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      09-29-2006, 03:08 PM   #1
ShereKhan
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320si Le Mans Blue

Hi people

I've just registered with E90Post. Hopefully i'll become a regular poster.

I've taken delivery of my very first BMW and first company car a
56 plate 320si in Le Mans Blue.

Unfortunately its a poverty spec - no options.
As its a company car provided by a lease company.

It might even end up as the highest mileage 320si in the UK if I continue to drive it at the current rate.

I've only had it 3 weeks and i've done 3k! I'm expecting to do 36k+ per year.
I'm taking it to Nuremberg just before xmas to see what the actual speed it will go to. Has anyone tried the 140mph max speed yet?

What do fellow owners use to clean the alloys? Is Wonder wheels ok?
As I was worried it may strip the BMW motorsport text.

Is there a register for the 320si anywhere on this forum or anywhere on the web?
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      09-29-2006, 03:37 PM   #2
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WTF ...that's a hell of a company car!!

Welcome to the forum. We look forward to your contributions. Please post pics when you get the chance.

Its a shame to subject a limited edition, special issue 320Si to all those inevitable company motorway miles....
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      09-29-2006, 05:06 PM   #3
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Hello there!

Are you planning on telling your company about your Germany plans? Don't want to dampen your enthusiasm for a great car but the lease company and their insurers would probably have a view!

Can't get your pic to load but I have used Wonderwheels and it does the job fine and hasn't left any sign of damage. My E46 is just over 6 years old. I don't use it too often - if you clean them with regular car shampoo often enough, they will be fine. Use WW every now and again to shift any stubborn bits. I try to avoid leaving it on for any longer than necessary. Brush on, rinse off one wheel at a time.

(Oh, and read what the instructions say!)
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      09-30-2006, 04:44 PM   #4
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My lease company are fine with me driving anywhere. Technically I own the car as I have signed a loan agreement. The insurance is picked up by my employer fully comp anywhere in europe or where my job or personal life takes me.

I just need to tell them that I plan to take it to mainland europe or whereever and then they provide me with the correct docs and away I go.

As the company I work for is German no one bats an eyelid if you take the company car to Germany for a spin on the Autobahn as my HQ is based down in Nuremburg.....

I haven't loaded my pics yet - will do soon.

I've used Wonderwheels for many years so I am pretty familiar with it. I was concerned with the "special BMW Motorsport text" that is printed on the 320Si wheels - AFAIK most other BMWs don't have this
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      10-02-2006, 12:37 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShereKhan
Hi people

I've just registered with E90Post. Hopefully i'll become a regular poster.

I've taken delivery of my very first BMW and first company car a
56 plate 320si in Le Mans Blue.

Unfortunately its a poverty spec - no options.
As its a company car provided by a lease company.

It might even end up as the highest mileage 320si in the UK if I continue to drive it at the current rate.

I've only had it 3 weeks and i've done 3k! I'm expecting to do 36k+ per year.
I'm taking it to Nuremberg just before xmas to see what the actual speed it will go to. Has anyone tried the 140mph max speed yet?

What do fellow owners use to clean the alloys? Is Wonder wheels ok?
As I was worried it may strip the BMW motorsport text.

Is there a register for the 320si anywhere on this forum or anywhere on the web?
I have one whats your thoughts so far impressed y / n
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      10-02-2006, 05:05 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShereKhan
What do fellow owners use to clean the alloys? Is Wonder wheels ok?
As I was worried it may strip the BMW motorsport text.
I used to use Wonder Wheels on my old Ford Focus (before I went up in the automotive world). It cleaned them ok but left annoying water run marks that would not wash off and could only be removed with more Wonder Wheels. To be honest you don't need a wheel cleaner every wash as normal washing will get rid of all but the most baked on dust.

My last car was a 318i with 17"s and I never cleaned the wheels once with anything other than car shampoo. I had the car professionally valeted about a year ago and they shone the wheels up really well (not sure what they used).

On my current car I used some stuff called "Muc-Off" Car Kit. The web site is a bit Max Power Chav but I had read good reviews and I liked the name!

It uses a non-caustic cleaner than cleaned my wheels up nice (but they are only a year old and only had a few months worth of grime on them). The silicone sealer made them look very nice but have not kept them as clean as I would have liked. No nasty streaks though.

It took me about 1.5 hours to do all 4 wheels because you have to dry them and everything! A chap at work was saying that he just uses a thin coat of car wax polished off, I may try that next or I might just take the lazy option and get a 6 monthly valet car wax.
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      10-02-2006, 12:09 PM   #7
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xrrr I see what you mean by Max power Chav alert.

I'm not sure about the reseller - they promote a dettol kitchen cleaner next to a car wheel cleaner.

Normanh.

I've done nearly 3k miles and I'm quite happy so far. Bear in mind that I've moved from a 00W 2.0 306 cabriolet. The handling on roundabouts is awesome. I can't manage to squeal the tyres yet. It sticks like glue. I'd like to try a normal 320 to see what the difference is.

I'm happy I went for the 320Si especially in Le Mans Blue. Every E90 I see on the motorway is always silver/graphite. I have had lots of people looking at the car because of the wheels. Which I am pretty much used to with my last car being a convertible, you'd always get envious looks with the hood down.

I also like having a different car that very few people will have. When I turn up at Indian weddings most of our friends/relatives have MB & BMW cars. But very few will E90's or even E60's So it will very unique parked up next to a 318 E90

I'm also getting used to BMW bashing - other people who don't like people in BMW's!!
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      10-02-2006, 01:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShereKhan
As the company I work for is German no one bats an eyelid if you take the company car to Germany for a spin on the Autobahn as my HQ is based down in Nuremburg.....
Hey ShereKhan, welcome and congrats on the beautiful car!

I live in Nuremberg, would be awesome to have a mini-meet! I get my car on the 5th of December. Feel free to PM me if you like.

BTW: Little question for the non UK folks: What's up with those '56'-plates?
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      10-02-2006, 03:42 PM   #9
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The numberplate system they introduced over here a few years ago is very confusing - for old folk like me!

ShereKhan has blanked out the first two characters which are letters - gives general location of where vehicle was registered (if you can decode!). 56 means Sept 06 to Mar 07 registration. Last three characters are random letters.

ShereKhan obviously blanked out the letters - either that or he bought a REALLY expensive personal plate!
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      10-02-2006, 03:47 PM   #10
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But the BIG question is

how on earth did you get your dashboard back in after you fitted the Bluetooth?! That pic looks like someone trashed your car! What kit is it?
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      10-03-2006, 04:55 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by david_e
The numberplate system they introduced over here a few years ago is very confusing - for old folk like me!

ShereKhan has blanked out the first two characters which are letters - gives general location of where vehicle was registered (if you can decode!). 56 means Sept 06 to Mar 07 registration. Last three characters are random letters.

ShereKhan obviously blanked out the letters - either that or he bought a REALLY expensive personal plate!
Thanks for explaining!
So cars in the UK are only registered for 6 months? Do you have to get a new plate every six months?
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      10-03-2006, 06:51 AM   #12
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That would be far too easy! The plate is for the life of the car (and you don't pay anything ongoing) but then every year you have to buy a "tax disc"/"road fund licence" which is annual and is represented by a little paper disc you stick in your windscreen. How dumb is that??
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      10-03-2006, 07:54 AM   #13
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Really fancy a 320si. Good for you mate. Lovely car
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      10-03-2006, 08:14 AM   #14
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Thanks for all the comments.

I've blanked out my car registration as I don't fancy attracting the wrong type of attention from anyone who recognises my plate in my local area.
The "56" plate has only been out for a month or so in the UK. So you can tell who has a shiny new car.

I do have a private plate which i'd like to put on but the lease company want £100 as their fee on top of the DVLA fee!!

I've fitted a Siemens bluetooth kit - it was fitted by a car handsfree specialist via O2. Paid for by my company so I didn't have a choice.
Done a good job though, you wouldn't know that he'd pulled the dash to pieces!

I'm still deciding whether I should buy the car off my lease company scheme. as I have the option to do so at the end of three years.
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      10-03-2006, 08:56 AM   #15
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So every new UK car has a unique registration plate that it keeps for it's life.

The only alternative is what's called a private plate, these are 'unique' plates with some sort of unusal aspect (eg spells your initials) and they can be bought and sold independantly of the car.

The plates used to change every year originally the last letter indicated the year, then this became the 1st letter.

This caused a peak in new car sales because everyone wanted the 'new' registration number.

Now we have 2 number changes each year. In March 2006 the 06 plate was released and in Sept 06 the 56 plate was released.

So sherekhans 56 plate means his car was registered on or after the 1st Sept 06 (like mine )
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      10-03-2006, 03:05 PM   #16
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Ah, I see. Very, very complicated. At least one thing that is less bureaucratic in Germany...
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      10-03-2006, 07:18 PM   #17
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Dante

Will I need snow chains if i stick to the AutoBahn to Koln then onto Nuremberg then back to Cologne and onwards to UK via Calais.

I'll be going the week before Xmas. I know the snow can be quite heavy in Bavaria region. If I need to buy them whilst out in Germany where is the best place to get them?
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      10-04-2006, 03:46 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShereKhan
Dante

Will I need snow chains if i stick to the AutoBahn to Koln then onto Nuremberg then back to Cologne and onwards to UK via Calais.

I'll be going the week before Xmas. I know the snow can be quite heavy in Bavaria region. If I need to buy them whilst out in Germany where is the best place to get them?
No, you won't need snow chains, a good set of winter tires will do. The Autobahn is cleared regularly with snowploughs and salt. Also, Nuremberg is not situated very high.

If you need to buy some, ATU will be the address. They have shops all over Germany and the prices are ok. We have 3 ATUs alone in Nuremberg. -> www.atu.de

But as you probably know, you can not fit chains over your 18" summer tires.

Contact me if you like, always nice to meet the british folks.
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      10-04-2006, 05:43 AM   #19
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I know that you guys in Germany have to switch between summer and winter tyres.

However in the UK we have all season tyres - surely I can put snow chains on all season tyres?

My understanding of winter tyres is that they are more chunkier and can have studs on them. Is this understanding correct?

I'm in Nuremberg for three days to see the Christmas markets so if I get time i't'd be great to meet up.
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      10-04-2006, 10:30 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShereKhan
I know that you guys in Germany have to switch between summer and winter tyres.

However in the UK we have all season tyres - surely I can put snow chains on all season tyres?

My understanding of winter tyres is that they are more chunkier and can have studs on them. Is this understanding correct?

I'm in Nuremberg for three days to see the Christmas markets so if I get time i't'd be great to meet up.
There are no studs allowed in Germany due to road damage.
If there is no heavy snowfall you will be fine with all season tyres. What I understand as a winter tyre is e.g. the Bridgestone Blizzak LM series.

Just let me know when you're hopping over!
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      11-04-2006, 09:12 AM   #21
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emmm... Nuremburg (city in Bavaria and famous for it's medieval market just inside the city walls, selling hand crafted goods) and erm Nürburg (a city in the district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rheinland-Pfalzhome and famous for it's castle and erm.. the Nürburgring) are two different places and pretty far from each other.. you guys know that right?

If you are going to either during November I'd watch the weather forecast. As for the Nürburgring, I was there two weeks ago and while it rained a bit on the Saturday, Sunday was amazing.

p.s. congrats on the Si... an excellent choice
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      11-04-2006, 10:40 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by MarkA
emmm... Nuremburg (city in Bavaria and famous for it's medieval market just inside the city walls, selling hand crafted goods) and erm Nürburg (a city in the district of Ahrweiler, in the state of Rheinland-Pfalzhome and famous for it's castle and erm.. the Nürburgring) are two different places and pretty far from each other.. you guys know that right?

If you are going to either during November I'd watch the weather forecast. As for the Nürburgring, I was there two weeks ago and while it rained a bit on the Saturday, Sunday was amazing.

p.s. congrats on the Si... an excellent choice
Yes we know, thats why we are talking about Nuremberg in Bavaria, which is the english way to write Nürnberg.
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