I'm still having some second thoughts on it, I really don't think I'll regret it. After driving the demo car again, I'm truly pleased with the performance and am anxious to see how fast I can "make her go round!" :biggrin:

[coolguy]

Welcome to the Step club. Guess shawn is a bit jealous coz he can't shift his gears faster than ours:biggrin:

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by coolguy

Welcome to the Step club. Guess shawn is a bit jealous coz he can't shift his gears faster than ours:biggrin:

I'm sure he'll have a retort for that... :biggrin:

Again, I'm still having a hard time grasping that I pulled the trigger on an automatic, but I was blown away at just how good it performs... My last 6 cars have been manuals. Also, I believe out of the 18 cars I've owned, only 6 have been automatics (mind you, this includes my wife's vehicles...). It's just that great... the quick shifts, the rev-matching, etc. What can I say? I was hooked! :iono:

[FreeBMW.net]

so you got an auto....

1. you are not going to road course the car??
2. you are not going to dyno the car??
3. its slower than a manual!!
4. some of the aftermarket bits (exhaust, chips, diffs) dont work with the auto!!
5. you WILL regret it

I will agree the auto drive nice......but go for a drive in mine....I will let you drive it....and you can feel the real differance.

I would HIGHLY sugest the iPod/usb option as well! I have a 60 gb 1.8inch hard drive pluged in and have days worth of music on it.....it uses the "USB mass storage" standard....so any mp3 player, thumb drive, portable hard drive works

[0002s]

Originally Posted by coolguy

Welcome to the Step club. Guess shawn is a bit jealous coz he can't shift his gears faster than ours:biggrin:

$2000 says what?

[0002s]

Originally Posted by FreeBMW

so you got an auto....

1. you are not going to road course the car??
2. you are not going to dyno the car??
3. its slower than a manual!!
4. some of the aftermarket bits (exhaust, chips, diffs) dont work with the auto!!
5. you WILL regret it

I will agree the auto drive nice......but go for a drive in mine....I will let you drive it....and you can feel the real differance.

I would HIGHLY sugest the iPod/usb option as well! I have a 60 gb 1.8inch hard drive pluged in and have days worth of music on it.....it uses the "USB mass storage" standard....so any mp3 player, thumb drive, portable hard drive works

SHHHH...........he'll figure out later that dealing with the wife would have been easier and well worth the fun.

iPod ftw.....btw

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by FreeBMW

4. some of the aftermarket bits (exhaust, chips, diffs) dont work with the auto!!

This is definitely the most convincing factor for me. For 99.9% of the year, the car won't see a track and while I'd like to see some plots, I could live without having put the car on a dyno and while it's debatable whether or not I can shift faster than the thing is somewhat irrelavent because I still occasionally make mistakes, this won't; however, I will undoubtedly want more power... Come tomorrow, if I find out that I can't get a tune for the car because of this, I will be making changes to the order. :wink:

Thanks for the info. Stay-tuned for findings.

Originally Posted by FreeBMW

I would HIGHLY sugest the iPod/usb option as well! I have a 60 gb 1.8inch hard drive pluged in and have days worth of music on it.....it uses the "USB mass storage" standard....so any mp3 player, thumb drive, portable hard drive works

I'm highly considering doing this. After seeing your setup in action, I may need to pull the trigger - it's definitely impressive.

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by 0002s

SHHHH...........he'll figure out later that dealing with the wife would have been easier and well worth the fun.

iPod ftw.....btw

I dunno, man... I guess I'm "old school" in the sense that I agree that there's something about rowing the gears that's SUPER fun; however, I'm "new school" in the sense that I love new technology that works well and am willing to take a chance in checking it out. Mind you, there will be a learning curve to it, but that's part of the fun. Being that I'm in the position I'm in, the idea of this tranny excites me. Again, if I find out that certain tunes won't be available to me, I'll highly reconsider my choice.

[0002s]

Originally Posted by jtsherri

I dunno, man... I guess I'm "old school" in the sense that I agree that there's something about rowing the gears that's SUPER fun; however, I'm "new school" in the sense that I love new technology that works well and am willing to take a chance in checking it out. Mind you, there will be a learning curve to it, but that's part of the fun. Being that I'm in the position I'm in, the idea of this tranny excites me. Again, if I find out that certain tunes won't be available to me, I'll highly reconsider my choice.

I had the 7 speed auto shift in 2 MB's and I can tell you what that technology sold me on. They were better than the BMW's for smoothness and speed of shift. Pushing buttons or tapping sticks just isn't as fun...imho

[jtsherri]

Woo - OC finally updated and I'm in the system!

[jtsherri]

WOOT! My Owners' Circle page updated tonight and a VIN is assigned to my build!

[FreeBMW.net]

Current Status: On Order

135i | Jet Black w/Coral Red Boston Interior & High Gloss Black Trim

Factory Ordered Options: ZPP, 609, 205, ZSP, 677, 494, 322, 6FL, ZXA


Which one of those code is the "sissy" code???