Newbie Misc. Questions

[P. Eden]

Sorry if answers are in archive, or found in owner's manual. This AM purchased '04 330 xi (black/black) for wife, and she has promptly departed for a trip home to Boston area (thus I don't have the manual). Questions: 1) is there an aftermarket center armrest that would allow extension over the rear cupholder, so that her elbow more comfortably sits in it? Right now it (elbow/armrest) falls a bit short. 2) is there any way to configure the steering wheel radio controls such that we can "scan" or "seek" using such, i.e. not just jump from pre-set station to pre-set station? Don't want to reach over to radio to scan. Many thanks for your help.

PE
'99 Viggen
'70 Challenger 440 six-pack
'87 Buick Turbo-T
'04 330 xi (wife's)

 

[codex57]

Haven't heard of a BMW specific armrest like that but I suppose a universal one might exist.

The radio buttons on the steering wheel are pretty basic. I don't think you can scan from them.

 

[snowsedan04]

Pretty funny comments, since I had the same ones about my '04 325xi. The armrest/cupholder design is clearly an attempt to pacify Americans, since from what I understand Europeans just don't bring beverages into the cockpit. Fair enough, but the inability to scan the radio from the steering wheel is surprising. I figure maybe there are only 6 good stations in Germany.

In terms of actual feature failures, I have found that the passenger side mirror that is supposed to tilt down when you put the car in reverse basically stopped working after the first week. I find that to be a silly feature, but if you find it helpful then be prepared to have the dealer look at it when the inevitable happens.

Enjoy!

 

[bmwrocks]

You CAN scan from the steering wheel people!!!!! Just press and hold the up or down arrow you have been using for presets, when it starts to scan, let go. It will have scanned to the next station!!! Yeah baby!!!!

 

[William330]

In terms of actual feature failures, I have found that the passenger side mirror that is supposed to tilt down when you put the car in reverse basically stopped working after the first week. I find that to be a silly feature, but if you find it helpful then be prepared to have the dealer look at it when the inevitable happens.

Are you sure you didn't just accidentally flip the switch near the mirror's mini adjustment joystick? The switch slides left and right. In one position the mirror tilts down when the car is in reverse, in the other position, this auto-tilt feature is turned off...

 

[Average Jae]

Are you sure you didn't just accidentally flip the switch near the mirror's mini adjustment joystick? The switch slides left and right. In one position the mirror tilts down when the car is in reverse, in the other position, this auto-tilt feature is turned off...

well it's not so much turning it on or off.. even tho it may seem like it..

i like my explaination better, i ran into the same issue, and finally figured it out.

if the mirror switch is set to the driver side, the passenger side mirror will tilt down when in reverse.

if the mirror switch is set to the passenger side, it turns off the auto tilt downwards. (i'd imagine they put this feature in, just so if someone gets silly one day and tries to mess w/ the mirror controls or something.. my theory anyway ^^

 

[jonnyz16]

Are you sure you didn't just accidentally flip the switch near the mirror's mini adjustment joystick? The switch slides left and right. In one position the mirror tilts down when the car is in reverse, in the other position, this auto-tilt feature is turned off...

That's funny , I thought mine just broke and I really didn't care much..

 

[snowsedan04]

Like I said, give it a few weeks and the tilting mirror will no longer function consistently. My dealer told me this was pretty common.

 

[MyHarley]

Questions: 1) is there an aftermarket center armrest that would allow extension over the rear cupholder, so that her elbow more comfortably sits in it? Right now it (elbow/armrest) falls a bit short.

Isnt the armrest the same in all 3 Series? Mine extends over the entire back cupholder, which I don't like, because you only get to use one cupholder unless you raise the armrest.......[???1]

 

[P. Eden]

Armrest

The shape of the stock armrest conforms to allow access to that rear cupholder. In doing so, her elbow does not quite reach the armrest pad (if a passenger, your left elbow has a bit "more armrest" to work with and is not a problem). Therefore, even though it would block the rear cupholder, we would like something that can slide, or extend as needed. Bought such an item from Saab (accessory) for the old car - and it worked well. Any ideas?

Gang: This is my first foray into any BMW board, and I thank you all for the swift, informative responses. Now if only somebody had dyno data showing the merits (or not) of a K+N air filter in the 330 cars (preferably xi)...

PE