Places to sit.

I ordered a pair of black leather seats this weekend.

They were REALLY expensive, but they come delivered in a free convertible.

So, yeah, on saturday I ordered a car. The cost of this car is, within a half of a percentage point, half the cost of the first house we bought. I must be insane, but I'm the happy sort not the homocidal, so that's okay then.

2005 BMW 330ci Convertible, Jet Black body, black top, black leather interior, Performance package, and heated seats (I would never have even considered buying heated seats, but robeli's Vue came with them, and I swear to you, they are the coolest things EVER).

That's 235 horses in a 3.0L straight 6 with variable timing DOHC moving 24 valves mated to a 6spd. manual tranny, with short throw shifter, that's turning a pair of "M" double spoke 18x8.5" 225/35 low profile tires at the rear. The red line is 6800rpm, with the power band maxing at 5900rpm, and it developes 222 ft.-lb. of torque at 3500rpm. It'll go from 0 - 60 in just under 6 seconds, and top speed is 155mph (limited by the computer, and I have zero intentions of changing that as I'll never even approach that speed). Tires on the front are "M" double spoke 18x8" 225/40 low profile and are -0.5degree camber for making those turns nice and comfy. When it comes to stopping, it's got big giant ventilated anti-lock discs on all four. The drive train (except for the engine itself), the suspension, and steering (including the rims and tires), are identical to the M3 (and what black magic BMW perform to pull 97 more horses out of a meager 200 more cc, I don't want to know). And hey, it's rated at 30mpg on the highway, so it's not a terrible guzzler.

Those nice people from Bavaria throw an AM/FM stereo w/CD player in the dashboard wired up to 11 speakers (including a subwoofer) for free in all this too, so you'll be able to hear your music while cruising with the top down.

The seats are 10 way power adjustable with 3 memory settings (which, and this is REALLY cool, are tied to the keys. If I insert my key, they will automaticly adjust (along with the exterior mirrors) to my preferred setting, and if robeli inserts her key, they automaticly adjust to hers (again, including the exterior mirrors)). Default climate control settings are also tied to the keys, which is nifty. It's also got built in HomeLink with 3 device capability (ah, no more replacing the battery in my garage door opener every 6 - 8 months). And of course, it's got four seats, so we'll be able to take the boy with us wherever we go too.

Unfortunately, it's still just an order number in Germany. Expected arrival date is late April, but that's okay, since that's also when the weather will have changed from suck to nice.

In other news, there's a Gate in Chinatown. I've never walked north from the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro station before yesterday. I'd never seen one of those gates up close and in person before. They are very pretty. What I could see of the parade was cool. Oh, and unless the weather totally blows, I can't see the point of switching to the Red line to go from Metro Center to Gallery Place/Chinatown station. It takes less time to walk, being a meager 5 blocks apart at surface level. I had no idea they were that close. You get no sense of distance travelling between stations underground.

Places to sit.

I ordered a pair of black leather seats this weekend.

They were REALLY expensive, but they come delivered in a free convertible.

So, yeah, on saturday I ordered a car. The cost of this car is, within a half of a percentage point, half the cost of the first house we bought. I must be insane, but I'm the happy sort not the homocidal, so that's okay then.

2005 BMW 330ci Convertible, Jet Black body, black top, black leather interior, Performance package, and heated seats (I would never have even considered buying heated seats, but robeli's Vue came with them, and I swear to you, they are the coolest things EVER).

That's 235 horses in a 3.0L straight 6 with variable timing DOHC moving 24 valves mated to a 6spd. manual tranny, with short throw shifter, that's turning a pair of "M" double spoke 18x8.5" 225/35 low profile tires at the rear. The red line is 6800rpm, with the power band maxing at 5900rpm, and it developes 222 ft.-lb. of torque at 3500rpm. It'll go from 0 - 60 in just under 6 seconds, and top speed is 155mph (limited by the computer, and I have zero intentions of changing that as I'll never even approach that speed). Tires on the front are "M" double spoke 18x8" 225/40 low profile and are -0.5degree camber for making those turns nice and comfy. When it comes to stopping, it's got big giant ventilated anti-lock discs on all four. The drive train (except for the engine itself), the suspension, and steering (including the rims and tires), are identical to the M3 (and what black magic BMW perform to pull 97 more horses out of a meager 200 more cc, I don't want to know). And hey, it's rated at 30mpg on the highway, so it's not a terrible guzzler.

Those nice people from Bavaria throw an AM/FM stereo w/CD player in the dashboard wired up to 11 speakers (including a subwoofer) for free in all this too, so you'll be able to hear your music while cruising with the top down.

The seats are 10 way power adjustable with 3 memory settings (which, and this is REALLY cool, are tied to the keys. If I insert my key, they will automaticly adjust (along with the exterior mirrors) to my preferred setting, and if robeli inserts her key, they automaticly adjust to hers (again, including the exterior mirrors)). Default climate control settings are also tied to the keys, which is nifty. It's also got built in HomeLink with 3 device capability (ah, no more replacing the battery in my garage door opener every 6 - 8 months). And of course, it's got four seats, so we'll be able to take the boy with us wherever we go too.

Unfortunately, it's still just an order number in Germany. Expected arrival date is late April, but that's okay, since that's also when the weather will have changed from suck to nice.

In other news, there's a Gate in Chinatown. I've never walked north from the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro station before yesterday. I'd never seen one of those gates up close and in person before. They are very pretty. What I could see of the parade was cool. Oh, and unless the weather totally blows, I can't see the point of switching to the Red line to go from Metro Center to Gallery Place/Chinatown station. It takes less time to walk, being a meager 5 blocks apart at surface level. I had no idea they were that close. You get no sense of distance travelling between stations underground.

Places to sit.

I ordered a pair of black leather seats this weekend.

They were REALLY expensive, but they come delivered in a free convertible.

So, yeah, on saturday I ordered a car. The cost of this car is, within a half of a percentage point, half the cost of the first house we bought. I must be insane, but I'm the happy sort not the homocidal, so that's okay then.

2005 BMW 330ci Convertible, Jet Black body, black top, black leather interior, Performance package, and heated seats (I would never have even considered buying heated seats, but robeli's Vue came with them, and I swear to you, they are the coolest things EVER).

That's 235 horses in a 3.0L straight 6 with variable timing DOHC moving 24 valves mated to a 6spd. manual tranny, with short throw shifter, that's turning a pair of "M" double spoke 18x8.5" 225/35 low profile tires at the rear. The red line is 6800rpm, with the power band maxing at 5900rpm, and it developes 222 ft.-lb. of torque at 3500rpm. It'll go from 0 - 60 in just under 6 seconds, and top speed is 155mph (limited by the computer, and I have zero intentions of changing that as I'll never even approach that speed). Tires on the front are "M" double spoke 18x8" 225/40 low profile and are -0.5degree camber for making those turns nice and comfy. When it comes to stopping, it's got big giant ventilated anti-lock discs on all four. The drive train (except for the engine itself), the suspension, and steering (including the rims and tires), are identical to the M3 (and what black magic BMW perform to pull 97 more horses out of a meager 200 more cc, I don't want to know). And hey, it's rated at 30mpg on the highway, so it's not a terrible guzzler.

Those nice people from Bavaria throw an AM/FM stereo w/CD player in the dashboard wired up to 11 speakers (including a subwoofer) for free in all this too, so you'll be able to hear your music while cruising with the top down.

The seats are 10 way power adjustable with 3 memory settings (which, and this is REALLY cool, are tied to the keys. If I insert my key, they will automaticly adjust (along with the exterior mirrors) to my preferred setting, and if robeli inserts her key, they automaticly adjust to hers (again, including the exterior mirrors)). Default climate control settings are also tied to the keys, which is nifty. It's also got built in HomeLink with 3 device capability (ah, no more replacing the battery in my garage door opener every 6 - 8 months). And of course, it's got four seats, so we'll be able to take the boy with us wherever we go too.

Unfortunately, it's still just an order number in Germany. Expected arrival date is late April, but that's okay, since that's also when the weather will have changed from suck to nice.

In other news, there's a Gate in Chinatown. I've never walked north from the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro station before yesterday. I'd never seen one of those gates up close and in person before. They are very pretty. What I could see of the parade was cool. Oh, and unless the weather totally blows, I can't see the point of switching to the Red line to go from Metro Center to Gallery Place/Chinatown station. It takes less time to walk, being a meager 5 blocks apart at surface level. I had no idea they were that close. You get no sense of distance travelling between stations underground.