• Welcome to H4O! For a reduced ad experience, please login or register with the forum.

My new "offroad-ish" vehicle, "Civil War"

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Well as some of you know, I sold Razorback about 2 weeks ago and had been in the market for something new and different. I needed something that got better gas mileage, was newer than 2006, that looked good and definitely had AWD thanks to Michigan winters. I was looking at trucks and stuff but the gas mileage for the amount of driving that I have to do made that hard to justify. But then I got the bright idea of an all-wheel drive car. And the 2 best option for me were either an Audi or a BMW. (I know that there are other brands but I didn't like the way the ones looked that were in my budget of $12,000. I was pretty well set on getting an Audi because I liked the way that they looked, but every one that I looked at either had a boat load of owners, accidents or both. (Plus repair are uber expensive) Then I stumbled across a 2009 BMW 328i with X-Drive in the very hard to find Monaco Blue paint. It had decent miles (110,000), All-Wheel Drive, tons of comfort gimmicks, was a one owner with a clean service history, and was just in my price range (After all the government fees and such). Soo went to check it out and fell in love with it. It's got a 6 speed auto with manual shiftability and Drive Sport mode that is fun to play with, heated seats, heated side mirrors, and heated windshield washer nozzles. Has dual zone climate control, and is just soo much fun to drive. The steering took a bit of getting used to since it's heavier but it also communicates the road very well as is fairly smooth.

Now for the bad... It's got a fair amount of scrapes, scratches, chips and dings that would make my old H3 proud, the brakes may need to be looked at before too much longer, and the shocks/struts will probably be replaced next year.

Other than that, it's a good vehicle that is in relatively good shape, got a 2 year warrenty with it and it is regularly getting 28-33 mpg.

The only mods I have planned for it are plastdipping the stock 16's Dark Gray, getting a set of dedicated winter tires and finally getting a set of 17/18 inch Gray 5 spoke wheels for Spring, summer and fall.

Sorry for the large pictures...
 

Attachments

  • 20151015_183213.jpg
    20151015_183213.jpg
    397.4 KB · Views: 546
  • 20151019_130904_HDR.jpg
    20151019_130904_HDR.jpg
    592.3 KB · Views: 591
  • IMG_1130.jpg
    IMG_1130.jpg
    100.9 KB · Views: 587
  • 20151019_130936_HDR.jpg
    20151019_130936_HDR.jpg
    556.6 KB · Views: 659

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Yeah, I was shocked when I saw 28+ mpg... nearly had a heart attack, especially when I got so used to less than 15 mpg. The only real issue is the fact that I sit down lower and have to resist the urge of trying to go over top of parking curbs and small cars.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Yeah that's what I've read... (Some members on a BMW forum have around 260,000+ miles on theirs) the previous owner on this one was really big on maintenance and any little thing that didn't even effect drive-ability was replaced, mainly due to the fact that BMW had it under that 4 year free maintenance warranty program thing... So I'm running around with 111,000 miles on the chassis and body and newer parts all around it.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
I had a 325xi wagon with a 5 speed (miss the car, but don't miss that it died a VANOS death).... I really liked it, sure-footed, good mpg, decent room. I even ran it on a track day when the rain was coming down sideways and my Corvette was being its normal, temperamental self. Fun cars.... do keep the oil changed on them and also pay attention to the coolant - they are pretty sensitive to overheating.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Nice, yeah I'm probably gunna do an oil change here in the next week or two... already changed out the spark plugs myself which saved me a TON over taking it to a BMW Dealer...
 

amrg

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,317
Location
Qatar
Congrats on the car! I think the 328 is pretty quick esp with the high revving and 6 speed! Sounds nice tooa
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Thanks guys, yeah it's really quick, took some getting used to and have to resist the urge of punching it... it's especially quick for something that doesn't have a ton of Horsepower or torque at the crank (Think 230/200). Gives my mom's 2011 Camaro a run for it's money that's for sure.
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Nice! I still would like to get a BMW, but I am thinking more of a 5 series. I was considering a 2008 535xi wagon before I ended up getting the H3.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Yeah, I would have loved to have a higher number series... But they're just too dang expensive though, and even the 3 series aren't cheap.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Dipped my wheels Dark Gray with Flexidip... 4 base coats and 2 clear gloss top coats to give it a slight satin finish... Now it's starting to live up to it's name, Civil War, with the blue and gray theme. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get some better pictures of it.

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 20151105_174703.jpg
    20151105_174703.jpg
    418.1 KB · Views: 515
  • 20151105_124431.jpg
    20151105_124431.jpg
    425.4 KB · Views: 586
  • 20151105_121946.jpg
    20151105_121946.jpg
    468.4 KB · Views: 484
  • 20151105_150205.jpg
    20151105_150205.jpg
    381.6 KB · Views: 399

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Turned out alright, not SEMA amazing... this is why I am not going into professional painting. :wink: (Also can't figure out why the attachment box is soo big now? Sorry about that guys...)

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 20151106_101418.jpg
    20151106_101418.jpg
    522.1 KB · Views: 441
  • 20151106_101351.jpg
    20151106_101351.jpg
    392.9 KB · Views: 444
  • 20151106_101330.jpg
    20151106_101330.jpg
    444.6 KB · Views: 469
  • 20151106_101313.jpg
    20151106_101313.jpg
    355 KB · Views: 453

Fish

Well-Known Member
Messages
871
Location
San Diego, CA
Looks good, now you need some low profile tires when those wear out and lower it a little. I'm looking to lower my is250 soon, I dont want it slammed or anything, I just hate the gap between my wheels and the fender.
 

High Five H2

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,627
Location
West Texas
I've always wanted a BMW 3-series of some kind. I like the E46 ZHP models. I want to get a diesel wagon AWD car for road trips and for when I move north and a 328d is pretty much the only thing that fits the bill. I'm interested in seeing how it holds up and how you like it long term.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Hey Fish, yeah these are gunna be my dedicated winter beater wheels... getting a set of winter tires for em' in a month of soo and plan on getting a Summer set of 5 spoke wheels in 18's next year. I just did this because I wanted to see how the blue paint would look with gray wheels and I like it, and I probably will get some slightly lower shocks and struts next year as well... can't go too low after owning a Hummer. haha
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
I've always wanted a BMW 3-series of some kind. I like the E46 ZHP models. I want to get a diesel wagon AWD car for road trips and for when I move north and a 328d is pretty much the only thing that fits the bill. I'm interested in seeing how it holds up and how you like it long term.

Yeah, it's a pretty cool car soo far... even maintenance soo far has been fairly simple to do in the driveway, saved a ton of money by DIY... Just took some getting used to the Steptronic 6 speed tranny and heavier steering... I would have loved a diesel model but they are just soo difficult to find around my area or cost an arm and a leg, I've got the N.A. N52K 3.0l engine. Mine is kind of a work in progress right now... I can comfortably drive it everyday but it does need a little freshening up here and there, new brakes before too much longer as well as shocks and struts and if the air filter I ordered doesn't fix my issue with an odd idle every now and then, then I'll have to chase down an annoying vacuum leak and see if that's the problem... but other than that, I'm happy with it and it's a worthy successor to Razorback, not equal though because I still do miss the 35's. :wink: But you know me... I do anything to my vehicles or have anything going on with them, I always post up about them soo I'll keep you posted on the long term "testing".
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
Got Civil War some new shoes... 205/55R16 Goodyear Ultra Grip Winter tires... (I know... tiny stock size) Night and day difference in driveability and handling/comfort compared to the trash run flats that were on it... Also peeled the dip off the wheels. Next on the chopping block are possibly new ignition coils and next year getting new brake pads and rotors front and rear... List never ends! :giggle:

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 20151116_134122.jpg
    20151116_134122.jpg
    360.9 KB · Views: 370
  • 20151116_134150.jpg
    20151116_134150.jpg
    412.3 KB · Views: 445
  • 20151120_104653.jpg
    20151120_104653.jpg
    357.7 KB · Views: 491
  • 20151120_104719.jpg
    20151120_104719.jpg
    430.4 KB · Views: 464
Top