Dimsa Exhaust Tips for 335i

Finally someone has come out with some very nice exhaust tips for a cool cosmetic look to the back of the 335i cars. Dimsa tips are simply that, replacement tips to the OEM exhaust system. These will do nothing for performance; it's purely a look thing, but boy do they look amazing. I'll be ordering mine soon and having a local muffler shop install them. The tips are 3.5" or 4" diameter and come in chrome or powdercoated black. Both styles look very nice; though, I'm a traditionalist and will go with the chrome on my car (I'll add some pictures when I get around to ordering and installing them in the next month or so.) You can order the pair for $175 at JlevisW.com. more.

The Ultimate Hardtop Convertible: Ferrari California

New pictures surfaced showing the Ferrari California featuring a pretty sweet hardtop convertible. Checkout some of the new pictures on Autoblog. more.

Yikes! Bimmerfest Member Suffers Major Top Failure

No one ever said there wasn't any risk when buying a retractable hard top convertible, but one member on Bimmerfest's message board is living with a very ugly reality. It seems a grinding sound was heard as the owner was lowering her top and much distress and anguish later the car was towed to a nearby BMW dealership. The rear passenger side back panel (the one with the rear window) popped loose and caused some gnarly panel shifts. The front panel reacted to the rear panel by popping up to on the passenger side really making the whole roof a sad mess. You can see a lot more of this, as the owner posted various photos on Picasa Web Albums.

All of this got me thinking about the hardtop maintenance. I apply 303 Aerospace vinyl/rubber protectant to all of my rubber seals, but doing this really wouldn't prevent anything as drastic as this issue from happening. I also have read that some people apply grease to some of the joints of their tops. I haven't tried that but am definitely looking into doing this now as a I'm sure some grease on the joints would be helpful to keep everything working nicely.

For those of you with a hardtop convertible, what do you do to maintain your top? What products, tips or suggestions do you have understanding that the problems of the Bimmerfest poster is more of a defect than a lack of maintenance care, the car only had 5k miles on it... Yikes! more.

New M3 Convertible Experience Website

I rarely go out to the international BMW website but today I did and in doing so found some great content about the M3 convertible. There are several experience videos showing Performance, Style, Character and Philosophy about the new car. One of the better videos, I found, was the one on Performance: M DCT Drivelogic that features the double clutch transmission showing how it works and how it benefits. You can also look into some more detailed shots of the interior, like the M Sport seats. This site is definitely worth checking out, just understand that seeing the M convertible could dampen one's love of the 335i convertible. more.