Research overboosted steering problem on www.bimmer.org, which I highly recommend for information if you ignore the flaming posts by bored teenagers.

I email BMW USA via the Owner's Circle on BMWUSA.com and they respond within 24 hours, saying that I should call so that they can send the parts to a local dealer for installation.

BMW leaves a voicemail about the steering retrofit.

Alarm and mats day. I pull into Weatherford BMW at 8:30 sharp, and they am greeted by a man with a clipboard. He finds my work order the directs me to the waiting room where half a dozen others are waiting (coffee, donuts, the usual). After a 15 minute wait, my service person goes over my order and calls for my loaner, a BMW 323 wagon.

The 323 steers more like I thought my car would. It moves from lane to lane with more effort, but feels far less twitchy. Not surprisingly , the car feels underpowered compared to my car, and the brakes are worse than on my Eclipse. The Tiptronic shifts smoothly, and given the backup at the toll plaza of the Bay Bridge, I enjoy creeping forward with zero effort.

When I pick up my car in the late afternoon, the alarm is there and the mats are in place. Except for the driver's mat which sports the word BMW, the mats are plush but plain. Velcro tabs hold them firmly in place.

The alarm is difficult to set off accidentally, and I've yet to hear it. A friend of mine and I tried bouncing and rocking the car, and tapping on the windows. Nothing. All four turn signals and the two side lights flash when it's activated or deactivated.

Took the car over 100 today. It actually feels more stable at faster speeds, and less prone to following expansion joints, but I'm still getting the steering retrofit.

Picked up the wind deflector today.

I did a search on Yahoo! and Google and came up empty handed. I did find a link on www.bimmer.org to Pacific BMW down in Glendale, which sells the deflector for about $320. But I'm not willing to wait. I sent emails to Stevens Creek BMW ($440) and Peter Pan BMW ($450), and choose Stevens Creek. Ten bucks is ten bucks.

The wind deflector is a bit larger than I expected when flat: about 24" tall and 48" wide. When in place, it covers most of the rear seat area. It's made of heavy duty black plastic tubing and black webbing, and weighs about 5 lbs.

Installation is very simple, at least with the parts guy helping me. The front snaps into place in the holes in the rear interio. Two rubber tabs rests on a small ledge near the top cover, which needs to be raised slightly when installing. The hard tonneau actually holds the windscreen in place when the top is down, and supposedly makes it "theft-proof."

Other than making it a bit harder to see what's behind you through the rearview mirror, the wind deflector is easy to ignore except for some minor flapping. At 70 mph, buffeting from the rear is cut down to almost nothing and it's very easy to hold a conversation without raising your voice. A worthwhile investment!

Steering retrofit confirmed
BMW USA confirmed that I'm on the list to have my steering changed. According to the customer service rep, BMW is only halfway through the list, so someone won't be calling for a few weeks.