Hi all
! It's been about almost a month with the F80 and I figure I share my story.
Instagram: F80Gold
About Me: I've always been a car fanatic since I was young. I started out in the JDM scene and owned a 2006 WRX back in college. Since then I was exposed to the close-nit culture of the "car community". While owning the WRX, I've always admired BMWs and finally "pulled the trigger and bought one". I am here on the F80 forum to learn and be a part of a great car community. I intend on updating this post as my car progresses.
December 2013
I went into Rallye BMW of Westbury NY and placed my order for a 2014 BMW F30. Since this was my first BMW, I wanted to make sure I had all the options I wanted. A brief summary of the options I had was:
Took delivery - March 2014
335 X-Drive (N55)
6-Speed manual #SaveTheManuals!
Alpine White exterior with Dakota Coral Red interior
Driver Assistance Package
Dynamic Handling Package
Premium Package
M-Sport Package
M-Sport Brakes
Navigation
Modifications:
Active AutoWeke's Tune Box (N55)
M-Performance Exhaust
H&R Sport Springs
Velgen's VMB7 20x9 and 20x10.5
AFE Intake
15 % tint
Here are a few photos of the F30 (The car had 47,500 miles in 4.5 years)
I opted on getting the F30 with the X-Drive option because of the unpredictable winters in New York. During the course of owning the F30, I ended up moving down to the Sunshine state FLORIDA (South Florida)! After owning the F30 for about 4.5 years, I decided to part ways. The car treated me well except for the DSC failure which caused my rear rotors, rear brakes and calipers to over heat on the highway. I was out of the BMW factory warranty but luckily after doing some reading on the BMW Forums, I was reminded about the Geico MBI Coverage I had.
A brief summary of the Geico MBI Coverage : Covers the vehicle that is New with less than 15 months older and with less than 15,000 miles. Since I ended up getting the added coverage ($20 extra a month), they covered my $9,000 + worth of repairs on the F30
. All I had to pay was a $250 deductible. I would highly recommend adding that coverage if you plan on holding the vehicle past the factory warranty.
October 2018
After having the car in the shop, I thought to myself, its probably time for an upgrade. I began looking though various websites for F80's and in particular I was looking for a Austin Yellow or Sakhir Orange.
November 2018
What I noticed is that the Austin Yellow and Sakhir Orange F80s weren't staying on the market for long. After having no luck and getting impatient, I decided to put a deposit on a 2018 Alpine White F80 that was located at International Autos (Wisconsin). I ended up dealing with a sales person that was "shady" and gave me the run-around. I was given a bogus story on how the internet price was marked below market and they needed up raise the price. After negotiating, we agreed on a deal. The next day, I was told the car was sold even though I had put a deposit down. Salesman said "someone else" had put their deposit down before mine. Which was a lie lol.
You can see my review here -
https://www.google.com/search?ei=fpI...=1547408008512
November 2018 Continued
Back to the drawing board! After searching the internet, I found a 2018 Austin Yellow, 6-Speed with Marino Black Interior that was located at Motorwerks BMW (Minnesota). The car was listed as used and about market price for the mileage, options and year.
I ended up calling the dealer up November 16th and spoke to a sales person, David Fuhs. David went above and beyond. Believe me, I asked for a ton of photos, negotiated for about an hour and half over the phone and he treated me like a saint. Below are some photos that David sent (Excuse me for the ehh, O.K photos lol). I put my deposit down and I was one step closer to one of my Dream Cars!
Here's the extras on the Austin Yellow F80:
Black Extended Marino Leather
19" M Wheel 437M
Active Blind Spot Detection
Wireless Charging
Black Kidney Grills
Carbon Fiber Mirror Caps
Carbon Fiber Rear Spoiler
M Performance Side sill decals
Black Side Grilles
LED Door Projector
Everyone says they got a great deal and I'm not knocking them. I do have to say, THIS was an AWESOME deal ! Here's why:
1- Motorwerkes BMW is a Penske affiliated dealership and the Austin Yellow F80 was an "executive vehicle". Basically driven by one of the executives and never sold.
2- I am the first person to be on the title of the vehicle (Even though its a "used" vehicle)
3- Since I am the first person to own the vehicle, I still get all of BMW's maintenance covered for the life of the factory maintenance period.
4- This vehicle is eligible for Geico's MBI coverage. Basically I'll have all the major components covered on the vehicle up to 7 Years and up to 100,000 miles. In stead of me paying $3,000 to $8,000 (depending on the warranty provider) for an extended warranty, i'll end up paying less than $2,000 for Geico's MBI coverage.
5- The car was in show room condition minus a few rock chips.
November 16 Continued
After discussing the logistics on getting the vehicle delivered to me from Minnesota to South Florida, I decided it wasn't worth it for me to have it shipped. Here's what I factored into my decision:
1-I figured to have the car shipped on a closed carrier from Minnesota would have cost me $1500 or more especially during the holidays.
2-A notary that the dealership was going to send out would have cost another $250.
3-Probably would have taken 2 weeks to a month to arrive (since all the "Snow birds" begin to head south)
4-The "road trip" would only cost me a fraction of what it could of cost me to have it shipped.
I decided I was going to fly out to Minnesota and drive the car back to South Florida. That alone is about 1,800+ miles and more than 26 hours of driving. I figured I start my vacation November 18 and thought why not? It would be an epic road trip in an awesome car.
November 17
All the logistics were almost set and I ended up convincing my girlfriend's brother to help me out of this epic road trip. The plan was to fly out the 19th and be back by the late night of the 20th. Of course he agreed since, all expenses were paid by me and he was getting the chance to drive an F80
.
November 19th
The night before I couldn't even sleep because I was so excited about picking up the F80. I ended up taking two flights to Minnesota and since my girlfriend's brother was located in central Florida, I had him fly out to Chicago. I had him fly to Chicago because he had to work on the 19th and by the time, I finished all the paperwork at the dealership he would be ready to be picked up at the airport. Plus I always wanted to try Chicago's deep dish pizza lol.
November 19 Continued (I wish I took more photos of the whole journey)
Finally I landed in Minnesota and was greeted by my salesman David at the airport. I got picked in a brand new X3 and David had the seat warmers on since it was about 10 degrees in Minnesota.
After a short ride from the airport, I finally got to see my F80 for the first time. My god I fell in love.
The paperwork took about an hour and half but I knew I had a long journey to Chicago. I opted to not get the car clear bra'd because even though the dealer would have warrantied the work, there was no way they were going to fly to Florida for any warranty claims and vice versa.
While my salesman finalized the paperwork and I waited for the finance department, I decided to at least protect the paint to the best of my ability. I ended buying Frog tape (Painters tape) to tape of the front end. Luckily they had YELLOW
While taping the front end up, other employees and customers were like what are you doing? lol. I was like, I'm driving the car back to Florida ! I was only able to tape less than I wanted because, I was running behind schedule. I was supposed to be out of the dealership and on the road to pick up my girlfriend's brother about an hour ago!
As I made my many stops at various gas stations, I added more layers of Frog tape to the front of the car.
About 6 hours later, I made it to Chicago and finally got to try some well known Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (Really wish I took more photos)
This is a screenshot to a video. We were somewhere in cold Chicago having some deep dish pizza and of course, I added some more tape!
The Frog tape did its job and prevented anymore rock chips. For $7 a roll, it was worth it.
After a total of little more than 1,800 miles, about $26 in tolls and about $280 in gas, I finally got her back home! I am not going to lie, that road trip was rough but totally worth it.
Cost analysis of the road trip vs. having the car shipped
Approximate cost to have the car shipped and the notary was about $1750
Approximate cost of the "road trip" expenses (Not factoring wear and tear) :
Both flights (mine and my girlfriend's brother's ticket) - $220
Gas - $280
Tolls - $26
Food+Coffee - $80
Total = $606
An epic road trip......
Priceless!
Insert Random Photo:
Thank you for reading my journey!