Can you believe that it has been about a year and two months and I just got my first oil change in the 2008 BMW X5?
The dealer says to bring the vehicle in for it’s first service at either one year or 15,000 miles. I didn’t here the “one year” part. I was going on the mileage and it only reads a bit more than 13,000. Why the one year? Does oil get old if the car just sits? I mean, I drive it enough, just not a lot. Whatever.
A few days ago, I called the service manager and asked about bringing it in. He said that I should and we set up an appointment. The nice part is that BMWs come with a maintenance plan for four years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first. They handle all maintenance issues except for gas and tires. That’s makes the checkout at the dealer somewhat fun. You don’t even have to open your wallet. All you do is sign a few forms that describe the service that was performed and leave.
So here’s what happened. I pulled up to the dealership last Friday. Since I had never been there before for service, I had no idea where to leave the car. I walked inside and asked someone. They told me to pull the car right up to the big service door and it would open automatically. I thought that was neat. I got back in the car and pull it into the service bay. I parked the car and a few guys ran over to me. They pulled my paperwork and took my key. They plugged the key into the computer and downloaded all the information that was recorded on it. Don’t ask, I have no idea. Apparently, the car is a big computer that records all sorts of information, such as average MPH, MPG, seat settings and all sorts of stuff. It’s for them to know and for me not to care.
Anyway, I let them do their thing and I had a seat in the waiting area.
One thing I wasn’t aware of was the fact that there was a wireless connection in the waiting area. I could have brought my laptop to get some work done. Next time. Instead, I read a few pages of the book I brought along. I was probably better off doing that anyway.
There was also a guy walking about asking everyone if they needed a ride into Hartford. He had a shuttle and really wanted to drive someone someplace. If I had something to do, I may have taken him up on his offer. Since I am a fairly boring person, I sat there and waited.
I did start chatting with the young fella next to me though. He was 25 and interested in business. My eyes lit up when I saw how eager he was to learn. I sat there for about an hour teaching him about all sorts of things. He was all ears and made me feel very important. He must have read Dale Carnegie’s book, “How to win friends and influence people.”
2008 BMW X5 oil cap
Let’s get to the fun stuff. What does the dealer do for the first maintenance visit?
- Standard scope: basically hooks a machine to the PCM/computer and asks the car what it needs
- Brake fluid service: brake fluid flush
- Microfilter service: swap out the microfilter that filters the cabin air
- Low mileage annual oil service: change oil and filter
- Windshield cleaner: add windshield wiper fluid
- Wash and vacuum: I thought that was nice
The car was filthy and the wash and vacuum was the cherry on top.
There was also some software download that needed to get done, but would have taken another two hours. I was told that they could take care of that next time. Since 15,000 miles is almost here, I will have to go back for another service. That’s right around the corner. As the service guy put it, I’ll get another free oil change. I would prefer they not call it “free.” It’s more like, “included.”
This was an exciting day. I had trouble holding back from writing yesterday because I wanted to wait for some pictures. I guess it was worth it – now I can write everything in one post.
Okay, here goes…Laura has been driving a 1999 Honda Civic since, well 1999. The car served her well. That is, until I got in it a few days ago to go for a ride. We knew that she needed a new car, we just didn’t know she needed it so soon.
After I drove her car for a few miles, I got out and told her that the last time she drove her car was the last time she was going to drive her car. That means that the car was finished. The front end was loose, the ball joints were worn and the tires were uneven. That was that. It even made some rubbing sound when the car turned to the left. Now, this isn’t to say that the car isn’t going to have a second life somewhere else, it just means that someone else is going to have to make the necessary repairs, not us.
Since we knew a new car was in the works, we had to make a few choices. Over the months, we narrowed things down to three cars. 1. The Honda Pilot, 2. the Subaru Legacy and 3. the BMW 328ix (I thought of this one last). One thing was for certain, we needed all wheel drive. This was an undebatable must. I didn’t want to stand outside on the driveway in my boxers on cold January mornings throwing salt on the driveway anymore. I am sick of that.
Laura kind of had her heart set on the Subaru. She is the type of person who gets used to one thought and really plans on that. It’s like when we used to walk by each other in college over and over and over again. I guess I wore her down and she finally went out with me. Anyway, she had been looking at the Subaru website for a while and seemed to be content with getting the Legacy. She wanted to visit a dealer to give the car a once over, so when her Honda finally gave out, we could just run over fast and pick one up. Yeah, that was before I drove the Honda and realized that she really shouldn’t be driving it, especially in the snow and rain.
Yesterday, we went over to the Honda dealer in Manchester, CT. We talked to a sales guy and took a Honda Pilot out for a test drive. I must say, the car drove beautifully. If you are in the market for an SUV, you should really check out the Pilot. It’s quiet and roomy. I liked it and Laura liked it, she just didn’t think she could fit in some of the more “skinny” parking spaces around here and there. I agreed and figured that we already had an SUV, so why get another one. It was good to get out there and drive one though, just to get it out of our systems.
For a few days, I had been really talking up the BMW. I wasn’t really sure about the Subaru anymore, just because I had already fallen in love with the BMW brand. I don’t care, tear the logo off the damn car and toss it on the ground. The cars are awesome and it’s really hard to go back to something else once you drive one. It’s so stupid, I know.
Since we were in the test driving mood and I had her in the car, I drove her over to New Country BMW in Hartford. This is the place I bought my car. It was so exciting. I love going to this dealership because everyone is really cool and they show you all the neat cars. I even got to bring Laura back into the service area for some quick pictures of the shop. That was awesome.
When we got there, I saw the guy who sold me the X5. He no longer works in sales, but introduced me to the sales guy I had secretly been talking to on the phone. Oh they were only too happy to see me. I asked if he was in the mood to take a quick ride in a 3 series, just so I could get Laura acclimated to the feeling of driving the ultimate driving machine. He was like, “Hell yeah, let’s go.” I drove, she liked, we made an offer. The highway is the perfect place to try out one of these road hugging pieces of perfection.
I know you don’t care about all my writing. You just want to see pictures of the New 2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan. I’d be amazed if you even got through what I just wrote.
Okay, here you go…Laura’s new car (that I get to drive whenever I want).
New Country BMW in Hartford CT showroom
New 2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan
Back of 2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan
xDrive logo of 2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan
Front grill of 2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan leatherette interior
New Country BMW in Hartford service shop
New Country BMW in Hartford service shop huge fan
2009 BMW 328i xDrive engine
BMW logo
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan front end
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan front side view
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan rear side view
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan radio and climate control
2009 BMW 328i xDrive sedan steering wheel and gauges
This is pretty cool. I just read that GM and Segway came out with a two wheeled, two person, electric car.
Back a few years ago, I had the opportunity to try out two different Segways…one with the big off-road tires and one with the regular smaller tires. They both were fun to drive around and really easy to learn.
One of the first things people always wonder about is safety when it comes to Segways. They ask, “How does it stay standing up?” Well, I suppose that’s one of the secrets that Segway has been developing over the years. I did notice that this new electric car has “safety wheels” on the front and on the back. Traveling at 35MPH with two people on board, I think it’s better to have a few extra safety features.
I knew this was going to happen sooner than later. I just knew it.
If you remember back when I purchased this latest vehicle, I told you that I had a nice, heavy duty trailer hitch installed. I even took a picture of it for display on this blog. Well, that trailer hitch has been looking at me all winter. The only problem is, I never got a trailer to go along with the hitch. Because it was winter, I really didn’t need a trailer. I mean, I could have saved a few bucks by picking up the snowblower, instead of having it delivered, but that was it.
Last week, I got a little ticked off at the high price of delivery for the mulch I purchased. $8 per yard just for delivery is ridiculous. I started thinking about all the things I have delivered and thought that I should bite the bullet and go get myself a little utility trailer.
We have a trailer dealer here that’s located fairly closeby. I figured I would try to throw them some business. You know, shop local and all that. Their name is Connecticut Trailers and they are located in Bolton, CT.
Last night, I browsed their website to see what kind of inventory they had. Their dealership looked like a really nice place that was full of trailers and I even picked out the one I wanted. The only thing that kind of threw me, was the price. The trailer I was interested in was a 4′x8′ Big Tex 15LT and it was priced at $1,218. Since the price on their website said “MSRP” next to it, I knew there was some wiggle room. After I looked at a bunch of other dealership websites that offered the same exact trailer, I discovered that the going rate was $850. I decided to visit the dealer this morning armed with this little price discrepancy knowledge.
I walked in the dealership around 11AM and was greeted by a nice sales guy. He took me for a ride on a golf cart to go look at the trailer I was interested in. I asked what the price was and he told me $1,218. I informed him that I was aware of the “real” $850 price that was being offered everywhere else on earth. He said he would check with his sales manager to see if he could get the price adjusted.
When we went back inside, we were visited by the sales guy’s sales manager, who was a very nice lady. We chatted for a while and she let me know that they couldn’t lower the price off of $1,218 because their price includes assembly, delivery and registration. I was kind of thrown for a loop because I would assume that if I visited another trailer dealer and they had a big “$850″ sticker sitting on the trailer, the trailer would be, 1) assembled, and 2) delivered (meaning sitting there in front of me).
Needless to say, I was really confused. I was the only customer sitting in this large dealership full of very nice sales people. I wondered why they weren’t willing to give me a little break, just to show that they are willing to work with a customer, especially since there aren’t trailers really flying off the shelves these days. She was even kind enough to suggest that Home Depot or Lowes might be able to help me if this dealership’s prices were too high for my budget. I though that was nice. You know, I did kind of feel myself shrink down in the chair a little bit after she said that. I wonder if she knew I liked to write on a blog to broadcast everything that happens to me.
I walked out kind of bewildered. Honestly, I still am.
Just for your own personal knowledge, I am the kind of person who runs off the “volume” philosophy, instead of the “get as much as you can for this sale” philosophy. If you think about it, if they gave me $200 off of the trailer, I would have been a happy customer and would be writing this blog post right now showing you pictures of the trailer I got from them, instead of telling you the story this way. My way is…give a nice discount, get the product out the door, let the customer tell their friends and acquire a new customer for service, parts, etc…Make sense?
After that, I did a little research and found a trailer place called The Trailer Depot in Northford, CT. I called them up and they told me they had a 4′x8′ Carry-On utility trailer for $825. I told the guy I was hopping in the car to come get it.
From what I can gather, the Carry-On trailers that I was looking at are a little more light weight than the Big Tex trailers. That’s why there is a price difference. I didn’t care too much about the weight issue because I wasn’t planning on towing anything really heavy. I just need a trailer for mulch, furniture, pellets, etc…
On the way to the dealership, I got to thinking and decided that I would purchase the 5′x8′ model instead. It was a little bigger and only $50 more than the other one.
When I arrived at the dealership, I looked around for a while with the lady who runs the joint and I told her all about the strange stuff that happened that morning. She was a little perplexed as well. I asked her to look up the price for that exact same Big Tex trailer, just to see if I was being told stories or if everything was cool. We went back inside where she did some looking on the computer. She glanced over at me and held up a piece of paper that read, “$975.” She said, that’s how much I can sell you the Big Tex trailer for.
Hold on. $1,218 minus $975 equals $243. How can that be? This place had the trailer in stock and it was assembled. Strange. I asked her about what was concerning me. I said, “How much time does it take to assemble these trailers?” She replied, “What do you mean, put the wheels on? That’s all the assembly that’s required.” At that point, I knew what had happened this morning. I forgot to take the big “IDIOT” sign off my forehead after I woke up. Silly me.
Okay, on a more positive note, I did get that 5′x8′ Carry-On utility trailer this afternoon. The dealer even traded ball hitches with me. I had a 2″ ball and they gave me the required 1 7/8″ ball at no charge. We just traded. They didn’t make me buy it. Amazing.
We registered the trailer with DMV right there and hooked everything up. Everything worked perfectly. As I was leaving, I said, “So I can take this thing on the highway?” The fella replied, “Oh yeah, these are highway rated tires.” I asked, “How fast can I go?” He said, “65, 70.” Good enough for me.
The trailer rides very smoothly. I can basically drive as fast as I want and don’t even know it’s there. Now, I can go get my own mulch, furniture and pellets, without having to pay people to drive the stuff to me. That makes me happy.
Here are a few photos for you.
Carry-On utility trailer – left side view
Carry-On utility trailer – right side view
Trailer hookup on back of car
Oh, by the way, I am going to put short plywood walls on this trailer, so the mulch doesn’t fall out.
When I got in the car this afternoon after playing tennis, I was surprised to read this coming from the car computer:
“Low tire pressure. Stop carefully. For Run Flat tires with “RSC” symbol, you can continue driving with max. 50mph (80km/h).”
Also, there were a few warnings near the gauges…
2008 BMW X5 3.0 gauges with low tire pressure warning
This caught me a little off guard, because I didn’t think anything was wrong with the tires. They looked fine. I drove a little bit and started to get concerned. After a mile or two, I pulled over and got out to check the tire again. Apparently, the computer was telling me the front, driver’s side was low. I looked at it and gave it a kick. It was fine. I chalked the reading up to the cold weather causing the lower pressure. I guess the computer is quite sensitive.
I drove for a few more miles and made a right into the first gas station I came across. I saw the big “Air” sign, so I pulled over close to the air machine. I hopped out and did my thing…unwound the air hose, pulled off all the air caps and put my 75 cents into the machine (did that go up?). I started to put air into the first tire, when I realized the gauge on the air filler upper thing was broken. Okay, I guess I wasn’t going to be able to check the pressure in the tires. I wound the hose back up, got back in the car and drove way, cursing the gas station. What’s the sense of filling the tires without checking the pressure in them?
For the remainder of the ride, I kept thinking that I should go to the store to get myself one of those small air compressors. I would also need to get an air gauge, because after looking everywhere in the car, I couldn’t find mine.
When I got back to the house, I found my air gauge and checked the tires. The air that I was able to put in the low tire had filled it up just enough and the others were fine. I decided against buying an air compressor because I am trying to be cheap again and I really don’t think I need more stuff. As long as I have my tire gauge, the gas station (working) air machine will be fine.
At this point, in front of me was the task of resetting the tire pressure warning system. I knew it was in the owner’s manual, but I looked online anyway. When I couldn’t find it there, I looked in the owner’s manual. I reset the system and it now works fine.
Since I couldn’t find out how to reset the tire pressure warning system online, I decided to place a snippet of the owner’s manual here for you, just in case you were looking.
I guess it really isn’t the morning after the snow, because it’s still snowing. I think it’s supposed to stop today, but I heard last night that we can expect 4-6 more inches tomorrow. Holly, the Norwegian Elkhound (snow dog), just loves it.
Norwegian Elkhound
The minute she feels snow under the pads of her feet, she rolls around like crazy, giving those weird snorts that dogs give.
Typically, I would be a little upset at the whole situation. I was hoping to avoid any snow at all this year. But truthfully, I am having a blast. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have to scrape anything off the cars and try to shovel around them. That was always a miserable task. Also, I don’t have to shovel the end of the driveway. I used to really hate that part of the ordeal.
Remember when I was telling you about how I thought we could shovel the entire driveway instead of buying a snowblower? Yeah, I must have been on crack. There is no way in the world I would have been physically able to shovel this driveway. No way at all. Even if I had a team of my best friends on the job, half of them would have quit.
By this point, I don’t have to tell you that the snowblower is da bomb. I was so proud of it this morning, I asked Laura to come outside and take some action shots of me. She took a whole bunch, but these are my more fashionable.
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Clearing the first area of snow with the snowblower.
Jay, pulling the snowblower out of the garage.
Sure beats a shovel.
Snowblower eating the snow for breakfast.
One happy boy.
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I did learn a few things while clearing the driveway this morning. First, blow the snow in the same direction as the wind. I nearly froze half my face by going against the wind once. Second, self propelled snowblowers are awesome. I loved watching those snow tires grab that pavement. No slip, no slide, no nothing.
I have a bad memory when it comes to the days the garbage people pick up the recycling. I thought they were coming to get it this morning. In actuality, they are coming next Tuesday.
Of course, this had to happen the one time I decided to put a whole heck of a lot of cardboard out for pickup. I mean, I put out about twelve flattened cardboard boxes…big ones too. When I realized no one was coming to get the cardboard, I decided to make a very special trip to the local transfer station.
A transfer station is basically a station where they transfer things. That was my attempt at humor. Our local station is quite beautiful, so beautiful in fact, I decided to take a few photos.
Transfer Station Cardboard Trailers
Transfer Station Recycling Bins
Sure, it might seem strange to take photos of the transfer station, but if I don’t do it, who is going to?
I must say, our local transfer station is one of the more organized ones I have ever been to. There is a place for used motor oil, old tires, cardboard, metal, recyclables, appliances, furniture…well, you get the picture. All I did was drop off some cardboard and recyclables, but now I see the potential for a whole lot more.
Oh, what a day. Have I ever told you that I hate wind? I never used to until we bought a house. I am sure you can guess why.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I was going to go out and do some routine maintenance on my 1998 Honda Accord, which I did. I changed the oil, rotated the tires, fixed some minor things, inflated the tires to the proper pressure and cleaned the inside of the windows. Here are some photos…
This is the sweet V6 engine. As you can see, I am filling the engine with oil. The sweet V6 is where the car gets all is massive speed from.
This is what it looks like when I rotate the tires. I know it sounds crazy, but I still do it myself. I am not completely useless yet. Here’s how it goes…I jack up the passenger side of the car. I swap the back tire with the front. I go to the other side and do the same. Then, I jack up only the front and swap them…passenger’s side to the driver’s, and vice versa. That way it’s sort of like a “X” rotation. That’s how I read it should be done.
Yes, I got to use my new air tank again. That’s pretty exciting. The tires were about five pounds of pressure low. That’s because of the chilly weather. I need to go back down and fill the tank up again. Actually, I think I might head down to the auto place and get the tank filled up with the 125lbs. of pressure it’s capable of holding. That way, I won’t need to go back for a while.
Tomorrow, I have an appointment with a local tire service center to replace the tires on my car. When I purchased the car (1998 Honda Accord – V6), I think it had around 76,000 miles on it. The tires weren’t the greatest, so I had them changed. The ones I got were 50,000 mile tires.
Well, as it turns out, I didn’t end up being the greatest tire rotator, so I can feel flat spots in the tires now. The car currently has about 147,000 miles on it, so I don’t feel too bad.
Earlier this week, I pulled into the tire place and a nice guy walked out to me with a clip board. I thought this was kind of nice. He was quite friendy. I told him what I was looking for and he wrote down the tire size, rating and all that stuff. He noticed that the car currently had “H” rated tires, yet the car called for “V” rated tires. That’s the speed rating. We went inside and picked out the new tires that I wanted. They have to order them, so my appointment is Friday.
I was asking the person inside about what the rating meant. She didn’t have the greatest response, so I looked here. This has some helpful information, but I am still looking for more. “Speed Rating” doesn’t help much.
I found an article called,”The Truth About Performance Tires” that helped somewhat. The website says, “This “V” meant the tire had been safely tested in the laboratory to stay together at speeds up to 149 mph. Thus, the modern day high performance tire was introduced in America.” If you read the article, you can get a feel of what the other ratings mean, such as “H,” “S” and “Z” ratings.
The “V” rated tires is equipped to handle speeds up to 149 MPH. I am very happy to hear that because I have always thought something was holding me back in that car.
