[Dukat]

[beto_L.A.]

Looks GREAT!!!!
black headliner looks fantastic...
My X3 will be Chestnut leather and
Hope that the headliner makes the chestnut color stand out....the exterior will be black.

Again your X3 looks great.
Enjoy it.

[Dukat]

Thanks all.

I'm going to try taking some night photos later to capture the various interior lighting. The rear lighting is the best I've seen. Bright lights on top and under the seats.

My favorite accent light is in the interior door handle area. It's a thin red light above the handle that makes a great looking reflection in the chrome.

[greg2step]

beautiful! i like the mineral silver w/ oyster and wave wood. i gotta decide about the anthricite headliner - I think it looks great w/ your color combo - not sure about mine.

[Bustofa]

Looks great, and in my colours too!

[greg2step]

i think the mud guards look good - very tempted to add them to mine soon

[Want the thrill]

Very nice! You'll have to let me know if having the mud guards on prevents "sling" from the wheels. No matter how little tire shire I put on (gel, spray, liquid) it always ends up on my front and rear doors! I put it on at night and let it sit and wipe them off in the am and it still gets sling all over it. Makes me nuts.

[chillychan]

Silver is awesome!

[colson79]

Looks great. I love the Oyster and the black headliner.

[nonagon]

Excellent choice...car looks fantastic!

[Dukat]

Originally Posted by greg2step

i think the mud guards look good - very tempted to add them to mine soon

The mud guards don't sit flush to the body. The sticky rubber they include doesn't hold at all. I added my own double-sided tape. So far it's holding, not sure for how long. The rear guards won't sit flush and the tape isn't strong enough to hold them flush.

Word of caution. The front guards need to (not sure the proper name) push pins that hold them in place. They supply spare pins because to get the originals out you have to break them.

The rear guards need 1 push pin, but they didn't supply replacements so once you take yours out there's no way to get it back. Not sure how people without a machine shop are supposed to do it themselves unless they go out and buy spare pins. The pins are those black things with a pin in the center, you push in to lock them in place. They're often used in engine bays or the paneling under the car. The ones used around the fenders aren't reusable so you need spares.

Other than not sitting flush the guards look good and should keep lots of spray off the car.

[Dukat]

I tried night shots of the interior lighting but it doesn't look good. Messed with the camera settings but can't reproduce the actual look in person.

When the car starts it idles pretty loud, then after a minute or 2 it gets much quieter. The rpm's don't change. The X3's, at least the 35i's have something in the exhaust system that can let the exhaust go directly out or via another path. I don't know the mechanics of it, but I'm thinking it switches off the direct exhaust after a little bit of idling which is why it gets quieter.

Once in a while when sitting at a traffic light the rpm's seem to jump around. I don't think it's as bad as the rpm idling issue some people have, just something I noticed.

I started playing with the voice commands today. It worked very well in the driveway, understood all my commands I'll have to see if it's as accurate with road noise.

My favorite thing was you can enter a complete address without stopping.
My old system would say
- Enter State
- Enter City
- Enter Street
- Enter Address
- Confirm guidance start

With this you say the entire address without pause and it understood it in my 3 tests.

MPG so 13.5mpg so far, local driving keeping it under 3,000 rpm. I assume that will improve, or I'll go broke.

I love the sports seats. The sides really help hold you in place during sharp turns.

The only thing I'd like them to change about the car is how much the wheels turn when you turn the steering wheel. I think the wheels should turn 1/3 more than they do so that you wouldn't have to turn the steering wheel as much.

So far no regrets, loving it!

Question: When I touch the door top open it, the doors unlock and there is a hiss noise coming from under the car, like it's starting to do stuff. Anyone know what it's doing?

[xDrive35i]

Originally Posted by Dukat

Question: When I touch the door top open it, the doors unlock and there is a hiss noise coming from under the car, like it's starting to do stuff. Anyone know what it's doing?

I believe those are the gas pressure shock absorbers and electronic dampers preparing themselves for driving. After the car officially shuts down (some number of minutes after leaving it), pressing the unlock, lock, pathway lighting/panic button, or touching the Comfort Access door handle will cause this to happen. It's normal.

[torzeck]

Looks great. Black headliner and the shiny dash panel look great.
I'm envious. I want that headliner.

[mibmwx3]

Originally Posted by Dukat

My favorite accent light is in the interior door handle area. It's a thin red light above the handle that makes a great looking reflection in the chrome.

This must be new for 2012. Can you show a close-up picture of it?

Your car looks great!

[Dukat]

Originally Posted by mibmwx3

This must be new for 2012. Can you show a close-up picture of it?

Your car looks great!

Thanks!

I tried taking photos of it on but the light is too faint to show up.

I'll take photos of the light itself tomorrow to show where it is.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by mibmwx3

This must be new for 2012. Can you show a close-up picture of it?

Your car looks great!

Nope, not new. It's on the 2011's. Door pull glows orange. Dukat calls it reds, but to me it looks more orange. You probably just never noticed it.

Here is a link to a 2011 that is posted on the boards with interior pics at night. You can see it well on them:

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=567581

[Dukat]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

Nope, not new. It's on the 2011's. Door pull glows orange. Dukat calls it reds, but to me it looks more orange. You probably just never noticed it.

I have some minor color vision issues

The reflection off the door pulls looks great in complete darkness.

[Beyu]

Originally Posted by Dukat

Question: When I touch the door top open it, the doors unlock and there is a hiss noise coming from under the car, like it's starting to do stuff. Anyone know what it's doing?

I've read in another thread that the "hissing" noise is just the fuel pump priming itself.

[kolien]

Very nice pictures.

Could you also take a close up picture of the piano-black panel so the difference between the ordinary black and the piano black is comparable?

I have also ordered piano-black panel in my X3, but haven't found any good pictures of it yet?

[Jonas12]

Originally Posted by Dukat

I drove 30 miles home from the dealer. Haven't been out since as I'm still applying sealant.

I hit 80 and didn't hear any excess wind noise, so either my seals are installed correctly or they made a change to the design.

The DHP makes a huge difference in steering and suspension. My drive home was a straight road so I haven't gotten to trying it on rough road or turns, but still feel a big difference in the settings. Glad I got it.

If I can't figure out what's causing the clicking noise in the back seat I'll take it back on Monday. It was driving me nuts.

I'll try to get photos posted tomorrow. My compact flash reader broke so I need to find a way to get pictures off the camera.

I'm very happy with the 19" 309's. I was worried for the longest time that they'd be too rough, but they're not and they look much better in person.

Question for Lotus or any other car guru's. My doors, especially the rear ones that a lot of force to shut. Is there an easy way I can adjust that or do I have to take it to the dealer?

Dukat, 80 mph to me was the limit where the wind noise wasn't interfering yet. If you get a chance please try getting it to 90-100, that's where my test car switched to a cdifferent mode noise-wise.

[Dukat]

Originally Posted by kolien

Could you also take a close up picture of the piano-black panel so the difference between the ordinary black and the piano black is comparable?

Here you go: