After numerous delays, thanks to the wonderful East Coast weather , I finally picked up my car on Sunday. I was supposed to get it before Christmas, but due to all the snow it got delayed in getting to my dealer, and then I went on vacation until this Sunday. So as soon as I got back, I went straight from the airport to the dealer.

I had the dealer install my Euro reflectors that I had dropped off, and also had him swap out the default gray mats with black ones (I like the contrast better this way). So when I arrived it was all set and waiting for me. I spent about one hour going over the whole car, ensuring everything was working and there were no scratches, dents, tears, rips, etc. Of course I had to correct the tire pressures since dealers never seem to care to get them right - why I have no clue. Then I spent another hour working with iDrive which at first seemed annoying but now is quite elegant (albeit it still has some issues). I paired my T637 Bluetooth phone, and all my contacts were imoprted, etc. I preset all my FM and Sirius stations, programmed all the settings I wanted, etc. I think I'm done with the setup! It felt/feels like I'm installing Windows XP and setting it up. In a way, I guess I am.

So now for some impressions.

The drive is terrific. I guess that goes without saying really. Better than the test car I drove. Adequate power for what I need. The styling is gorgeous. Looks better each time I drive it. I love the Titanium Silver exterior with the gray/black interior. At night it looks like it's all light up! All the buttons easily fall into place now that I'm used to it - it didn't take as long as I'd thought it would. The navigation is OK, but I didn't expect it to be as good or better than in the Honda Accord I had. I wish the split screen could be more customizable. For example, I wish I could have no split screen at times, etc. Or that I can have the smaller screen on the right display audio, etc. as well. But it's OK. No big deal.

As far as problems go, none so far. The only thing I've seen is that I get some condensation in the Xenons, but I read here that's common.

One thing I would change is to make the door armrest a bit wider, so I can rest my elbow/arm more easily when cruising. It's so thin my elbow/arm falls off easily. Also a plusher center console would have been nice. But these are small things. I guess BMW doesn't want you to ever take either hand off the wheel

The only thing I haven't yet figured out is the climate - the iDrive Vent Settings and how that whole things works. I've read the book, but am a tad confused. I guess I don't understand what exactly it does. I can see you can set how you want air to be ditributed, but AUTO mode overrides that, and I don't see how to use a MANUAL mode for some reason. Even if I turn off AUTO by changing the fan speed knob, it's still on auto in the iDrive display. The air distribution has not changed. Weird. Unless those settings are for the AUTO mode?? I'm confused.

Also the rain sensitive wipers are a bit lame IMO. I could just do with intermittent steps. This just makes it more complicated for some reason.

All in all I'm verry happy. I will post nice pictures once the weather clears up here and I wash the car. Hopefully this weekend.

 

I forgot to add that I also wish it has a bit more storage space (like a real coinholder), and that I'm still not sure of my SW version. I asked the dealer to have the tech tell me, and I got a printout that said something like 3.3.0. So I assume it's really 13.3??

Also I get some condensation even when I wash the Xenons with the headlight washer control. Is this normal as well?

 

congrats, urbo73 ! can't wait to see the pics . the condensation is normal due to the cool weather you have there. the climate control is a little strange. whenever i turn the fan speed knob after i used auto mode, it'll change to manual mode. not sure why yours stays auto .

 

<<<Also the rain sensitive wipers are a bit lame IMO. I could just do with intermittent steps. This just makes it more complicated for some reason.>>>

This I believe can be adjusted to more/less agressive by the dealer. The first time I fell in love with this feature was when I was travelling on the Interstate and a car ahead of me splashed water on my windshield. The wipers immediately cleared the windshield. Both cars travelling at around 75 MPH at night on a construction area with no shoulder on either side, I didn't even have to take my hand off the wheel to activate the wipers and even if I had, I could not match the speed at which the system reacted.

 

I always have the climate control on auto.. I actually never used it manually..

 

I do as well, but ocassionally I like to turn the fan speed down (like if I get a phone call, etc. while it's balsting air hot or cold) and then back to auto. Auto rocks!

The most confusing thing, which I think I understand now, is the Vent settings in the iDrive. Especially the hot/cold bars. But I understand it now to be the control for the middle vents temperature, which is relative. So I leave it one bar cold/blue. This I thought was only for manual ventilation, but it's used for both manual and auto - that was my confusion.

As far as manual ventilation, no matter what I set in iDrive, the iDrive shows auto even when I'm not in auto (which is likely a bug, but not a big deal since I use auto all the time as I said).

 

Climate and recirculation on Auto all the time, as well as the head lights.

 

A BMW dealer open on Sunday?

 

I'll add that I always use "auto" on the climate control.

urbo, I understand you are not doing this but for the benefit of others, a very common issue that I'll chalk up to "user error" is when people in an automatic climate control car are too warm or too cold, they bump the fan speed up or down. That's what you'd do in a manual controlled car. The best way to force the fan speed to change is to simply move the temperature knob up or down a degree or two.

If I get a phone call or need to temporarily quiet the fan, I'll move the temp dials down a notch or two because if I manually slow the fan, I'll forget that I've overridden the auto mode and I'll end up all stuffy, etc.

Congrats on your car urbo! After you've had some time to adjust to it, I'll bet some of your small issues will not be issues anymore!

 

Conratulations Urbo.

You can figure out what the auto settings do by going into the vent menu, then turning the temp from the dash knobs hot or cold. You will see the air distribution change. The warmer you want it the more air at the bottom and less at top. Overriding these in I-drive will switch the auto off. The only time I go in there is to adjust the temperature of air flowing out of the main vent. This is very rare.

I love the auto wipers. Just drove 700 miles up and down the I5 in and out of patches of rain. They worked flawlessly coming on when needed and switching off when dry. I cannot live without them now.

Have fun. I sure as hell do. 7200 miles and loving every moment in the car.