[mrussell]

I have been lurking here since before I ordered my car and enjoy reading other owners experiences so I thought I would share some of my own. I put my name on a local dealers waiting list in March 2018 and was number 3 and told them I wanted to do European Delivery. I got called in September for my allocation and was able to get the car at European Delivery List price. My date at the Welt was December 10, and I was able to tie this in with my last business trip to Europe as I retired later that month (I am currently 68). I did not have time to drive the car nor did I want to because the weather was about 32F and raining.

I paid the fee to have the car trucked to the port and then started my wait. I finally received the car first week of February as it was stuck at the Baltimore center for a rear light bracket recall. When I got the car it had approximately 35 miles on it, so even though it was trucked, they do drive them.

I live in the suburbs of St. Louis so it was cold and a bit snowy and icy for my first weeks. Since I am retired, I was just careful and still am driving with the Michelin PSS tires. I will drive down to 10F if it is dry and I was coming from a 2011 135i M Sport 6sp with Dinan tune and PSS so I know what to expect from these tires in the cold. With the 135i I had been caught out in the snow a few times and it was no fun. I have stayed away from the snow in this car.

My build is BSM, 6 sp, moonroof, blue stitching and carbon fiber dash. No executive package as I had the adaptive headlights on the 135i and could take them or leave them. My hands don't really get cold and I am never in my car long enough to need to wireless charge the phone. I have no tint as I had that on my 135i and did not like the night vision in the mirrors. I also do not have PPF and so far (knock on wood) no chips, door dings, bumper scrapes or scratched wheels and I just turned 5,000 miles. This is my daily driver, but being retired you can see it does not get driven a lot.

The 135i was fast, in fact too fast for most everyday driving, but this one is another level of fast as it keeps pulling all the way up to redline unlike the 135i. I had always wanted fast cars when I was younger however never had the opportunity, so the one thing I learned is that the places you can really use the power are far and few between. I still love driving the car and would not want to be driving any other car. Most of my driving is with Steering in Sport and engine in Efficient or Sport Plus depending on whether I want to have a little fun and make some noise doing it. I rarely use MDM other than when I am having a spirited drive out in the country, however I still do not push the corners enough to get loose, so it really doesn't feel any different. All in all, I love this car. My wife complains about the ride, but she complained about the 135i too, so not much difference there.