I receive a letter from a BMW customer service rep saying that she has tried to reach me numerous times unsuccessfully (a lie), and that if I don't respond in 30 days they will assume that I'm not longer interested in the steering retrofit.

Unless this woman is unable to leave voicemail messages, I can't imagine how she missed me, so I assume it's a ploy for BMW to get out of paying the $1,000+ to actually have the retrofit done.

I leave the rep a voicemail the same day.

As I'm deworming my laptop of an Internet virus, I decide to try calling BMW again. The sales rep calls back in a couple of hours and asks me if I'm sure I want this.

I say yes.

She asks if I understand that low speed maneuvering and parking will be more difficult.

I say yes.

She asks what dealer I want to use, and I tell her Stevens Creek BMW, which is about ten minutes from my house. She tells me that she'll contact the service department, and that I should cantact them in 1-2 days to schedule the service.

My fan died today on the way back from lunch. The temperature indicator light came on just as I was parking (or at least that's when I noticed it), so the engine didn't overheat or die. Was running A/C full blast at the time. When I saw the red temp. indicator, I parked the car and let it sit with the hood up for an hour. When I restarted the car, the engine temp remained normal, i.e., it didn't immediately hit red again.

Had car towed to Peter Pan BMW in San Mateo. While I was waiting, I revved the engine while parked to see if I get fan to kick in. When the temp went above normal a bit, I could see the fan twitching, but engine temp still remained close to normal.

I noticed a slight engine vibration through the steering wheel for two days prior, which may be an early indicator that the fan was about to fail (or perhaps had failed and was spinning off center). Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take it into a dealership to have this checked out.

Saturn Rental Hell
I have to say that I have greater respect for any person who can drive a Saturn S2 well. This rental car was by far the scariest thing I've ever driven, and that includes a delivery truck. The accelerator pedal felt like it was going to fall off, the brakes were ineffective and misaligned, and the controls didn't seem to belong to the car I was driving.

New fan installed. Picked up the car this morning.

It turns out that the misaligned tire wasn't misaligned at all. The vibration has vanished since the Siemens fan was replaced, which means that it may have been broken since early July. My theory is that at speeds above 80 (the only speed at which the vibration occurred), the fan started to spin on its own from the air rushing through the grill. Since I hardly ever use the A/C at full blast, it never needed to kick in. I average around 90 mph on the way home and the car was as stable as before.

Average gas cost per month: $210. Gas is averaging around $1.95/gallon

Dropped off the car at Stevens Creek BMW for the steering retrofit. There was some confusion at first, and it appears that this is the first retrofit they have done. BMWUSA ordered the part and had it delivered to the dealership as they said they would, along with a service bulletin explaining what to swap out.

Honda Accord Rental Purgatory
Had to pay for a rental car. Chose a Honda Accord, which was an improvement over the Saturn. Steering was good, engine was pokey but not frighteningly slow like the Saturn, brakes were decent. I miss my car. I can't imagine being forced to drive something like this everyday.

I picked up my 330cic (early April 2001 build) today after having the retrofit done. Some notes...

LOW SPEEDS
I was a little concerned that at slower speeds the effort required to turn the steering wheel would increase dramatically, and it would be like driving a car with no power steering. Not so. I can't spin it with a finger like it used to, but the effort is about what you might expect for a sporty car with wide, low profile tires.

At city street speeds, the car feel more substantial. I think the remarkable thing is that with the "new new" steering, the car is far easier to drive and far easier to control. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they overboosted the steering for women, who I assume they were targeting with this "fix."

HIGH SPEEDS
At high speeds, the change is radical. On the Hwy 280 (the SF Bay Area's answer to the Autobahn), I usually had to keep a firm grip on the wheel to keep it from jiggling out of my hands, especially on bridges with expansion joints. Now, I can feel the bumps, but the car tracks true.

Cornering also require less concentration. I'm a lazy driver and usually wrap my fingers through the lower spoke of the steering wheel. Now I just lean a bit on the spoke and the car responds with an utterly controlled turn—beautifully stable, even at 100+. The first thing I did when I spotted some open roadway was to jump ahead of traffic and push the car through the wide banked curves on 280. The constant correcting required with the old steering was gone. The car went where I pointed it, and I felt more confident even when pressing the car harder than I thought was.

If you have the "new" light steering and you're willing to give up single-finger maneuvering in a parking garage for kickass performance and a car that feels like a sports car, I highly recommend contacting BMW via the Owner's Circle on www.bmwusa.com and requesting the retrofit before the program ends. This is costing them at least a grand per car, so I'm sure it won't last forever.

Bird poop damage. According to what I can find on the net, it looks like it's there for good.

The weird thing is that my old car, a Mitsubishi Eclipse, was constantly getting pooped on without any visible damage. This poop was only left on for ONE DAY and it looks like cigarette burns!

I also noticed that the front of my car is getting dinged from rocks like crazy.