Xoutpost.com - New Fella Intro

Hi Fellas,

Background: On a family trip, on the highway as a kid, I always loved watching speeding cars. Of all the cars that sped by us, I noticed this one that just drove-seated, relaxed as if not moving at all...while most seemed to scream, "I'm running!". You could tell by their tires. It was a BMW. The image stuck before I even knew it was a luxury brand.

So when we returned to Germany, our first car was a BMW. Not my choice really, the car chose me. How? Well, long story short, after shopping online, making calls and my chosen car was bought off a day before visiting the dealer; so wifie and I decided to visit our local BMW dealer, window shopping. And BANG! It happened. The moment we made eye contacts, I fell for her. Serena. E90 320i, titan silver with a little over 145000km. She just sat there, looking rather comely like a virgin. Every other things (price, a year BMW Premium Selection (BPS) guarantee with complete set of winter tires thrown in as bonus - of course they didn't just give them to me, it's...sort of haggling consolation) - it was a match made in heaven. Yes, it's not exactly my dream but the compromises were negligible. This was in the summer of 2011. She's been a loyal companion to us. We love her indeed. Last month, Serena finally got a big kid-brother: Benjamin.

Serena actually led me to Benjamin.

I'd been looking at getting an X5 since last winter, something for the family; hoping to find/buy the right one by December. Titan silver, convenient package (sport will be a plus), nothing fancy, not too pricy with a year guarantee...just like Serena. I was big on a 7-seater (we have two kids now) but that was close to impossible. And no DIESEL, thank you. Then on returning from our Crete vacation, Serena showed a service alert on the dash and, off to her nanny, the dealer, we drove. As usual, a look around their new toys collection, old and new, lead me to asking the usual, "So, any luck yet on my dream X5?" And, as usual, he dismissed, "No 7-seaters.... Oh, the only titan silver is that…over there..." Pointing towards this tired-looking donkey. “It’s our service machine, we’re replacing her with the latest one.” On a closer look, the donkey sure didn’t look like my dream…but the potentials were all there. It’s got 117000km road romance already, no big deal. BMW are made for the long haul. E70 30d, 2012 model. Got some pretty impressive bell to it too. For one, it’s titan silver all right (just like Serena). Unlike the worn-out body look, the inside was a complete opposite. But for the driver’s seat, everything else looked rather new!

The sales rep confirmed that they rarely used the passenger seat and back seat were NEVER used. They’d just re-installed them. A little more inside scoop from him and my Serena’s main nanny/mechanic, coupled with my test drive told me this might be the ONE...after all. And after they got him all cleaned up and polished, along with infos from this forum, I knew it has to be him. And every other things just rolled into place: lower-than-budgeted price (BMW financing even better than my bank’s offering), bonus complete winter tires, and a year comprehensive guarantee. Just like Serena’s. Two weeks afterwards, wifie went to pick him up. Now I’m just getting to know him better and scrutinizing for any unusual creaks and beeps while the guarantee lasts.

The only change I plan to do at the moment on Benjamin, is a new set of 20" summer tires. Others, after the guarantee runs out. But after her 6 year loyal run, I plan on taking over Serena's nanny-business myself...and this is where I'll be needing inputs on, from you experts ;)