M Coupe
Learning that 2001 or 2002 was likely to be the last year for the M Coupe, I made up my mind to order one. I placed deposits of $1000 at Advantage BMW Downtown (Houston, TX) and Momentum BMW (Houston, TX) around March 2001. At both dealerships, I was number two on their waiting list. I also picked up a spot at BMW North Houston without needing a deposit. At the time, the sales associates represented that my order would be going in probably the next month or very soon thereafter. I had some free time scheduled at the beginning of August, so I wanted to pick up my car at that time. That required that my order be placed by the end of May, for July production. It soon became apparent that with the M Roadster, M Coupe, M3 and M3 cabriolet all sharing the same engine, and with engine production being extremely low, that it would be difficult at best to make my time frame. The May allocation date came and no Houston dealer had received allocations. It is my understanding that at that time, the only dealers with allocations were located on the coasts. Thanks to Ron Stygar, I came into contact with County Line BMW in Connecticut. My sales associate was Scott A.L. Doty. The customer service and attention were beyond excellent. County Line had an available allocation for me. I secured the allocation for myself with a $1000 deposit, for purchase at MSRP. Soon thereafter, I withdrew my other deposits without any problem or hassle, just two disappointed salesmen (John Pham at Momentum BMW and Matt Tatum at Advantage Downtown, to whom I have directed satisfied customers since then.)
Scott at County Line always made sure I was up to date on the status codes of my car by calling me whenever it changed. He also helped me with the potentially daunting task of a Texas resident buying a car from a Connecticut dealership for pickup in South Carolina. Soon after I placed my order, I learned that my production date would be sometime in mid-July, leaving plenty of time for my delivery date of July 30, 2001. Once the car was completed, the factory issued a Certificate of Origin and Odometer Statement. At that time, I arranged to complete the sale. I used my credit union, financing the purchase price less $10,000 down for 36 months at 5.45% interest (!). The financier wanted the purchase order or buyer’s order and proof of insurance. It also wanted proof of title registration with it listed as the lienholder. Usually, the dealer provides these. I prepared the title document myself and faxed it to the lender. I arranged for the buyer’s order to be faxed from County Line, and directed my insurer to fax proof of insurance for my newly purchased (and yet to be seen in person) car. That was good enough for the lender. I was to bring back a copy of the certificate of title when I received it. The lender sent County Line the check, and the sale was complete. County Line sent by overnight mail my Odometer Statement and Certificate of Origin. I took these documents to the County Clerk’s office for registration. There, I paid my taxes on the car at the Texas rate and picked up my license plates.
Normally, when you buy a car, the dealer provides you with temporary plates. If you take delivery at the Performance Driving Center, then the dealership forwards the plates to the PDC. Because County Line never handled the title work, it also didn’t have temporary plates for me. Jonathan Stribble, my delivery specialist at BMW was kind enough to arrange for South Carolina temporary plates. It turns out that because I already had my permanent plates, I didn’t need them after all, but I used them anyway on the (hackneyed?) reasoning that a cop who pulls me over may be less likely to go to the trouble of ticketing me when I don’t even have plates yet.
I picked up my 2001 BMW M Coupe at the Performance Driver Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The car is Imola Red with Imola Red & Black interior. I ordered both options, the in-dash CD player and the sunroof. I received BMW floor mats and BMW wheel locks as freebies. The car costs the same whether or not Performance Center Delivery is chosen. The amount that a typical customer pays for a delivery fee ($645) is applied instead to the accommodations for the trip. My only expense was transportation to South Carolina.
I arrived at Greenville-Spartanburg airport and was greeted by a nice man carrying a cardboard sign with my name on it. Neat, just like in the movies. He drove me to the Marriot hotel in a 540i Sport Wagon. The accommodations are quite nice, surprisingly so even though it’s a Marriot. At the hotel, dinner was paid for. We would get started at 8:00 AM the next day, so the shuttle would leave at around 7:40 I think. Yes, eastern time zone. I woke up, ate a complementary breakfast that nearly lapsed me into a gluttony induced coma, and boarded the shuttle. I was there with 5 other delivery customers and their spouses. PDC has the capacity to deliver 6 cars per day. My girlfriend couldn’t go because she was working. We arrived at the PDC. At the entrance was a decadent looking coupe configured like mine. It was the 1st time I actually saw a car like the one I ordered in person. Jonathan Stribble introduced himself to me and asked, “So, how do you like your car?”, referring to the one I was ogling. My gorgeous car was up front at the entrance of the PDC, the first thing anybody saw when entering. Wow, its finally real but more like a fantasy than ever. I probably forgot to answer his question. Here was my car and it was so pretty that I had to force myself to stand close to it much less touch it. They split us into two groups. My group consisted of myself, and two couples picking up M Roadsters. Both couples were over 50 years old. I felt a little weird about treating myself to the same present that these people had reserved for the end of their lives, while I had yet to start mine. Oh well, I earned it upfront and they didn’t. No reason to be ashamed of that right? Ha!
Ty was our driving instructor. We each had cars that were the same model as what we were picking up. I drove an Estoril Blue M Coupe with Estoril Blue and Black interior. It was very nice (although redder is better)! Ty taught us how to arrange our seats and mirrors. I’d been setting my mirrors correctly but sitting to far away from the wheel. Most people do both incorrectly. After that, we started on the slalom, concentrating on training our eyes to use a focus point farther down the road. When we focus farther down the road, we have more time to adjust and react to things because we’re perceiving them earlier. Next we did the emergency braking. It’s just a brute force mash-the-pedal exercise. Then, we did the emergency maneuvering exercise using the water walls. This was pretty neat. Before the exercise, it seemed the jets were impossibly close together to negotiate at any realistic speed, but we managed them at about 30 m.p.h. on the wet surface without a problem. Then, we did the skidpad. We drove around the skidpad, 2 at a time separated by 180 degrees on the pad. The pad is polished concrete with sprinklers. We drove and accelerated to over 40 m.p.h. with DSC off first. I ended up spinning out. It’s a very cool thing to experience in someone else’s car. Now I know what the car feels like just before it lets go, with DSC off. Let’s just say I have to be going much, MUCH faster around a wet corner with DSC off than I would EVER feel comfortable with. Ty told me that the reason I spun out and the roadsters did not was because the Coupe is much more rigid, and for once the roadsters benefited from a little more flex and compliance. I probably should have also been in a higher gear than 3rd so that I would be spinning less torque at that speed. Then we did the exercise with DSC on and reached 60+ m.p.h. without a problem. The system is quite amazing and I can’t imagine driving this car in the wet without it. Because I was on this trip by myself, I had the opportunity to do each exercise twice as often while the other cars were switching drivers.
I didn’t get to tour the factory and museum because both happened to be closed that month. Oh well, extra track time.
After our track sessions, we came back and took delivery. Jonathan Stribble walked exhaustively through the features of my car and the various manuals. It was a near page-by-page level of thoroughness. Then, they opened the big doors of the PDC and allowed me to drive out and park in the front lot. So, so, very cool. I had requested in advance that County Line throw in floormats and wheel locks as freebies because they should be. They were already installed when I got there.
The final part of the day consisted of a drive where we could take a BMW model of our choice and drive pre-mapped routes through Greenville-Spartanburg-Greer. I passed this up, having in hand the only BMW I cared to drive, and decided to hit the road a little early. I left at around 12:00 P.M. I drove home through South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, and back to Houston. It was a 14 hour drive, 960 miles and no tickets. I stopped in Baton Rouge and stayed overnight at the Sheraton, another nice hotel.
The alignment was great and there were no rattles.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Post script: I realized soon after I got home that my floor mats should have come with some Velcro anchors. I called Jonathan Stribble and he checked and said that the detailing department had neglected to install them. He Fed-Exed them out to me and I received them the next day. I also finally noticed that an M badge was missing from the hatch at delivery. Advantage Downtown installed it under warranty.
Since that time, I have added:
BMW Keyless Entry and Alarm
BMW CD Changer
BMW carpeted trunk mat
I installed all accessories myself. Write-ups to come.
