List Something You Discovered About your Car After You Bought it...

First, that my expectations were more than amply exceeded. When time came to replace the old jalopy, just at the same moment that GM ("too big to let us fail") and Chrysler had gone t-i-t-sup and Ford was hanging to dear life by the fingernails and I preferred to go European rather than Oriental, the Bimmer was truly a dream come true. Of course, every rose has its thorns and this can be a very prickly rose if you don't wise up in a jiffy, but the rewards have been oh, so sweet.

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

Much as I had expected, heavy applications of throttle and brake gave me serious wood.... :-)

Thankfully, we do NOT have to sit in Bob's driver seat any time soon, if ever!

Originally Posted by mrblorry

Just don't do it while driving.

limited slip differential, not lysergic acid diethylamide

I discovered that having the buttons on the steering wheel =/= having the phone installed

Haha sispc, at least you find some positive out of door dings...

My 05' 330Ci ZHP had a leaking oil filter housing gasket, which wasn't too bad to fix.

The positive...BMW lives up to it's name!

Well I got home and the next day took off all the wheels , to check the brakes and just look around. Pulled the back wheel off and discovered a huge hole ! ( idk how it was even holding air) Which was really scary knowing my dad and my two kids just rode with me for 3 hours on the interstate running 75 to 80 . May not be that scary to some but I guess when you have kids things get to you a little more .

Mine didn't carry many suprises, pretty much knew what I was getting into...which can be considered good. I guess the only real suprise was recent, when instead of only checking my spare tire pressure, I pulled it out to look at the wheel. Somehow, all of this time I didn't take notice to the fact that it was not only indeed a FULL size spare (I recall them telling me it was a small spare) but it was indeed a matching style 119 wheel in there too! Too bad it had seem plenty of use and was even more curb checked than any of my others

I was surprised that I even considered another BMW, after the horror-filled events from my '95 540 And, there were (3) 3-series on the lot when I chose the ZHP. The dealer didn't know what they had, and I didn't know what I was getting. I just knew that the car I chose really looked cool! Imagine my surprise when I got it home and started investigating. ZHP!!! And, a quick call to BMW revealed that there were 6 months left on the CPO, AND, Maintenance Plan. So, I got a couple of door regulators, 1 oil change, and a set of windshield wiper blades .

I also found out that the noise from the sunroof was not covered by CPO.

And, the sales guy at the dealer was an idiot. His last line to me was that the car sounded real cool when the waste gate opened up! Dude, are you serious?!?!?!

Originally Posted by marlin1881

And, the sales guy at the dealer was an idiot. His last line to me was that the car sounded real cool when the waste gate opened up! Dude, are you serious?!?!?!

Oh dear God

About our MINI: Discovered it says "Clubman" in little tiny almost invisible script on the rocker sill under the third door. Only place on the car it's identified as a Clubbie. The ZHP still amazes me daily...

I discovered my car has a clock after all.

^ Howd you miss the clock

Originally Posted by jmanscotch

^ Howd you miss the clock

Had to press the button on the turn indicator lever 3 times. It's where Mercedes has the sprinkler system, so

Still can't figure out how to make the radio display the time when CD is playing. Oh well. Someday I'll read the manual.

I learned what the "clown nose" is, and that turning it switches my mirror between daylight and dim. I looked all over the place for the switch for the mirror at first, even read the manual, but did not figure out how to dim until I saw a post either on this forum or maybe the wiki.

Originally Posted by Squiddie

Had to press the button on the turn indicator lever 3 times. It's where Mercedes has the sprinkler system, so

Still can't figure out how to make the radio display the time when CD is playing. Oh well. Somebody I'll read the manual.

Ahh, gotcha now. You've had the car during many below 30 degree days eh

I forget what the deal was with the clock showing while playing CD..be a while.

Originally Posted by alfabmw1

I learned what the "clown nose" is, and that turning it switches my mirror between daylight and dim. I looked all over the place for the switch for the mirror at first, even read the manual, but did not figure out how to dim until I saw a post either on this forum or maybe the wiki.

I forgot about this one, I too was very lost for a while...the light/knob just didn't strike me as multifunctional at first.

I guess another one would be that pressing DSC only once didn't fully disengage traction control like I thought. I was very dissapointed at my cars ability, or lack there of, to skirt some tires.

Originally Posted by alfabmw1

I learned what the "clown nose" is, and that turning it switches my mirror between daylight and dim. I looked all over the place for the switch for the mirror at first, even read the manual, but did not figure out how to dim until I saw a post either on this forum or maybe the wiki.

So thaaats how ya do it! I wondered what that red thing was for

Discovered recesses in the trunk lid that help close it when it's open. That took me about 3 years to find . Also the wipers slow to a delay when stopped. Love that feature.

I can't I learned anything in particular post-purchase, as I tend to obsess over a car purchase for a very long time before pulling the trigger. I seriously started looking at a 330Ci in 2001, and didn't buy until 2004. That's a long time to read every piece of info available. I read the owner's manual before delivery.

About the only thing I really discovered post delivery is how well the car brakes from 120mph to 45mph, repeatedly.

Originally Posted by kunal_D

Discovered recesses in the trunk lid that help close it when it's open. That took me about 3 years to find . ...

BMW did these right. And, I notice that most every other car has some sort of recesses, but they are sloped wrong and kinda make your hand slip out.

I learned that had I discovered the forum prior to making my first BMW pruchase I might have thought twice before buying the one I did. But done is done and with the help of the fest, I've been able to keep up with it. And the rewards do outweigh the work I've put into it. If you're reading this prior to making a purchase, I have 3 words for you. PRE PURCHASE INSPECTION people! Get one. Hindsight is 20/20. But I still love my car.

1. What a blast it is to drive.
2. How much plastic is under the hood.
3. The cost of replacement parts.
4. How much maintenance they require for upkeep.

The beauty of ZKW headlight reflector bowls.............

Found this out yesterday on a long trip: The headlight bulbs are interchangeable. We had a low beam out, but I swapped in one of the high beam bulbs so we'd have two good headlights where it matters most... worked perfectly! Also, for those of us with "tourings" the rear wiper intermittent time is programmable. It also switches to full time when you put it in reverse. Lots of little things that were nice to learn after purchase, things that my research would never have turned up (nor would they have swayed my decision to purchase the car).

After few months since the day i bought it, i found out that my radiator is leaking. Then I found out that i need to replace rotors, brakes, rear springs, shocks, fuel filter, plugs, tires ummmm.... i think that's it so far

Fun to drive, chicks love it

new battery.
new cooling system (including Radiator)
and other thing I would not like to remember (and I don't)

I discovered that my car had been CPO'd even though I hadn't bought it from a BMW dealer. The dealer that I bought from was a Chevy dealer that was part of the Autonation empire, so I suspect it got traded around somehow before it came to live with me.