16:12 I called to BMW of Boston 617-731-1700 to schedule an appointment for Friday, June 12 at 7 AM.

http://www.herbchambers.com/new/BMW/2014-BMW-535i+xDrive-623ff4470a0a00e07a4702a66d9dc581.htm

3.0L I-6 cyl  8 SPEED AUTOMATICALL-WHEEL DRIVE
Exterior Color: Dark Graphite
Interior Color: BLACK WITH DAKOTA LEATHER UPHOLSTERY
Stock#:  52319
VIN:  WBA5M4C56ED183894

Premium Package – $1,600
Comfort Access Keyless Entry
Soft-Close Automatic Doors
Sirius Satellite Radio
Driver Assistance Package $1,400
Rear View Camera
Head-Up Display
Cold Weather Package – $950
Heated Steering Wheel
3-Stage Heated Front Seats
Heated Rear Seats
Retractable Headlight Washers

A sales manager Aaron Allsopp notices my interest and offers his assistance.  I took his card.

I am tempted to show here all the features that were listed on the web site at the time on the inquiry:

15:47 Aaron Allsopp answers that he ran numbers on both  his car and on my car and his counteroffer is  to sell for $58,980 and to buy my car for $22,000. We are separated by $7,000.

http://www.herbchambersbmw.com/new/BMW/2015-BMW-535i+xDrive+GT-87c9efc20a0a00de524afe4ec684af19.htm

The link (above) was working several days after I bought the car.  As of Wednesday, June 17, 2015 this link is no longer working.

$68,360 MSRP
-$8,362  Savings
——————–
$59,998 Sale Price

13:59 I made a call to BMW of Sudbury to make an appointment to test drive this car on sale.  Molly answers.  Is she an actual sales person?

14:41 Arrived to BMW of Sudbury (128 Boston Post Rd.,  Sudbury, MA 01776  –  508-903-5300) .  Molly hands me over to Sean Murtagh – Client Advisor at Herb Chambers BMW of Sudbury  – http://www.dealerrater.com/sales/Sean-Murtagh-review-10337/

~15:15 Test drive the car from the Showroom.  Odometer shows 107 miles.  Test drive goes well.  Everything is OK.  I love this car.

Start negotiations.  I am asking for 55K for a new car and 25K for my current car (trade-in).  They offer $59,998 and $19,500 for trade-in.  We are $10,500 apart.

16:41 Final deal is reached: offer $59,998 and $22,225 for trade-in.  I just bought $37,748 of new car.  On Sundays they close at 5PM, but we would continue to do the paperwork till 6PM.

18:04 All the papers are signed.  I gave them $3K deposit on AmEx, plus $17K down.  They give me 2.84% interest rate for 60 months for the remaining amount from Huntington Bank. I also decided to go  with Simoniz Glass Coat ($595) – car paint and interior  protection from bird droppings, sap,  water stains, acid rain and sun fading.   There is no visual difference after the application, but the main attraction is warranty:  if you to get a stain on the new car paint, they will supposedly fix it at participating dealerships.

19:00 – I arrived to BMW of Sudbury.  It is exactly 10.0 mile away from my house.

They quickly transfer license plates.

Farewell to the old car	Long live the new car

~19:30 A 30 minutes introduction to the new car by my advisor – Sean Murtagh.  It is raining outside.

20:04 Get the new car with 112 miles on it  and start driving home.

Discover a “hidden” compartment for Emergency Medical Kit without a kit in it (nor required in US).

08:41 Login to BMW ConnectedDrive to confirm these services:

– BMW Assist eCall (10 years)  –  automatically sends your location and relevant information to the BMW Assist™ Response Center. Or, a simple press of the SOS button connects you with the help you need when you need it

– BMW TeleService (10 years) – Your BMW automatically or manually transmits data to BMW when service is needed

– ConnectedDrive Services (3 years) – information and entertainment services directly into your vehicle at any time

– Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information (3 years) –  ARTTI registers traffic data in real time – on most highways and major roads as well as some secondary roads. In addition to warnings of delays, you also receive details of the traffic situation on potential detours. As soon as the navigation system recognizes a possible problem, it informs you in the Control Display of all the important details. The system additionally calculates the probable delay you can expect to your journey as a result of the traffic situation.

– Remote Services (10 years) – includes Stolen Vehicle Recovery, Remote Door Lock and Unlock, the MyInfo feature for sending destinations from Google Maps to your vehicle, and the ability to access the My BMW Remote app on an iOS or Android device.

I see that two more service are available to purchase:
– Concierge Services ($100 per year)
– Internet ($100 per year or $250 for 3 years)

08:47 I need to make a call to my insurance agent to confirm the new car purchase

09:04 Will BMW continue to produce Gran Turismo going forward? – Yes.  You still can purchase GT 2016 models.

10:24 – Financial customer assistant Moe called back after my email.  He confirms that for $595 I bought both Interior and Exterior protection, and Simonized claim can be processed in many participating dealerships throughout the country.

10:45 Install EZ-Pass on a new clue strips received with new transponders.  Discover one more changing point under dashboard on passenger side.  This will be used for a radar detector.

11:35 This car has an integrated SIMM card.  It can make emergency calls and you can even buy an unlimited Internet in your car for $100 per year (or $250 for 3 years).

13:09 Install BMW ConnectedDrive app in iPhone.  What I can it do with it?  Even without a phone I get updates on a rudimentary APPS:  News, Weather, Gas Prices and couple more using the same SIM card that is used after activating Internet service.

With the USB phone connection I can listen radio from all over the world or find your car on the map.  Some other marginal applications are not very interesting.

22:30 I ordered black dual USB car charger from Newegg.com for $6.99.  Also, now I need a black USB charging cable (Amazon $12.50 – both iPhone and Micro USB)

08:28 New can dimensions are larger that my previous 320Xi.  It is longer by 36 cm (500 cm), wider by 9 cm (190 cm) and taller by 10 cm (156 cm).  Gas tank is larger by 10 liters (70 l).  The car is heavier by 635 kg (2,130 kg). It has a larger engine and 6 cylinders.  As a result the fuel consumption per mile goes up (27 mpg for 320Xi and 22 mpg for 535Xi GT).

My wife told me that our driveway feels narrower now when she pulls in.  I decided to compare the width and other dimensions of the old and the new car in one table:

10:30 Drive to U-HAUL in Natick to consult about installing the hitch.  They said that it would probably require to cut the rear bumper, and would probably void the warranty. They advised to go with a roof-rack solution.  Instead, I most likely would go with a regular rear bike rack.

15:15 Yes!  I can install my old bike rack and attach it to the smaller hatch on the back of the car.  The main trick is not to touch or scratch the paint neither on the car or on the bike.

I also discovered that my new car during its short life were a used car sometime in the past.  I found a link dated 2015-04-09 where my new car is advertised as a used car “with fewer than a thousand miles on the odometer”.

Link:
http://www.herbchambers.com/blog/video/2015/april/9/2015-BMW-535i-xDrive-GT-Sudbury-MA-9ef5831e0a0a00bf0aa05b2ed9180e9e.htm

Title:
Used BMW 535i xDrive GT Sudbury MA 01776

It means that someone probably bought the car  in September of 2014 and then immediately returned it.  I saw some car inspection paperwork in the glove compartment.  Anyway, when I first saw the car it had 107 miles on it, and today I hit 300 miles on the odometer.  Still love it.

[Correction on 2015-07-08 WE:  It turned out to be a cable problem.  With original Apple cable or with some expensive cables ($17) USB data connection works fine.]

15:50 First refueling.  Gasoline 89.  Shell station in Newton.  Remaning drive range shown on the dashboard is *Zero.  I was able to put 17.246 gallons in the car tank.  Total tank capacity is 18 gallons.  I was able to drive about 333+ 11 = 344 miles on one tank of gas.  Odometer reading was 00456.  Gas price at this time was $3.199 per gallon.  Average gasoline consumption recorded: 20.2 MPG.

In 2012 BMW sold 359,016 all types of 5-series cars worldwide.  Total number of 5-series cars sold in USA is knows.  From that we can estimate that in US BMW sold around 3,336 units of GT in 2012.

So far I never saw another GT car anywhere on the streets or on highway.  This is a  rare car indeed.

15:45 Also at the Sudbury dealership we saw my old car with a SOLD sign on the windshield. They did a fantastic reconditioning, and  it sold out very quickly.

www.miniusa.com/content/dam/miniusa/PDF/archiveownermanuals/MY15/2015_Owner_Manual_Hardtop_MiniConnected.pdf

Found in section: Touchpad – Entering letters and numbers

To delete last entered character, slide to the left
To enter a blank space, slide to the right from the center
For a hyphen, slide to the right in the upper area of the touchpad
For an underscore, swipe to the right in the lower area of the touchpad

I found blank space only works in adress entering screens.  It doesn’t work in Points of Interest screen.  I wonder, why all this is not in my manual, and why this so hard to find?