brandsb

Greetings All,
As a 'lurker' for the past 10 months or so it's about time to become an active member. My 'welcome to the forum' moment was shortly after I purchased my used 545 in April. Upon a late night gazing session in my garage I noticed that BOTH headlight brackets were broken. Of course there was immediate horror and panic at the thought the car had been involved in a frontal collision. Within 15 minutes of searching the forum I found out this was a common issue and a TS bulletin had been published.....I have been hooked ever since.

I've worked in the auto industry for 18 years and have truly been converted to the enjoyment of BMW ownership in the last five years. I'm a performance and data nut and enjoy hearing about everyone's modification experiences. Goals include surviving winter in Michigan, lightweight wheels in the spring, Sprint Booster vs Dinan software, etc. Great forum and membership!!

Happy Holidays to All!

tachyon

Welcome aboard, glad you joined us.

I bet you don't see too many E60s in your neck of the woods.

Enjoy it.

info@trinityautosport

welcome

Rizbel

My broken headlight brackets were replaced by new plastic pieces. You should be able to have them replaced by the dealer..

brandsb

You're right, especially 545's. Tons of Chrysler 300C's and Caddy's though so lots of fun.

I visit Chicago a few times a year and am always struck by the number of Audi's floating around downtown. I'm sure it's a big Bimmer market too but the Audi's always surprise me. It's hard to get a good read on high end car culture living here in the Detroit area.

brandsb

Thanks, taken care of at my first dealer service.

LowOrbit

Welcome Brandsb!

Do you get grief in Detroit for owning a foreign job?

brandsb

Interestingly not so much in the last few years for several reasons. First, companies like Ford have acquired partial or whole ownership of 'imports' such as Jaguar, Aston Martin and Mazda. Another example is the partnering of DaimlerBenz with Chrysler. Secondly, it is well known that many of the Big 3 parts now come from Mexico, Canada and overseas, hence the cars are much more global in content. Third, with the influx of all the Japanese brands into the U.S. for assembly, thus employing thousands of Americans, the 'import' tag is becoming cloudier.

Having said that, I'm obviously careful how I park and navigate traffic here. No need to poke at old-school notions. I did occasionally have problems with my late red 323i, probably partially because it didn't have enough power to navigate the traffic (at least to my liking). No problem with the 545!

tachyon

That is a very revealing comment - it explains a lot about the Detroit auto companies.

Iceman

aboard and happy hollidays!