Another New Member

[jnclem]

I thought I had better do the introduction thing since I have been posting questions and reading a lot already. I bought a 2002 Estroil Blue 4.6is with 113,000 miles on it a couple of weeks ago. This is my first BMW car, but we own 3 BMW motorcycles.

I've been driving Japanese vehicles for many, many years, so everything is different on this one. I love the way it drives. It is phenomenal. We live in a mountainous part of Colorado, and this thing is fantastic on the road.

I did replace the original radiator (hoses, thermostat, etc.) as a preventative measure. It had recently had a lot of the usual things done - overflow tank, water pump, valve cover gaskets, and some others. The car has been babied, and is fabulous condition inside and out.

I'm hoping we have a very long and happy relationship. However, it did leave me stranded on the road the very first time I took it 100 miles from home. The alternator bushings started to go, making a lot of noise and bringing the trip to a halt. Not a good way to start out. I have never in 45 years of driving, had a car break down to the extent that I couldn't get it home without a tow truck. So, I'm giving it another chance, since that was the original alternator. But she had better be on good behavior for a good long while!

One concern I have is that it has the staggered wheel set up. It came with some brand new, very nice, continental all season tires, but I still don't think it will be up to a winter where I live. If we keep it, that's still an if, we will be looking for a set of used 17 or 18" wheels to install with some good winter tires sometime late next fall. I will probably be asking for ideas about that.

There are some other small issues, like figuring out how to get the CD cartraige out that doesn't move, how to pull the center console tray out and put something useful in there. I've already noticed that there are threads on all these things, so I will be digging.

Thanks for all the help I've already received, and for such an informative forum.