[MsportyX35]

Hello all! New 2 series owner in MN. I just bought a fully optioned RWD 228i, that I’ve never seen, over the phone, from a man named Bubba, in Memphis. I’m flying out to drive it home on Thursday. I was originally shopping for an M235i, but after driving a 228i with the adaptive suspension, I found myself impressed, and then Bubba accepted an offer that was just too good a deal for me to pass up. I haven’t even seen the car, but I’m already excited to start modding. First step wheels and proper summer tires, a flash tune, high flow catted down pipe, some carbon fiber bling, and a change of exhaust. If you know anyone looking to get rid of their M235i stock muffler, do send them my way. And wish me luck with Bubba on Thursday. Hopefully, I can find myself some good BBQ and music in Memphis before the 12 hr drive back home.

[BEM-S4]

Congrats and welcome to the club. I have a muffler boxed in the garage - PM me.

[emtrey]

Originally Posted by MsportyX35

Hello all! New 2 series owner in MN. I just bought a fully optioned RWD 228i, that I’ve never seen, over the phone, from a man named Bubba, in Memphis. I’m flying out to drive it home on Thursday. I was originally shopping for an M235i, but after driving a 228i with the adaptive suspension, I found myself impressed, and then Bubba accepted an offer that was just too good a deal for me to pass up. I haven’t even seen the car, but I’m already excited to start modding. First step wheels and proper summer tires, a flash tune, high flow catted down pipe, some carbon fiber bling, and a change of exhaust. If you know anyone looking to get rid of their M235i stock muffler, do send them my way. And wish me luck with Bubba on Thursday. Hopefully, I can find myself some good BBQ and music in Memphis before the 12 hr drive back home.

pm sent.

[morphomeman]

You bought a car sight unseen from a man claiming to be named Bubba?
Is his last name Clinton?
Swing east on your way home and I can sell you a bridge in Brooklyn for a very low price.
Good luck!!!

[emtrey]

Originally Posted by emtrey

pm sent.

Here are the pictures. Sent a new PM with details. 42x21 approx 26 lbs. Shipping from 60035.

[Rayscott]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

You bought a car sight unseen from a man claiming to be named Bubba?
Is his last name Clinton?
Swing east on your way home and I can sell you a bridge in Brooklyn for a very low price.
Good luck!!!

And I have 100 acres of swampland at the beach that I can make you a good deal on.

[MsportyX35]

Originally Posted by emtrey

Here are the pictures. Sent a new PM with details. 42x21 approx 26 lbs. Shipping from 60035.

Thanks for the pictures and update, however BEM-S4 made me a better offer on his muffler, same condition. He’d like to finalize things on Tuesday. If that falls through, I’ll let you know.

[MsportyX35]

Originally Posted by morphomeman

You bought a car sight unseen from a man claiming to be named Bubba?
Is his last name Clinton?
Swing east on your way home and I can sell you a bridge in Brooklyn for a very low price.
Good luck!!!

Easy now. Bubba is a stand up kind of guy, I hope

[MsportyX35]

Originally Posted by Rayscott

And I have 100 acres of swampland at the beach that I can make you a good deal on.

I’m trusting by nature, but not pathologicaly so. True, I haven’t seen the car. But I did have Bubba drop it off at Roadshow BMW, and I paid for a thorough PPI. The tech was familiar with the car, since it had originally been purchased there, and had all of it’s service performed there. He was able to print and email me all the service records. The 1st owner paid for additional oil changes on top of the free maintenance, so it was done every 5-6k miles. It has a clean CarFax, and it’s still under warranty.

The only issue discovered was that the front brake pads and discs were below spec. I already knew this from a virtual walk around the car with Bubba, since it showed up in the iDrive service menu. It was part of the reason why Bubba (or Bubba’s manager) accepted a lower offer on the car. The bonus is that I was able to have Roadshow complete the brake job under the free maintenance agreement at the same time it was there for the PPI. After talking to the tech, I was more than comfortable closing the deal. Bubba’s dealership FedExed me the paperwork the next morning. I signed, wrote a check, and FedExed it back.

This is actually the third car that I’ve purchased out of state, and depending on where you live, there can be big advantages. By searching nationwide, the chances of finding the right car at a good price increase greatly. The center of the country and the Deep South tend to have significantly lower used car prices than in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, where I live. And by buying a car that spent its first few years where they have mild winters, I get a car that hasn’t had all the road salt exposure of the local cars.

[MsportyX35]

The only things I’m less than thrilled about are the color (I’d have much preferred blue or red), the steptronic (as opposed to Sport) automatic, and the lack of M Sport fancy blue brakes. But I console myself with having gotten a good deal. I can always watch out for someone selling the brakes. I suppose I could retrofit the paddles on the steering wheel. I’m not sure, honestly, how large a difference there is between the steptronic ZF 8 speed and the “sport” version, beyond the paddles and the different center mount shifter. I know they’re both better than the 6 speed automatic that was mandated with the N55 engine in my X1. Has anyone tried both versions of the 8 speed to compare them?

At least my Mini has a proper manual transmission.

[USA-RET]

Maybe I'm missing it but cannot tell what year this car is. 2014, it may not have the paddle shifters. If a 2015, it comes with it when ordered w/ a automatic (at least that's my understanding).

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by USA-RET

Maybe I'm missing it but cannot tell what year this car is. 2014, it may not have the paddle shifters. If a 2015, it comes with it when ordered w/ a automatic (at least that's my understanding).

2014 has paddles, at least my 235 did. Maybe the 228 is different.

[Pyrotech7]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

2014 has paddles, at least my 235 did. Maybe the 228 is different.

My 2015 228i Sport Line has paddles, and it wasn't optioned with too many other things, so it seems like it may have been standard by then. Not 100% though, just a feeling really. Research to be done. Just saw on another thread that 2014's exist with and without paddles much to the disappointment of the OP there. It appears it was a no-cost option that many dealers maybe made a mistake on or just said screw it

[MsportyX35]

Originally Posted by Pyrotech7

My 2015 228i Sport Line has paddles, and it wasn't optioned with too many other things, so it seems like it may have been standard by then. Not 100% though, just a feeling really. Research to be done. Just saw on another thread that 2014's exist with and without paddles much to the disappointment of the OP there. It appears it was a no-cost option that many dealers maybe made a mistake on or just said screw it

It is a 2014. I did notice the lack of paddles before purchase, and didn’t think too much about it, since I only rarely use them when driving the X1. For some reason, shifting with the paddles is just so much less satisfying than doing it the old fashioned way that I usually just let the car do it for me. For the times I do want a quick downshift, moving my hand down to the lever doesn’t seem like such a hardship. But I thought I might retrofit regardless. Partly because there’s a part of me that just likes seeing what I can do to my cars. My wife does not understand this part of me, but she’s wonderfully tolerant, even supportive. “If it makes you happy.”

Looking into things afterwards, I found pretty much what you described above about a no cost option box that often got ticked by the uninformed. Besides the lack of paddles, the steptronic option also has a slightly different looking, and less attractive, gear selector lever. Beyond that, there is much disagreement. I’ve read that there are no other differences. I’ve read the the programming is different, so that the sport transmission shifts faster than the steptronic. I’ve read that this is just software and can be coded. Or that it can be coded, but it also requires swapping the gear selector lever. Or that the entire transmission is different, and you can’t program one to behave like the other. I honestly don’t know what to believe, but it seems very unlikely that the actual transmissions are different.

[MsportyX35]

The first image is of the sport auto gear selector, the second is the one that came with the steptronic

[MsportyX35]

I’m keeping the Mini for the time being, at least through the winter to see if the 2 is a good year rounder. I suspect, with proper winter tires, it’ll be fine. They do a good job of plowing here. But it might be nice to have a winter beater. It’s fantastic in the snow when the winter tires are on, as long as the snow isn’t higher than the bumper. And it fulfills my third peddle needs.

[MsportyX35]

Wow, looking at that photo, I just realized how badly I need to vacuum that car.

[Pyrotech7]

Originally Posted by MsportyX35

It is a 2014. I did notice the lack of paddles before purchase, and didn’t think too much about it, since I only rarely use them when driving the X1. For some reason, shifting with the paddles is just so much less satisfying than doing it the old fashioned way that I usually just let the car do it for me. For the times I do want a quick downshift, moving my hand down to the lever doesn’t seem like such a hardship. But I thought I might retrofit regardless. Partly because there’s a part of me that just likes seeing what I can do to my cars. My wife does not understand this part of me, but she’s wonderfully tolerant, even supportive. “If it makes you happy.”

Looking into things afterwards, I found pretty much what you described above about a no cost option box that often got ticked by the uninformed. Besides the lack of paddles, the steptronic option also has a slightly different looking, and less attractive, gear selector lever. Beyond that, there is much disagreement. I’ve read that there are no other differences. I’ve read the the programming is different, so that the sport transmission shifts faster than the steptronic. I’ve read that this is just software and can be coded. Or that it can be coded, but it also requires swapping the gear selector lever. Or that the entire transmission is different, and you can’t program one to behave like the other. I honestly don’t know what to believe, but it seems very unlikely that the actual transmissions are different.

With the exception of programming affecting shift speed, all of the others you threw out seem so out there. I'm not the most informed (working on it ), but some of those ideas either seem stupid or a waste. I'm more inclined to side with you in thinking that the transmissions aren't different. Maybe just some coding for "sportier" shifts, but I believe it would be the same ZF 8 speed. I don't know if manufacturing a car/transmission with paddle input affects manufacturing one without. It seems like a good question to pose to ZF as well as BMW

[MsportyX35]

Flew in to Memphis yesterday, where Bubba was waiting for me at the airport with the car. After dropping him off at the dealership, and pairing my phone, I spent a little time on Beale Street and down by the river before driving to St Louis for the night. Having now spent a little time with the car, I couldn’t be more happy with the purchase. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of my e46. The size is just right. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the adaptive steering. But I really like it. I love how quick the ratio is at parking lot speeds. And it’s not completely devoid of feedback. I went through a crazy downpour in Arkansas, like driving into a wall of water. I had to slow way down because of lack of visibility, but the car felt very stable. It was a little disconcerting to hear and see an alert pop up on the screen about a malfunction in the frontal collision avoidance system, or something like that. Basically the rain was so heavy that the camera couldn’t see anything, and reported a malfunction. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long.

[BEM-S4]

Congrats! Your new exhaust should arrive today too I just checked tracking on FedEx.

[mr_clueless]

Originally Posted by MsportyX35

The first image is of the sport auto gear selector, the second is the one that came with the steptronic

AFAIK, sport auto with paddle shifters has been standard on all coupes -- 2 (F22) and 4 (F32) -- in the US since introduction. Sport auto with paddles became standard on F30 330 & 340 after LCI.

[MsportyX35]

Originally Posted by mr_clueless

AFAIK, sport auto with paddle shifters has been standard on all coupes -- 2 (F22) and 4 (F32) -- in the US since introduction. Sport auto with paddles became standard on F30 330 & 340 after LCI.

Sport was standard. But steptronic was a no cost option that was chosen by many dealers and purchasers who didn't realize what they were ordering. I've ordered up some M2 paddles off of ebay, but I'm still waiting for them to arrive. I emailed codemybimmer about it, and got the following reply:


"Thanks for reaching out to us an inquiring about having Sport Automatic Transmission added to your vehicle.

You are absolutely correct that Sport Automatic Transmission just comprises of the shorter shift knob which is mainly just aesthetics and the paddle shifters. The rest can be achieved through programming your ICM and EGS module with the 2TB option.

We’ve enabled this onto many vehicles and you will be able to benefit from having the smoother shift times just as if your vehicle had the option from factory and you would not need to change out the shift knob or add the steering wheel with the paddles. We have had customers who have retrofitted the M Sport Steering wheel with paddles and we can also code that accordingly if needed."

After, I've installed the paddles, wiring harness, and new back cover with the cutouts, I'll have it coded.