Lebowski's Next Car Thread, and Farewell to the C6

[12,000 RPM]

Orlando's not far......

Man that front wheel gap is atrocious.

[Lebowski]

Spartanburg is a good idea thanks, didn't realize that was an option.  Would be a fun drive back.

[r0tor]

Yea, its a fun time.  The course that comes with really focuses on safety and using the car systems to your advantage... So while its not as fun as a full on M school session, its still fun and you learn the limits of your car without beating the piss out of your car.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Just because I didn't hear this mentioned... If you don't want to (or can't do) European delivery, do delivery at the Spartenburg plant in SC.  You and a friend get a full day of driver training on a similar M3 at their test track, you get a tour of the X3/5/6 plant, and your car gets nicely detailed and you get the staff to fully go over things...

Its a good experience.

I heard you even get a hand job from the plant managers personal secretary. Hell of a day.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

Yea, its a fun time.  The course that comes with really focuses on safety and using the car systems to your advantage... So while its not as fun as a full on M school session, its still fun and you learn the limits of your car without beating the piss out of your car.

They probably just teach you how to tailgate people on the expressway and flash your lights to get them tol move over. Another lesson is how to accelerate as quickly as possible away from every stoplight especially if you just have a base model 3er. Followed buy advanced multi lane changing techniques without the use of your blinkers. Finished off with a few classroom lessons on general douchbagery. It's the total BMW experience.

[Laconian]

[Lebowski]

I'm pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the M3.  I bought my C6 through a buying service and I called my guy there Tues evening and he got back to me today on timeline (production Sep, delivery would be Oct) and a little color on pricing, the latter he will firm up if I decide to pursue w/ him (sounds like it would be modestly below msrp and no dealers fees). I called my local dealer and will meet w/ them tomorrow at noon to see what they can do ... I like to buy from local dealer IF they come close to what I can get elsewhere and a minimum of BS/games.

One weird thing about the buying svc, he said the dealer he goes through does not participate in euro delivery, apparently they had some bad experiences w/ it.  He said his contact there did recommend the SC delivery option.

Below is how I have it configured now, I may make some last minute tweaks to it I will detail below it the things I am waffling on:

BASE MSRP
$62,000
Alpine White $0
Sonoma Beige Extended Merino Leather $0
Executive Package$4,300
Lighting Package $1,900
19" Light Alloy Wheel Double-Spoke Style437 M with Mixed Performance Tires $1,200
Adaptive M Suspension$1,000
Manual Transmission $0
Power rear sunshade$575
Harman Kardon surround sound system $875
Side and Top View Cameras$750
Destination & Handling: $925
BMW Ultimate Service®
A suite of premium benefits that are included at no cost with all new BMW Vehicles.
Up to 4 Years/50,000 Miles Warranty Included
Up to 4 Years/50,000 Miles
Maintenance Program Included
Up to 4 Years/Unlimited Mileage
Roadside Assistance Included
Total MSRP as Built$73,525



Things I may tweak before finalizing:

Interior color - Sonoma beige I like but don't love, kinda feel like it's the best of a fairly limited range of options.  Not gonna do orange. Silverstone looks great w/ some exterior colors but not w/ white IMO, and upkeep could be tough. That leaves beige or black. I like black, but every car I've ever had has had a black or dark gray interior, might be time for a change.  Also note I checked extended leather vs full - full looks good but not sure it's worth the extra $2650.

Moonroof - it's absolute sacrilege amongst BMW fanboys to forego the carbon fiber roof ... Which kinda makes me want to do it. In a very rare broken clock is right twice a day kind of way, I actually agree w/ Sporty on something in that I've always felt the CF roof is kind of a gimmick.  It only saves 10lbs vs a standard roof (and I've read ~40lbs vs the moonroof). I kinda think body colored roof looks better, and in FL could be cooler.  I've never really used sunroofs much but they're nice to have on occasion.

Transmission - about 99% sure on the manual. It's $2900 cheaper, apparently gets better gas mileage (26 vs 24 highway), and I'm still a bit skeptical on the DCT around town esp w/o the ability to test drive one.  Plus, it's a manual.

Sunshade - never owned a car that had one - do they help?  Or just get the windows tinted instead?  I do live in FL so anything to help keep car cool is nice.

LED lights - package is grossly overpriced but I do think they look better. Opinions on BMW forums are mixed as to whether they actually perform better. And apparently much of the "adaptive" functionality is 86ed on US cars due to DOT regs.

[Raza]

Sunshade is nice for passengers, but compromises visibility to much as a driver.  I never really cared for them.  Better in a car like an S class than an M3.

[Lebowski]

Sunshade is nice for passengers, but compromises visibility to much as a driver.  I never really cared for them.  Better in a car like an S class than an M3.

Well the rear shade is electronic, I was thinking more for when parked to keep the car cool. It comes w/ manual rear window shades.

[Raza]

Well the rear shade is electronic, I was thinking more for when parked to keep the car cool. It comes w/ manual rear window shades.

You'd be better off popping the sunroof and cracking all the windows one inch than deploying the sunshade.  You'd only be cutting down light from one window and there's be 5 others letting in lots of light.  At that point, it's more about letting out the heat than avoiding it.

[hotrodalex]

Not sure how much it helps compared to tint.

BMW M3 E92 rear window sunshade


edit: Quick googling shows that it keeps a bit of sun out, but doesn't really keep the heat out. Tint does a much better job of that.

[SJ_GTI]

BASE MSRP
$62,000
Alpine White $0
Sonoma Beige Extended Merino Leather $0
Executive Package$4,300
Lighting Package $1,900
19" Light Alloy Wheel Double-Spoke Style437 M with Mixed Performance Tires $1,200
Adaptive M Suspension$1,000
Manual Transmission $0
Power rear sunshade$575
Harman Kardon surround sound system $875
Side and Top View Cameras$750
Destination & Handling: $925
BMW Ultimate Service®
A suite of premium benefits that are included at no cost with all new BMW Vehicles.
Up to 4 Years/50,000 Miles Warranty Included
Up to 4 Years/50,000 Miles
Maintenance Program Included
Up to 4 Years/Unlimited Mileage
Roadside Assistance Included
Total MSRP as Built$73,525

Pretty nice build IMHO. Interesting you went with Alpine white instead of the metallic version. Have never compared the difference in person, but generally I prefer metallic paints. White could be the only expection...just never thought much about it.

I like the choice of wheels BTW. I checked the website and those look a lot nicer than the standard wheels IMHO.

I think the things I'd skip would be the lighting package, the adaptive suspension (seems like overkill, but JMHO), the sunshade, and the cameras. But then I am probably a cheapskate (relatively speaking). 

Curious to see how it works out with the dealer. Never heard of a buying service before.

[Lebowski]

Well, for some reason at some point in time the idiots in my town decided that brick streets are great and furthermore that the older and shittier your brick street is, the more "prestigious" it is. Luckily my street isn't brick but many of them around me are, they are pretty much unavoidable and were hell on the C6. So, adaptive suspension for me is a must I think. I did make sure to take the 335i I test drove which was on 19s on the brick and it wasn't bad, so that gave me comfort on the 19s, which is good as I agree the standard 18s just don't look right.  Although aesthetically, I prefer the 335i Msport 19s to either if the M3 wheel designs.

I will probably dump the sunshade based on the feedback here. I've never had one before. 

Cameras, I think will be worth it for parking in tight areas, could help prevent curb rash.

LED lighting I'm on the fence on. I want it but honestly it should be half that price. 

[Lebowski]

On the white, I generally prefer the bright stark whites.

BMWs MW white does look pretty good tho, unlike some of the girly looking pearls like you see on Lexus, Infinite, and worst of all the one on the escalade.  MW is more silver/gray and looks pretty good, but I think I still prefer AW. While I'm at the dealer tomorrow I may ask to see some MW cars, I drove by one yest and it looked pretty good.

[Raza]

Cameras, I think will be worth it for parking in tight areas, could help prevent curb rash.

On modern cars, with their high beltlines, even a car the size of an M3 can benefit from cameras. 

[12,000 RPM]

BMWs MW white does look pretty good tho, unlike some of the girly looking pearls like you see on Lexus, Infinite, and worst of all the one on the escalade.

Lol! My Z has girly pearl white. I love it. Makes it look like a car an adult drives instead of the douchebag deathmobile the Z actually is. The Escalade white is damn near Mary Kay-ish which makes sense given its clientele.

Build looks good.... will be nice. Point about have a nice car to drive friends in is legit. Not in a braggy way but just in a "i am tired of driving my wife's Rabbit" way

[Lebowski]

Build looks good.... will be nice. Point about have a nice car to drive friends in is legit. Not in a braggy way but just in a "i am tired of driving my wife's Rabbit" way

It will be nice to have a fun car that can seat 4. The C6 was great but aside from driving to and from work I increasingly found myself driving the 4runner, which is fine but obviously not as fun to drive. It's also harder to keep clean - dog hair, sand from the beach etc is all over the place constantly.

[MexicoCityM3]

I like your build.

Regarding the items you are doubting and a few comments here, my 2c:

The DCT gets better mileage AFAIK but of course get the manual.

Is there a Bang & Olufsen option above the H&K? I would consider it if available.

The adaptive suspension is a must on a DD. I have it and love it.

LED lights I wouldn't get. Too expensive IMO.

I have the sunshade and like it for:

A) Parking in the sun.

b) Rolling it up when an asshole gives me too much light from behind.

As you correctly guess, I'd get the CF roof.



.

[68_427]

I think the 18s look nicer and theyre forged.

Congrats though will be a sweet car

[Lebowski]

I like your build.

Regarding the items you are doubting and a few comments here, my 2c:

The DCT gets better mileage AFAIK but of course get the manual.

Is there a Bang & Olufsen option above the H&K? I would consider it if available.

The adaptive suspension is a must on a DD. I have it and love it.

LED lights I wouldn't get. Too expensive IMO.

I have the sunshade and like it for:

A) Parking in the sun.

b) Rolling it up when an asshole gives me too much light from behind.

As you correctly guess, I'd get the CF roof.

On mpg, apparently bmw is saying city is 17 and highway is 26 (24). There isn't clarification as to the ( ), but most seem to agree it's 26 for standard manual and 24 for optional dct, and ppl have pointed out 2mpg better for the manual vs dct on the m5.  But, when you do the build it defaults to dct so I wonder if that is considered standard and manual is a negative cost "option"?  I don't know.

No b&o option as far as I can tell.

Good point about someone behind you w/ brights on.


What do you think about full leather ... Worth it?

[Lebowski]

I walked by a MW 3 series parked on the street a few mins ago and stopped to take a good look ... Looks good, but I definitely prefer AW.

[mzziaz]

White on beige? Your car will look like a Camry. Does BMW accept custom colors?

[Lebowski]

Through the BMW individual program yes. But I think that starts at like $5k and they haven't started taking orders for it yet so would be another couple months delay. Not worth it IMO.

Pics of the white F80 delivered in Dubai looked pretty damn good to me.  I don't think anyone will mistake it for a Camry.

[12,000 RPM]

White on beige? Your car will look like a Camry. Does BMW accept custom colors?

3 series is the German Camry.... M3 is the SE 

Kidding, kidding.

[Lebowski]

3 series is the German Camry.... M3 is the SE 

Kidding, kidding.

BMW SE V6 white on beige FTW!!!!

Thing is, I don't care.  I don't want my car to stand out.  I think the yas marina blue is prob my fav of the stock colors, but it stands out too much for me.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

BMW SE V6 white on beige FTW!!!!

Thing is, I don't care.  I don't want my car to stand out.  I think the yas marina blue is prob my fav of the stock colors, but it stands out too much for me.

My mom just ordered a White on Beige 3 Series Vert....

[Lebowski]

My mom just ordered a White on Beige 3 Series Vert....

You sayin it's a girl color combo?

[SJ_GTI]

My mom drives a White/Beige TSX. 

[MrH]

Just a few notes on the options:

- Overall, pretty damn awesome.  Good call on the non-pearl white.  I hate that color.  It looks like it's made for a 60 year old women (sorry sporty )

- I'd ditch the camera package and the retractable sunshade.  Tint does a much better job.  If it came standard for free, I wouldn't mind, but I wouldn't pay for it. Same goes for the camera system.  I think you still get a backup camera.  Side view cameras are pretty unnecessary for a car this small.  Then again, I don't do a lot of parallel parking...

- With the money saved, I'd put it towards the full leather package.  The entire instrument panel upper and lower is all wrapped in leather instead of being a cast polyurethane.  If you're going to drop this kind of money on a car, I'd want to distinguish it from a low level 320i as much as I could.

- I'd still go for the red/orange interior.  Live a little


Overall though, bad ass.  LED lights, manual, exec package, all stuff I would pick too.  I would probably still test drive a DCT to see what it's like.  I gotta say, I think it's a bit strange to drop this kind of money on a car without a test drive.  I drive everything I'm considering at least a couple of times before pulling the trigger.

[Lebowski]

I'll prob drop the sunshade.

Full leather I agree looks good. I had thought of dropping both LEDs and the sunshade and getting full leather instead.  I'll keep the cameras, I'm a shirty parker and if they help in avoiding even one mishap they will pay for themselves.


Test drive - yeah, ideally I'd have one. But I don't want to wait. I liked the 335i enough ... and it's an M3, it's hard to imagine not liking it.