alexandre
06-06-2012, 06:05 AM
Hey everyone!
I'm new to the BMW community. I picked up my first car on Monday - an Imola on Alcantara 330i ZHP. I'm from Montreal, QC, Canada and drove down with a friend to PA to buy the car, all in all a 36h road trip with barely any sleep. 100% worth it :D
Right now the car's sitting at a friend's cottage in VT - customs needed the original title 72h prior to crossing the border with the car, a very inconvenient requirement. Can't wait to get it home!
About the car: i got a great deal on it - it's an '03 (december build so probably sold in 04) and has just over 206k mi, mostly highway all it's life. Absolutely everything prone to failure was done within the last 40k and I've got receipts for everything: clutch, entire cooling system, fuel pump, wipers, transmission/rear diff fluids done, oil done at 201k, new tires, new lightbulbs, new starter, bushings, air and oil filters, VANOS seals, head gaskets, etc. It was in tip top shape and the interior was pretty good too; steering wheel might need a rewrap and a few plastic trim pieces (mostly the console) have some serious wear but nothing broken or overly damaged. I drove the 600 mi back to VT in one shot without a single issue.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4663/photohyf.jpg
The black 135's look better in person but I'm still not sure about them. I bought a set of used 135's on the way home (to save on import taxes) and I'll either swap the black ones to stock and flip them or just flip the stock ones - either way I'm even. What do you guys think ? Other mods are a Borla exhaust, 3.46 rear differential and ECIS CAI.
I was ready to take the risk of high mileage vs the money I saved especially with the maintenance that had been done - I preferred buying with high mileage knowing that everything had been taken care of rather than buying a 120k mi car that needed a cooling overhaul, clutch and suspension right from the start. I know these engines are bulletproof and I also want to learn how to do my own maintenance on my car.
I'm probably gonna buy the Bentley repair manual and an OBD scanner. In the meantime I'm reading the owner's manual and figuring out what's the first job I'm gonna need to do on the car just to make sure I don't miss anything. Could anyone point me towards some useful threads with maintenance information/schedules/what to watch for ?
Also if anyone needs any info re: importing to Canada, I'll be happy to help. The process has been relatively trouble-free so far apart from this 72h requirement from US customs. Hopefully it'll stay that way until it's plated in QC!
Cheers!
Alex
I'm new to the BMW community. I picked up my first car on Monday - an Imola on Alcantara 330i ZHP. I'm from Montreal, QC, Canada and drove down with a friend to PA to buy the car, all in all a 36h road trip with barely any sleep. 100% worth it :D
Right now the car's sitting at a friend's cottage in VT - customs needed the original title 72h prior to crossing the border with the car, a very inconvenient requirement. Can't wait to get it home!
About the car: i got a great deal on it - it's an '03 (december build so probably sold in 04) and has just over 206k mi, mostly highway all it's life. Absolutely everything prone to failure was done within the last 40k and I've got receipts for everything: clutch, entire cooling system, fuel pump, wipers, transmission/rear diff fluids done, oil done at 201k, new tires, new lightbulbs, new starter, bushings, air and oil filters, VANOS seals, head gaskets, etc. It was in tip top shape and the interior was pretty good too; steering wheel might need a rewrap and a few plastic trim pieces (mostly the console) have some serious wear but nothing broken or overly damaged. I drove the 600 mi back to VT in one shot without a single issue.
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4663/photohyf.jpg
The black 135's look better in person but I'm still not sure about them. I bought a set of used 135's on the way home (to save on import taxes) and I'll either swap the black ones to stock and flip them or just flip the stock ones - either way I'm even. What do you guys think ? Other mods are a Borla exhaust, 3.46 rear differential and ECIS CAI.
I was ready to take the risk of high mileage vs the money I saved especially with the maintenance that had been done - I preferred buying with high mileage knowing that everything had been taken care of rather than buying a 120k mi car that needed a cooling overhaul, clutch and suspension right from the start. I know these engines are bulletproof and I also want to learn how to do my own maintenance on my car.
I'm probably gonna buy the Bentley repair manual and an OBD scanner. In the meantime I'm reading the owner's manual and figuring out what's the first job I'm gonna need to do on the car just to make sure I don't miss anything. Could anyone point me towards some useful threads with maintenance information/schedules/what to watch for ?
Also if anyone needs any info re: importing to Canada, I'll be happy to help. The process has been relatively trouble-free so far apart from this 72h requirement from US customs. Hopefully it'll stay that way until it's plated in QC!
Cheers!
Alex