OT: Last Leg of I-15 Finally Opens!!!

[an]

Ren, talking about the new 328i. I actually like it better than both the G37 and the past 328i. I guess that turbo I4 push me over the top. I hope Infiniti will follow suite and use I4 turbo for the G25 and turbo V6 for the high end G. If not, BMW will have my full vote.

[paramount]

I’ve been timing my commute from central Temecula to RB (door to door really): Somewhere between 35-40 minutes.

Wow. That qualifies as an easy commute IMO.

I’m so glad I didn’t move to SEH last year.

And of course the 12 standard speakers and 2 subs in my 328i really help pass the brief time I spend in my car.

[an]

[quote=paramount]I’ve been timing my commute from central Temecula to RB (door to door really): Somewhere between 35-40 minutes.

Wow. That qualifies as an easy commute IMO.

I’m so glad I didn’t move to SEH last year.

And of course the 12 standard speakers and 2 subs in my 328i really help pass the brief time I spend in my car.[/quote]
I used to have to commute 35-40 minutes and I was miserable. I guess everyone have different tolerance. Now I’m loving my 5-10 minutes commute, depending on how many lights I hit.

You’re right, having a good stereo system will make a commute more bearable. How many watts are pumping though your system and how big are those 2 subs? Must be vibrating the car with 2 subs.

[paramount]

[quote=AN]
I used to have to commute 35-40 minutes and I was miserable. I guess everyone have different tolerance. Now I’m loving my 5-10 minutes commute, depending on how many lights I hit.

[/quote]

If I were stuck in traffic I might be miserable, but it’s a pretty drive up until Escondido and the traffic moves right along.

With plenty of in-car entertainment available, I even find my commute enjoyable.

[an]

[quote=paramount]If I were stuck in traffic I might be miserable, but it’s a pretty drive up until Escondido and the traffic moves right along.

With plenty of in-car entertainment available, I even find my commute enjoyable.[/quote]
I used to live on O-side and work in Scripps. Most of the drive is OK, but the 78 to Via Rancho Parkway drives up my blood pressure like crazy. Has the 15 expansion eliminate that traffic bottleneck?

[scaredyclassic]

My new car urge passed. I hadbeen having a few nightmares of fatal car wrecks and one really bad dream of driving perilously in the house which made me suddenly aware if mortality and suddenly I resolved never to take my kids in the 1980s civic ever again in spite of 250,000 uneventful accidentfree miles. I went car shopping and was ready to buy as many air bags as possible. But then all the fear passed.

The stereo hasn’t worked in my car for over a decade.

I’m gonna risk it. Not scaredycat over actual riskni guess.

[paramount]

[quote=AN]
I used to live on O-side and work in Scripps. Most of the drive is OK, but the 78 to Via Rancho Parkway drives up my blood pressure like crazy. Has the 15 expansion eliminate that traffic bottleneck?[/quote]

The expansion has completely 100% solved the problem.

I’m literally getting 20 extra minutes of sleep b/c of those Express lanes.

I have the HiFi system in my 328i – (2) 8″ subs under the front seats with an amp in the trunk.

[an]

[quote=paramount][quote=AN]
I used to live on O-side and work in Scripps. Most of the drive is OK, but the 78 to Via Rancho Parkway drives up my blood pressure like crazy. Has the 15 expansion eliminate that traffic bottleneck?[/quote]

The expansion has completely 100% solved the problem.

I’m literally getting 20 extra minutes of sleep b/c of those Express lanes.

I have the HiFi system in my 328i – (2) 8″ subs under the front seats with an amp in the trunk.[/quote]
The traffic on the 5 seems to be not as bad as it used to be as well. I wonder if the 10% unemployment is giving you this relief. We’ll only know when the economy is back to full steam ahead.

Those are 8″ subs are stock Harman Kardon, right? Or did you custom install those 8″?

[temeculaguy]

It’s not the economy, at least not on the 15. Up until they opened up the new lanes it seemed almost as bad as it had ever been. I never noticed any reduction in traffic regardless of the unemployment rate. I don’t drive it with the same regularity that paramount does. But over the last 20 years I’ve had chunks of time where I went six months to a year of doing it, my guess is a total of about 5 or 6 years combined in that 20. I’ve been doing it for a few months now and the before/after of the express lane was more than dramatic. I don’t even go on the express lane, just its existence makes the normal lanes brake-light free. I’m about to rotate my location in a month or two to something closer, so it may be a few years before I have to make that drive regularly, but I won’t fear it like I have in the past.

I’m not sure the spread between 6% and 10% unemployment affects arterial commute routes by taking 4% of the drivers off the freeways. That 4% demographically is not entirely made up of cummuters. A lot of it is young people, construction trades and lower paid people who likely use public transit or live close to work. I’m sure some of that 4% are bread winning professionals commuting to the suburbs, but not the majority.

Here are some numbers I found regarding unemployment broken down by education, race, age, etc.
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/

Then look at the demographics of where you live and connect the dots

and that site only looks at people over 25, and is not regional, but it’s enough data to suggest the demogrpahics would probably ring true regionally and under 25 would be even more dramatic. Bedroom communities would be the least affected, thus commuting would be less affected by unemployment rates. It’s a stretch, but it makes sense to me based on what I see on the road.

[temeculaguy]

On the stereo discussion, my sled didn’t come with the upgraded stereo, it’s decent but not great. I see that as a needed upgrade. The cnet reviewer says my particular year and model has too many speakers and too little power. As soon as I figure out what I am going to do with the headlights, I’m going to address the sound system.

can any of you guys help me with my headlight dillema. Seems the previous owner didn;t want to spend the 1k for the xenons (can’t blame them) but they put aftermarket ones in. The ballast and wiring takes up so much space that they got rid of the rear cover to the light housing. Well, that is there for a reason, it keeps water out. I ordered new back covers and plan on drilling a hole and running the wires through, then waterproofing the igniter and wires that need to live outside the cover because of space restrictions. But something is wonky about it, every time I move it, I get one of the angel lights going out, I reposition it and it comes back on, I’m assuming the connection is bad and I need to cut and reattach clean ends. The dealer of course says that I should remove the whole thing and go back to halogens. The technician said that using anything other than oem electronics is bad for bmw’s. I know damn well that even oem electronics are bad for bmw’s, but aftermarket electronics are bad for bmw dealers. I was going to do that but after driving twice at night with the xenons, I’m in love. Has anyone ever dealt with aftermarket xenons? I can’t even find a brand name on them. It will be cheap to switch back to halogens, but now I don’t want to, yet I’m tired of having to switch the lights on and off or jiggle the wires to make the angels work. It’s a good thing I don’t have a lot of hobbies and can take apart my headlights and read bimmerfest blogs to fill my empty life. I was warned, these things are like women, they are beautiful, you will love them and they are a pain in the ass all at the same time.

[an]

TG, sorry to hear about your ballast/xenon issue. Mine came xenon standard, so I don’t have much personal experience with aftermarket xenon, but could it be that the ballast just need to be secured better? Just guessing.

WRT stock speakers. I totally agree with you, I haven’t heard and stock stereo that’s as good as aftermarket ones. All the stock systems I know runs on 2 Ohms, not 4 Ohms like most aftermarket ones. So, although the sound at average decibel is decent, when you start to crank it up, you’ll see its limitation. Not to mention subwoofers. 8″ can’t produce the kind of low notes that a 10″ or a 12″ can do. Size does matter with subwoofers. They also need space, so under the seat is not really ideal for subwoofers. All stock systems I’ve heard so far do lack power. It’s not a BMW thing. It’s cheaper for them to put the weakest amp they can that can be sufficient for your average buyers. But for audiophiles, they’re totally unacceptable.

[paramount]

[quote=AN]

WRT stock speakers. I totally agree with you, I haven’t heard and stock stereo that’s as good as aftermarket ones. All the stock systems I know runs on 2 Ohms, not 4 Ohms like most aftermarket ones. So, although the sound at average decibel is decent, when you start to crank it up, you’ll see its limitation. Not to mention subwoofers. 8″ can’t produce the kind of low notes that a 10″ or a 12″ can do. Size does matter with subwoofers. They also need space, so under the seat is not really ideal for subwoofers. All stock systems I’ve heard so far do lack power. It’s not a BMW thing. It’s cheaper for them to put the weakest amp they can that can be sufficient for your average buyers. But for audiophiles, they’re totally unacceptable.[/quote]

I wouldn’t consider a car an ideal medium for audiophiles at all.

At any rate, the BMW HiFi system sounds great, even at high db levels.

The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) sounds absolutely awesome.

Sonic quality is exceptional in my 328i, which in a high end car one would expect.

[Ren]

[quote=AN]Ren, talking about the new 328i. I actually like it better than both the G37 and the past 328i. I guess that turbo I4 push me over the top. I hope Infiniti will follow suite and use I4 turbo for the G25 and turbo V6 for the high end G. If not, BMW will have my full vote.[/quote]

I just wish it was a little bigger than 2 liters. Definitely better than the previous, but for someone like me who would modify it, the cost to match the 335 performance might be close to the cost of a 335 anyway.

[an]

[quote=Ren]I just wish it was a little bigger than 2 liters. Definitely better than the previous, but for someone like me who would modify it, the cost to match the 335 performance might be close to the cost of a 335 anyway.[/quote]
2.0L is ideal for I4 though. Just like 3.0L is ideal for I/V6. It allow you have you a square bore/stroke ratio. I don’t mind 2.0L at all. But I wish they would have incorporate in variable lift into it. Nissan had a turbo 2.0L with variable lift many years back in Japan called the SR20VET. It allow the engine to rev higher and breath better at the higher RPM. That SR20VET was making 280HP many years ago. Too bad Nissan has gotten away from its root (i.e. turbo engines).

I personally would take the 335i over the 328i as well. I was just saying that with the new 328i and turbo I4, I personally think it put it over the G37 in my mind. Would be interesting to see what’s Infiniti’s answer to the 328i/335i in the next generation. It’s definitely nice to have competition. Before the G35 came on the scene, everyone was happy with low 200 HP. I would say because of the G35’s 280HP that got BMW to come out with the 335i. The people who benefit most from these competition is the consumer.

I don’t think it would take much to get the 328i to match the stock 335i’s power. However, there’s no replacement for displacements. Which mean the 335i would definitely have a higher ceiling and would not feel too peaky at 400+WHP.

[an]

[quote=paramount]I wouldn’t consider a car an ideal medium for audiophiles at all.

At any rate, the BMW HiFi system sounds great, even at high db levels.

The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) sounds absolutely awesome.

Sonic quality is exceptional in my 328i, which in a high end car one would expect.[/quote]
You’re right, it’s not ideal, but you have to work with what you have. I always bring my Eagle’s CD to demo stereo. Hotel California is one of the best song to test the capability of the stereo. A lot of the 30k+ cars’ stereo does decent, but the highs are not as crisp as I would like and the lows are definitely not as deep and tight. The beginning drum part really test the lows and the guitar solo really test the mids and highs. If you can close your eyes and hear every string being pluck and it sounds as if the guitar is right next to you, then we’re getting some where. Somehow, I doubt a 8″ sub can reproduce notes below 80Hz well like a 10″ or 12″ sub can. When those low notes hit, with a good system, you’ll feel it in your chest, not just hear it. I haven’t seen any stock system that can do that, BMW include. I haven’t tried the latest one, so maybe they’ve improved, but somehow, I doubt it.

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