[jbenington86]

Originally Posted by sstarrx3

That is good. You have to have money to manage it. I am now 46 and have not taken a dime from my parents since the day I turned 18. I put myself through college and took 10 years to pay it off. My first job after college I had a $25,000 a year salary. Paying for an apartment, furniture and school loans does not leave allot of money to manage. BMWs were not even in the realm of possibilities. If you were able to manage all this on your own at that age you are definitely in the minority. Most kids nowadays still live at home or have roommates until they are practically 30.

I made some sacrifices for my first BMW and it could have potentially put me into a risky situation. I was young and wasn't factoring in the insurance that was more expensive than my monthly loan payment.

This time to get my M235i I implemented a savings strategy by saving double payments (previous car) for almost 3 years so I can make a massive down payment. I also got put in a good position to be able to save a ton of money and got a killer deal.

I wasn't even planning on buying a new BMW because well there is nothing wrong with my current one but since the opportunity came up I had to jump on it.

[slynchRVA]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like your black grills are mismatched. I don't know if it's just a crazy coincidence or not, but the M235i I test drove last week and this same problem.

[ScottMZ3]

Originally Posted by slynchvt

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like your black grills are mismatched. I don't know if it's just a crazy coincidence or not, but the M235i I test drove last week and this same problem.

Wow! They are! Good eye! I wonder how they are getting mixed up like that?

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by slynchvt

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like your black grills are mismatched. I don't know if it's just a crazy coincidence or not, but the M235i I test drove last week and this same problem.

Definitely...guess it's time to have a poll on which is best. Since the shadow line black kidney portion adds the sport factor, I prefer the smaller slats on the left as I think they add a classier feel. The slats on the right seem a little down market. In any event, OP: march back to that dealer and demand a fix.

[jawal]

Originally Posted by slynchvt

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like your black grills are mismatched. I don't know if it's just a crazy coincidence or not, but the M235i I test drove last week and this same problem.

I had the same issue. Only my left/right were reversed from yours. See picture if I attached it properly. The "correct" ones are the 8-slat version vs. the 11-slat version.

Once I got the dealer to understand the issue -- not sure they believed me that the left/right were really different until I emailed them a picture -- they ordered new ones. The new ones arrived. Same issue. Then they called BMW USA, who went through all their inventory -- same issue. The part numbers they ordered and what was labeled on the outside of the box that arrived were correct, but what was inside the box was wrong.

It took almost two weeks before I got the right ones.

I suggest either going to your dealer and/or sending them a picture. Tell them they need to get you the matching 8-slat version (assuming that the 8-slat is the one you want), and have them verify what shows up before you waste your time driving into the dealer. Let them know that it is not that the wrong part number was ordered/shipped, rather it was what was inside that is where the problem occurred. They have some kind of vendor/supply problem. I know they know about... Probably still mislabeled inventory that has not yet been corrected. Sad to see that this is still happening to people. My issue was almost two months ago.

[MJK019]

I just noticed that 2 weeks after I brought it home and called up the dealership to let them know. When I go later this week to get the permanent plates put on they need to look to see which ones they need to order to get a correct match. I personally think the 8 column one looks a little sportier so I think I'm going to go with that. I will definitely make sure they check inside the box before they just have it sent to the dealer so it doesn't happen again. This should be a quick fix by simply popping the old one out and new one in, right?

[jawal]

Originally Posted by MJK019

I just noticed that 2 weeks after I brought it home and called up the dealership to let them know. When I go later this week to get the permanent plates put on they need to look to see which ones they need to order to get a correct match. I personally think the 8 column one looks a little sportier so I think I'm going to go with that. I will definitely make sure they check inside the box before they just have it sent to the dealer so it doesn't happen again. This should be a quick fix by simply popping the old one out and new one in, right?

Swapping out one for the other is pretty quick. It won't take the dealer long at all.

I also thought the 8-slat was sportier, more aggressive looking.

[Fugly M3]

A good question is why they have the two different black grills altogether. I have to imagine the 11 slat version is not supposed to exist, i.e. they added the base slats to the black kidney. (from prior experiences the slats are interchangeable with the kidney surround)