I never have anything to contribute in here unless it is asking for help because my cavalier is messed up again. Anyway, I just bought a 2006 325i with 19.5k miles yesterday at Auction Direct. I was really happy with how streamline the process was. This is also my first 6 speed.







These are AD pictures. I have not taken any myself yet.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 9:30 AM. Reason : add 00]

3/6/2009 9:29:06 AM

nice car.

i'm getting a 5 series tomorrow

albeit a bit older/cheaper than that one

3/6/2009 9:49:56 AM

is the ls gone?

3/6/2009 10:35:07 AM

trying to sell it right now on craigslist. showing it to like 4 people today so i think it'll get gone fast..

3/6/2009 10:37:16 AM

Nice. Yeah it's a considerable difference going from a 1991 Cavalier to this. I'm debating on selling the cavalier (which would pay off the balance of a credit card) or keeping it as my daily driver to work.

3/6/2009 11:01:45 AM

Sell it.

Save some money for a few months then buy a cheapo (honda/toyota) beater as a DD later if that's what you want. They hold up a whole hell of a lot better than domestics.

3/6/2009 11:53:01 AM

nice car. Auction Direct has some good deals last time I checked it. did you see any M3 while you were there?

3/6/2009 12:27:27 PM

^^^ A lot of people split their driving and keep an old car listed on their insurance as the "primary vehicle" while putting the new one as a "pleasure vehicle." I did it with the S2000 (full coverage) and 89 325i (liability only) to cut my insurance down a lot. They don't charge much for a "pleasure vehicle."

I've known people that had their primary vehicle listed as a pleasure vehicle, but they never got into a wreck. It seems like a possible way to get pwnt if you actually do get in a wreck so I probably wouldn't recommend it if you are actually going to put a lot of miles (more than 10k per year maybe) on the Bimmer.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 1:23 PM. Reason : s]

3/6/2009 1:22:04 PM

^Yeah if you actually get into an accident, the insurance company will check the mileage. If you are putting on 15k a year on a pleasure car.......they may deny your claim.

Wonder if anyone here actually has any experience on this subject?

3/6/2009 2:58:06 PM

^ Maybe. I can see that. But what if you don't drive it often, however, drive it long distances (ie: to the beach, mountains, visit friends out of state, etc?) just curious

3/6/2009 4:09:33 PM

When I told my agent to put the S2000 down as a pleasure vehicle he asked how many miles per year I'd use it. I estimated 8k based on the fact that I was using the e30 for work and only driving the S2000 on weekends and nice evenings.

Just talk to your insurance agent. A good agent is looking out for you. He'll be able to tell you if you're close enough to qualify and how much you'll save by doing it.

[Edited on March 6, 2009 at 4:21 PM. Reason : l]

3/6/2009 4:17:51 PM

e46 is an awesome car...probably the best daily driver for the dollar on the planet.

it's not like it's something totally impractical or unliveable for daily use--why in the world would you DD a beater cavalier when you have an E46 BMW?

sell that thing and pay off your debt. if you're going to keep a cheap beater, make it some sort of cheap, FUN beater that doesn't do the same thing as your DD (except poorly).

...or conversely, if you're going to daily drive a beater cavalier and spend a bunch of money on a 2nd car as a pleasure vehicle, don't get a jack-of-all-trades 3-series. Get something hardcore, completely impractical, and ridiculously fun.

3/6/2009 5:16:22 PM

GT-R Waiting for RSX to chime in

3/6/2009 5:34:38 PM

nice car, but no xenons on E90 is FTL

3/6/2009 6:54:38 PM

whoops, didn't read the first post carefully, or look at the pictures at all. whatever, substitute E90 for E46.

3/6/2009 6:57:20 PM

Fun car man. I drove one the other day from Charlotte to home and it was a blast.

3/6/2009 7:38:13 PM

I didn't happen to see any M3's over at auction direct. There are a ton a X5's though.

3/7/2009 3:11:17 PM

those X5s depreciate in values real quickly. My boss is trying to get of hers for about a year now to no avail.

3/7/2009 9:34:13 PM

Your boss is asking too much then and just wasted a years worth of depreciation because of it.


Picked this up this weekend in Chicago. Had been in California until the last few months. Love it so far..







[Edited on March 8, 2009 at 4:18 PM. Reason : '97 528i]

3/8/2009 4:17:49 PM

how does Auction Direct work? This is the first I've heard of them, from the website it just looks like another version of Carmax. Is it an auction or what?

3/8/2009 4:22:49 PM

^^you must got a hell of a deal to be willing to drive it all the way from chicago back here.

3/8/2009 6:00:06 PM

ohhhhhhhh BMW's ohhhhhhhhhh

let's all beat our dicks

3/8/2009 6:01:51 PM

$60 in gas and 12 hours of driving? it doesn't take a whole hell of a huge deal to justify that. the plane ticket was only $150.

although I did get a hell of a deal on it

3/8/2009 6:03:10 PM

gg on both your purchases. i love my '07 5

3/8/2009 6:40:50 PM

Quote :

"how does Auction Direct work? This is the first I've heard of them, from the website it just looks like another version of Carmax. Is it an auction or what?"

It's basically a car dealership like any other. They seem to have very competitive prices from what I understand. They will have a base 'auction' price. You pay that +399. They have computers set up everywhere so you can check KBB on cars. They are also really advocate looking for the same car, in similar condition, for less online. The salesmen do not get a comission on the vehicles there. It's a flat rate. So for them it's a numbers game and they are willing to put you in anything. If you go in there talk to Steve Hayden. He helped me out through the whole thing.

3/9/2009 9:33:16 AM

how much?

3/9/2009 2:46:57 PM

I'm picking up my M3 thursday.


Should I get the license plate: M3ATSPIN ?

3/10/2009 11:51:16 PM

I dont' get that plate, explain plz.

I wanted to get ///MEH on mine for a long time, but never did pull the trigger. I also like /MPOSTER a lot, but I don't think those plates are most people's cup of tea.

Anyway, the e39 is a pretty sweet car. I really enjoyed my 540i/6 speed sport package car. e46s are good cars too, I often wonder how life would be w/an e46 M3 as I look at $866 chain tensioners for my 911 (will be done tomorrow). The car's about "almost done" again. Oh me and cars...

3/11/2009 12:16:16 AM

^^dude, what happened to your GSR?

3/11/2009 1:21:46 AM

http://www.meatspin.com


I'm not actually getting a vanity plate though.



^I'm gonna sell the GSR, they're still going for a good price surprisingly.

3/11/2009 2:11:46 AM

^

Its not surprising a car with low maintenance costs , high reliability, 30mpg, and 170hp is still worth money.

Its surprising you're surprised.



[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 5:26 AM. Reason : how much for the gsr?]

3/11/2009 5:26:16 AM

im debating having someone fix my 540 (Ahmet, zxappeal, optmusprimer feel free to step up..) or taking the loss and covering it with this unexpected bonus and buying an 07 328 or 335.

I'm looking at http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/1043000920.html
and
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/1065496834.html
and
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/1045889276.html

OR I could buy this: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/1053852499.html
with the bonus, use the parts to fix my car and keep some spares and make some money back on ebay/bimmer forums. but I am lazy and don't think I'd spend time pulling stuff

3/11/2009 10:08:21 AM

hershculez

That looks exactly like my car minus sports pkg.

Try not to shift from 3rd to 2nd at redline like I did though.

3/11/2009 10:51:28 AM

damn. I bet it wasn't happy with you at that point in time.

3/11/2009 11:45:10 AM

nope. not at all.

3/11/2009 2:27:22 PM

This might be kind of a rediculous question but is it alright to wash it at a self serve car wash with the brush and spray gun? I'm trying to avoid swirl marks in the black paint so I want to wash it the right way. Driveway isn't really an option because it's a combitnation of gravel and dirt. Thanks.

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 4:14 PM. Reason : df]

3/11/2009 4:13:54 PM

Quote :

"Driveway isn't really an option because it's a combitnation of gravel and dirt."

wat?

just about all driveway are that. you can wash it there just fine... it's not like dirt randomly starts floating or something.

and yes the other car washes you asked about are fine, swirls are more from buffing/waxing incorrectly

3/11/2009 4:54:19 PM

So I get my car back from the shop today. I am having blue flames that fade to silver put down the side. I am also having a set of camero rims put on it because I don't like the current wheels. No not really. I dumb woman in a Tahoe hit me and caused damage to the driver side quarter panel and bumper. I have had the car less than a month. Oh well, I get it back today and don't have to drive this damn VW Passat around anymore.

3/26/2009 10:15:35 AM

Damn dude, that fucking sucks.

But yeah, at least you seem to have gotten your car back fairly quickly.

3/26/2009 10:39:55 AM

Joke about BMW's loving being in the shop.

3/26/2009 10:44:38 AM

Damn, that sucks. Typical woman in SUV. Is she from Cary? Was she on her cell phone? I had one girl almost hit me switching lane on 40 last weekend. Guess what? she's driving an SUV and talking on her cell phone at the time. Does the car have a salvage title now?

3/26/2009 10:48:50 AM

I can tell you it doesn't.

[Edited on March 26, 2009 at 11:09 AM. Reason : no way he'd get it back that fast if there was enough damage to total it]

3/26/2009 11:09:01 AM

oh no, not at all. it was $2700 in damages. mostly because BMW thinks rather highly of there parts. It wasn't bad. No airbags deployed or anything like that. I don't know if she was on her phone. She did have two dogs in the back of the truck. Perhaps they were distracting her.

3/26/2009 11:31:15 AM

Quote :

"This might be kind of a rediculous question but is it alright to wash it at a self serve car wash with the brush and spray gun?"

watch this:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1701276842?bctid=5705773001

brush's tear up the paint. hand wash with a proper wash mitt (no sponges) and if you don't have time for that a brushless spray wash is the best option

3/26/2009 8:04:17 PM

replace the mitt often also as it holds dirt.

3/26/2009 9:30:33 PM

i still use my squeegee thing on my truck, but have switched to really soft towels for the car. i also rinse often and dry immediately, a huge necessity with how hard the water is at my house.

3/26/2009 11:24:47 PM