tears to my eyes

[fcotanis]

I was looking at the 2002 330i model.
mine is coming in black/black, spt pack, leather & cold pack

Oh GOD! This car is eye candy!!!!!
There is a beautiful picture of one exactly as mine on the bmwusa site from the back catching a lil of the front wheel which is strategically turned left.

oh God! This is LOVE. I know you feel me - I know that because you are reading this.
There simply is notihng more beautiful than the 3 series out there. Der funfer is getting like a three that ate a bit too much but is till trying to keep a good shape and the 7 is just outright "american" fat.
3 is the perfect balance! Hold it! they say there is no perfection - well then BMW comes awafully close with der dreier.

Women have good reasons to get jealous - this is a sexy car - my baby - soooooooooo beautiful !

I'm plannig to sort of meet her when she comes in in three weeks - walk around her and caress her and treat her like the best of the women I've met - and why not - at this point in time she (I've decided it is a she) is the best woman I've met: Black Beauty Jazmine 330i
I'm going to treat you right baby and be faithful to you. /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Thank you God!
With God ahed,
Filip

[fcotanis]

My car is in!!!!!! My car is in!!!!!
<- has fainted (aaahhhh ...*klopf*)


On BMW website they said delivery is on May 8-th. I never tought it will happend.
Wow!

Need calm down ! On with the inspection.
Filip

[Faulken]

Congrats on your May 8 Delivery. When did u order.?

[fcotanis]

Thank you!

I ordered on March 24 2002 - it's been a while.
The wait is a torture - you can't think of nothing else - It's almost more than being inlove!!
I sneaked in the dealership today to get a "peek preview" of what it looks like. And I couldn;tstop fussing around the car in the garage - they were giving it an inspection - and they hadto kick me out at the end of the day. Kind of embarasing if I wasn't so much "gone" - nothing else mattered - they could have called me stupid and other names /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
Tommorow I am picking her up - black beauty beast. /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
I hope I can gather myself for tommorow one more time when I will discuss finances. Oh boy.
God speed,
Filip

[fcotanis]

It's me again /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif.

Please let me apologize in advance - I am in a state of utter happiness. You could hit me would a bat and I would smile right back at you. (so all of you who always wanted to ... now it's a good time)

I picked up my black beauty beast and drove her to work. I still can't feel my stomach. I can't get used to driving it. I am scared that something will happen. Paranoidally scared - if one can say that. I even forgot to disengage the turning signal after a pass for a a few good miles - just paying attention to traffic looking in all the mirrors and watching out - "ooohh that guy is so close to my tail .. get off get offf" or " ... is he gonna see me braking now is he going to see me brake.. oh God - let's pump the brakes so he sees the tailight flashing" - I still feel shaken and exhausted. I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere for the next few hours - just sit here and work. Maybe in the meantime my stomach will come back from the dealership and I will stop loking over my shoulder every time I get up from my chair to make absolutely sure that I can turn here without acccitent.
And they say parkinson is only for old people! I'm shaking like warm jelly.
Other than that my ride was fine /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

The car has torque where I want it to - the only problem is that everything is absolutely brand new - clutch is very touchy - it's almost impossible to get the car moving without hiccups. Well I could get it moving if I would acelerate like a nut - she just wants to go crazy for that 4.5s - 60mph /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif but I am not giving it that much gas -wwoooooo baby no need for proving yourself - I know you can!

The gear shifts are nice - I was expecting to have it a bit rougher but once in first gear (which is the only one I found a bit elusive at times so far) - as I was saying - once in first, shifts will be nice and smooth all the way up. Rear gear is also a bit of a pain - but I bet you it's all because it's brand new - I mean golly this car only had one mile when I first saw it and 6 when I picked it up this morning.
By the way i was thinking how much the web community hes helped me just by posting stuff - I will be returning the service as much as I can. I don't have the alarm - which indeed on 2002 330i does not come as standard - but I got the sales guy to activate the blinkers so that I have a visual clue when I lock/unlock the car. On the options sheet they hand out to you for programming there is an alarm option - I wrote in there for them what to do - which I figured out from e46fanatics and I think there was a post in here as well. The sales guy mumbled but I said please and so he did it.

I live in Virginia and got my BMW from BMW of Fairfax which is within reach from where I live - so that gives you an idea where I am. If you need help or advice that I can give - fcotanis@yahoo.com

The dealership was ok - I bought from them beacause of a sales person - Corby. He was nice to me - he really likes cars a lot - and for the passionate person it's nice to find another case like yourself.
I think I managed to keep a fairly cool head - always looked where I may be cheated or what may not be true - here web-information was vital.
Although I was overexcited in here I think I kept a low tone in the dealership - tip: don't show excitement in front of the dealer or say "wow - nice car" - at least not with the "I'll pay anything" tone - if pressed I said calmly "yes ..ummm it's a pretty good car I admit" but kept my finaces in view and didn't give the "excited about it" out.

I want tto take pictures of it - and post them on here - I don't own a digital-cam but I hope to borrow one.

God's speed,
Filip

[fcotanis]

"Horray!"
I've owned the car & driven it for less then 12 hours and I already put a scratch/dent on my right rear rim ...

AAARGH ^%#@$%*@&#^$!!!!!!!!!
All kinds of words come to my mind like "idiot" or "imbecil" and no matter how hard I think I can;t find one that is strong enough.

I was just turning on a narrow entance and tried to keep my lane and the rear end bit the curb so little but it used the rim to roll on the curb - aAAAAARGH!!!!!!! - I am furios with myself - why haven't I turned wider!!!!!!!! I am not used with the long wheebase (comparing to my former car). What a way to learn about it. I am a *****!!!!!
Where ***** means whatever word would categorize a person the most negatively possible that you can think of.

I am going to post this in the main section as well but if you can think of polish or something like that to take the roughness from the wound on the rim and not distroy the rim and you also had my patience to read all of this blab - have kind heart for an ***** and post it please.

I am thinking of - a soft polish followd by buffin although I can;t imagine how I would get a buffer on the rim's edge.

Thank you and God's speed,
Filip

[Black330i]

Filip... Since you have a full size spare in the trunk, just swap your damaged rim & tire with the one in the trunk. Yeah, you'll still have a damaged rim in the trunk, but no one will ever know, except for you (and everyone reading this). Just don't get a flat and you'll be in good shape. /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[fcotanis]

Thank you again for your reply.

As I've said in the main section - I've chosen the sports pack - which comes with thicker wheels on the rear - 245mm I believe - and thiner ones - if you consider 225mm thin - on the front wheels.

The front can only support up to 235mm wheels so the spare could not be bigger than that which leaves me where I was unfortunately - still looking for some magic potions to cure my idiot mistake.

Regards,
God's speed
Filip

[fcotanis]

Today I was exiting a parkinglot coming back from lunch and the street I was trying to merge on had a blind corner before the parking lot exit but the corner was waaaay down the road for a person going the posted 25MPH.

So I signal right, look on my left there is nobody coming - First gear - easy does it - started moving half car in the street while keep looking at the left side for incoming traffic - and all of the sudden - a MB pops up going well above 25 MPH - he loked 45ish.
Alarm bells - reflexes take over - I step a bit more on the gas but I do NOT floor it. At this point I do not care how gentle I switch the gears anymore - I have to escape the MB who is bound to stop in my luggage compartment if I don't take action.
Magic happends - my head snaps backwards and second gear comes as smooth as it may ever come - never thought about it - just switched the gear. 1st gear I think I went up to about 4k rpm and then switched to second about 3krpm, 3rd already was fast enough so went back to feathering the throttle.
This car loves going fast - it's been made for it - shifts are smoother - engine feels happy - and GOD! it's pulling!!!

The black beauty beast bit the first time. /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Cheers and may you have a good day,
Gods speed,
Filip

[fcotanis]

Hi! It'ss been a while - almost 4 days /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Last time I was in here my miles were reading 50 - now they are 244.

I've been driving about 2 hours daily and it is still very difficult for me to get out of the car or even decided to turn on the driveway.
You know those comercials on TV - "The ultimate driving machine" type of bullshit - pardon my french. Well it's not bull****! It's so true I can;t believe it. I knew from the testdrives this car was good - but I never imagined it is this good.
The odometer only reads 244Miles as I was saying and I have started to feel a difference on gear shifts and engine behaviour.
Fuel milage has started to increase a bit as well - but that may be also due to some highway milage tohug I am also attributing some to the braking in on the engine where the engine is now supposedly not so rough. Well I say that because the first few starts within the first 50 mils the engine took more spinns from the starter to fire up. Now as soon as I twist the key - vroom.
The clutch behaviour is changing - and I think it has already changed considerably - it used to just kick in - onw it's coming on smoother - it's catching a bit earlier than it was before and it stops catching a bit later. - this however my be taken witha grain of salt - it may as well be that I am ajusting to the car and finally stating to feel thigs better.
One thing is certain - it is very painful to get out of the car.
I've washed the car, vacuumed it and I was concerned a little about the leather - I've seen torn leathers at the dealership and the leather felt a bit hard in it's brand new state so i tohught an emulsifier to clean it up, softenit more and UV protect it would be perfect - so I went ahead and applied some meguiars - same stuff they put in the whipes only I bought the bottle.
Now the black leather looks increddibly rich and feels rich - the meguiars sollution has an increddibly pleasent smell and the car is looking more like a 70K$ car /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif - it is!!
I am still congratulating myself for choosing black - it just looks incredible - the black beauty beast - bbb

I've driven the car on the highway and continuously varied the RPM - I've decided to drop the gas consumption idea - it's best that I see to breaking the car in properly - accelerating and engine braking - I kept on doing it in fifth gear 2k - 3.5krpm
I've taken a few ramps at speeds that I couldn;t believe possible just to see where she would start to get wild and lose it. HA HA HA /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif) /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif) What I thought that it was sure to brake her only made her laugh and shine.
This car TURNS like nothing I've experienced in reality before - yes I played like a demented critter on my computer - but that was a simulation this was real - wow!!
What I also enjoy tremendously about this car is acceleration in turns - f*** front wheel drive cv boots & joints CRAP. This is it - it doesn;t take away from your steering feel, you don;t loose grip to the front - and you cn accelerate without worrying about your front axles. All of it is true and it's wonderful.
I;ve had a bit of wet weather as wel ad I thought it's going to be bad but really it behaved pretty well overall with wide tire and all.
I had one sigle scare - I was merging on a highway and the ramp was a wide right turn however tight enough to give you pleasure to accelerate through it. The car was steering and gripping the road wonderfuly and then I lifted and had just a tad of oversteering pooping up all of the sudden - which I instinctivly corrected. To be fair the ramp was all of concrete - extremly bumpy and I was going 70mph - However I had the feeling that if I had been at the limit the back would have snapped away - but I was probably nowere near the limit so I was fine. Might have been that I was suffering from understeering under acceleration and once I lifted the wight balance kicked back and the front bit in harder then it was - hence the sudden oversteer.
I've taken my fatehr in this car to a shoping place and there is another ramp that we know it's a no-no to go fast on - one time the rear end of the family-camry got away a bit and since then we are under the no acceleration and under 50mph rule.
I went in at 60 and started to accelerate 1/3 through - dad said "what r u doing?" - and the ramp was gone - the car never got light at the rear or front - never felt like floating without control. Father said - "this car sticks to the road and it's very stable" /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

can't wait to drive to work tommorow /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

God Bless,
Filip

[fcotanis]

Here is another update on my Black Beauty.

I have a little over 600Miles on the car now -half way through break in period. Weehaa!

So far so good - I still can feel everything changing from day to day - it drives like a beauty only better each day /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
The clutch is becoming more tolerant where at the very beginnig it used to just kick in all of the sudden. That said this car drives like nothing I've driven before. It takes a lot of me to focus on driving the clutch smoothly and even then I do get it a bit wrong at times. This is particularly difficult because I am trying to keep the rpm low - I've had one instance hen I let her rip up to 4k rpm and the gears came smoother without this much effort.
The stick shifter pops into place nicely - and it is becoming nicer every day. It's giving me nice feedback - that mechanical click. It still feels pretty much precise although I can see that UUC could do some improvement work - at this time though I want to get used to the car - I'm not going to change anything.
The car feels very safe and tight - very solid and steering is great - maybe a just a lil less body roll would be nice.
Right now the car is very new and I can;t really tell for sure which way to go.
I'm still looking forward to driving the car with every ocasion I get. But a stiffer and just a touch lower suspension is a definite maybe. /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif Especially coupled with sway bars.
The body is stiff as it is but for these wide tires I just feel like I'm not even scraping the performance that can be had from them unless on a harder suspension and harder body.
I'm still not used on how this car accelerates - not to mention I have to watch my speedometer all the time - it's impossible to know what speed I am traveling unless I peer down at the gauge.
The acceleration pedal is soo curious - as you start pressing it - it gives gas ever so lightly until you hit a point where it really starts opening up. Like a continuously increasing very mild linear function that mutates into a degree 3 polynomial after a certain pedal travel.
The mild portion at the beginnig is great for fuel consumption economy when you want to feed your car only enough fuel to keep her going - but this is PAINFUL when changing gears at low rpm.
If you switch gears at low rpm it's guaranteed that your rpm will drop completly by the time you switched to the new gear so you have to give it a lil blip to raise the rpm back where they belong for the new gear.
This got me for a good while because I was not bliping the throttle and this made for hiccups when enganging the clutch - I was sooo frustrated - I had started to think about sticky throttle and other crap because I was under the impression that the throttle wouldn;t come in enough to bring the rpm up and it would suddenly kick in when I was passing into the cube plynomial pedal travel portion.
Fact of the matter is that I was used with a highly linear throttle with mechanical engagement and this was getting frustrating but as it stands now I am beginning to appreciate it for the low consuption when breathing on the throttle and for relatively more comfortable foot position when going on the highway.
If BMW's throttle was as linear as my mechanical throttle I woudl have been in pain for I would have had to keep my foot sole bent a bit backwards in order to feather the throttle like I am doing now.
With BMW configuration feathering the throttle is much easier given the relatively long travel portion where the throttle comes in soft (comparing to mechanical one)

On my previous car heel and toe was out of the question - pedal too far apart - brakes not that safe to inspire confidence so I canned that idea. I was playing around a few days ago and in a corner with low braking I did it. I'm reluctant to do this yet - I just feel that more secure with my right foot hugging the brake while on the street.
I am of principle that the street is not the palce to try things.
If you want to try thigs - go a to a track. On the street the main concern is to keep everyone safe - it is your civic and moral duty . - No practice of heel and toe techniques.
Although sometimes I can't help it to press the throttle just that little bit more but it's very tiring because then I have to focus very hard in order to anticipate and prevent things from going wrong because of other drivers. When the road is empty then it's much easier - however never say never and always expect the unexpected even on an empty road.

One thing that is of tremendous confidence with this car - if a take a corner just that little bit faster I know that it has the brakes to stop in case there is something funny waiting for me after the corner.
Not to mention how it steers. I know i am repeating myself but these are major bonus points for this car. Also major reasons why I decided to go with it.
Screw leather seats - and other comforts - handling, brakes and engine.
I was asking a coleague how he liked my har and he had started to tell me - "Well it's nice, with that leather and all ..." - aargh ^%$^#@^!!!!!
That is not why this car is nice!!! And it's far more than nice - but i guess he was in the passenger seat and I was driving so explenation granted.

Thank God for this car - it is somthing I never imagined I could get - it's a dream come true for me. I'm starring at the logo on my steering wheel and I can;t believe it.
I -me - myself - driving a BMW AND A 330i!!!

Thank you God!
and God bless
Filip

[fcotanis]

And yet another update on the road with my 330i.
The manual gearbox has become buttery smooth or I have finally adjusted to the BMW gear shifts - one of the two.
The steering wheel is really nice - I'm beginnig to appreciate it as I have had multiple chances now to drive on a twisty road. The car takes you where your mind wants to go. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to another car. If you are like me DON'T get a BMW - you are going to love it too much and feel bad for other people /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif. Just kidding - it's a really nice car though - hard to drive anything else and be satisfied after you drive the 330i.
I love the engine and I love the torque. I love the rumble of the engine.
The muffler to me it's perfectly designed - you hear the muffler at bellow 3k rpm and from above 3k rpm you start hearing the engine instead. It's a beautiful design and to my mind perfectly balanced - I woudln't want to change a thing.
Hard for me to understand why I'd put any other muffler on this car.
Some of you said for weight reduction - well this car is little over 50% front and little under 50% rear. For a perfect 50 50 you wouldn't want to take weight from the rear would you? - granted less overall weight is a nice desirable effect. But I rather keep my front/rear weight balance.
Sound argue others - and I argue that the current configuration is not droning, it's not boring and it kicks in the picture when you want it to and goes away when you want it to - it's perfect.
I have no quarrel with thouse who think another muffler would bring a performance gain - it may be so - however I don't think it's worth it considering the other attributes of the stok muffler.
Yesterday somebody with a big Chevy - I think it was the 95 MonteCarlo - somehow felt like racing. So at some point we are aproaching this hairpin and I turn in 2/3 into what 330i can do and the guy keeps after me but at the end of the turn I see his back starting to go - but he counters briefly and saves it. My 330i didn't even flinch - almost like asking me "Is that all you can do?"
I gave the guy thumbs up and he waved - and we each went his way - I always appreciate a competitive person and a guy who is "crazy" the same way I am. Always feel like stepping out of the car and shaking their hand.
That's all for now,
God Bless,
Filip

[fcotanis]

Ok.
I'm up to 2100 miles and she is runnig like a charm.
What do I mean "she"??? Black Beauty Jasmine! /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif It's a she /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

The exhaust note is the latest thing i have noticed a change in. I love the aggressive VROOM but i have a feeling that this just a phase through which it's going through. It's probably going to keep on changing with the exhaust fumes deposits.

I still am hoplessly inlove each time I look outside the window. I fall in love all over each time I see her. Good thing it's happening now and not at the dealership during the contract negociation /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I wanna change the oil at 3k Miles to get rid of possibel metal shavings and put my mind to rest. I am torn between Amsoil and latest Mobil1 Super Synth iteration of Mobil oil.

I've changed from Sunco to Mobil1 gas yesterday and I was surprised to find that Mobil gas was better. That slight rough idle occuring at times (note that I am very gifted noticing musical notes and vibrations) has diminished with Mobil gas to extinction.

The car has starte dto feel to me like it's been run in - or it me be the case that I've been run in with the car. Luxury and performance at this level is hard to get used to /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif

There is the occasional "squick" when going over rough bumps but I'm still waiting for it to become pronounced - unfortunatelly it is maintaining the same level all the time /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif. It's not something constant.
When the car has been in the sun the "thing" that is usually squeking firms up in it's place and no more squicking.

God Bless,
Filip

[fcotanis]

Hello. Yes - your nightnmare it's true. Another one of my babling stories - my luck is running .. out.

On 5/8/2002 I took delivery of my 330i as some of you already know. Yesterday afternoon at 6pm a light came up in my dashboard "Service engine soon".

I was feeling that my car was more sluggish than usual and the idle was horribly rough.
My stomach tightened and I was ready to do something really nasty to a BMW represenattive if one happend to be around.
2200 miles later after I took delivery of a brand new car and I the "Service engine soon" lights up. Aaaaargh - fury, anger and beyond those - tears of powerlessness of the tricked consumer.
I drove straight to the dealer as gently as I could - oscilating between extremes where I was thinking what car should I get now and maybe it's just a fluke like the gas cap sensor. Unfortunatley I knew I took extra care of the gas cap knowing what a problem that sensor is if you trigger it takes two weeks (as per a BMW service representative) for the sensor to reboot.

I walked into the dealership with my legs shaking and my face probably similar to one of a man that has just seen someone close dead. I was ready to strangle somebody if attention was not provided instantly to my car.
And it wasn't. Damn mechanics were all gone home (imagine that - they don't work 24h /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif )

So next day I got up at 7 and went to the dealership by 7:30 when they opened up.
I was welcomed with a "we have 3-4 days worth of appointments sir we can;t just squeeze you in. Besides 99% of the cases it's just the gas cap."
I retorted with "I can't just drive like this. The car has a rough idle and I feel a loss of power. It is not the gas cap. I read the manual backwards too."
Again the it's yoru fault you didn't tighetened the gas cap that annoyed the hell out of me. But the fact that this was a brand new car and I pleaded with them just to hook it up to a computer for 5 minutes to see what the hell this is about finally did it.
She called the head mechanic and asked him to do that.
I went with him to the garage and he hooked it up to the computer. After 5 minutes eh opened the engine compartment. That moment I felt a stron need for some energizing drink cause I knew it was NOT a fluke.
The car is running lean - phew - that sounded wonderful - just air mass sensor problem. I felt air coming back in my lungs - I was already thinking about a loose cam or a bad piston ring - I was already thinking about scratches in the engine block caused by a faulty piston - engine overhaul & rebuild... (any other worse ideas?)
I was relieved when he told me tha car was runnig lean.
I left the car with them to take a look at the intake system.
I drove back with the 24h free rental they provided me with in the afternoon to see how things were. I knew phoning was useless.
I had to see the mechaninc - not the customer represenatative.
I went into th ebuilding to talk to the customer repr first - I didn't want to say I didn't try. The main desk guy told me my team repr was out for lunch like mostly everybody else around there. I gave them my number and went out.
I walked to the garage where the mechanics were. I located my car and found it parked on a side. Finally I found the guy - Hank - that had looked at it. He told me they took the intake apart and put it on a smoke machien to detect any possible leaks and looked at it. They found nothing so they put it back on and test drove the car. It seemed fine.
We toyed with the idea that the intake was not properly assembled from the factory and it was leaking since the beginning.
We decided - me and Hank that if I drive the car I would put more milage on it and be able to evaluate the car much better.
So I took the car and here I am at work.

It's driving much better. The idle is smooth so far. I feel like there is more power.
We'll see how much it will last and if it was an assembly problem. I'll be able to tell by the idle of the car and how it behaves. I tend to beleive that was the cause of it so far by driving the car to work.
I'll update this with news at it comes along.

God Bless,
Filip

[330iJay]

LOL.

Filip,

Your journal posting is quite interesting. I have never thought someone would actually take the time and vent out their thoughts and feelings about their new car(BMW). But anyways, congradulations and I'm real happy for you. Keep your black beauty in good shape by washing it at least twice a week. I usually wash mine once a week, but depends if I'm going out or staying home on the weekends. Be sure to change your oil at every 6k miles. Regardless if BMW says to change it at every 12k.

Take care.

[330iJay]

Sorry..

I meant to say, wash your car once every two weeks. not twice a week. that would a waste of car wash soap.

[fcotanis]

Thank you for your kind reply.

I'm at 3200 miles.
I love to drive the car - but a growing concern is the throttle.
It seems as the car is warming up it becomes more difficult to shift gears smoothly - the throttle becomes stickyer and stickyer kicking in all of the sudden at times almost driving me crazy.
I've gotten on that sticky throttle list on the yahoo group. I'm also plannig to call BMW NA
My foot rest has developed a very annoying squick sound - each time I take my foot off of it or press it against it. /forums/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif

These teehing problems have culminated with me contemplating to trade in the car. But as I have long time already known when I decided to go with this: there is nothing out there that can compete. This is the BEST car for the money (though little less money would not hurt /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif )

I just hope it will hold together.
If it doesn;t I'll be very dissapointed and quite a few people will laugh at me for putting my trust in BMW when I have been told not to. hmm :|

Well - otherwise I am still enjoying driving the car - tohugh I could drive much more than this - however I am trying to drive a fairly normal distance to not put too many miles on the car.

That's about it for now,
agin thank you for your kind reply,
Filip

[Zoneblitz]

I had the same incident with the rear wheel, it was committed by the car wash I frequent..
They bought me a new one, but I took the original to a rim repair specialist and it is good as new. Look around fro one or search ebay, you can ususally find a deal.

[fcotanis]

Thank you for your reply Zonenblitz.

Rim repair specialist sounds very apealing.
By the way - New Orleans ROCKS! I visited two summers ago - Loved the French middle of the city.
Seafood was great. People were great.

I think I may put on my replacement wheel and take the scratched one to the shop.

I still want to keep on driving for a while though. i want to get used to feeling the car to the very last inch so that I don't scratch it out of stupidity again after I repair the rim.
I also thought about the e-bay or some other place idea and that is not bad either.
Can't believe it's a 500$ rim at my dealer. Shameless price.

Oh well, you have a great one,
God Bless,
Filip

[Crazy Philll]

Hey !! I read everything and i am myself a proud owner of a 330ci in silver, i feel you and everything you write could be from me, exept that i have automatic transmission (no choice).
If i would be 100% fluent in english and if i would find that much time your articles could be from me. EXEPT:BMW IS THE BEST if something squeaks, then let it squeak, or let them repair it, BUT DO NOT QUESTION your "black beauty beast" because if you do that then you question my "baby" aswell, and i dont like that /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif I really love my baby, even my girlfriend got jealous, but she learned to live with it. many regards from your 330 bro' Philll

[fcotanis]

Thank you Phil.
Danke schon! Du bist sehr nett /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
But let me continue in english so that everybody understands.

I've reached 4000 Miles (6400 km) and after changing the oil to Mobil1 SuperSyn after the brake in period I feel the engine has become a lot smoother. Mobil1 is clearly the better oil.
The engine loves to pull and roar - thats why I call her The Black Beauty Beast. /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

The muffler has become less loud. But it still has that vroom. Only less of it which is not bad for highway speeds. At the beginnig it was bit intruding between 0-2500 rpm on the highway. Intruding and inviting to push the pedal to the floor /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif.

I am only a bit unsatisfied by the smooth starts that are very difficult if not impossible to achieve. I have to use more throttle than I think normal to get the car started smother. or else there is a good chance it will hiccup. Is the throttle sticky? Is the clutch sticky? I don't know how to drive anymore? I'm taking her by the doctor to see what is going on. Just a physical checkup /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif.

Today something crazy has happend to me.
I am starting to get the handling of my baby and I felt like turning all of the elctroinc driving aids off. And so I did. It seemes to me that the car does more of what I want it to in terms of acceleration whith it off - and I expected this. Meaning no loos of power in the middle of the turn - justa bit of wheel slippage - but very very controlable.
I started downshifting and upshifting - seening the rpm going up and down and trying to maintain the same legal speed - trying to understand more into the clutch.
Then I started slowing down and accelerating back to the legal speed.

What I didn't expect was a motorcycle rider showing up behind me. He thought I wanted to race him and he glued himself to my rear bumper.
So i started accelerating - and saw him coming after me - and i kept accelerating - went past hte legal limit of 35 - but i don't know by how much because I was watching the bike rider behind me and the road ahead of me. Scary - he was soo close - he probably could not see anytihng but my car.
We aproached a turn and I was watching him when I realized I woudl never make it through that turn if I don;t brake - mind you DSC & ABS OFF at this point.
This turn was preceded by a slight hump in the road and then after the hump the road went a lil bit down and left.
I braked practically on the verge of hte hump - NOT GOOD - then while letting go if the brakes I started turning.
And the back went - I countersteered lightly - the back whent the other way - again I countersteered lightly (thak good for not being desperate and feeling the car well) - and kept doing that for about two more times - four countersteers and the back settled and I was safely through the turn. after the turn there was a bridge and I was all sweaty - missing the bridge would have been disaster. Why did I give in to the biker? - I should have simply pulled off the road and let him by!
So now with my knees trembling i looked into the mirror. No biker! God damn he made fun of me! He must have turned ona side road or something. Then it hit me - - If I slid like that and barely held it on the road ... how could he have braked so fast and turned?

So i turned the car around to go find him. I was begining to be scared. I crossed the bridge worried but still unbelieving that anything might have gone wrong for him.

Thet's when I noticed a cloud of smoke. Oh GOD!!!! NOOOO! I was already thinking about a 911 call. When I saw two cars parked and a guy already on his cell close to te biker. I slowed down and saw him with the bike still between his legs on a side. I felt my limbs go limp. My heart sunk.
I wish I could have turned time back and pulled off the road to let the biker by. why did he have to follow me sooo close - aaargh.
Seeing that that guy already was calling 911 and there was notihng I could do I kept on driving slowly - my hands trembling. WHat a stupid accident. I hope he is ok. just bruized. He probably didn;t even see the turn - the road hump probably threw the bike too light and he couldn't turn the bike too light.
Poor guy.
If this happends again - I'll just pull off and let em go.

God Bless!
Filip

[Crazy Philll]

Don't worry man, I mean let us hope that guy is ok. But there is no way that what happened is your fault. What should you do? brake ?? and make him crash into you ?? You both where in the position of going into a curve too fast, but he didnt have the equipment or skills you have to get out of it like you did. You could give yourself the fault if you would have breaked and made him crash into you.
If he was really that close then he is a not very skilled driver, since tailgating a car with a motorcicle is a very very dump and dangerous move. That guy was probably some kid who just got the license, and it would have probably been much more serious if he would have crashed on your back the incident would have been much more dangerous then it probably was.
tell "the black beauty beast" hi from me /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif
Philll

[fcotanis]

Thank you for yoru encouragement Phill.
I am still shaken up by the incident but slowly recovering.
Black Beaty Beast says hi back at you. rumble - rumble /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

I decided to try lower octane gas to see what happends - 89 octane in use right now - nothing noticeable except a tad more power - she seemed to have ....
but that is hard to judge because it might have just been the full tank so the fuel pump was having an easier time pumping fuel...
I don't know - may all have been in my head because i know 89 octane burns easier.

Anyhow, Phill - thank you again - if you ever stop by USA, Virginia - let me know if you need any help with anything.

God Bless,
Filip

[cncmastr]

Wow man, great posts, I can actully feel your excitement (get your mind out of the gutter!) Good luck with her.

[fcotanis]

Thanks cncmaster!

As a reply to oyru "get your mind out of the gutter" :
I can't! I live there! /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

I cleaned up my wheel rims today - what a PAIN! I went three rounds on each with some crappy wheel cleaner from AutoTrack. The cleaner container si now empty but th ewheels are finally clean.
I can;t believe it takes 4.99+tax to clean my wheel rims - that cleaner was crappy or my wheels were too dirty.
I'm thinking maybe in the future to take them off and detail them one by one and then wax them one by one with some really good wax.
Another crazy idea that crossed my mind is to dress htem in that transparent anti-rock chip material. That woudl make them very resistant to carbon dust - but i don;t believe it's really doabel with the Sports Pack 17' wheels.

I noticed that not much has been said abou the audio system on our bimmer except about the past and only bad things. The only positive one i read was on the 2001 model by a link on the e46fanatics in the faq section.
I woudl like to add to that and say that BMW has come through with the 2002 version of the audio system as well. i believe it's identical to the 2001 so i guess my coments go to that model as well.
I'm playing guitar and i have a sensitive ear. I have never heared or had such a balanced 3D system in my life before. But as I said I have very good ears - the radio reception could use some improvement - after I listen to a CD turning on the radio makes me sick - Marvel's XM Radio idea is VERY apealing to me right now. It actually was crossing my mind before he did it.
now it's even more on my mind.

So far the 89 octane gas is fine - she's been running like a rabitt. /forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif I've went a bit racy today - meaning I've used more of the higher rev band - usually i dont; go above 4k - 4.5k the most - now I went all teh way up to 6k - broke in that part of the rpm gauge. Don;t know what came over me - she was just begging to be driven like that. You know! She was like a sexy lady baconing me on and i was like the high school kid. My right foot felt very heavy.
I didn't imagine I'd be reaching 60 in 2nd gear! WHOAW!
I LOVE TO DRIVE.
Funny story:
Last night I went for a drive. When I turned on a street I noticed a car coming at me very late(kind of a blind corner) and I was half in the street with the clutch out so i accelerated to get out of the way -Police car! I see him turning around in my miror so I pull over and wait for him.
Policeman pulls over behind me - I was just driving towards my old campus where I graduated from, I was on campus now.
He asks me what I am doing and where I am going.
I say: "NOtihng - Just our driving." At this point I am wandering how stupid that sounds and who should I call for bail.
Policeman: "Did you drink anything tonite"
Me: "No Sir"
Policeman: "License and registration please"
Me: I search for the papers, and present them.
Policeman: He looks at me, looks at the car and I see understanding coming over hes face "Ok! Let's be careful out there yeah?"
Me: "Yes Sir, sorry about that Sir. Kind of a blind corner. should have pulled a lil more into the road to see better Sir"
The End

It was funny to see him get it when he looked at the car - noticed the shift stick and his face realaxed.
I am glad he pulled me over. What if there really was a drunken man in the car? Or the car was stolen. Tough job being a policeman. Thank you for your protection!

God bless,
Filip

[fcotanis]

Ok! It's been a lil while!
Now we're up to 5k miles.

Car feels indeed broken into. A rattle in the rear deck, a sqeek in the stearin wheel an dthe dead pedal, an on/off rattle in the pasenger side somewhere.

driving the drive by wire is driving me crazy!
drive by wire - I HATE YOU!
However I have somewhat ajusted to it. I found the way you need to manipulate it to get the car acting smooth
I wish the throttle wouldn;t be thinking for me though
One afternoon I discovered that after pumping the cluctch a few times with car in neutral I left all the pedals alone and the car would not get teh idle back but it would fluctuate.
Windows BMW! - I had to finally engage first gear and accelerate and then stop the car and put it in neutral and it found idle speed again. sort of like resetting the computer.
man! Scared of what will happend when they start getting bugs in this thing - so we will need to aply patches to our engine management system.

Otherwise - I still love my car /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif
Crazy BMW owner - I kno w.. I know.

Shifts are very nice now - VERY vERY smooth - clutch only needs 1inch to engage.
No clutch stop here but I can feel it with my foot well enough to know where to stop.

I can;t find Eagle one rim cleaner! - Auto track does not carry it and sears has discontinued carrying that line. /forums/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif

Well that's about it for onw.
Any specific questions I coudl answer
anything you can think of ?

Thanks,
God speed
Filip

[fcotanis]

Ok,
I admit - this has been long overdue. I've been busy with work and ..other stuff.

But here are the new developments.
On 8th September I have an appointment to replace the sticky acceleration pedal. I can;t wait for that one to happend. As soon as I woudl drive my car for more than 30 minutes it woudl start to drive me crazy - specially if it's hot and humid outside. Or even leaving her in the sun for a few hours and then driving her. So I hope that will get straightened out with this occasion.

On another new development I was wandering about the speed limiter on our E46-s. I've even read on a thread on e46fanatics about different speeds people posted so I was curious about that. So I took a drive off to one of our local highways one late saturday night and went down on it 80 miles where nobody has gone before /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif
it was pretty empty at that time so i got a chance to step on it a lil bit. only twice though - I got her up to 136 miles - like in the manual.
And I don't believe the speed indicator was off.
God the engine rumbled - no thundered soo sweet!
There were also a few minor turns ahead and at first i lifted - not used to manuver at this speed
but then I gto used to it and took the next ones at full speed - wow - wow - wow
It only made me want to go faster /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

man - oh -man - a 400hp turbo /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif - oh Lordie - Lord - I can see it now /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif or an engine swap to a M5V8 /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif
Oh baby - and then a turbocharger - I'd basically have an F1 car on my hands.
Other then that I was thinking I might do something to wax my car this long weekend but looks lik emy hands were tied by rain and .. bad luck.
Looks like I'll have her sit for another few days untill I figure something out. I'll be asking around to see what people do - peope with no garage.
I heared there is somthing Target gas - I'll find out and keep you posted

i'm up tp 5800 miles and i have not driven her this past week - i'm trying to catch up on the milage - which is way too much.

that's about it for now,
Thanks,
Filip

[fcotanis]

So here I am again - 4200 miles later, updating the chronicle of my BMW 330i - this time way past overdue.

So now I am at a little over 10 000 miles /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif
What a number heh?

A lot has happend since last I posted in here.
For one the darn sticky pedal has been replaced. GOD! What a difference!

For two a few changes (*snicker* *snicker*) have happend to my car. Changes that have been oriented only to improve the handling and responsiveness of the car. If one can improve that in a BMW.

Well it turned out one can really make a difference with a few things here and there - things without I would be badly suffering now.

I have put Denso Iridium spark plugs on the car and Ignition Solutions plasma coils.
After applying these two - lo and behold - the throttle responsivness has been improved to the point where the BMW guy asked me if I changed the software on the car.
The acceleration THROUGHOUT the RPM range was dramatically improved as far as my senses were concerned.
For the hell of it because the car felt so great I went ahead and blew 75$ and had a dyno. I hated the place where I did the dyno and I don't wish to deal with them ever again. But anyway I got 206WHP and 205Torque
Assuming the 15% manual tranny loss - that yields approx a lil over 242crank HP.
/forums/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif

Another new addition is the UUC SSk that as of late needs my attention for a bit of tuning but the throw and gear shifting has been fantastic since! The grear engagements sound like ina Ferrari /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

And yet another addition I've made was the UUC swaybars. I was getting pleasure from turning before but now ---- ooohhhhh ----- now I am Schumacher reborn /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif /forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif
Those - specially the rear one needs a bit off attention from me - one of the links is probably too loong/short and it's making sounds of protest. Need to adjust that one too. So you see it looks like untill well into spring I won't be driving my BMW unless I catch one of tohse great days and I am able to get under my baby to make the above mentioned adjustments.

All in all - the engine now purrs and I get the desired amount of feedback from the throttle. The amount of feedback at low pressure as well as at crashing through the floor is what I have wanted and dreamed of ever since.
The clutch still catches a little bit unexpected at times, seeming to have a mind of it's own. When it's cold (been driving for under 10 minutes) it's in perfect shape. When it gets warm - the pedal travel effective on the clutch shortens and I get caught out sometimes. Must be the different behaviour of the fluid in the hydraulic system assiting with the clutch operation through the temperature ranges.

A little rattle here and there but I am telling myself that those don't matter. Mecahnically the engine seems very strong. And that is all I want.

I hope to keep it that way for the next 10 yrs so help me God!
God bless everyone,
Filip