[sjs]

Howdy folks!

Now that I have my production number and VIN, I thought it was time to de-lurk and introduce myself. I've been a Honda driver for most of my adult life, but all that will end in 6 to 8 weeks when my first BMW arrives. I currently have a 2003 V6 Accord, but am looking forward to the BMW since the Accord has actually started to develop some weird behavior and I've had it for almost 4 years anyway. I ordered an arctic metallic 325i, steptronic, black leatherette, aluminum trim, power front seats, fold down rear seat, PDC, navigation and satellite radio. I'm also going to have the dealer put in the new iPod interface (should be timed just right for mid to late July) and the alarm system. Total with the factory options came to $35,550 which is $500 over invoice. iPod and alarm will run another grand or so, installed.

This forum has been a big help, and it's interesting to read about everyone's car and what options they got and why they ordered them the way they did. I thought I'd chime in with that as well. I got the arctic color since, even though I love the sparkling graphite, my current Accord is the same color and there are FOUR SG 2006 3-series parked in the garage at my work every day, three 330s and a 325, plus numerous older 3s (including 2 M3s) and several new model 5 series. They are all SG, Black, or Silver. So far, nobody has an arctic, and I love the color anyway.

I also went with the auto and the non-sport to save some money for fancier toys in the dashboard, and I really desire ride quality over ultimate performance in the curves. This will be my daily commuter car, I sit in 25 MPH traffic the whole way home sometimes (Santa Clara County), and it'll have more than enough under the hood for fun on the weekends.

Also, I wanted to save a little by not getting leather and the leatherette felt essentially indistinguishable to me.

Well, that's about it! I know the next couple of months will seem longer than they really are, but will be worth it when I drive that new puppy home.

Take care, and drive safe!

-Steve

[RGRAY]

Originally Posted by sjs

Howdy folks!...Now that I have my production number and VIN,...Total with the factory options came to $35,550 which is $500 over invoice.
-Steve

Congradulations, Steve.

You got a great price.

What freebies did they throw in?

Did you consider Comfort Access?

[sjs]

The only freebie I'm getting is floor mats. I thought about CA, but I'm actually looking forward to the dashboard-plug-start-button thing, so for the extra couple of hundred bucks, it didn't really seem worth it. A buddy of mine has a Prius with the Toyota CA equivalent, and I borrowed it once. It's kind of weird to just walk up, get in, push a button and take off. I like a little but more cause-and-effect clearly presented to me, I guess.

-Steve

[Nikki]

Congrats, another Arctic member! Good luck with it.

[zot09]

Congrats on your purchase sjs! Sounds like you got a sweet deal on the car. I live in Monterey, but I will be purchasing my car in the San Jose/Santa Clara area due to the fact that the dealership here is not that willing to haggle that much. Can I ask you which dealership you bought the car from, and who your SA was?

[sjs]

Hi! I worked with Stevens Creek BMW, and their Internet Manager, Jimmy Kahn. Nice guy, I Like him.

-Steve

[MoreCowbell]

Congrats and Welcome!!!

[KL2DC]

SJS: congrats! Nice options! The next few weeks is gonna be tough but this forum should help you with any questions you might have wrt tracking etc. You will probably be bitten by the mod bug depending how much time you'll spend here

Btw my local dealer offered to do the full alarm install (incl alarm) for $425 and I think the ipod kit shouldn't run more than $200-250 when it gets launched plus 1-2 hr labor max. Just FYI, I saw you had provided a little too generously for these 2 items

[sjs]

KL2DC-

Yeah, I probably did, but I'm ok with the guy making money. I got no problem with an extra couple of hundred bucks here or there. Frankly it's worth it to me not to haggle on every single option and seem cheap when buying a 35K car. I'd rather keep it civil, have a pleasant experience, and see what kind of service I get out of the deal. So far, it's been very easy and enjoyable working with him, so I'm not going to dwell on it.

But no, I don't expect to get the mod bug, even as strong as the urge is here among the regular posters. I read the whole longtran/eisenhaus thread and thought to myself... "Thank goodness I'm never going to get into any of that sort of thing" I think I'm just a little too old to be messing with aftermarket stuff on my first over $30K car. Life's too short.

Ummm... mmmmaybe just chrome tailpipe tips, but THAT'S IT!!

-Steve

[KL2DC]

sjs: if you're going for the chrome tips I'd recommend the 330i chrome kidney grilles as well, got them for $55 shipped, an easy snap-on-snap-off proposition (3 mins) and really dresses up the front.