[p912guy]

While I have posted in this forum previously, it has never been as a BMW owner, that is until now.

Christmas came early for me this weekend as I now have a new DD in the garage. Here are the details:
(New) 2016 M235i Convertible
Alpine White
Black Dakota Leather
Driver Assistance Package
Technology Package
Moonlight Black Top
Heated Front Seats
Harmon/Kardon
Black Kidney Grills
M Performance Side Sill Decals
M Perf Exhaust w/ Rear Diffuser
and 6 Speed MT
"Dealership Showroom Queen since September 2015"

So a brief history of how I arrived here. Way back in 2004 when my son got his drivers license, it was time for dad to get a new car so the son could have the Honda CRV. Dad wanted a fun new car, but nothing too expensive, as said son was headed to college in a few years and a daughter was just 4 years behind him. Dad decided a convertible would be fun and a new 04 Chrysler Sebring seemed to be the perfect ticket. While it was ubiquitous, kind of boring and even a bit lame, dad grew to really love his Sebring convertible. It wasn't fast and didn't handle particularly well, but top down motoring was sublime.

Nearly 7 years and 130K miles later, the Sebring, getting long in the tooth, and was in need of some expensive service and repairs. In the mean time, said son had beat the CRV to hell, graduated college and purchased his first car, a 2009 MINI Cooper Clubman S. The MINI Cooper reminded dad of his old Honda Civic that he loved from his high school days so dad ordered a 2011 MINI Cooper S Hardtop in Pepper White with Green Lounge Leather interior, a 6 speed manual transmission (dad liked rowing his own) and all the "packages" that were available. Even though it wasn't a convertible, it had a huge panoramic sunroof so dad thought that would be as good as a convertible and remember younger daughter was in college and the MINI Convertible was $5K more than the Hardtop.

Life was good. Dad loved his MINI that always brought comments from little old ladies about how "cute" his car was. It may have been cute, but damn it was fun to drive; go-cart handling you know and a MT to keep the revs in the fun zone. Dad and son enjoyed doing MINI things together like a couple legs of "MINI Takes the States" and MINI only parking at the "Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix". Eventually, the son's MINI suffered the fate of many MINI's and developd expensive repairs and since the son was still in school working on graduate degrees, he made the decision to trade for something more reliable, practical and just as fun, a new Mazda 3. Dad continued to love his MINI, but he always missed his Sebring convertible and open air motoring .

Fast forward to Summer 2016. Our son gets married and graduates with his PhD and our daughter has completed school and is gainfully employed. My lovely wife has exchanged her Mazda CX-9 for a new 2016 Audi Q5 3.0T and I start dreaming of a better way to motor. A short list was formed: Audi TT Roadster, Porsche Boxster 981 (CPO) and BMW 2 Series Convertible. There were flirtations with Mustang and Camaro Convertibles but those were just passing fancy's. The priorities were a "convertible" and "fun to drive", but it would also be nice if I could carry my sailing gear or hockey gear every week so I don't have to always use the truck. My wife requested an AT in case she needed to drive it and she wanted something that would offer a more comfortable ride than the MINI - is seems she's not a fan of shifting gears, go-cart handling and feeling every bump and groove in the road. The TT was the first dropped from the short list. I have always been enamored with the look of the TT, but it seemed a bit expensive and weak-kneed with the VW 2.0 four cylinder motor. In a perfect world, the 981 Boxster is the bomb - gorgeous, perfect handling, 6 cylinder normally aspirated boxer engine, what's not to love? Well a few things, smallish cabin with only two seats and no other interior storage space, two small trunks separated, no pass through for hockey sticks. Oh yea, it's also expensive as hell to service and maintain. The thought of paying for Porsche service, even at an independent, sent cold chills down my spine. Then there's the 2 Series. Like the original and subsequent versions of the TT and the Boxster, I loved the size and look of the 1 Series when it came out and the 2 Series is even better and more refined. But which one, 228 /230 with it's lighter weight and peppy 4 cylinder engine or the 235 /240 with the silky smooth, rev happy 6 cylinder? Ultimately both seemed desirable and I really had no strong preference one way or another.

If you're still with me, sorry for the extended post and thanks for reading. Now to finish the story. Ultimately for me it came down to finding the best 2 Series for the money. I first saw MY M235i on our local BMW dealer's showroom floor in early June while killing some time on a lazy Saturday morning. I next saw it and actually sat in it in August, still on the showroom floor, while looking at an X3 for my wife before she decided the Q5 spoke to her. Knowing the best time to buy a convertible is the winter when normal people aren't thinking about convertibles, I started looking in earnest in November. Low and behold an internet search of our dealer's inventory revealed it was still available and marked down about 10% from MSRP. I thought, let's keep and eye on this one. By Thanksgiving, it's still in inventory and marked down a bit more. I next check about a week ago and it's still there and marked down 15% at which point I decide to go test drive it as soon as I could with a plan to make a low-ball offer if I liked it as much as I hoped I would. Long story short, my son was in town this weekend so we went to look at it first thing Saturday morning. I drove it. I liked it. I made a low ball offer. We negotiated a bit and I have a new daily driver in my garage.

Is it my perfect M235i? No, in a perfect world it would have been Estoril Blue or Melbourne Red with Coral Red Dakota and probably the 8 Spd AT (remember my wife). It would also have Cold Weather Package and All Season tires instead of Heated Seats and Summer Performance tires. While I like the M Performance Side Decals and the M Performance Exhaust, I wouldn't have ordered them. All that said, I think its a sweet package that I will enjoy for many years. Oh, and the 6 Spd MT, yes, I am very happy I have that. Best I can tell, the MT is probably the reason the car was a "Showroom Queen" for over a year, and available to me as such a great deal. It was probably a customer ordered M235i that the customer backed out on once it hit the dealership. It's the only way to explain why that car was ever there.

Like many of you, I follow a couple 2 Series forums. To make thinks easier for me, I have posted this same story to the other forum. Again my apologies for the length of this post.

[tinyTIM]

TL;DR. Just kidding! Nice post and congrats on the new ride. She sure is purdy. Where are you located by the way? Pittsburgh area?

[BEM-S4]

Congrats on the new ride! Feel like you just gave us a car-centric family Christmas update letter for the holidays!

[GOLFFRR]

[p912guy]

No, not from the Pittsburgh area - Louisville. I get to Pittsburgh often for USA Hockey related activities and my son and I are vintage car lovers and the Vintage Grand Prix is something we look forward to every summer.

Regarding the "Christmas letter update", strangely, I used to write the annual family Christmas letter, but my wife took that over a few years ago and now it's just a photo montage from Shutter Fly. Times change. I just thought I try something a little different for a new car intro.

I enjoy reading other folks experiences. Hopefully my journey connects with others looking for their new car, whatever it may be.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Congrats!!

[hundy]

Are the wheels the orbit grey