Finally the day came…….. delivery taken 7/9/05 at Richmond BMW (Richmond, VA)

The details of my ride can be found in my signature so I won’t waste any space on it as this post is going to be a bit lengthy as I want to share as much information with you guys a possible.

The details of my “first impression period” with the car was quite the amount of driving as I had to take the car home (from VA to NJ) so I really had some time with the car (about 500 miles driven over the weekend).

I won’t bore you with how much I love the car etc, I just will comment on the hot topics being discussed here recently that were very helpful to me. Basically, all of the experiences, etc that you guys have gone through I looked for and tested when I got the car. So here goes:

• Bluetooth – Motorola V710 (Verizon) sync was successful and setup in less than 2 minutes. I already had the latest software on the phone (thanks to you guys of course). Phone sync, address book transfer, voice commands working – overall perfect working condition.

• IPOD integration via AUX input – The equipment I used was based mainly from the thread we had going about the IPOD Controls
My setup: Monster Cable iAirPlay Charger, Griffin AirClick Remote Control, Male-Male radio shack aux plug.

The problem with my setup is the Monster Cable iAirPlay charger doesn’t fit in the armrest. Since it has the airplane connector and the car connector, it’s double the size as a regular car charger, therefore making it a little too big and the armrest doesn’t close. For my trip I just used the regular cigarette adapter but I am going sell this iAirPlay on ebay and pick up the regular car adapter. Overall the sound quality (with the IPOD volume all the way up) was very good. All of my Mp3s are encoded at 192khz and they sounded exceptional. The AirClick remote worked flawless and is highly recommended.

• Sirius Satellite Radio – Sound quality was very good, I don’t see why everyone was complaining about the sound quality. You can tell it’s not CD quality but I mean it doesn’t sound cloudy or faded at all. My signal varied as I went through many states (VA to NJ) and the quality of the sound stayed consistent the whole time. I don’t regret the Sirius install and would actually recommend to all ordering an E90. (Don’t forget as discussed in other posts you get credit for one year subscription for free, so your balance if you get the “never pay another bill plan” is only about $380. Roughly 29 months of service and you never have to pay again, you can’t beat that)

• Voice Commands – Worked well, you have to learn how to say certain names from your phone book in order for the IDrive to understand you. For example if I want to call “Alex”, I have to say “Call A-lex” and emphasize the A. I used the voice command to control the Navigation and of course the cell phone, both worked without a problem, no complaints.

• Transmission delay from stop – I do feel the transmission delay as discussed in other threads. I believe the delay has gotten better after a few hundred miles on the car. It was more noticeable in the first 100-200 miles. Has anyone else seen improvement with this issue over time?

• Car riding very rough – As discussed in another thread (can’t find link at the time). My car was riding very rough and I remembered the information from another thread stating to check the tire pressure. Unfortunatly I didn’t have my gauge with me when I was on the road so the VA to NJ trip was pretty bumpy and I wasn’t too thrilled with the ride. When I got home the fronts had about 38 PSI (should be 29) and the backs had about 39 PSI (should be 32). After adjusting the tire pressure the car drove like I expected it to drive, basically like driving a different car! MUCH IMPROVED. Another thank you is owed to the forum for the info on this.

• Break-In Period – I was easy on her and tried to vary the RPM’s as much as possible although it was difficult as I was on the highway most of the time. I shifted between 5th and 6th gear just to vary the RPM’s while on the highway. I also kept her under 4k RPM all but one time (hit about 4.5k).

I hope this information is helpful; overall I love the car and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Sorry no pics yet but by next week I’ll have PLENTY for you guys.