So due to the fact I am living in WPA and driving 200 miles a day on I79 I decided to sell the Xterra and talk my wife out of her 2017 Forester XT. 27mpg beats 16 and AWD beats rear wheel and I think the locals have been looking at me strange since I do not drive a Subaru...if you have ever been to Edinboro Pa you understand

So my lovely....did I mention lovely wife asks, so what am I going to drive ...

Her - So what should I get?
Me - You have always wanted to a BMW
Her- it's too expensive
Me- Not if you buy a low mileage used a year or two old (shows her prices and first year depreciation charts)
- her- hmmm but I like the raised seating position
me- how about an X3

Anyway, this lead me on an exhaustive search for one with low miles in the color she wanted....I had no idea Phytonic blue metallic was so hard to find. After having 3 sold before I could even get into tsee them I found one at P&W BMW in Pittsburgh....it was a service loaner and was a bit more than we had planned on spending....but at this point I wanted to get it before she flew in for our vacation. I put down a refundable deposit and scheduled a time to get in to the dealership

I get there and the sales manager approaches me .....

Him - I have a problem...the car you put money down on was sold before you put the money down and we did not know it ...but let me fix it.

I explained it had to be the Phytonic blue but I was open on options and I needed it in 7 days!!

In an 30 minutes he found one and had ordered it (he figured he could sell it even if I did not take it).

But it was new <<ouch>> so it came down to numbers....and he was quite flexible with my trade in and rebates to the point that it came in $3K more than the lightly used one.

SO we picked it up yesterday, missed the target date by 2 days due to my wife's flght being delayed.

I have to say the crew at P&W made the experience very pleasant...far this experience I would recommend them.

Let me introduce you to Heinz ......Guderian



I have not giggled this much in a long time and certainly not driving an SUV.

Dinan (does not void fact warranty) and BPMSport both make plug and play tunes that give ~50hp and 50+TQ and while I never really considered a tune I am now!

It's funny and a bit not fair to compare the X3 to the FXT but their HP numbers and 0-60 times are pretty close so I will....

The FXT has a great engine for a Subaru but the CVT and additional clearance/soft suspension really don't do the engine justice....and can you say turbo lag! It feels like a spur'ed a sleeping thoroughbred!

The X3 in comparison is just soooo smooth and the suspension and handling while certainly not sedan like and very nice and compliment the engine perfectly...only problem is the car likes to do 90mph.

The only bad thing so far is I have promised to drive it down for my wifes birthday in Aug and take back the Subaru BUt until then I know of several roads from my misspent youth that I will thoroughly enjoy

Beautiful ride. May you have many blissful miles in that kraut wagon.

Edinboro you say? I had many a drunken evening with the cult-like woman who inhabited the Copper Coin bar.

Cult like?....I think I don't need to go there, the Hotel is safe

Beautiful! I picked up a certified pre-owned X1 last year, and it is one of the best purchases I've ever made. I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off.

The misses really liked the X1 but no dealer will sell them due to a recall. Something to due with the A pillar I think.

I have heard great things about them.

Congrats on a very nice car. I see your wife and I have similar tastes in color as well. That Blue is sharp.

I won't try to claim that BMW's SUV's are the fastest, or the most luxurious, or the best value, or the most reliable, or the most efficient. I won't say any of that, but what I WILL say is that I absolutely love driving them. I haven't driven every SUV under the sun, but the BMW X3's and X5's have easily been my favorites out of anything I have driven. Even though it was a glitchy mess in the end, I still miss my wife's old V8 X5. That thing moved.

- Bret

I am driving a 2019 BMW X3 this week as a loaner. What a machine! Sport mode! I spent 13 hours straight in it yesterday, and I wasn't really beat up. It's not like the sedans, but it's no slouch either. German engineering!

The crew at P&W are solid.

That's a sharp looking SUV dewhorse.

How does the interior fit and finish compare? Leather in your Forester? I’m interested in the seat comfort and overall quietness.

Congrats. Trust me. The engine likes to do more than 90. I let my daughter drive my bmw for the first time and before I knew it I looked over and she was doing 101.

Well all I can say is thank you for supporting my local economy.....

Y'all know what BMW stands for right?

"Bubba Makes Wheels"

quote:

Originally posted by SHOOTIN BLANKS:
The crew at P&W are solid.

Small world, I use to work right down the road from there.

quote:

Originally posted by dewhorse:
....and he was quite flexible with my trade in and rebates to the point that it came in $3K more than the lightly used one.

Nice!

Nice looking car sir. And best of all...its German. There's just something about a German vehicle. I myself am completely smitten with the big turbo V8's Mercedes shoves in many of their vehicles.

Great looking car! Two questions:

1) How was your "Drive like an a--hole" indoctrination video experience? (if you're confused, someone will be along shortly with the meme)
2) Does yours have a spare tire? Ours had the run flats, no spare, and the run flats are terribly expensive when replacing them. If you have run flats, be sure to watch air pressure carefully and rotate regularly!!

Love that color, congratulations. We’re on our 4th BMW and I’m plotting our 5th. There’s just something about the way they drive.

Got any bigger pics?

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
How does the interior fit and finish compare? Leather in your Forester? I’m interested in the seat comfort and overall quietness.

There is no comparison, the seat in the FTX has little or no side bolstering and is very flat. I joke that they did this so you won't drive it in a spirited manner.

I have the synthtec (sp) seats and I have always heard these are damned near as nice as leather...I would agree

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
Congrats. Trust me. The engine likes to do more than 90. I let my daughter drive my bmw for the first time and before I knew it I looked over and she was doing 101.

ahem.....my wife ...of course...down loaded the app, so yesterday she asks.."were you really doing 185kph"

"of course not....you can't trust ze germans"

And while I joke about the "ecopro" setting, I got 31.7mpg this morning on my 85 mile commute