Last week I traded in my 2007 BMW X3 for a 2017 BMW X3. The new car had only 6900 miles on it and it is loaded.
I never thought I would drive a car smarter than I am but I am. I’m slowly learning all of the features of the car and doing customization. Unfortunately, the instructions in the user’s manual don’t always work. It doesn’t surprise me. One of the most successful classes I ever wrote and delivered back in the 90’s when I worked for IBM, HCD and Dynamic I/O (And it is still being taught today) was for an application written by the Germans. The user’s guide sucked big time. I was able to teach myself how to use the application and after writing the course, spent three years traveling all over the country teaching it. The first two years I hit Medallion level on Delta Airlines by June. Back then, that meant sumpin’ and I was able to get a lot of 1st Class upgrades. I also maintained all of the hardware systems for all of the mainframe and I/O labs at the Education Center here in Atlanta. This was the start of me working two full time jobs.
Unfortunately, I’m not as smart as I was back then. For example, I’m trying to connect my phone to the car. My phone has bluetooth so it should work. Nope. My phone recognizes my car. I get a “pairing successful” message on my phone. But the car doesn’t recognize my phone. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a smart phone and my BMW is too snooty to mess with the phone that I have.
My entertainment system allows me to store CDs like my home entertainment system. The user’s guide sez there’s a way to display how much storage is available. Unfortunately, the procedure in the user’s guide to find this out doesn’t work.
On the plus side, BMW is gonna give me a one hour genius course on all of this stuff. I just need to call my salescritter and set it up. Meanwhile, I’m fumbling through the user’s guide so I’ll have a lot of questions when I take it. That was the salescritter’s advice and turns out it was good advice.
So what else does this car have? It has a navigation system with real time info and like most of the neat stuff in the car, it’s voice activated. I can speak my destination address rather than entering it in manually.
It has a backup camera. It has blind-spot warning on the mirrors, altho’ if the side view mirrors are adjusted properly you don’t have a blind-spot. I was shown how to do that by the salescritter and by golly he was right. All these years I have had the left side mirror adjusted improperly.
I love the power tail gate. I’ve lusted after that for years.
It has keyless ignition and door locks. I can keep the key fob in my pocket. And the doors unlock at my touch and the ignition starts at the push of a button. I’m loving the fact that I don’t have to fumble with a key when I have bags of groceries on my lap.
Another neat feature: Heads Up Display (HUD). I don’t have to look at the speedometer. The speed is displayed in front of me. When the navigation system is operative, the turns are displayed in the HUD. There are radio controls on the steering wheel and radio stations are displayed in the HUD when tuning. Kewl!
It has a lot of other neat stuff. Like I said, it’s loaded. I’ll post pictures later when I have some. Also I’ll keep y’all updated on how my learning is going. I’m using my portable hand controls and hopefully I’ll get permanent ones installed in a few weeks.
Buy a smartphone you cheapskate.
Also, be sure to ask the salesperson how to change your fob batteries, as some cars pose problems in this area.
BTW, I was an MVS Sysprog for many years. According to IBM there was a callable exit one could use to really spiffy up the HCD area. I was disappointed on how much the “exit” sucked. Must have been written in Munchen during Oktoberfest…
I never found anything wrong with the HCD area, only the instructions on how to use it. That’s why I wrote the two day class, which according to the course catalog is now a three day class.
Good for you Denny. I hope you love your new ride, err, new vehicle!
You need one of these too:
https://imgur.com/gallery/nGVjmvj#TMO0oqN
Beware of the loose nut behind the wheel 🙂
The 36 month lease just ran out on our X3; went back to BMW for another loaner/demonstrator: cheaper. Three different ride levels: Comfort, Sport, and Eco for the greenies; sport, though, isn’t as tightly steered as the prior one, not bad though.
I have an x1 (I’m po). Still only have one radio station because I don’t know how to tune it. I have no clue what all the little pictures and lines and buttons and knobs do. It has seat warmers, those I love. Push the long pedal it goes forward, push the short pedal it stops. One day I might figure out how the cruise control works. Actually, gonna sell it, I can’t figure anything out and don’t have time to mess with it.
I have a 2017 Caddy ATS-V that has many of the same bells and whistles you mention. Quite a change from my previous daily driver, a 1937 Chevy pickup w/ hot rodded GMC inline engine. All my rides have manual transmission, including the Caddy. Even the transmission has something called active rev matching – When you change gears, the electronics do the calcs to match engine speed to transmission speed for the gear you’re going into and there is always a smooth lockup. I haven’t quite gotten used to the OnStar e-mails that inform me of the tire pressures for each wheel, oil life left, number of hard braking and hard acceleration incidents I’v had and a warning to cease masturbation if I don’t want to aggravate my carpal tunnel issues.
Good for you Denny, ridin in STYLE
Mercedes Benz are for those who want to be someone. BMW is for those who ARE someone!
What are Jaguars?
I suspect they are for someone who thinks they are someone, but really aren’t.
But I do love my 2005 XKR.
Good for you Denny! I’m an old dude who is up on all that new crap. You can be too.
Congratulations! And, sadly, do get a new phone.
I’m po’, so I went from a 2001 Oldsmobile Silhouette (when the transmission crashed) to a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport in July 2016. Even for its age, the Olds had bells and whistles, back up alarms and seat warmers. This one, however, is a techie’s dream. Bluetooth, cameras, navigation, keyless ignition, the works. And, since it was a 15 in 2016 (with only 14 miles on it), I got it for 3,000 under sticker plus 1,000 off and 0% financing. My dad used to say drive them until either the motor or the transmission dies, then get another. Works for me.
Happy trails to you!
I usually drive them until they’re 10 years old. I remember reading a Consumer Reports article that said that is when you hit the point of diminishing returns.
True. I even pride myself in driving a 1971 Pinto to 104,000. When I traded it in for my 1976 Maverick (God, I loved that car), the salesperson didn’t believe me and went out and looked at the odometer and actually called people out to look at it, they were so amazed.
Welcome to The Borg: https://www.wxyz.com/news/your-car-knows-more-about-you-than-you-think
Just don’t fuck up… your vehicle will rat you out in court.
FYI…
BMW-admits-powerless-stop-thieves-using-gadgets-stealing-cars.html
I’d expect it to have good power too.
I still drive my tire smoking ’94 Caprice wagon.
It does since I have the 3.0 liter turbocharged engine and not the 2.4 liter turbo.
Better for tracking…
Just bought a new car, upgrade from the same model 3 years older. Found out the old phones (wife’s flip phone and my old smartphone) that worked fine with Bluetooth in the old car are not fully supported. The old phones will pair with the new car but we lost hands-free voice activated dialing capability. Dealer says the Bluetooth protocols changed. Kind of like some of those COBOL upgrades back in the day, I guess..