[car_driver]

There are a lot of threads on here about retrofitting options and stuff like that. The way things happen to work out I ended up with a used decently optioned 328i Sport Line, about 12k msrp in options. And holy smokes, most of this stuff is total crap. Like to the point of degrading my enjoyment of the vehicle.

Don't get me wrong, beneath the globby coating of poorly-executed technology and fake luxury is an excellent driver's car. I like it so much I'm looking for a different, less polluted example right now.

Anyone else prefer the simpler offerings from BMW?

[stormlv]

Depends on what you option...

There are some things I think are pretty cool gadgets and wouldn't get another BMW without: HUD & Top View come to mind.
Adaptive cruise control was also pretty nifty when I had the 435.

What things do you feel are degrading the enjoyment of your car?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by stormlv

Depends on what you option...

What things do you feel are degrading the enjoyment of your car?

Was going to be my question. Interested in the answer.

[GA335i]

I'm there with you. I leased my loaded 335i as it was on the dealer lot and they gave me a deal to take it vs ordering one from the factory with just the few options I wanted. I guess between my previous 15 years of driving and my stripper Silverado I drive for work multi hours per day (manual windows and locks ) most of the options seem kinda gimmicky for my 10 minute commute. Vacations a few times a year are the only times I spend a real amount of time in my car, and then we usually take our grand cherokee. Lease is up this summer, I'll probably go with a "stripped" M this time.

[Billfitz]

I bought off the lot, because it's usually easier to dicker price on something the dealer would like to move. I had a short list of 'must' options: nav and rearview camera. I ended up getting heated front seats, which I like, and expanded smartphone, which I never use. I would have preferred the smart cruise over the stock cruise, but not enough to go out of my way to get it, because that would have only come with a bunch of other options I didn't care about. I doubt that they would have degraded anything other than my bank account, but that's enough reason for me not to want them.

[kern417]

I would have just bought a cheaper car if I didn't want the options. There are plenty of better drivers cars out there without the tech that bmw offers.

[RoundelM3]

I ordered my 2013 335i without navigation, but with premium pkg and M-Sport Line, plus metallic paint, heated front seats, and a port-installed package of black front grilles and MPE. If they'd offered a "standalone" backup camera, I would have ordered that too. I spent the cost of the nav package on a 7-year "gold" extended warranty, as I plan to keep this car until 2020. No extended Bluetooth or voice command stuff. I ordered it in the last week of December, so I got a lot of "incentives" to bring the price down. With a nice Garmin GPS (at 1/10 the cost of the factory nav), it's great for long and short trips. I had to order it because the dealership had hardly any 335s in stock and most of them were either black, white, or silver. Not my favorite color choices.

By comparison, I bought the wife's 2016 228i M-Sport convertible with nearly every option for that car off the showroom floor. The cold weather, technology, driver assist, and premium packages make it a pretty nice ride for her and fun to take trips in with the top down. The navigation is nice for trips to unfamiliar areas, and she loves the heated steering wheel and seats for the cold months. Backup camera and park/distance is good to have with the small convertible rear window. Got this one at the end of 1Q 2016, so there were quite a few incentives and a good trade-in value on her 2011 128i M-Sport convertible.

Bottom line is that a loaded car will bring a better trade/sale value than a stripper in terms of resale value. I don't care much for the "Driver Assistance Plus" package and all its associated gadgets because we don't require much in the way of "assistance", so I will likely never buy a car with that's equipped with the "I'm an unskilled or lazy driver" add-ons.

[_bdiddyb_]

I am glad my car off the lot came w/o the m-sport package (expensive for the additional cost). Wheels were ugly, brakes suck, power is minimal. Also glad it came with HiFi option. There are better aftermarket parts.

[BimmerBoomer]

My single hump 2010 E92 M3 DCT was lightly optioned. My 2001 E46 M3 was close to base. These were among the best driver's cars BMW has ever made and I didn't care about short term resale value: I intended to drive them until they died, and more or less did.

[jeffc83]

I see everyone has a different answer which is why we have something called options. I prefer having options.

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by _bdiddyb_

Also glad it came with HiFi option. There are better aftermarket parts.

I conquer; never been happier without the option and was much easier to mod...win win there!

[metallicpea]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

There are a lot of threads on here about retrofitting options and stuff like that. The way things happen to work out I ended up with a used decently optioned 328i Sport Line, about 12k msrp in options. And holy smokes, most of this stuff is total crap. Like to the point of degrading my enjoyment of the vehicle.

Don't get me wrong, beneath the globby coating of poorly-executed technology and fake luxury is an excellent driver's car. I like it so much I'm looking for a different, less polluted example right now.

Anyone else prefer the simpler offerings from BMW?

I do!

All three I have ordered were minimally optioned.

1st was an E46 325i - ordered as an '01 was built as an '02. Only options were Sport Package, Cold Weather Package, metallic paint, HK, moonrof and A/T - this was originally my wifes car.

2nd was E82 '09 135i. Only options were M Sport Package, HiFi, Ipod adapter, HD radio, comfort access, heated front seats and LeMans blue paint.

3rd was my F30 '16 320i. Only options were Sport Package, wood trim, heated seats, Nav, folding rear seats, LED lights and Metallic paint.

My 550i had lots of options, but aside from HUD (new kombi is just as good) the only option I really enjoyed was the logic 7 audio, It was the best sounding factory stereo I have heard.

My wife's new car has parking sensors, rearview camera, power liftgate, Uconnect and other crap that I just find irritating.

The only 2 gadgety features I have interest in are the top down view parking cameras - had this in a loaner and it was executed very well. And the full radar cruise control, but I am certainly not going to mess up the front aesthetics of the car, or buy 5k plus of other options to get either of those.

[metallicpea]

Yeah, My ears do not agree with the HK audio option in the F30. Glad I went aftermarket. Spent a little more, but significantly better.

I have liked HK audio on other models though.

[anotheran]

from canada so the deals that can be had seem to be lower. lightly optioned rather than fully optioned as it was not possible to find a built car with adaptive suspension but without VSS. price was much lower than buying a fully optioned from the lot

[metallicpea]

Originally Posted by anotheran

from canada so the deals that can be had seem to be lower. lightly optioned rather than fully optioned as it was not possible to find a built car with adaptive suspension but without VSS. price was much lower than buying a fully optioned from the lot

I usually order because I have found the total price paid to be more attractive than negotiating something on the lot that a dealer has money invested into and can sell to another customer and has stuff on it that raises the cost, but that I don't want to pay for. Ordered cars are like a no cost, no risk bonus sale in the eyes of many dealers as it is paid for before they even need to worry about it.

But ultimately, I need to order, as I could never find a car optioned exactly to my taste.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by Jrboulder

There are a lot of threads on here about retrofitting options and stuff like that. The way things happen to work out I ended up with a used decently optioned 328i Sport Line, about 12k msrp in options. And holy smokes, most of this stuff is total crap. Like to the point of degrading my enjoyment of the vehicle.

Don't get me wrong, beneath the globby coating of poorly-executed technology and fake luxury is an excellent driver's car. I like it so much I'm looking for a different, less polluted example right now.

Anyone else prefer the simpler offerings from BMW?

What would you consider total crap options? I would agree if the statement was "most of this stuff should have been standard". But crap--no, me personally, I am not on board with this theory at all. I can't really think of one option that would "degrade" my enjoyment of my car. YMMV.

[tex2670]

Originally Posted by jeffc83

I conquer; never been happier without the option and was much easier to mod...win win there!

Who did you conquer? Someone in an Audi?

[metallicpea]

Originally Posted by tex2670

What would you consider total crap options? I would agree if the statement was "most of this stuff should have been standard". But crap--no, me personally, I am not on board with this theory at all. I can't really think of one option that would "degrade" my enjoyment of my car. YMMV.

I think all those driving assist and parking assist things are annoying. Always making noise and telling me something I already know. I think really the best parking assist would be to have one single camera showing you the right rear wheel to gauge distance to curb. Auto fold down mirrors require mechanical parts that very often fail and don't always give the best view for this purpose, although better than nothing.

And I hate the look of all the little pimples on the front and rear bumper. Yuck.

Power trunk or liftgate options are annoying too. Nice with foot controls when you have stuff in your hand, but annoying all the rest of the time. Always waiting for it to open so damn slow and can't drive away until it is shut. Is it that hard to use your arm to lift and shut the trunk?

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by tex2670

Who did you conquer? Someone in an Audi?

LOL! What the hell is Google voice doing to me??? I swear it's getting worse over time brother I guess I have to shout at it clearly and slowly

[jeffc83]

Originally Posted by metallicpea

I think all those driving assist and parking assist things are annoying. Always making noise and telling me something I already know. I think really the best parking assist would be to have one single camera showing you the right rear wheel to gauge distance to curb. Auto fold down mirrors require mechanical parts that very often fail and don't always give the best view for this purpose, although better than nothing.

And I hate the look of all the little pimples on the front and rear bumper. Yuck.

Although I completely agree that the PDC annoying, one has to wonder how many lives it has saved since released. I'm certain it's not just one or two but yes, it's annoying as hell especially when 98% of the time, nothing is even there.

Come to think of it, there is one option that degrades the overall enjoyment; RUN FLATS! Get the hell rid of them and I am sorry I ever defended the POS's....with how I drive, they have to go ASAP before they kill me! I'd rather be late and ALIVE for that next meeting

[metallicpea]

Originally Posted by jeffc83

Although I completely agree that the PDC annoying, one has to wonder how many lives have been saved since. I'm certain it's not just one or two but yes, it's annoying as hell especially when 98% of the time, nothing is even there.

My wife's car slammed on the brakes when I was trying to turn around in a tight parking lot. It wouldn't let me run over the tall grass. WTF.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by metallicpea

I usually order because I have found the total price paid to be more attractive than negotiating something on the lot that a dealer has money invested into...

Dealers don't have any money invested in their stock. The cost of the cars is fully financed by what's called in the industry a floor plan. That floor plan may be financed by a bank, but it's usually by the manufacturer finance company, in our case BMW Financial. In the days when interest rates were high dealers were always trying to sell their stock rather than special order, because what they paid in floor plan interest could wipe out the profit on a car that sat too long. That's not the case today. I bet BWM doesn't charge more than 1% annual interest, if they charge any at all. Their job is to promote the sale of BMWs, not to make a profit off floor plans.

As to how cars in stock are equipped, that's as often as not out of the dealers hands. The factory equips cars not only based on where they think demand lies, it's also on what add-ons are most profitable. When factory allocations are made the dealer seldom gets much of a say as to what he'll get.