September 2007

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September 14, 2007: Yes, still alive. Just haven't been online too much :) Sooooo, what's been up this month?

The first weekend in September was pretty cool. On that Sunday I joined Michael and Shannon Tanner at the Livermore Valley Wine Festival. They coordinated with their friends Mark and Sandra to rent a 21 passenger bus which carted our drunk asses around for the day. LOL it was great! My friend Ben joined us for most of the day but a migraine cut his touring short (but we drank his fair share of wine for him!). That Monday, I pretty much just chilled out and recouped from Sunday by hanging out at home and talking Clarice our for a good 2 hour walk (poor thing was tired after that one!). The rest of the week was pretty chill. On Thursday, I took a couple of days off and and hung out at Rob and Susan's place over in Atherton. They were out of town for a week and said I could stay at 'the estate' (as I like to call it). I did a whole lot of nothing which included sitting out by the pool, reading, and relaxing. Throw in a few visits from some friends I hadn't seen in a while along with a couple of nice dinners, and it made for a really nice get-away :)

I really miss the 'country' feel of being outside the city. Trees, fresh air, and a less crowded feel are really nice. I'm getting a bit tired of walking out my front door in SF and smelling the city (mmm, urine, car exhaust and who knows what). Hahah, can you tell I'm starting to wear a little thin on city living? LOL hmmmm, stay tuned over the next month or two to see how I change that :P

Upon my return to the stinky city of SF, I decided it was time to start implementing a few changes. LOL the first one is kind of a major one and it's one I've been thinking about quite a bit over the past few weeks. After numerous visits to the dealership and doing a bit of drooling and dreaming, I decided it was time to say good-bye to my VW GTI and welcome a new edition to my driving resume. Yes, I moved from the VW world of "Drivers Wanted" to BMW's "Ultimate Driving Machine!".

I present to you my 2007 BMW 335i Sedan! Yeah, that's 300 HP with twin turbo's and yeah, it's freaking sweet!

 

THE BASICS

  • 3.0 liter DOHC, 24-valve, 300-hp
  • 6-cylinder engine
  • Rear-wheel drive

ADDED OPTIONS

Exterior Features:

  • Black Sapphire Metallic

Interior Features:

  • Black with Dakota Leather Upholstery and Burl Walnut Wood Trim

Sport Package

  • Star Spoke (Styling# 162) light-alloy wheels, 18 x 8.0 front, 18x 8.5 rear; 225/40R-18 front, 255/35R-18 rear run-flat performance tires
  • 8-way power front sport seats (includes 2-way headrests and thigh support)
  • 3-spoke leather-wrapped multi-function sport steering wheel with audio and accessory phone* controls
  • Sport suspension calibration

Premium Package

  • BMW Assist with Bluetooth Wireless Technology
  • Universal Garage Door Opener
  • Auto-Dim Mirror
  • Lumbar Support
  • Digital Compass

Cold Weather Package

  • Cold Down Rear Seats w/Ski Bag
  • Heated Front Seats
  • Retractable Headlight Washers

Comfort Access

Comfort Access system offers an even greater degree of convenience: keyless access to your car. Simply carrying the remote key in a pocket allows you to unlock the doors by touching the door handle. You can also turn the engine on or off by pressing the Start/Stop button* without first inserting the remote key.

and yes, I got the iPod/USB Adapter :)

 

STANDARD FEATURES ON 2007 BMW 335I SEDAN

Performance and Efficiency

  • 3.0-liter dual overhead cam (DOHC), 24-valve inline turbocharged 300-horsepower 6-cylinder engine with twin-turbo technology, and Double VANOS steplessly variable valve timing
  • Electronic throttle control
  • 6-speed manual transmission

Handling, ride and braking

  • Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), including Brake Fade Compensation, Start-off Assistant, Brake Drying, and Brake Stand-by features, with Dynamic Traction Control (DTC)
  • Extensive aluminum componentry, including front suspension components (forged-aluminum lower arms, steering knuckle); subframe; steering rack; and brake components
  • Double-pivot type front suspension with dual forged-aluminum lower arms
  • 5-link rear suspension with cast-aluminum upper transverse arms
  • Front and rear anti-roll (stabilizer) bars
  • Twin-tube gas-pressure shock absorbers
  • 4-wheel ventilated anti-lock disc brakes with Dynamic Brake Control (DBC)
  • Engine-speed-sensitive, variable-assist power steering

Exterior

  • 17 x 8.0 Star Spoke (Styling 159) light-alloy wheels, 225/45R-17 run-flat1 all-season tires
  • Tire Pressure Monitor
  • Xenon Adaptive Headlights with auto-leveling
  • Halogen free-form front foglights
  • Heated dual power mirrors and heated windshield washer jets\

Interior seating

  • 8-way power front seats with 2-way manual headrests and driver memory with 2 pre-sets for exterior mirror and seat positions
  • 3-spoke leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth® phone2 control
  • Front seatback storage nets
  • Burl Walnut Wood trim

Comfort and convenience

  • Engine Start/Stop button
  • Advanced Vehicle & Key Memory – includes climate-control temperature and air-distribution settings, exterior mirror and power seat settings,6 audio tone settings and radio presets with optional on-board navigation system, central-locking preferences, and lighting preferences
  • Automatic climate control – includes micro-filter, automatic air recirculation, left/right temperature control, temperature- and volume-controlled rear outlets, windshield misting sensor, maximum air conditioning, heat at rest, more powerful fan, and recall of individual user settings
  • 2-way power glass moonroof with “one-touch” operation, sliding interior sunshade, and wind deflector
  • Front-seat center armrest with climate-controlled storage compartment
  • Front passenger cupholders (dashboard-integrated)
  • Rear-seat center armrest with cupholders
  • Tilt/telescopic steering wheel columnPower front and rear windows with “one-touch” up/down operation
  • Dynamic Cruise Control
  • BMW Ambiance Lighting front and rear
  • Courtesy lights – include fade in/fade out, actuation from remote, automatic switch-on when engine is turned off, separately controlled left/right front and rear reading lights, front footwell lighting, and illuminated vanity mirrors
  • Ground-illuminating lights in door handles
  • Locking glovebox
  • Electric interior trunk release
  • Rain-sensing windshield wipers and Automatic headlight control
  • Pre-wiring for BMW center installation of mobile phone, alarm system

Audio System

  • Logic7 Surround Sound anti-theft AM/FM stereo CD/MP3 player audio system with 13 upgraded speakers (including 2 subwoofers), Digital Sound Processing (DSP), Radio Data System (RDS), Auto-Store and 3-channel FM diversity antenna; displays MP3 song title and artist
  • Auxiliary audio input for portable music players
  • Pre-wiring for BMW center installation of 6-disc CD/MP3 changer

September 11, 2007:

It's hard to believe that 6 years have passed since my friend Graham left this earth. Once again, this time of the year makes me reflect on the many lives he touched and how to this day, his memory still brings a joyful smile to my heart. It's also a reminder of just how fragile life is and a reminder that every day we have is a gift to be cherished. I'd like to say I live every day like it's my last, but I don't... but I do think I try a wee bit harder than note to squeeze what I can out of each of 'em.

I miss you my friend... and still love you a lot.

Penz

 

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