New 850i owner - miscellanous ramblings! (archive)

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I have been digging thru the archives and printing the pages that I find of importance. In the past, I have done the same thing with the RX7 (owned 2) group, Fiero GT (don't laugh - fun car!) group, MR2 group, Mercedes SL group,
and I currently own a Supra which also has a very active user group at SOGI.com. (Almost forgot - the Miata group too) I keep these pages in an alphabetic divided binder. When I sold my MR2 a year ago, one of the members wanted to buy (and bought) my two volume binder for $25. I was just going to throw it away!

Yes - I always buy the factory manuals. I have only owned this 92 850i two weeks but I have already acquired the factory service manual, electrical manual, and I have the parts and service bulletins on CD-ROM. Thank you - I appreciate the offer of assistance in locating those manuals. Yes - I am a DIY. I have a four car garage with a full size four post lift and three roll-abouts full of
tools (and of course - stereo and satellite feed TV). This 850i is my 59th car.

I have already installed a Remus exhaust which is still far too quiet - I want to hear the engine exhaust note. I have a wood dash/center console overlay on order. I plan on designing and installing a center armrest - boy do I miss not having one. The future plans include a performance prom as soon as I read all the archive comments about which one to buy. I am also considering a rear spoiler. From what I've read so far, most members dislike the look. I need to
find a place that will let me try setting one on the car to see what the look looks like. This car was previously owned by 3 different owners and one or more of them were not very kind to it. It needs minor touch-ups to various parts and
finishes. The entire car has been repainted already. Someone also put 20" Fitapaldi wheels on it. I have not yet checked to see how far off the speedometer is. It has to be awful because these 245/35zr20s are 1.5" too large in diameter which will register the speedometer too slow. They do look "kewl" though - the car really draws the looks! Someone also put a Pioneer radio in it - ugh! It looked so out of place. I was able to convince the dealer to
re-install a BMW factory radio - looks so much better. The car also has two mismatched batteries (just bugs me) that I plan on changing out soon. One of the previous owners took EVERYTHING out of the glove compartment - dumb ass! SO
- I didn't even get an owner's manual or any paperwork of any kind. I have that on order from BMWNA - free. I have a current order in for the service reset/code tool, K&N filters (I know, most of the membership dislikes the K&Ns
too but I have had nothing but praise over them in the past vehicle usages), and an "M" emblem. I plan on playing with the public by placing an "M8" emblem on the left side of the trunk lid. Someone previously put two Mercedes V12 emblems
on both front fenders. Contrary to the likes of most of the membership - I like them! I am actually amazed how upset some of the members get over something as minor as a wrong emblem. It's just personal choice, as was buying the car. The other user groups that I have belonged to have not been this 'anal' over a minor issue like this.

Actually - I think I will copy this and send my comments to the user group just to kind of introduce myself to them. Have a nice weekend!

Don't be too hard on me guys! I'm a 53 year old car nut married for 34 years (this Sunday) to another car nut. I have owned just about everything and have owned alot of them for a considerable length of time. The Fiero GT for 15 years, the 450SL for 10, a Cadillac Seville for 10 now, the Miata for 10, the Supra for 5, and on and on.

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