[am36]

Picked up the car today...everything going well until I spotted a scratch (see bottom photo) on the rear bumper. Not the end of the world, and the dealer is sorting it in a week or so.

Just a few quick comments - from order to delivery, it was 7 weeks 6 days, probably one of the quickest UK orders?

I was a little concerned about my colour scheme that it would all look okay together, I shouldn't have worried - the DSB with black leather and the fineline wave looks spot on. Photo's are affected too much by flash to show it up properly and it was a bit grey and overcast (there's a surprise in Cumbria UK!). Only slight surprise I got and still not sure why - is that the rev counter has an analogue mpg gauge rather than the gauge most have??

Car had 5 miles on it at pickup. Gearbox (manual) is nice and smooth and after a couple of early selection errors (just wasn't used to the car), I soon got used to the ratios and the car's response when dropping down. I did have to contact the dealer when I wanted to engage reverse for the first time however (luckily on my driveway) as it seemed to require an excessive force to engage it (you do not lift or push the gear stick down, but push it past a resistance point). Probably just the newness - as the engine did seem quite tight as well.

Ride comfort I think is very good, I kept the sports suspension on mine. Having said that - I've had 3 sports cars on the trot, two of which had bone hard suspension. The drive back home from the dealer - approx. 48 miles, was enough to give me the reassurance that I'd made the right choice. Took it really easy, mainly in comfort mode and never got above 65mph. Hence the 45+ mpg.

Have yet to try all the bits and bobs out but generally very happy .

[buze]

Ah there it is then! Congrats! (8) weeks is pretty good! Mine will arrive week 10, so that'll make it about 12 weeks between order and pickup...

Question: I understood M sports had fancy Alu pedals -- well, I saw some pictures of that anyway. Is not not in the UK perhaps?

[BMWZ4]

Very nice. Congratulations! Too bad about the scratch, but they'll obviously sort it out, no doubt. I see your speedometer has both km & mph....weird. Mine came only with km/hr. You would have thought being so close to the U.S. they would have provided a dual speedo like yours. No big deal.

By the way, I see you're in Cumbria. I'm doing my Master's at University of Cumbria and in fact I was in Ambleside / Lake District for part of my studies, last October. What a beautiful part of England.

In any case, enjoy your new X3!
Dave

[Schmed]

Dear BMW NA,

Why can't we get a manual gearbox in the US?




(congrats on the X3, am36. Looks great!)

[sfax]

Congrats! I've seen a few DSBs now in the flesh and it's a fantastic colour

You only get the fancy dash with the graphics etc for mpg and efficient dynamics with pro nav I'm afraid

Hopefully that scratch can be polished out

[DonC]

They should be able to make it like it was never there!

[Bmwlvr60]

Congratulations! Love the Deep Sea Blue color.

[pmacd55]

Nice colors... congrats !

[rory breaker]

We did the same color combo, looking fwd to it. Not into the aluminum look, and the mojave wasn't brown enough for us so we went black. Looks great!

[vojak]

Good choice.....but then I'm biased !!

[am36]

Question: I understood M sports had fancy Alu pedals -- well, I saw some pictures of that anyway. Is not not in the UK perhaps?

Buze - I've seen the same photo's of certain cars but not sure which come with the alu. pedals. I wasn't expecting them, all the M Sports I'd looked at had had the plain black - all were 2.0d's.

Very nice. Congratulations! Too bad about the scratch, but they'll obviously sort it out, no doubt. I see your speedometer has both km & mph....weird. Mine came only with km/hr. You would have thought being so close to the U.S. they would have provided a dual speedo like yours. No big deal.

By the way, I see you're in Cumbria. I'm doing my Master's at University of Cumbria and in fact I was in Ambleside / Lake District for part of my studies, last October. What a beautiful part of England

BMWZ4 - Not sure what the law / regulations are re. the speedo's, but every car I've been in for probably the last 30 years has had the dual unit gauge (thanks to our Continental neighbours! ) Very lucky to live in Cumbria - as you say definitely one of the most scenic areas of the country (if not No. 1).

Why can't we get a manual gearbox in the US?

Schmed - keep on lobbying!

Congrats! I've seen a few DSBs now in the flesh and it's a fantastic colour

You only get the fancy dash with the graphics etc for mpg and efficient dynamics with pro nav I'm afraid

Hopefully that scratch can be polished out

sfax - thanks for the explanation - all the cars I have test driven / sat in at the dealers must have had pro nav. Its no big issue for me, happy the gauge gives you an instant representation about what's happening to the fuel consumption. The scratch is quite small - If a body shop cannot sort this out so that you cannot tell it ever existed then they need to cease trading! Like most folk that have found similar - I was just more annoyed that after god knows how many exams / pdi etc it still gets presented to the customer with a fairly obvious fault - you do not need to be at a certain angle and two inches away to see it. If was to be on any part of the body, rear bumper is about where I would pick.

Thanks for the rest of the comments guys!

[QTPie]

Lovely looking car. I have a CB M Sport with he aluminium exterior trim and rails and I think that it looks good with that exterios trim. Really good choice

[Bustofa]

Congratulations; it looks great!

[torzeck]

Looks great!

[Ben Lee]

Congrats! Is it a x28i or a x35i? I got the same color. Deep-Sea Blue is by far the nicest looking color! And it looks much better in person. Too bad many people write it off when they see it on website or in a brochure. Enjoy your car!

[DonC]

Diesel I would guess...

[Chris55]

Congrats! Beautiful color.

[Kiernan]

Excellent looking car, congratulations.

Nice to see another manual on the forum, there's only a few of us on here. How are you finding the pedals? Every review I read before getting my car commented on the offset pedals, and said that as a result, driving the manual was a bit uncomfortable. I can honestly say that I've never noticed it being an issue and that it's a really nice gearbox/clutch combination. Certainly wouldn't have any worries recommending one to a friend in favour of the auto.

Your MPG looks realy good; I generally use mine for communting and other general sort of stuff, and I'm getting 38 to the gallon. Oh well, will have to get a few more motorway journeys in to see of I can get it above 40.

Enjoy.

[ozbmwx3]

Looks great. I'm sure you're enjoying it as much as I am enjoying mine. After your post I went over mine to check for scratches. Fortunately found none.

[am36]

Lovely looking car. I have a CB M Sport with he aluminium exterior trim and rails and I think that it looks good with that exterios trim. Really good choice

Thanks QT...must admit that I got some inspiration from looking at yours, I was torn between Carbon Black (I have history with Graphite ) and the DSB and really think that the aluminium trim sets off the darker colours, just as the black trim contrasts really well with AW / lighter colours.

Congrats! Is it a x28i or a x35i? I got the same color. Deep-Sea Blue is by far the nicest looking color! And it looks much better in person. Too bad many people write it off when they see it on website or in a brochure. Enjoy your car!

Cheers Ben, DonC is correct - its the 2.0 diesel. We don't have a petrol option in the UK. Agree - the DSB is very nice in 'real life'.

Nice to see another manual on the forum, there's only a few of us on here. How are you finding the pedals? Every review I read before getting my car commented on the offset pedals, and said that as a result, driving the manual was a bit uncomfortable. I can honestly say that I've never noticed it being an issue and that it's a really nice gearbox/clutch combination. Certainly wouldn't have any worries recommending one to a friend in favour of the auto.

Your MPG looks realy good; I generally use mine for communting and other general sort of stuff, and I'm getting 38 to the gallon. Oh well, will have to get a few more motorway journeys in to see of I can get it above 40.

Kiernan - I read the same about the offset pedals and once did a detour to the dealers to specifically check it out. I need not have worried. Pedals are fine for me. I'm 6'3" and have a dodgy back, can honestly say that after getting out of the car after the 48 mile journey (took me about 1hr 20 mins) back from the dealer I felt as if i'd been in it for only 2 minutes! Agree - the manual box and clutch are well matched. Doubt my mpg will hold at that for my daily commutes .

Oz - glad yours is ok!

[slyfox]

lovely car -- well done.

I'm sure you will have a great time, every time you get behind the wheel.

I know I do!!

[Blue Bottle]

Great car, did they fix that scratch ok ?