Questions from a newbie

[isung]

Just bought a 2003 325i w/about 7k miles and love the car...but have some questions since I've never owned one before:

1) I live in hot-weather climate w/temps up to the 100's during summer and drive a lot in stop-and-go traffic. The a/c on my car seems to take forever to cool down when I turn it on. It takes at least 10 minutes, for the car to get down to the temp i want it at. Is this normal?

2) Also, I don't have a alarm installed, but heard you can get the dealer to program the alarm indicator to flash when you lock the doors. Does this usually cost anything?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[Nataku]

1. Get Huper Opik tint - it has very high heat rejection. expensive though. The drae is the top of the line 98% rejection and does not have to be dark. some guy posted $629 for 5 windows. ceramic 30 is cheaper

2. Ask to get the "visual cue". I got mine programmed last week. I got it for free. Install a Lojack at the same time. The visual cue is great because though there no alarm the "clown nose" still blinks giving the appearance of an installed alarm.

 

[Section_8]

It probably shouldn't take *that* long to cool down, BMW's have good A/C units, and there's less cabin space to cool vs some cars (especially the 3's). I've gotten into mine in mid 90 degree weather, and within 10 minutes I'm shivering from the Auto Air cooling things off.. (set at 72-74)

And Nataku hit it on the dot, you can get the visuals turned on, sometimes they will try to charge you, it's a good thing to 'tag on' whenever you're in for service, oil change, etc etc.

 

[isung]

Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it!

 

[codex57]

Huper Optik is great. Just go with Ceramic 30. It's been incredible. It should be about $375 for all 5 windows. Expensive, but totally worth it.