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      01-07-2012, 03:52 AM   #1
alexkalt
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New X3 arrived and some questions

I have been reading this forum for some months now and I can say that it is a great source of information that really helped me into learning and deciding for my new X3 that arrived some days ago, I have posted photos in this thread: http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632585

It was a relief not to have any serious issues when I picked up the car from the dealer, except maybe the following 4 which I present to you and ask for your opinion:

Issue 1: I noticed some rust in this part of the engine (see photo below). I know it is normal to have some rust on i.e. disk brakes but on this part of the engine is ok to have some rust? Should I demand from the dealer a change or it is not something serious ?

Issue 2: I noticed some minor scratches on the all rims and the most “serious” was like the one in the below photo. Do you consider this important so that I ask for the dealer for a fix/replacement ?

Issue 3: Unfortunately as I read in this forum, dealers do not take good care of the cars when washing them. In my case the boy washing the car was obviously using a dirty towel which created some minor scratches (ok, visible only if seen from certain angles) on some spots of the car. Dealer acknowledged this and I think that he is open into fixing it, but I was wondering if repainting some parts of the car for just some minor scratches is too much fuss or could lead to bigger problems such as i.e. color consistency. What do you think ?

Issue 4: Ok this is not so important, but although car is a 2012 model I do not have the black high gloss trim in the instrument panel. Is this standard only for US cars and not for EU ? I also miss the trim in the steering wheel, I thought it was standard but now I start to realize that it goes only with the sport wheel

Other than that, I am very happy with the car, no noise issues identified so far, excellent driving experience. It came with Pirelli P7 and I am changing them for Pirelli Sotozero RFT winter tires in a week,
I thank you for your answers in advance !



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      01-07-2012, 04:46 AM   #2
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In the UK the high gloss black trim is a no cost option thus has to be ordered. Perhaps this was your mistake.

As to your other points I would not accept the car with the wheels damaged in even a minor way and would ask for replacements or professional refurb (not guy in a van). Re the paint scratches, if they are not through the clearcoat I would have the car detailed at the dealers cost before accepting it.

I can't comment on the engine rust but would def try to clarify that point.
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Last edited by dnw; 01-07-2012 at 04:53 AM..
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      01-07-2012, 05:47 AM   #3
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Regarding issue 1: Ours is like that too. Is this normal?
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      01-07-2012, 05:49 AM   #4
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Congrats, on your new car.
Would not accept the car until faults had been sorted.
Have a word with your dealer, sure they can rectify the faults you have high lighted.
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      01-07-2012, 05:59 AM   #5
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Issue 1: this is just superficial surface rust on the pulley and will have no detrimental effect in the long term.

Issue 2: you bought a brand new car and that includes un-scuffed wheels. Tell the dealer to have them refurbished to as new. That is a very simple and quick job.

Issue 3: ask the dealer to repair the scratches. He has to blend the new paint in so that's their repairer's problem. You don't accept the car unless it's 100%.

Issue 4: If you don't have the black glossy trim inside on the dash then it is a 2011 build and not a 2012.
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      01-07-2012, 06:26 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve30dMSport View Post
Issue 4: If you don't have the black glossy trim inside on the dash then it is a 2011 build and not a 2012.
No, this is an option in Europe. You can have a 2012 without it if you don't order it.
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      01-07-2012, 12:00 PM   #7
alexkalt
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Thank you very much for your answers so far, they are very helpful !

Dnw you are right, high gloss trim is at no cost but I should have ordered it ! I can’t believe I missed this one after all the reading in the forum !
W3dge sorry to say that… I feel a bit more relaxed that other cars have the same problem on the pulley and as Steve30dMSport says it is superficial indeed. My concern is if it will deteriorate with time or not. Steve30dMSport says it will not. I will ask the dealer of course(although I guess his answer will be not to worry at all…) and I will let you know

By all the answers received I decided to ask from the dealer to repair the damages and see what his reaction will be. When I saw the car, although I noticed the small scratches I could not resist into accepting it. At least he wrote down some of my remarks in the acceptance document. Maybe I could have done these scratches myself in a couple of months but it is to be noted how irresponsibly sometimes they handle new cars. Wiping off with a dirty towel is a mistake even amateurs avoid...
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      01-08-2012, 04:19 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AJWilson View Post
Congrats, on your new car.
Would not accept the car until faults had been sorted.
Have a word with your dealer, sure they can rectify the faults you have high lighted.
Seconded, take it back.
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      01-08-2012, 04:19 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnw View Post
No, this is an option in Europe. You can have a 2012 without it if you don't order it.
YEP I ordered it and it does look good.
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      01-09-2012, 03:55 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexkalt View Post
Dnw you are right, high gloss trim is at no cost but I should have ordered it ! I can’t believe I missed this one after all the reading in the forum !
Yes, high gloss panels are non cost options in Europe. But in my opinion, they look good only if you have other "high gloss surface" on dash, such as fineline wooding.

If you have non cost silverish plastic or aluminium panels, adding high gloss surface on some part of the dash makes it only worse.

And as I wrote to the pic thread as well, please comment the manual gearbox once you have more kms with it.
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      01-09-2012, 02:28 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodion View Post
Yes, high gloss panels are non cost options in Europe. But in my opinion, they look good only if you have other "high gloss surface" on dash, such as fineline wooding.

If you have non cost silverish plastic or aluminium panels, adding high gloss surface on some part of the dash makes it only worse.

And as I wrote to the pic thread as well, please comment the manual gearbox once you have more kms with it.
Hi Rodion,
i have a manual gearbox and more than 17tkm on my X and i dont regret my decision to take the manual.The 2.0d had enough torque so you can drive kommod in every gear (2-4) in the city without nervy swithing gears.
Besides the AT cost 2300€ extra ,for this money i have buy me rather some other extras like Bi-Xenon
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      01-10-2012, 06:10 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HajdukX View Post
Hi Rodion,
i have a manual gearbox and more than 17tkm on my X and i dont regret my decision to take the manual.The 2.0d had enough torque so you can drive kommod in every gear (2-4) in the city without nervy swithing gears.
Besides the AT cost 2300€ extra ,for this money i have buy me rather some other extras like Bi-Xenon
Thank you! Now my nervs are a bit more eased

In here the extra cost is 3000€ for automatic...

If admins want, we can split this to new thread called "Experiences with X3 and manual gearbox".
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      01-10-2012, 04:49 PM   #13
alexkalt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rodion View Post
Yes, high gloss panels are non cost options in Europe. But in my opinion, they look good only if you have other "high gloss surface" on dash, such as fineline wooding.

If you have non cost silverish plastic or aluminium panels, adding high gloss surface on some part of the dash makes it only worse.

And as I wrote to the pic thread as well, please comment the manual gearbox once you have more kms with it.
Good point Rodion about the high gloss not fitting that much if the rest of the trim is not high gloss(I have the aluminium trim), makes me feel better !

Now about the manual gearbox, I think above all is a matter of preference. I do not consider myself as objective(or I don't have the right amount of experience) because I I had little experience with auto (some of the few times I tested it looked weird to me). I always liked to feel that I have full control of the car and this is the reason I preferred the manual. About the X3 manual gearbox, sure you get a good feeling out of it and I would say that it is in line with the standard of the car. There is a gearshift indicator in the instrument panel that suggests you which gear you should have every moment to achieve best fuel consumption and according to this in 55km/h you should have 4th in and in 65km/h already 5th. This is not very different from when you feel that you should change gear, that's why I had mentioned in other posts that relationships are rather close. But again for me this is not a problem, because anyway my usual driving style is one hand holding the wheel and the other the gear lever and still the feeling of controlling the car myself, not to mention also the money saved if not choosing auto, makes the manual gearbox the choice for me.
I hope this helped you a bit !
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