The place is called Road Race Technologies. I took one of my cars there for alignment and I am happy with the result so far. And it was just $110 which is also cheaper than I paid before to do the same in both Curry’s or BMW of Sterling. The guy on the phone told me that they usually take BMW’s to next door shop for alignment, but I did not mind since the price was right anyway. When I came to pick up my car that evening I saw that all they were working was BMW cars. Their regular hour cost is $95. Which I think is reasonable now.
Check them out if you are in the Dulles, VA area. I’d like to see more review of them. So far I have only found one on Yelp.

BTW, the way they specified their address on their web site does not work in Google map. So here is correct one with the like for you convenience.
23700 Overland Dr, Sterling, VA 20166

And one thing that I did not especially like is that they open at 8:30 am which is kind of late if you let’s say want to drop your car there in there morning and still get to work on time to some place like in DC.

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Pretty Good BMW shop in VA

So guess why it fell off the jack?

You guessed it right – the human error. Or I’d call it stupidity in this case. The owner of the minivan did not engage the parking break nor he ensured by any other means that the car would not roll.

The guy was changing one of the front tires of  front wheel drive Toyota Sienna. Once the flat tire was off the ground, lugs were  removed and he shook the tire the minivan rolled back a little bit, just enough to fell off the jack.

The lesson there for owner was that the differential lets one wheel roll freely once another wheel is off the ground even if transmission is in “P” (Park).

[image credit: wikipedia]

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How not to change flat tire

BMW has European delivery program that gives you a chance to pick up your car in Germany, drive it around the Europe while having unforgettable experience of European vacation, also to enjoy lack of speed limits on autobahns .

By picking your car in Europe you usually are ably to get it for  around 7% less compared to what you’d pay if you picked it at your local dealer. But most people I talked to usually spend the difference on the trip.

BMWBLOG made series of videos about one of such trips to Europe. Enjoy.

Here are links to bmwblog posts so you can also read about it.

• European delivery Part 1
• European delivery Part 2
• European delivery Part 3

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European Delivery

BWDBLOG has posted couple of updates regarding new BMW 6 Series GT.

The new six is going to be four seater only. The car will also look different from other 6 series BMW. It will have wider grille, srong shoulder line typical for these kind of cars.

New car will receive the same 6 cylinder twin turbo and 8 cylinders engienes as others 6 series BMWs.

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BMW 6 Series GT Update

I just checked out that first post from a while ago when I purchased the Bentley’s BMW e39 manual because I had put eBay custom search over. What a difference. It looks like now everybody is selling those manuals on eBay for $124 or so.

I just checked few other obviouse places to get those books from and they are all cheaper than $124.

I just don’t understand how those other more expensive places  can make any money at all when somebody is selling for 20% less.

Anyway here is the one from Amazon selling this kit for $107 plus shipping.

And ofcourse the Bimmerzone has BMW E39 manual still for like $99

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E39 BMW Manual

Go to website and list year, make and model of your car.

• Office of Defects Investigation

Filing an Official Consumer Complaint about Your Car

The U.S. Department of Transportation encourages consumers to file an official complaint of record with them when the suspect safety issues with their model car. This information will be entered into National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) vehicle owner’s complaint database and used with other complaints to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

Your complaint is important in determining if further action is needed to investigate the possibility of a recall.

How Your Complaint is Handled

If a safety-related defect is determined to exist by NHTSA in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment, the manufacturer must fix it at no cost to the owner. Your complaint is the first step in the process.

Government engineers analyze the problem. If warranted, the manufacturer is asked to conduct a recall. If the manufacturer does not initiate a recall, the government can order the manufacturer to initiate a recall.

There is not a specific number of complaints which need to be filed before a problem is investigated.

Steps to File Your Complaint
There are two ways you can file an official complaint about a model car with NHTSA.

FILE ON-LINE: You can file your official complaint directly on-line by Clicking Here.

FILE BY PHONE: Call the DOT Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236) while a NHTSA representative will record your complaint and other pertinent information.

OTHER RECALL WEBSITES

• What Is A Recall?

• http://www.recalls.gov/ – Official US Government website, including recalls from various Federal Agencies Recalls on: Recent Recalls, Motor Vehicles, Boats, Food, Consumer Products, Medicine, Cosmetics and Enviremental Products.

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Free Defects and Recalls Database

Enjoy…

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2009 BMW 7 Series Video Review

• Kumho Ecsta ASX Tire
• Sumitomo HTR Z Tire
• Bridgestone Potenza G 019 Grid Tire
• BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDWS Tire
• General Exclaim UHP Tire
• Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season Tire
• Continental ContiExtremeContact Tire
• Sumitomo HTR+ Tire
• Kumho Solus KR21 Tire
• Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position Tire

Also make sure you check out Tire Rack’s Special Offers:Save on quality tires with these manufacturer’s promotions available from Tire Rack
They currently have mail in rebates on Goodyear tires and free $75 gift card on Continentals.

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10 Top Selling All-Season and Summer Tires

The comfort access system puts an end to searching for car keys in your handbag or pockets. Simply approach your BMW, open the door and press the Start button. Your unique key is recognized remotely by the comfort access sensors as soon as you come within 1.5 meters of your BMW, wherever you happen to be carrying it -- in your pocket, your handbag or briefcase. Touch the door handle and the door unlocks.
The system also senses when you’ve entered the cabin and enables the Start/Stop button, so all you need to do is press it and drive off. And when you reach your destination, your BMW locks all doors automatically simply with a press on the exterior door handle. Locking your keys in the car by accident becomes impossible, because the comfort access system will not lock the doors as long as your key remains in the cabin.
Your vehicle key also functions as a remote control for opening and closing the tailgate. If you wish, you can store your individual driver settings by using the key’s memory function. Up to eleven individual preferences for seat adjustments, exterior mirrors, steering wheel position, Head-Up Display and the audio system can, depending on the model of your BMW, be saved on the key and activated each time you enter your vehicle.

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BMW Comfort Access

While US companies shorten production and facing cash flow troubles Volkswagen AG (further VW) and BMW AG are preparing the expansion of their US market share withing few years.

US small vehicle market historically is dominated by US and Asian auto makers. Autodata’s research from 2001 shows steady decline of US manufactures share and Asians and Europeans shares are steadily increasing.

VW is building their first US factory since they close their previous one in July of 1988 due to some quality problems and high cost of production with unionized labor.

This time VW is betting on non union workers. They plan to introduce several new models specifically designed for US market. VW get its optimism from other markets. For example VW has bigger market share in China than Toyota has. I would attributed that to centuries old tension between China and Japan so Chinese do not like to buy anything made in Japan in my opinion. New US factory is going to open in 2012 with production of 250000 cars a year. VW’s luxury unit Audi is also planning to increase its marketing spending. So we are going to see more Audi ads including on Super Bowl.

BMW is also planning to increase its market share by introducing more One  series cars and by selling more of their Mini cars. Although BWD has already increased prices for most of 2009 models. So unless hyperinflation really hits the US as most classic economics law suggests. It is going to a little harder for them to compete on price level  with other manufacturers when they start to clean up stock.

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Europeans intend to dominate US auto market