[BK]

Thanks to the DC-area folks on e90post, particularly KL2DC and mosport70, I’ll be stopping by Passport BMW tomorrow to order a 330i. Here is what I plan to order: 330i 6MT, ZSP, ZPP, ZCW, iDrive, CA, satellite prep. Sapphire black metallic paint, beige leather and burl walnut trim.

My questions and concerns. Some of these will be answered tomorrow and some are dumb questions. Forgive me, but I’m giddy with excitement and want to talk about my E90:

- Have I gone too crazy with options? I originally wanted to try to keep things under $40K, but I’ve blown past that now. Where are the smart places to skimp on options?
- I may give up ZCW and get heated seats only. I wonder how much I will use fold-down seats, and I doubt I want headlight washers.
- What do you think of the Sapphire Black + Beige + Burl color combination?
- With the 335i imminent, is anyplace giving even better pricing than $500 over invoice (anyone selling under invoice)?
- Does Passport take trade-ins? I have an old Civic I’ll need to get rid of.
- Passport is far from me. If my BMW needs warranty service, is there any reason I should drive all the way to Passport rather than going to Fairfax BMW or VOB BMW, both of which are closer? Does Passport provide loaner BMWs when you have warranty service? Is there a “preferred” BMW service center in the DC area?
- I really debated iDrive and eventually decided to go with it. I hope I don’t regret it.
- Same goes for CA. It better not flake out on me and lower all the windows overnight or something. I don’t garage my car (I know, I know!).

I’ll let you guys know how it goes, but it looks like it will all be done tomorrow.

[velore]

i just picked my 330 up from passport yesterday. i love the idrive, and the CA so far. and as for the trade ins, i didnt do it but the leasing agent told me they do take trade ins at passport. also, im pretty sure you can go to any BMW service area for your routine service, although i hear they are less likely to help you in a timely fashion if you didnt purchase the car from them (this i am not positive about).

[shimshimhada]

If you think you won't use the fold down seats, then the ZCW package is a waste. You don't need headlight washers around here and 99% of where you will drive. Just get the heated seats to save some money.

Not having folding back seats increases the body rigidity too.

[FrankoQ]

After a week of having my 330, I absolutely love the sports package
and the idrive with nav.
I decided not to get heated seats and CA.
instead, I can use the $$$ for mods.

[KL2DC]

BK...happy to hear everything is going well. Good luck tomorrow and an early congrats

-Well first of all, a general rule of thumb to automotive happiness is to always get the most car that you can afford/willing to spend. Sounds like you're doing alright there. I do agree, if you need to cut corners I'd start with the ZCW and maybe CA. Btw good call on the sat prep, you might like to know that some members have found a way to access the shark fin for their aftermarket XM unit, so now you have a choice.

-Well beige and burl is a great combo, nice contrast. Your overall combo is a classic one. For an avant garde alternative, you might like to try terra in place of beige, I think it'd go great with the sapphire black.

-Even with the 335i, the e90 is too new for overly aggresive incentives/manufacturers bribes resulting in below invoice pricing.

-Passport should deal with trade-ins

-You can do warranty work/service at any BMW dealer, but your selling dealer will always give you priority in scheduling and loaners. I've heard some good things about Passport Service dept as well as Sterling BMW. Perhaps the others can chime in about Fairfax, Arlington, VOB etc

-well except from nav, i-drive enables additional features/settings. i-drive cars run on CCC operating system while non-idrive run on MOST. CCC cars have more functionality that is selectable via i-drive e.g. programmed timed operation of HVAC.

-Some e90posters swear by CA, others think its a lazy way of going about things.

Well, keep us updated

[BK]

Originally Posted by KL2DC

BK...happy to hear everything is going well. Good luck tomorrow and an early congrats

-Well first of all, a general rule of thumb to automotive happiness is to always get the most car that you can afford/willing to spend. Sounds like you're doing alright there. I do agree, if you need to cut corners I'd start with the ZCW and maybe CA. Btw good call on the sat prep, you might like to know that some members have found a way to access the shark fin for their aftermarket XM unit, so now you have a choice.

-Well beige and burl is a great combo, nice contrast. Your overall combo is a classic one. For an avant garde alternative, you might like to try terra in place of beige, I think it'd go great with the sapphire black.

-Even with the 335i, the e90 is too new for overly aggresive incentives/manufacturers bribes resulting in below invoice pricing.

-Passport should deal with trade-ins

-You can do warranty work/service at any BMW dealer, but your selling dealer will always give you priority in scheduling and loaners. I've heard some good things about Passport Service dept as well as Sterling BMW. Perhaps the others can chime in about Fairfax, Arlington, VOB etc

-well except from nav, i-drive enables additional features/settings. i-drive cars run on CCC operating system while non-idrive run on MOST. CCC cars have more functionality that is selectable via i-drive e.g. programmed timed operation of HVAC.

-Some e90posters swear by CA, others think its a lazy way of going about things.

Well, keep us updated

Thanks to all of you here on e90post.com. My order is in!

In the end, I decided to go ahead and get the cold weather package after all, after much deliberation. So the car I ended up buying was exactly as I spec-ed above: 330i with MT, black sapphire/beige/walnut, sports, premium, cold, nav, CA, sat prep.

I'll keep you posted. I hope to pick up my baby with Performance Center Delivery, but I have another baby that will be arriving around the same time... an actual baby, not a car! If the estimated arrival date of my car is too close to my wife's due date, I can't exactly take off for South Carolina for a few days. If I do it, though, I'll have to figure out how the trade in process works when picking it up in SC. If I can't trade in the Civic, I'll just post a classified ad or something.

Off to update my profile now. Very psyched, and now the long wait begins!

I should add - Peter Brizan at Passport is a class act all the way, and the buying process was extremely smooth.

Oh, and one more thing - how long should I expect until I hear my status has changed to "in production" or whatever comes next? The order sheet he gave me was says "111 - Order Accepted at" on it. I don't want to bug Peter too early.

[KL2DC]

Congrats BK on the order, also on your coming arrival

Try craigslist or carmax for your civic trade-in as well.

I forgot to remind you to ask Peter for a mature 112 status slots, if available. The next few steps in the process looks a little like this:

111 - Order accepted at BMW AG
112 - Order scheduled for production (last opportunity to make changes)
150 - Production started
151 - Body shop started
152 - Paint shop started
153 - Assembly started
155 - Production completed
160 - Released to distribution
180 - Waiting for export dispatch
193 - Arrived at port of exit
194 - Selected for shipment
195 - Shipped from port of exit
196 - Shipment arrival - ETA

Order tracking can be done via BMW NA 1-800-831-1117, OC website or ask Peter for regular email updates (most up to date info). You'd need your production number for the other options.

In my case I was given a 112 status when I ordered and I got my car in under 6 weeks.

Check out my ship tracking thread here

Hope to see you around the post and at our local meets soon...

[Dani]

well I was away all weekend and am late to give advice but here is what I have to offer:
for trade in - I went to Carmax and got a quote good for 7 days or 300 miles then took it to the dealer. VOB offered me $300 more than the Carmax quote without knowing my Carmax offer so I knew I was getting a good price for my trade. VOB has also been excellent for my service but like people said, maybe the dealers give priority to people who purchased with them. I drive allthe way to VOB for service even though Tischer is right by where I live. When a dealer treats you well you tend to stick with them for everything so I understand why you would want to got o Passport for your service even though it is farther.

[RGRAY]

Originally Posted by Dani

...for trade in - I went to Carmax and got a quote good for 7 days or 300 miles then took it to the dealer. VOB offered me $300 more than the Carmax quote without knowing my Carmax offer so I knew I was getting a good price for my trade...

It really depends on how much VOB discounted the BMW.

If you paid MSRP for the BMW and VOB gave you $300 more for your trade in then that is not a good deal.

VOB could have given you $2,300 more for your trade in.

Deals can either give you more for your trade in or discount the car more.

It's the same thing.

IMO, you should have sold it on Carmax and got a true discount over dealer invoice from VOB.

[BK]

Not to change the topic too much, but does Carmax buy older, less expensive cars? I was thinking of trying them to get rid of my 97 Civic but don't want to waste my time going over there if they don't purchase older cars.

[Dani]

Originally Posted by RGRAY

It really depends on how much VOB discounted the BMW.

If you paid MSRP for the BMW and VOB gave you $300 more for your trade in then that is not a good deal.

VOB could have given you $2,300 more for your trade in.

Deals can either give you more for your trade in or discount the car more.

It's the same thing.

IMO, you should have sold it on Carmax and got a true discount over dealer invoice from VOB.

I had already worked out my deal with VOB for a very good price and THEN found out what they would give me for my trade.

[Dani]

Originally Posted by BK

Not to change the topic too much, but does Carmax buy older, less expensive cars? I was thinking of trying them to get rid of my 97 Civic but don't want to waste my time going over there if they don't purchase older cars.

it is my uderstanding that Carmax will buy any cars. If it doesn't meet their standard to sell then they sell it to another car dealer at auction.

[BK]

Great. Thanks, Dani. That's probably a better option than trying to unload it at Passport anyway.

[slugdriver]

BK, Congrats on the car! Passport rocks - purchased my ED there in April, by far the easiest process for buying a car we've ever experienced. Re: Selling the Civic. FWIW, I placed our '97 Acura Integra on Cars.Com the Wed before Memorial Day weekend. I selected the $40 package (3 photos, unlimited renewal). Tell you what, best thing I ever did. I'm being a straightshooter here - I had no less than 12, that's 12 calls about the car by Sat, 3 were straight up cash "I'll buy it now!" offers, one as far away as Philadelphia. Morale of the story: It pays to take care of your car, it pays to advertise!

Cheers and good luck!

[ase2dais]

Welcome to the DC Meet Group!

Originally Posted by velore

i just picked my 330 up from passport yesterday. i love the idrive, and the CA so far. and as for the trade ins, i didnt do it but the leasing agent told me they do take trade ins at passport. also, im pretty sure you can go to any BMW service area for your routine service, although i hear they are less likely to help you in a timely fashion if you didnt purchase the car from them (this i am not positive about).

[BK]

Got an e-mail from Peter today and he says my car is now in this category: "150-155 Scheduled For or In Production." Note this doesn't exactly jive with what Donny posted above, where status 150 is actual production, rather than 112 scheduled for production. In any event, Peter says in his e-mail that the car "is in the build process" so maybe it has changed to 150 status after all.

For what it's worth, the website still says "on order" and the 1-800 number still says "scheduled for production with no confirmed production date." Both have said the same thing since I first checked them about a week ago.

... edit: now I just got my VIN from Peter, so I guess things are moving!

[KL2DC]

BK:

Ahhh things are moving at a good pace.

So you're at Status 150-something stage...too late to make any changes, no turning back now. Basically, 150 is the start of the production process and takes off from status 112 which basically involves the selecting, scheduling and sorting of build slots/numbers from the general pool (Status 111).

So you can see you've come some ways. Sometimes the turning of 111 to 112 takes a long time and 112-150 as well e.g. if they have supply problem for specific trims or options

As mentioned, the most timely info is from Peter or you can always call BMW NA 1-800 number and speak to a live rep.

Basically, production should take about 1 week. Then its about 1 day for transport to POE. Here is the tough part, where it can take anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks for your car to hop on a boat. The voyage takes about 14-15 days to reach NY/NJ. VPC and transport should take about 5-7 days and 1 day for final PDI at Passport.

p.s. now that you have your VIN, where is your car being produced?

[KL2DC]

BK: Also, to speed things up you might want to casually ask Peter to see what he can do at the POE. For e.g. keeping in touch with relevant people at the transport, making sure your last name is visibly on the car and car documentations (it helps and not all dealers do this) etc.

[BK]

11th digit of the VIN is "P" so I guess that means Regensburg. Good or bad?

In any case, I'm psyched that things are moving along!

[KL2DC]

Originally Posted by BK

11th digit of the VIN is "P" so I guess that means Regensburg. Good or bad?

In any case, I'm psyched that things are moving along!

Regensburg...I'm Regensburg too

All the same, I reckon although e90Fleet did mention that Regensburg have slightly lower defect rate than the main Munich plant. It seems a lot of BMW folks apprentice at the Munich plant.

FYI, my car took 1 day (or less) to get from Regensburg to Bremerhaven by rail...

[bavarian19]

[BK]

Hold your horses! I will have MANY once the car arrives.