2009 BMW M3: Due for Service

Just to get it over with...

"For $70K I'd expect the car to tell you it need service."
"The CTS-V display has a more realistic looking oil can graphic."

Question for you guys: does the car automatically communicate the service request to your dealer and have them set up an appointment (they should be then calling you?). It is supposed to do that with the new BMW Connect and "condition based service". Re: worthyfed's questions (this is based on my experience with my 2009 M3 sedan here in France: "does the Nav System play DVD's? How's the quality? How's the sound system for music and such?" Yes, it plays regular DVDs (and DVD MP3 disc you burn)...video quality is excellent, as screen resolution is 1280 x XXX. Colors are good. You need to select the "zoom" option in the display to get full screen, but otherwise works like a regular DVD player - incl. subtitles. With the high-end audio option, the sound for the DVD is unbelievable. It actually is a great place to watch a movie with excellent sound because you have the 16 speakers (the center channel, subwoofers and the surround option work really well), controlled acoustic environment and no one to complain about sound levels. Highly recommend setting the equalizer to bring out the mid-bass (there are some good recommendations for the high-end system on several M3 websites). "How's the iPod interface? Lets see it in action." I find it works very well with an iPod classic and a Touch AFTER I had the iDrive software updated. It now loads the iPod menu quickly and works well. The one thing that is annoying is that the "random" mode has to be selected each time...why I don't know. I also have a lot of music ripped to the HD (my back up in case I forget to bring the iPod with me) and that works well although occassionally there is "skipping" in the MP3 playback...weird, but I wonder if it has to do with fragmentation in the HDD. "What does the screen look like in direct sunlight? Does it auto dim at night? Can you turn it off completely?" Screen brightness/visibility in daylight is very good as are the other displays...BMW has a kind of reverse brightness on its orange displays that works brilliantly in sunlight. You can turn off the iDrive display at night (and you can set one of the memory buttons to do that...helps on dark roads. There is an night mode BUT it is manual, not auto like in the 7 series and a lot of other cars so it pays to make the function accessible via one of the memory preset buttons to make the changeover easy. The night mode also will not work if you have the traffic map activated...not that the manual tells you that, discovered only trial and error. "How well do the headlight washers work? They work well to clean the lights but to soil the car. They should be activated by a separate button rather than every 4-5 times you clean the windshield with lights on. The trick to avoid using the headlight washers is to either turn off the lights...or use small "squirts" to avoid triggering the washers up front. Unlike the E46, you can't pull the fuse for the headlight washers as it is now the same fuse for the wipers. The questions on the iPhone and beam assist I can't answer as I don't have either.

Question for you guys: does the car automatically communicate the service request to your dealer and have them set up an appointment (they should be then calling you?). It is supposed to do that with the new BMW Connect and "condition based service".

Re: worthyfed's questions (this is based on my experience with my 2009 M3 sedan here in France:

"does the Nav System play DVD's? How's the quality? How's the sound system for music and such?" Yes, it plays regular DVDs (and DVD MP3 disc you burn)...video quality is excellent, as screen resolution is 1280 x XXX. Colors are good. You need to select the "zoom" option in the display to get full screen, but otherwise works like a regular DVD player - incl. subtitles. With the high-end audio option, the sound for the DVD is unbelievable. It actually is a great place to watch a movie with excellent sound because you have the 16 speakers (the center channel, subwoofers and the surround option work really well), controlled acoustic environment and no one to complain about sound levels. Highly recommend setting the equalizer to bring out the mid-bass (there are some good recommendations for the high-end system on several M3 websites).

"How's the iPod interface? Lets see it in action." I find it works very well with an iPod classic and a Touch AFTER I had the iDrive software updated. It now loads the iPod menu quickly and works well. The one thing that is annoying is that the "random" mode has to be selected each time...why I don't know. I also have a lot of music ripped to the HD (my back up in case I forget to bring the iPod with me) and that works well although occassionally there is "skipping" in the MP3 playback...weird, but I wonder if it has to do with fragmentation in the HDD.

"What does the screen look like in direct sunlight? Does it auto dim at night? Can you turn it off completely?" Screen brightness/visibility in daylight is very good as are the other displays...BMW has a kind of reverse brightness on its orange displays that works brilliantly in sunlight. You can turn off the iDrive display at night (and you can set one of the memory buttons to do that...helps on dark roads. There is an night mode BUT it is manual, not auto like in the 7 series and a lot of other cars so it pays to make the function accessible via one of the memory preset buttons to make the changeover easy. The night mode also will not work if you have the traffic map activated...not that the manual tells you that, discovered only trial and error.

"How well do the headlight washers work? They work well to clean the lights but to soil the car. They should be activated by a separate button rather than every 4-5 times you clean the windshield with lights on. The trick to avoid using the headlight washers is to either turn off the lights...or use small "squirts" to avoid triggering the washers up front. Unlike the E46, you can't pull the fuse for the headlight washers as it is now the same fuse for the wipers.

The questions on the iPhone and beam assist I can't answer as I don't have either.

Wow, thanks. That was a good answer! Much appreciated.

@worthyofed,

I have a '10 coupe so I can answer some of your questions as well:

"does the Nav System play DVD's? How's the quality? How's the sound system for music and such?"

Yes it does. e90m3cdfr covered the operation pretty well. Zoom mode is needed to use the full widescreen display, but resolution is excellent. Video is only viewable when the car is stopped with the parking brake set, otherwise you just get audio (US law). I have the upgraded 16-speaker Enhanced Premium Audio and it's excellent, as it should be. It adds extra punch in the mids that I think is a little lacking in the LOGIC7 system on the 3-Series. Is it worth $1900? Over the standard system, yes. Over the L7 (not avail on the M3), probably not.

"How's the iPod interface? Lets see it in action. How does it interact with the iPhone?"

I don't use an iPod or iPhone, but I have seen it in use on the new iDrive and it's pretty slick. A video demo would be most useful though. I put my music on the hard drive via the USB option.

"What does the screen look like in direct sunlight? Does it auto dim at night? Can you turn it off completely?"

The screen is perfectly clear even in direct sunlight. It is very well-shielded and has an anti-glare coating, plus it has a light sensor that actively brightens and dims it. At night it darkens considerably. As e90m3cdfr mentioned the night mode is manual, but I also have one of the programmable keys set for that. And yes, you can completely power the screen off.

"How well do the headlight washers work? How well does the auto-dipped-beam headlights work? Do reflecting road signs make them dim, or are they pretty top notch?"

I have the headlight washers and the auto high beams. The washer spray the hell out of everything, so yes they work well but I click my lights to off to avoid using them (they spray automatically every 3 or so uses of the windshield washers when the lights are on auto). I would also like a separate button.

The auto high beams work quite well. They recognize tail lights and will even "remember" there's a car in front of you on a curvy road that dips out of the camera's view so it doesn't constantly click the brights on. Very large road signs can cause them to dim, but usually there's a lot of glare so I can see why. Sometimes they click on when I wouldn't bother to use them, I like that. The only thing I don't like is you have to arm them each time you start the car, and to disarm them you have to turn the brights on and off manually.

@roadburner,

For $70K I'd expect a little more chrome up there, and maybe an entire Steinway grand's worth of piano black trim. The CTS-V has that.

"The CTS-V display has a more realistic looking oil can graphic."

ROFLMFAO

And at a lot less money........yep dollar for dollar you get more oil can from the Caddy.

"For $70K I'd expect a little more chrome up there, and maybe an entire Steinway grand's worth of piano black trim. The CTS-V has that."

It also needs a pretty blue OnStar button.

Ah, gotta love that "free" maintenance. Especially on a M!