Finger on the trigger...

Hi,

New forum member and soon-to-be first time BMW owner. I'm on the verge of placing my order for a new X3 (35i, all pkgs. except cold weather and M sport (although I may cave and get it just for the neat front fascia and carbon black color)) and I'm hesitating at the 11th hour in anticipation of the 2012 model year. I'm not in any particular rush to buy aside from the fact that I am very eager to have one to call my own so waiting a few months hopefully won't be too painful. My main concern is that I wouldn't want to take delivery in a month or two and find that the 2012 models have a laundry list of additional options that I could have had access to had I waited a little longer. In particular I would have been spectacularly bummed if they added an option for ventilated seats (I'm a sweaty guy). Thoughts? Does BMW typically make notable changes between model years of the same generation of cars? Would my wait be only a few months?

There will be no major changes to the 2012's. If anything it will be how the options are grouped into packages. Things like ventilated seats or active cruise control likely won't happen until they do a model refresh in 3 or 4 years. The 2012's aren't due out until late fall. Hope that helps in your decision process!

Ah thanks for the info! Definitely helps me with my decision...I'll be placing my order as soon as I get pricing & dealer settled!

Met check on the X5 board where they DO have the vented seat option. So far it appears it may be a waste of money according to what I have read there. You may be lucky that the X3 doesn't have them!

Wow good to know! I do recall researching this feature in the past (specifically the X5's implementation) and it sounded kinda cheesy to me. If I recall correctly, there is some floor vent that passively directs air upwards into the seat. Probably not as effective as actually having a dedicated vent and/or active fans within the seat.

In the end, I've decided to hold off a few months and wait until Sept.-Oct to place my order. I have a fairly expensive vacation to Italy coming up in September so I think it'll be best to see how my wallet fares after the trip before committing to the order. Also, I currently don't have a reliable place to park it while I'm in Italy and I am reluctant to keep it at my office for 2 weeks straight...

Apparently, according to posters over there there are vented seats that work well on Esclades, Cayennes, Lexus, Jeep Grand Cherokees, and the 7 Series -- but not so well on the X5. Probably not something I would spring for.