alohalc

rollee, i envy you so much ! not only the receptionists are not nice and they are not hot at all ! oh, i shouldn't even use the word "hot" to decribe them. they are just "so-easy-to-forget" kind of faces. i'm really to a point that sending a letter to bmwna. my salesperson called me yesterday and asked me to call my credit union because the loan didn't go through. then i called and the lady told me they haven't received any fax except the purchase order from the dealer ! no wonder the loan didn't go through ! i gave the guy all the applications and proof of income and asked him fax everything with the contract and purchase order to the credit union. he promised everything before i stepped out the showroom. what kind of service is that? anyway, the loan went through w/o any problem. the lady from the credit union was nice enough and gave me another 0.25% off the loan rate. it's so little but better than nothing. then i called the salesperson back and let him know the loan is ok and asked the stuff that i asked him to order last week. he said he's going to order everything and he's already ordered one of them! he sounded like he's so efficient because he's already ordered one out of five items that i want ! i just really don't understand why they don't even have the all weather floor mats in stock. they are so common and pretty much a freebies for most of the new car buyers.

johandc & rollee, thanks for telling me how to remove those annoying fingerprints.

also, i'll tell them the armrest problem when my stuff are in. i always slide it to the very front and hardly move my arm coz i haven't tried the steptronic yet. i just have my arm rest on the armrest and eventually it slides back. i've noticed when i pulled the handbrake, it slides back, too. i didn't touch it at all. so good to know you guys don't have this problem.

BMW530

Armrest sliding back when applying the handbrake is a well known design flaw. Has been discussed on other posts here.

alohalc

bmw530, it's good to know. then i'll definitely go back and have them fix the problem for me. thank you.

Rudy

Sliding armrest problem existed on the E39 too! The leather boot on my E39's handbrake wore out where it came into contact with the armrest.

You'd think they'd have gotten it right by now....

alohalc

rudy, i haven't noticed that in my previous e39 but it's good to know.

i've noticed something though. i can't move the armrest all the way to the front and feel the "click" when i pull the handbrake. but it's ok when the handbrake is down. ok means i can move it to the most frontal position but doesn't mean it won't slide back while i'm driving.

Rudy

I think you're noticing what all of us are noticing.

When the handbrake is up, the armrest contacts it before it can "click" into it's forwardmost position. When the brake is down, the armrest can slide freely and can click in the forwardmost postition without problem.

alohalc

rudy, if that's the case, i think all of us should go back and have bmw fix this problem. it's so annoying every time i have to slide it back to the front after i pull the handbrake. it's just like you have to re-adjust the rearview mirror every time you step in the car . i didn't have this problem on my e39.

Rudy

I agree that the armrest issue can be annoying but for me, it's not that big of a deal. It's a pretty dumb design and one they should have been able to work around.

My E39's both had the arm rest problem. I'm so used to sliding it with my arm each time I get in the car now that it's a non-event. I'm thinking that at least here in the US, where typical drivers aren't too in-touch with the mechanics of a car (unlike the members on these forums, of course) as well as the fact that automatic transmissions are more popular than manual transmissions in this country, my bet is that most American owners aren't even setting the handbrake so BMW isn't hearing too many complaints from the US market.

I'm curious about your rear-view mirror comment. I don't quite understand it. Can you please elaborate?

alohalc

rudy, i think you must be a very patience guy . this kind of "daily" problem annoys me more than a bigger problem, like brakes or tires or whatever. i think i've been annoyed by my girlfriend enough so that i don't want to face another "daily" issue .

i agree with you about the auto and stick theory. that makes sense. or maybe just not too many guys like me out there .

oh, i'm sorry to confused you. what i meant is i need to adjust the armrest every time i step in the car, it's annoying. same as the rearview mirror, if i need to adjust that every time, i'd rather take the bus .

Rudy

Back in the "old days" I used to be way less patient -- now, one of my mottos is "don't sweat the small stuff".

I've been through some pretty major, life changing situations over the years so it's not worth my time to worry about something that, after some time, becomes second nature to me.

My stress level is much lower as a result of this philosophy.