Re: Where can I get a pic of the grey cloth?...nt (archive)

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Go to http://www.bmw.de/carconfigurator/index.htm
and click "CarConfigurator starten" on the right.
On the next screen click "jetzt konfigurieren"

On the next screen click on the black ball next to "3er", then on the right panel, click "weiter" with the blue arror pointing right.
On the next screen click "Limosine" (thats German for sedan) and click "weiter" again
On the next screen click 325i and "weiter' again.
on the next screen click "weiter" again. Ie skip adding steptronic.

On the next screen pick a color. I picked "Stahlblau" steelblue. Then click "weiter"
On the next screen click "Sportzize fur Fahrer"
and themn click "Weiter".
On the next screen there are four cloth choices. they are fro left to right.

"Stoff flock anthrazit" Material flock anthracite ie charcoal gray
then there is "gaau" - gray
then marineblu - marine blue
and finally,
mintgrun - mint green.

On the next screen a small interior image appears with the word zoom. Click it onece or twice for a larger image.

You can go back and try another seat color by clicking "zuruck" and then selecting the new coth color.

Besides Anthracite there is gray nice), marine blue (very dark blue, nice) and an unappealing to me at least, sea green. they are all sort of two tone interiors, except gray) as the basic color of the plastic parts is gray. It is simial to the tanin Red leather against the black background, except here, it is one of these colors agiains a gray background.

As Jon Shafer mentioned below, I visited him at Cutter Motors yesterday, Saturday Morning. I am from the Sacramento area in Northern California and happened to be in Santa Barbara on family business. I was taking my daughter to a dance audition at UCSB.

I set out from UCSB in my POS rental to get to Cutter Motors about 9:30 AM, just after a rain cell had passed through. Highway 101 had a few potentially treacherous spots, with pools of water to hydroplane on or perhaps even some �black ice.� Not more than a mile before Cutter Motors I passed a three-car accident on the highway that had happened only moments before. Just as I arrived so did three CHP cars. Two cars had met face to face in the fast lane, (must have been a crunch after a spin) and a third car was resting on top of the two crunched and entangled hoods! How, I don�t know. While it looked very bad, all the passengers seemed to be out on the side of the road calmly looking at the damage. This was a vivid reminder to be careful, as I was just about to take a test drive in a 325i. I surely did not want to bend up one of Jon�s nice demo BMWs!

While driving up to the facility, I immediately noticed that Cutter Motors carries a wide range of brands in this massive, yet architecturally stunning facility. (Nicely set off by a fresh sprinkling of snow on the tops of the really tall mountains immediately to the east of the town.) Cutter sells all the right brands. BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, Range Rover, plus a few others in an adjacent building I did not recognize. (I think they were American cars!) The floors are so shiny clean I looked for a matt to brush off my wet, feet but could find none. I guess it does not rain much in Santa Barbara! I entered the fine Cutter building through the portal you have all seen in Jon�s pictures, only to find him hard at work at his desk

We had a pleasant discussion, and the opportunity to meet Franko, who takes care of the Internet buyers. We got down to business quickly; namely, my test-drive of a 325i. While Jon made the arrangements, I noticed that his display floor was, at the moment, shy of new cars, but there were 4 or so 325s of different colors and trim outside, ready for inspection. Off in the corner of the display room, which seemed to be shared with Audi, was three artfully arranged TTs! This is the first time I had a chance to inspect a TT up close. I rather liked them.

Jon arranged for a test drive for me in a topaz blue 325i, manual, roof, sport package, Xenon. You can see the very same car posted in jon�s directory of photos. (www.cuttermotors.com/jon_shafer). The file is called topaz3250n.jpeg where n= 1,2,3 or 4. This car is very close to the way I wanted to configure my car so it was a great opportunity. It is hard to find a manual to test, I have found.

Jon explained how to adjust the manual sport seat (a very clever arrangement that is very easy to use.) Since I am almost 6� 4�, I needed to lower the seat nearly all the way down so that my head did not interfere with the moon roof. I found, more than adequate movement in all other directions, (including fore-aft!) and the seat is extremely comfortable. Well, I found the right settings, and started off without embarrassing myself by killing the engine on my first clutch engagement. I needn�t have worried. The clutch through is long, the grab region is quite high in the pedal range, and quick to grab. I quickly adjusted to the change from my Integra and we happily headed off! I was directed into a nearby very fancy and beautiful residential region called Hope Ranch. It is gorgeous, with twisty two lane roads (all wet today) meandering down the hill toward the ocean. I had the opportunity to take some low speed sharp turns very rapidly. The 325i lay flat in the turns and was precisely responsive. Yes, the servomechanism that provides steering assist does have more gain than the 2000 323i and 323ci that I drove in Sacramento. I probably would not mind a little more resistance, and more self-centering force, but I was pleasantly surprised at how precisely the car responded to my directional input. Yes, there is less self centering force, as others have said in this forum, but I for one, do not find that a major problem. I quickly forgot about the formerly worrisome steering and found myself enraptured by the pleasures of tossing the car around the corners, enjoying the ride, and the beautiful scenery and the turbine smooth engine. I followed up with a quick spin at normal highway speeds (75 indicated). I found no problems with the sports tires wandering nor did I have any trouble with the light steering. It remained precise and true. What a car!

When I we returned to the Cutter facility I was all smiles. (SAG?) After reading bimmer.org for more than one year, I finally decided to place my order, especially as I found Jon�s Internet special offer to be attractive and reasonable as well as being better than what I had found in the Sacramento area or East San Fran. Bay area. (Don�t ask, that�s between Cutter Motors and me. If you are interested in a car, get the deal straight from Franko or Jon.) Maybe you can do better than the Internet special offer, I have heard some claims of a better deal, but I couldn�t elicit one from any one else. Plus, Jon was willing to order a very eccentric car for me. My special requirements caused some raised eyebrows up in the Bay Area. The three features of my request, that Jon had no trouble with, but others did were: (1) No moon roof (more head room for me), (2) add special order rear electric shade, (3) add special order cloth seats, and (4) top it off with no step. Most dealers just weren�t very interested in my order.

Well, the order is in with Cutter: week 13, 535i, Steel blue, SP, Xenon, fold, power sun screen, obc, in-dash CD, HK and, Anthracite cloth seats. It gets real hot in Sacramento and I don�t like sitting on plastic in the heat, nor am I willing to pay for leather. Cloth is all that�s left. It is what I have on my Integra and I have never regretted getting it. Flame away folks, but if you�re interested in seeing what I will get, you can do a build on the German language BMW web site and see a picture. Jon says he will post a picture when my car comes in. It is different form black �ette in that the basic interior color is gray, but the seats and door inserts are anthracite (charcoal black, not jet black.) We now await confirmation of the cloth order from BMW.

I had a great time at Cutter, Jon is a pleasure to deal with, the 325i is pleasure to drive, and Santa Barbara is a beautiful town with some excellent restaurants. Besides, the Santa Barbara wine region is also top notch. Hard to go wrong! Take some time to visit, enjoy, and buy your BMW from Jon. I can hardly wait for mine!

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