[Davy Jordi]

hey guys,

so i bought a bmw extended warranty and i'm really contemplating getting a refund because i just don't think that i'm happy enough with the performance of the m35i to keep it past the original warranty period.

so mainly my beef is with the performance of the transmission shifting as well as being higher up off the ground even with lowering springs. it's not horrible, don't get me wrong, and i am impressed with the performance in general as this is my very first bmw, but i really feel like i would like to get the lexus lc500 coupé in fewer than four years rather than six years or however long the extended warranty runs for, until 2026 i believe. another car that i'm really interested in is the new rwd m240i if it looks attractive and the lines aren't watered down line the new 3 and 4 series are. the current m240i is an excellent car and i really wish that i would have bought that car over the x2 m35i.

on the other hand, i'm trying to purchase another house within the next eight to ten years (maybe significantly sooner) and i'm not sure whether buying the lc500 would be a good move financially.

i'm just like, i guess that i was expecting more out of bmw when the brand has been hyped up for such a long time by so many and again, don't get me wrong, bmw makes some fantastic models, i just don't think that this model is one of them. it's a really attractive car (i actually think it's quite beautifully designed) with a decent but not spectacular powertrain and the handling is just okay coming from the lexus IS that i had prior to this due to the higher center of gravity. so it's just not as nimble as i hoped it would to be. it's quicker for sure, but the transmission's performance is its achilles' heel. the steering feedback is also really numb which is annoying af. it's also a bit noisier than i'm used to, but that's not really as bothersome as the performance. yes, i did take it on an extended test drive, but you really can't gauge a car's character based on a test drive alone and emotion decision making comes into the mix, muddling things.

what do you guys think? keep it for the full six years? there would only be one other car that i've owned in my lifetime that i've kept that long and i was absolutely in love with that car. it seems that if i were to keep this car for that long it would be for the betterment of my financial health rather than out of pure enjoyment of the driving experience. then again, because i'm going to buy another house in 8-10 years or sooner, i'm going to have to buy another car anyhow (unless i were to keep this out of warranty and that sounds like a nightmare) whether it's at the four year mark or at the six year mark, so i'm totally confused as to what to do or how to improve the performance of the car. those who know the backstory know that i have the jb4 attached to the car and that makes it quick, but not nimble and the transmission still sucks...

thoughts on the extended warranty refund? the longer i wait the less i'll get back from bmw.

[connerry330i]

I think you’re overthinking it a bit. I also think the most important thing you can do right now, is get out there and learn to drive your car.

That’s not an insult. This X2 is my 5th car since 2010 and my 3rd BMW in a row; of Bimmers they all had huge benefits and massive flaws. The most powerful, my F30 340i with Track package was the most disappointing, even with a Dinan Shockwave suspension tune…UNTIL I went to Performance Driving School and drove the stock version of my car and was like “I never knew”. Something one of the instructors told me stuck in my head to this day…on track, the reason you get better is because you start to subconsciously let go of NOT being on the street, where wrecking/getting pulled over make you not push the car the way it was intended. Those subconscious hesitations cannot be overstated, according to them.

Second, the car is only going to do what it’s set up to do, so the pilot has to learn it, understand it, and drive the crap out of it within its limits. But that’s tough to do in a world of traffic, idiots on the road, stop lights, etc.

The Aisin 8 Spd is flawed, sure…but so was the ZF 6 speed auto and the 8 speed Sport. ALL modern Bimmers have this damn throttle delay flaw built in…but so do many modern cars. A friend of mine here in Dallas has a pedal tuner on his frickin’ Cayman. The ZF’s shift a little faster, but the Aisin Comfort delay is better than the 6 Spd ZF and a little less so than the 8 speed Sport in the 2017 340i. But the more you drive this car, the more you’ll figure out what works, when. I’ll tell you this much, the member who wrote about the differences between the X3M and the X2M35i not being that dramatic wasn’t kidding…especially on a daily drive. And let's be honest; where are you REALLY gonna push a “real” M car or LC500 on the street that won’t land you in jail…or dead, or killing someone else?

I think the best thing is to get up early on a Sunday morning when traffic is light, find some of those nice canyon roads by you, or Vista or Valley Center, or even cruise down to SD, ( know a few good routes where I used to live, PM if you want some tips), pop that mother into Sport, and drive. Research all the flaws, then learn to drive around them/work with them, and get to know how you and the car work together. Learn how/when the XDrive goes from the 90-10 torque split to involving the rear. Trust the LSD. Warm up the tranny and tires well. This car will come alive in the right set of circumstances; all “performance” cars will. You have to love it for what it is, not what you wish it to be. But that said, there’s a lot of potential in it.

Or just dump it, and get what you like. Life, after all, is very short to be miserable in a car/job/relationship that isn’t working for you.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by connerry340i

Life, after all, is very short to be miserable in a car/job/relationship that isn’t working for you.

Well said! Then of course the dreaded Covid19 can come along and grab you before you can say "BMWs are rubbish".

[Davy Jordi]

no, i don't think all bmws are trash at all. that's definitely not what i'm saying. the one other bmw that i am familiar enough with, despite having driven many over the years, is the m240i and the m2 -- those cars are simply amazing, i just didn't buy either because i needed the practicality of the x2 and it does fulfill that role. the question is, is this a driver's car? and i don't think that the x2 is. it's a quick car that built around utilitarianism.

as for knowing how to drive or a lack of the aforementioned, that's an incorrect assumption, the correct assumption, however, is probably that i don't know how to drive this particular car well enough and yes, i should drive it a lot more but with life basically shut down at the moment, it's a bit difficult and california is about to enter another lockdown (the bay area has already enacted their lockdown in anticipation of the governor's orders). i've been to the track, i'm actually one of the few enthusiasts who has taken driver's courses and those were both a ton of fun. connery, i'm surprised that you know this area so well unless you are from the area, but yeah, driving through temecula itself either in wine country or in the de luz neighborhood is amazing, so is driving through la cresta just north in murrieta, and similarly driving through valley center or even driving up to palomar (which is suppppper fun) in north county are all fun experiences. i've driven this car through these areas and i feel like i made a compromise (space prioritized over the actual driving experience) that may not have been justified after thinking it over several months later.

i'm definitely not going to dump the car right now as that would be foolish and i bought the car and didn't lease it. i've never leased a car, actually.

i guess i have some thinking to do and another bmw isn't out of the question - as mentioned i absolutely adore the 2 series coupé in m240i form especially because it has the inline six and isn't punishing to drive as a daily. the lc500 is also an amaaaazing machine, but no, neither of those cars are kill you on the road type of vehicles - the m240i is a quick driver's car and the lc500 is a driver-centric grand cruiser.

i'm sure in the time between now and whenever i buy another car something will pop up that will catch my attention because the cars of today will be aged by that time, it's just kinda when that time will be and that's really hard to predict.

all in all, don't get me wrong, the m35i is a fun car, but it has it's flaws and i think the biggest one after thinking about it for awhile is the form of the car itself -- it's a small cuv and i am very used to either vehicles in sport luxury sedan or coupe forms and i miss those forms a lot.

also, connery, where did you used to live around here??? i live in temecula proper, but i grew up in wine country and my parents have a home in wine country still, but their primary residence is located behind the guard-gated walls of bear creek.

[xcelir8bmw]

I woke up this morning to this thread and holy shit.

It's an awesome dialogue.

Either the original poster is bored or he is having a midlife crisis early.

[connerry330i]

Originally Posted by Davy Jordi

no, i don't think all bmws are trash at all. that's definitely not what i'm saying. the one other bmw that i am familiar enough with, despite having driven many over the years, is the m240i and the m2 -- those cars are simply amazing, i just didn't buy either because i needed the practicality of the x2 and it does fulfill that role. the question is, is this a driver's car? and i don't think that the x2 is. it's a quick car that built around utilitarianism.

as for knowing how to drive or a lack of the aforementioned, that's an incorrect assumption, the correct assumption, however, is probably that i don't know how to drive this particular car well enough and yes, i should drive it a lot more but with life basically shut down at the moment, it's a bit difficult and california is about to enter another lockdown (the bay area has already enacted their lockdown in anticipation of the governor's orders). i've been to the track, i'm actually one of the few enthusiasts who has taken driver's courses and those were both a ton of fun. connery, i'm surprised that you know this area so well unless you are from the area, but yeah, driving through temecula itself either in wine country or in the de luz neighborhood is amazing, so is driving through la cresta just north in murrieta, and similarly driving through valley center or even driving up to palomar (which is suppppper fun) in north county are all fun experiences. i've driven this car through these areas and i feel like i made a compromise (space prioritized over the actual driving experience) that may not have been justified after thinking it over several months later.

i'm definitely not going to dump the car right now as that would be foolish and i bought the car and didn't lease it. i've never leased a car, actually.

i guess i have some thinking to do and another bmw isn't out of the question - as mentioned i absolutely adore the 2 series coupé in m240i form especially because it has the inline six and isn't punishing to drive as a daily. the lc500 is also an amaaaazing machine, but no, neither of those cars are kill you on the road type of vehicles - the m240i is a quick driver's car and the lc500 is a driver-centric grand cruiser.

i'm sure in the time between now and whenever i buy another car something will pop up that will catch my attention because the cars of today will be aged by that time, it's just kinda when that time will be and that's really hard to predict.

all in all, don't get me wrong, the m35i is a fun car, but it has it's flaws and i think the biggest one after thinking about it for awhile is the form of the car itself -- it's a small cuv and i am very used to either vehicles in sport luxury sedan or coupe forms and i miss those forms a lot.

also, connery, where did you used to live around here??? i live in temecula proper, but i grew up in wine country and my parents have a home in wine country still, but their primary residence is located behind the guard-gated walls of bear creek.

I don't think you think BMWs are trash at all, but it seems after all the experiences you've had with cars, you've got a little buyer's remorse based on what you thought the car was going to be vs. what it is. Plus as I think we all would agree, the Aisin is a PITA to learn to drive to the fullest; leaving it in Sport Auto seems to be the best option, but then why give us paddles, right?

Anyway this article might help a little with that.
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...r-modern-times
Not saying it's gonna completely change your mind, but it did help me to look at the X2 in a different light and even start to love it a lil bit.


And I get it with the lockdown thing. I acquired mine in March from BMW of San Diego...it's December, and I have 4300 miles on the clock, roughly 1400 of that from the drive out from SD to Dallas this past May. Put it to you this way...I've NEVER used launch control because I never drive the 20 minutes minimum required to warm the tranny up enough to use it, thanks to ol COVID. It'll be a while before that happens. But it helps to realize that while it doesn't exactly handle LIKE a sedan, it damn sure does better than other SUVs/CUVs and even SOME sedans.

The M240i is great fun; at the One Day Driving school at Thermal, seat time was between F30 340is and M240s which we used in the two autocross courses we ran (I placed 3rd out of the group overall) so those things have even more potential. I would have gone for one or even an M2 but I have the world's tallest 9 yr old child and that boy needs leg room so...

And next time around, I may head back to VW; I had 3 GTI's and a Golf R before getting my X1 35i in 2015; the new Golf R looks incredible so right now that's definitely on my radar (as is an Isle Of Man Green M3 but I am random like that.)

As far as SD, I moved there in 2008 from Miami; lived in Mission Valley, Bay Park and then La Jolla Village/UTC area right by UCSD after I got married ( I've always worked remotely, my wife works for UCSD so a short commute for her was the goal). She's born and raised in Valley Center and she has family in Temecula and Vista, plus my job took me into Riverside and the IE often, so I know the area fairly well. We just moved to North Texas in May of this year for my job, but I see us back in SD in a coupe of years, once our son wraps up elementary school.

[rice_rocket88]

You can buy an extended warranty at any time so... in a way if you need/want the money back, then certainly just get your refund now, and then eat the money later if you decide to keep it longer. I can't remember the actual $$ amount you paid for it, but I would be the one to say if it's let's say 2K and they'd give you back 1.5K well you took a hit of $500 for a month, sucks but maybe I'd just let it ride and keep the warranty. If they offered even less.. I would not even bother.

I agree the X2 being FWD biased drives different, much different than all my RWD biased BMW's and cars in general. It's certainly not a grand cruiser, and it's not a sports car. Is it better than most of the SUV lineup? Yes it handles better compared to the BASE models of each for sure. It's not a car, and never will be so compared to the lc500 it's completely different. So is the price tag! My cousin who has the current lc500 said the X2 m35i was a hoot.. Why did he buy the LC500? For the cruising on the highways.. for the V8 rumble, for the luxury cool features. It is a beautiful car, but it literally cost more than double what I paid for the X2. He also drives like a nanny, so he is very happy with the big loud engine and straight line cruising. I'm just saying everyone has their own desires in their car and what will make them happy. Unfortunately the X2 seemed to fall a bit short in your expectations.. Financially as you put it, buying another house in a few years probably wouldn't be a great time to drop.. let's say 60-70K on the lc500 assuming you get some trade in on your car. However if you can swing it and you love it, but all means. At this point I would say.. does that couple bucks of extra warranty really matter to bother trying to return it now? I myself never buy warranties... and if I did, I would only pull the trigger late into my warranty if I felt that the car was unreliable enough to need it.... or I might just sell it/trade it in if I didn't have confidence.

[Davy Jordi]

connery, i always am surprised for whatever reason when someone knows my area so well. we are so intertwined with north county and sd proper that it's refreshing to hear from someone else from the area. shame that you had to leave, but glad you'll be returning in a few short years.

i normally work at a physical location (a school) but everyone is working online right now although i really wish that i had the opportunity to work remotely full-time as i would move further south because i'm a city boy for sure.

anyhow, yes, there is buyer's remorse present although that's also mixed with expectations that were unfortunately not met. i wish that i had asked the dealership to allow me to live with the car for the weekend or something, although i would have a better chance at that happening if i were to purchase the lc500 than the m35i based purely on the cost of the car and the amount the dealer were to make during the sale.

anyhow, the car is stuck with me and the positive is that it is a fun little thing to drive around town. it's also super attractive, one of the best hatchback/small cuv things that i've ever seen. finally, it will serve its intended purpose as not only a commuter vehicle, but a hauler of small things to and from work. after this, though, i swear i'm not buying another cuv again haha. i'm back to sedans or coupes. while the m35i may be the best looking small cuv that i've seen, there are a million sedans that are in my eye much better looking and amongst those, there are absolutely those that are much better driver's machines.

so, i guess i'll keep the warranty, as rice_rocket pointed out, i'll probably lose more money than it'd be worth should i decide to keep the car, then move and after that buy a car that i would be more satisfied with.

all in all, i'm not terribly unhappy, i just had this idealized notion in my head of what a bmw was to be and as this is my very first bmw, when it didn't meet those idealized notions of being the superior driving and handling machine (the ultimate driving machine), i was just a bit let down. that said, if i were to remove those notions, then the car is a fine machine and i'm sure it'll serve me well.

[trnguyen]

Originally Posted by xcelir8bmw

Either the original poster is bored or he is having a midlife crisis early.

He is the youngest. Too early for midlife crisis. lol
Perhaps, it's more the covid-19 situation that trigggers these kind of thoughts or questioning... Filling some gap or expections.

Very interesting discussion tho.
I believe there were very good advices and directions said above.

Originally Posted by Davy Jordi

it's also a bit noisier than i'm used to, but that's not really as bothersome as the performance.

Have you tried to disable the Active Sound Design? Unless you like to have ASD.

I just disable it this week and it makes a big difference for me, even in comfort mode which I am on most of the time. It's much quieter in my opinion, but I am also on non-runflat tires for the winter.

Without the ASD, I have the feeling that the car is less "sportive"... Just in my head I know because I was used to the sound. But I don't think that I'll put it back because I like the comfort that I am getting.

[Davy Jordi]

Originally Posted by trnguyen

He is the youngest. Too early for midlife crisis. lol
Perhaps, it's more the covid-19 situation that trigggers these kind of thoughts or questioning... Filling some gap or expections.

Very interesting discussion tho.
I believe there were very good advices and directions said above.



Have you tried to disable the Active Sound Design? Unless you like to have ASD.

I just disable it this week and it makes a big difference for me, even in comfort mode which I am on most of the time. It's much quieter in my opinion, but I am also on non-runflat tires for the winter.

Without the ASD, I have the feeling that the car is less "sportive"... Just in my head I know because I was used to the sound. But I don't think that I'll put it back because I like the comfort that I am getting.

hey trnguyen,

i didn't know that bmw was pumping in artificial sound into the cabin. is this easily turned off via a button or do i have go through idrive? i have to take the car out later today so i'll look around and see if i can find it. i'm going to the nursery before california shuts down at midnight sunday for another who knows how long. (edit: i did a bit of searching on google and it looks like i have to use bimmercode. i haven't used bimmercode in a while, so i'll try poking around that this morning.)

thanks for the advice and yes, i agree, a ton of good advice here -- really great community on this board!

edit number 2: bam! active sound design is now off and i played for a bit with bimmercode coding this and that. i finally got rid of the idrive warning message which had been driving me nuts but had been putting off for whatever reason. i'll drive the car later today and see if i can notice any discernible difference.

thanks, again!

[trnguyen]

Either you sleep very late or wake up very early. You are in Pacific time zone and I am in Eastern time zone... You have the chance to search and do it before I wake up. It's 9am here

Sorry. I should have been more specific to mention it's in BimmerCode.

Is is also in BimmerLink, but I don't know if you have to pay for the feature or there is a tryout. It can be turned on/off as we want, but it's a hassle to plug the ODB2 dongle each time we drive.

[Davy Jordi]

Originally Posted by trnguyen

Either you sleep very late or wake up very early. You are in Pacific time zone and I am in Eastern time zone... You have the chance to search and do it before I wake up. It's 9am here

Sorry. I should have been more specific to mention it's in BimmerCode.

Is is also in BimmerLink, but I don't know if you have to pay for the feature or there is a tryout. It can be turned on/off as we want, but it's a hassle to plug the ODB2 dongle each time we drive.

i wake up suppppper early because i work in education at the classroom level as well as the administrative level (even though everyone at the higher levels within education in my area of california is working remotely from home). i tend to keep my regular workweek schedule over the weekends out of convenience and just because my body is used to the odd hours.

i had paid for bimmercode several months back to turn off the damn start-stop function as well as make a few other tweaks, but this morning i turned off the synthesized engine sound, or active sound design, as well as continued with my small tweaks here and there. a bit of fun before i start the day!

[rice_rocket88]

Bimmercode is pretty nice, although I wish it could do a few more things like reset service and put parking brakes into service mode. Just a few little tweaks that would be nice. My day's tasks other than clearing snow from the storm last night was a brake job on the wife's X1 in which I briefly considered doing the rear brakes, but my old tired body decided just the front brakes were enough for me this time.

If I ever get the chance to I will code in the rear foglights.. could be useful with some of the foggy stormy nasty weather we get here. I've been simply.. lazy to open up bimmercode with a printout of all the things I need to code.

I liked having ASD off.. but then decided I liked the extra sound so I turned it back on

[trnguyen]

Originally Posted by Davy Jordi

i wake up suppppper early because i work in education at the classroom level as well as the administrative level (even though everyone at the higher levels within education in my area of california is working remotely from home). i tend to keep my regular workweek schedule over the weekends out of convenience and just because my body is used to the odd hours.

i had paid for bimmercode several months back to turn off the damn start-stop function as well as make a few other tweaks, but this morning i turned off the synthesized engine sound, or active sound design, as well as continued with my small tweaks here and there. a bit of fun before i start the day!

I see. You are those of the people that I call "valiant" (translated from French). You are lucky that you can go to work. I wish I can go to work when I want. My work doesn't permit to go in the office until further notice...

Start-stop is one of the main reasons that I bought Bimmercode too.

How is it without the ASD so far?

[trnguyen]

Originally Posted by rice_rocket88

Bimmercode is pretty nice, although I wish it could do a few more things like reset service and put parking brakes into service mode. Just a few little tweaks that would be nice. My day's tasks other than clearing snow from the storm last night was a brake job on the wife's X1 in which I briefly considered doing the rear brakes, but my old tired body decided just the front brakes were enough for me this time.

If I ever get the chance to I will code in the rear foglights.. could be useful with some of the foggy stormy nasty weather we get here. I've been simply.. lazy to open up bimmercode with a printout of all the things I need to code.

I liked having ASD off.. but then decided I liked the extra sound so I turned it back on

I hope you worked on the brakes inside. I heard about the storm, but it didn't hit Montreal area.

Speaking of the brakes, I plan to do it myself when it will be due to change. I read that it's the app Bimmerlink that can do what you mentioned above: brake in service mode, etc. I'll consider buying it when the time come.

[Davy Jordi]

Originally Posted by trnguyen

I see. You are those of the people that I call "valiant" (translated from French). You are lucky that you can go to work. I wish I can go to work when I want. My work doesn't permit to go in the office until further notice...

Start-stop is one of the main reasons that I bought Bimmercode too.

How is it without the ASD so far?

with various vaccines on the horizon, it should only be a few more months until all are permitted to go back to work and hopefully, just hopefully the economic recovery across the western world in particular won't take nearly as slow as some economists are anticipating.

as for deactivating active sound, i noticed that there was less exhaust drone. i don't know if i was supposed to notice that or if that was even what bmw was synthetically pumping into the cabin, but it was quieter than usual, so thanks so much for the tip!

[trnguyen]

Let's see with time if you and I are like rice_rocket and will turn it back on.

[rice_rocket88]

Originally Posted by trnguyen

I hope you worked on the brakes inside. I heard about the storm, but it didn't hit Montreal area.

Speaking of the brakes, I plan to do it myself when it will be due to change. I read that it's the app Bimmerlink that can do what you mentioned above: brake in service mode, etc. I'll consider buying it when the time come.

Yep inside the garage.. How nice it is! The weather actually warmed up bit so it wasn't bad. I did a quick Google search for which app could put the rear parking brake into service mode but came up empty except that icarly mention. I just went to the bimmerlink site and no indication that it can do anything like that... If you find out please let me know!

[rice_rocket88]

Originally Posted by Davy Jordi

with various vaccines on the horizon, it should only be a few more months until all are permitted to go back to work and hopefully, just hopefully the economic recovery across the western world in particular won't take nearly as slow as some economists are anticipating.

as for deactivating active sound, i noticed that there was less exhaust drone. i don't know if i was supposed to notice that or if that was even what bmw was synthetically pumping into the cabin, but it was quieter than usual, so thanks so much for the tip!

Yes there's a little buzz/feedback you can hear when it's on vs off. I'm not sure how much more exhaust sound is.. But yeah I missed it . I personally am enjoying traffic a ton better when I go to work, it's going to suck to go back to stop and go traffic vs 30 minutes of nice cruising. Hopefully a good chunk of businesses will decide that remote is working and let those that wish to stay home do so...

[Davy Jordi]

Originally Posted by trnguyen

Let's see with time if you and I are like rice_rocket and will turn it back on.

no lol

i definitely will not be turning it back on.

[Davy Jordi]

Originally Posted by rice_rocket88

Yes there's a little buzz/feedback you can hear when it's on vs off. I'm not sure how much more exhaust sound is.. But yeah I missed it . I personally am enjoying traffic a ton better when I go to work, it's going to suck to go back to stop and go traffic vs 30 minutes of nice cruising. Hopefully a good chunk of businesses will decide that remote is working and let those that wish to stay home do so...

oh, yeah. this pandemic is going to change the way work is conducted around the developed world.

those who are able to work remotely are likely to be able to do so in so many cases as it reduces costs for the employer via reduced office space and associated costs.

[rounderman]

FWIW I had the sound off and I had to take the car in and they reset the computers (I did save my profile to a USB drive and that worked great) and had to redo the coding. this time around I left the sound on, Frankly it sounds a little louder but not annoying (to me). My key coding was ASS memory, remember sport when I turn off the car and I like the mirrors to fold when I lock the car (it just pleases me)
Anyhow I think late spring we should be deep into vaccinations and coming out of this mess. I hope. I work in healthcare (administrative) but I hear things. The next 6-8 weeks are going to be tough. My hospital is already gearing up and seeing a surge

Stay safe everyone