Had a great handover at Red Noland with Rick Dymek and his whole crew inside the garage and in the office.
Just some first impressions, in no partuicular order. Some may sound like complaints, but more along the lines of 'that's odd'. One problem, and one issue that I need to figure out so far.
The shift to neutral for a car wash is bizzare. I forgot to ask why it would be a safety feature. For a drive/drag through car wash, you put the car in nuetral and it is dragged through the washer. The IG for some reason, when you put it into N, after a set time it will shift to P by itself. Don't know if all recent BMWs do it, but there is some procedure to disable it. I'll just hand or wand wash.
There is no passenger side lock/unlock button on the door, even though there is a panel? The drivers side is the only lock/unlock? Just odd.
The lack of vanity mirror on the passenger side is just odd. Surprised there isn't a Playboy picture there to confirm that a chick didn't help design the interior.
The lack of Homelink is really odd. That is where the drew the line on cost? I thought that was going to change for the US spec models.
Loud wind noise at 70MPH from that vertical windshield and exposed wipers.
And the stero does a good job of masking it
Rear seat passengers appreciated the views and the headroom. They were surprised at the noise level, with a rolling softop Jeep being the closest comparison versus other full body SUVs. Also complained about vibrations and bounciness. Not sure, going to look into it further. I have a seperate thread. This was only one of two complaints.
The other complaint was the sticking the the passenger rear door button. Sticks and the door won't lock closed. Molesting the button gets it to pop out. Known issue, checking with dealer to see if it had been addressed on mine.
The rear cargo area got accolades for the amount of space. The doors were liked.
I didn't get the steps or sliders yet- and you(I) really need them. It's just a bit too tall to get into easily, but i'm all torso with a 29inch inseam. The rear seats are a bit higher. Definately needs some kind of step even with standard tires.
Drove it a farily heavy snow storm home from dinner. The standard beams aren't that bright, but the brights are very good.
The first comment I got was when I parked at The Bee Restaurant at the Broadmoor for lunch directly after the pick-up. I had walked away and I was taking some picks. A lady walking by said, "Someone left their lights on....". They went out as a fumbled with the FOB.
Need to find the honk to confirm locking. Also, the keys lock and un-lock icons are too similar.
For all the comments on steering and 'centering' I didn't see any of it, that I didn't expect from a 4x4. Turning radius is large, but so is my 23 4Runner. Stearing feel and 'wander' is probably better than a 21 JKL.
My wife doesn't like the car, but like the wife in "A Christmas Story" and the 'Leg Lamp', I think she knows enough to keep her pie hole shut and I'll eventually be easier to deal with. She thinks its my mid life crisis car, so she's giving me a lot of rope. She thinks it will be gone in 2-3 years.
Still positive on it. The basics (outside of the rear seat passenger comments) are great. Plenty of power up to 7300 feet. That drive up I-25 can get nutty. I ended up at 91mph at one point. 7,000 feet and 90mph is usually Cessna territory... Tried to keep it variable and under 75 for most of the trip for engine break in (is any necessary?)
ETA:
Onthe key issue, I think the major issue is that the key hole is angled, so you have to insert the key at an angle. Frankly, change the key 'stick' so that when you hold the key straight up, the key is turned to the angle of the key slot. Your body is made to hold something upright, not at some random angle.
Also, some aux power gidget squeals when you are in park or moving every slowly and press the brake or turn the wheel. Not horrible, but sounds cheap.
