[Alexc360]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

So after about 9 weeks, my 328 is finally in my driveway!! Here are some quick pics I took when I got home on Thursday.


















I'll have more pics up once I get the windows tinted. And sorry about the quality, unfortunately the only camera I have is attached to an iPhone

[PHANTOM 379]

very nice congrats! im digging the black on black,their seems to be alot of us down here south,fl

[DrivenByE30]

one tight car ! Very veri nice!

[twerle]

Can you tell us how is to drive a manual 2012 328i manual... What cars you had before... The power compared to a automatic and how short are the gears... Just wonder.
Your car is beautiful! Congrats.

[patrice03]

halogens don't look to bad !
aren't you disappointed with leather quality ?

[328i4me]

great lookin car!

[ric124]

Yes! Another manual in south FL

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by patrice03

halogens don't look to bad !

The halogens look good. The only time they don't look as good is when a Xenon car is parked right next to a halogen car.

OP. LOVE your interior, especially the 6MT! Very, very nice.

Congratulations!

[Alexc360]

Originally Posted by PHANTOM 379

very nice congrats! im digging the black on black,their seems to be alot of us down here south,fl

Thanks! Yeah I was originally going to order with the red interior, but I changed my mind at the last minute. I think I would of gotten sick of it after a while.

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

one tight car ! Very veri nice!

Thank you!!!

Originally Posted by twerle

Can you tell us how is to drive a manual 2012 328i manual... What cars you had before... The power compared to a automatic and how short are the gears... Just wonder.
Your car is beautiful! Congrats.

I've had the car since Thursday, and I have to say that I'm happy I made the decision to get the manual. I haven't driven a manual car for a while, so it took me a day to get used to it again. I actually learned to drive manual in a Ferrari 360, which seems kinda crazy in hindsight, lmao. I've driven alot of different cars in the past, between my parents' cars, my brother's cars and friends' cars. The cars I've been driving alot recently are a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 and a 2011 Range Rover Sport. Both cars can be shifted manually in their sport modes, and that's how I drove them. Automatics just annoy me. They make me feel like I'm not in control, and I don't like that. As far as the gears go for the 328, I can tell you that I find myself in 3rd pretty quickly, but I'm also the kind of person who pushes way north of 4k RPM most of the time. However, the automatic transmission for the new 3 series seems way better than any other I've driven before. I'd still drive it in manual mode though, that's just how I am.

Originally Posted by patrice03

halogens don't look to bad !
aren't you disappointed with leather quality ?

I'm kinda sad that I don't have Xenons, but I can live with it. And I'm not disappointed with the leather at all. But I also wouldn't care if my car had cloth seats. Ok, maybe a little. As long as the car has a 3rd pedal and 6 speeds on the stick, I'm happy.

Originally Posted by 328i4me

great lookin car!

Thank you!!

Originally Posted by ric124

Yes! Another manual in south FL

I'm happy to join the club, haha. Also, soon to be another lowered F30 in South Florida.

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

The halogens look good. The only time they don't look as good is when a Xenon car is parked right next to a halogen car.

OP. LOVE your interior, especially the 6MT! Very, very nice.

Congratulations!

I agree with that, and thank you very much!

[Alexc360]

Hey everyone, I've been away from the forums for a while and I felt bad for not updating my thread. Here are some pics I took with my new tint.











I got 15% tint all around and 45% on the windshield.

[Robin_NL]

Congrats. Another BSM F30 on the forum. And a 6MT. Nice.

One thing though, no xenons...

Cheers
Robin

[bimmer7904]

Great color choice.

How does the auto start stop work with manual? Is it pretty seamless or do you turn it off?

[dd1981]

Looks really good, I like the piano black. Manual is awesome too. For some reason I thought they werent going to have a manual available in the US in the 328i's anymore. Nice car.

[Alexc360]

Originally Posted by Robin_NL

Congrats. Another BSM F30 on the forum. And a 6MT. Nice.

One thing though, no xenons...

Cheers
Robin

Thank you! And I know, I think about it everyday

Originally Posted by bimmer7904

Great color choice.

How does the auto start stop work with manual? Is it pretty seamless or do you turn it off?

Thanks! And honestly, the first thing I do when I turn the car on is turn auto start/stop off. It's happened once or twice when I forgot to turn it off and it freaked the hell out of me, haha. It kinda weirds me out when the engine just shuts off.

Originally Posted by dd1981

Looks really good, I like the piano black. Manual is awesome too. For some reason I thought they werent going to have a manual available in the US in the 328i's anymore. Nice car.

Nope, manual is still very much available. Gotta have the ultimate driving experience in the Ultimate Driving Machine And thanks!

[dmontic71]

Car looks great, I don't think anyone except enthusiasts will notice no xenons...

[Alexc360]

Just did a photo shoot today. Of course I have to share some eye candy with you guys. Shout-out to my man Brett @ Brett Levin Photography.

[DrivenByE30]

with those photos, you are tickling me to go out and shot my car too !

[Alexc360]

Originally Posted by DrivenByE30

with those photos, you are tickling me to go out and shot my car too !

Haha, It's very tempting I know A bunch of my friends have been doing shoots with their cars. I had to get in on the action.

[halfempty]

Car looks awesome, the pics are quite nicely done.

I too, opted for sound and tech stuff as opposed to the $4500 it would have taken for xenons (hate sunroofs, need the headroom) and got the halogens. That said, the way the units are shaped it makes even the halogens look pretty good. In fact, for some reason the f30 xenons look kind of "bug-eyed" when turn off compared to the E90/92 (turned on with the led ae's looks great though) Overall, I think I actually prefer the stylings of the e90s more than my f30. (I've always suffered from some measure of buyers remorse.....)

All aside, the most important thing is the proper gearbox. I had to order this car specifically to get the 6mt. Couldn't find a new car or even a nice cpo with low miles and the manual.

I've driven several different manual trans and this is really my fav (like it more than Audi/vw). With the different modes altering the throttle response, it has taken some getting used to. Mostly now I just leave it in sport. I do still have a little difficulty deciding on downshifted gears and matching the speed. Sometimes third is too boggy, but second requires too much revving. I'm not completely perfect at judging my particual speed when slowing down. Getting used to it though, and frankly the gearbox alone (well, that and blasting the Hk sound) make it all worth while.

I wish you plenty of open road to enjoy

[Alexc360]

Originally Posted by halfempty

Car looks awesome, the pics are quite nicely done.

I too, opted for sound and tech stuff as opposed to the $4500 it would have taken for xenons (hate sunroofs, need the headroom) and got the halogens. That said, the way the units are shaped it makes even the halogens look pretty good. In fact, for some reason the f30 xenons look kind of "bug-eyed" when turn off compared to the E90/92 (turned on with the led ae's looks great though) Overall, I think I actually prefer the stylings of the e90s more than my f30. (I've always suffered from some measure of buyers remorse.....)

All aside, the most important thing is the proper gearbox. I had to order this car specifically to get the 6mt. Couldn't find a new car or even a nice cpo with low miles and the manual.

I've driven several different manual trans and this is really my fav (like it more than Audi/vw). With the different modes altering the throttle response, it has taken some getting used to. Mostly now I just leave it in sport. I do still have a little difficulty deciding on downshifted gears and matching the speed. Sometimes third is too boggy, but second requires too much revving. I'm not completely perfect at judging my particual speed when slowing down. Getting used to it though, and frankly the gearbox alone (well, that and blasting the Hk sound) make it all worth while.

I wish you plenty of open road to enjoy

Thank you! I agree with you on the headlights. The E90/92's lights were styled very well for the car. The F30's lights are still great though. Going through with ordering the manual trans. was the best decision I have made. I hadn't driven a manual for a long time, so I basically went through a day or two of re-learning how to drive manual. I got it back pretty quick though and I've been loving it ever since. The first thing I do after turning the car on and ASS off, it to put it into Sport+, I never drive without Sport mode on.

I'm also convinced that I've blown one of my speakers already...It makes a crazy scratching/crackling noise for some songs with certain bass ranges. It comes mostly from the central speaker on top of the dash, behind the screen. I think I might of cranked it up too loud

[Oslo-fjord]

Congrats! Very stylish car ;-)

[Alexc360]

Originally Posted by Oslo-fjord

Congrats! Very stylish car ;-)

Thank you!