As some of you know I recently sold my '07 335i 6MT "snow white" and replaced it with a spawn from the dark-side (2006 Mercedes ML350), so I think a new thread is in order.
I don't anticipate doing much in terms of performance mods, but comfort/convenience and maintenance will definitely be happening.
The car is a local, single-owner vehicle. Leased, then bought-out and serviced by the same original owner at local dealerships. Unfortunately I don't have any service records, but I did speak with the local MB dealer and confirmed that the car has been well maintained. I'll try to pop by the dealer sometime soon to see whether they can give me a print-out of services done.
No accidents and the car is immaculately clean (got a very good detailing by the dealer I bought it from). Odometer reads 104,000 km (65,000 miles).
Car is very well equipped with leather/suede seats, bi-xenons, navigation, auto-folding mirrors, a whole bunch of other goodies, and my favourite, air-suspension. Air suspension lets you raise (and subsequently drop) the car 11cm (almost 4 1/2 inches) with the click of a button. It's very cool to watch the car raise itself up, level, etc. And, of course, the ride can be toggled between sport/normal/comfort with another button.
I do already miss having parking sensors, though. That option was very useful in my 335i, and I'll probably look into installing sensors into this car.
The "dream list" of mods includes:
- ipod integration kit (preferably with bluetooth)
- rear camera or parking sensors (maybe both)
-covering up the rear seats (dog-proofing)
-covering up the cargo area (dog-proofing)
-covering up some of the chrome on the grille with glossy black (will probably try plastidip)
-iphone mount
-ipod mount
-radar detector hard-wire
-dash camera hard-wire
-purchase + hard-wire additional camera for the rear
-LED tail lights
The purchase included 2 years of "Limited superior protection" warranty through Lubrico. I've read mixed reviews about them, but it sounds that as long as you follow their maintenance requirements (an oil change every 6 months or 10,000 km/6000 miles) and "record" the maintenance in their system, you won't have much problems with them. I'm glad to have this piece of mind.
There are brand new tires installed on very clean 19" wheels. The tires are Taiwan-special Atturo AZ800, which translates to "garbage." I'll be looking into replacing these with a Michelin set sometime soon.
That said, even with these crappy tires, I'm very impressed by the ride. I'm finding myself driving and cornering at the same speeds as I was doing in my 335i without any issues; it handles very well and tracks predictably. Haven't had any tire squeal or loss of traction yet. The acceleration is also quite nice - feels much better than the E70 3.0 si models I've driven. Power is linear and smooth - you don't feel the torque at all. The brakes are taking some time to get used to, and I might look into upgrading them in the future. The brake pads are also supposedly brand new, but if tires are any indication, they'll be garbage and should be replaced with quality ones.
Now a few photos:
This is how it looks when the car is raised: