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ChrisV
02-15-2017, 12:44 PM
Hi,

Just added a ZHP to the fleet. Bought it as a Valentine's day gift to my wife, who had a hand in picking it out so it wasn't a TOTAL surprise... lol. 2005 330ci convertible w/93k miles on it. 2 owner car out of Texas. I've had a number of BMWs, this is her first BMW branded car (after a couple MINI Coopers). Her current MINI lease is up in the next couple weeks, so I've been looking at a replacement for a little while. We both wanted a convertible in the family again (We've had many and it feels wrong not to have one, so we wanted to rectify that). After a couple of decades of driving manual transmissions, she decided she wanted an automatic for commuting and going to client's locations with. That meant that small engine cars were not on the list (Miatas, MR-Ss, Boxsters, etc).

Originally I was looking at Jaguar XK8/XKRs as her father had had classic E types and she's wanted one of her own (way out of budget, though) so that looked like a good choice (I can DIY on them quite easily after having a few XJs). But none of them really were right when I'd look at them. My stepson, however, had an '05 330i ZHP sedan w/6 speed and she drove it and loved the power and felt it was just the right size, so I started looking at 330ci convertibles. Lot's of base ones with the automatic, and a couple of Sport package ones with the automatic. Finally this ZHP convertible came up in my price range and it was excellent. Showed her the picture of it and said "ready to go pick it up?"

Drove it the 2 hours from Chantilly VA to Baltimore on the backroads and a bit of interstate and now she's totally in love. Plenty of power, comfortable and incredible handling and responsiveness. Perfect driveway-mate to my '01 740i Sport!

http://www.chrisv-design.com/images/BMW330ci01.jpg

http://www.chrisv-design.com/images/BMW330ci03.jpg

http://www.chrisv-design.com/images/BMW330ci04.jpg

http://www.chrisv-design.com/images/BMW330ci05.jpg

http://www.chrisv-design.com/images/BMW330ci07.jpg

johnrando
02-15-2017, 12:53 PM
Awesome. Welcome to the family. Black verts FTW! A couple of easy, inexpensive vert mods.
1) Stubby antenna (OEM or not) - looks great, about $25.
2) Windscreen. (OEM - some have a BMW logo, some don't. Not sure I've seen a non OEM one). A must have. Makes a huge difference in wind buffeting, especially on the freeway with the top down. Look for used, likely on e46fanatics.com classifieds, you can get from around $200 to $250 ish.

san
02-15-2017, 12:54 PM
Welcome Chris!


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BMWCurves
02-15-2017, 02:18 PM
Welcome! That car looks to be in great shape!

Lorenzo
02-15-2017, 06:49 PM
Welcome to the forum. Beautiful car!


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Oli77
02-15-2017, 07:36 PM
Welcome from KY.
Beautiful car.

ChrisV
02-16-2017, 05:31 AM
Thanks, guys! Absolutely loving the car so far. My wife says she's gonna have to set aside a ticket fund as she's having too much fun with the throttle.. :innocent

Vas
02-16-2017, 08:45 AM
Welcome.

fredo
02-16-2017, 06:34 PM
Welcome, sir ! Car looks sharp. How many miles on the clock ?

SWO Daddy
02-16-2017, 09:26 PM
She looks great! How much did you pick her up for if I may ask?

ChrisV
02-17-2017, 04:45 AM
Welcome, sir ! Car looks sharp. How many miles on the clock ?

93k, two owner car, always serviced at the same dealership for both owners.


She looks great! How much did you pick her up for if I may ask?

$8500. A bit high, but right smack in the middle of KBB dealer pricing, so...

brettbimmer
02-17-2017, 05:00 AM
Great story. Congrats! Welcome to a fellow Maryland zhp Mafia member!

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