Happy 2020 to all. 2019 BMW sales were up 4.4 percent in the U.S., totaling 324,826 vehicles. That was good for the top spot in this market, beating Mercedes-Benz by about 8,700 and reclaiming the sales crown after four years. Lexus was third with 298,114 sold, and Audi fourth with 224,111. However, those numbers may […]
Over the Thanksgiving holiday I installed a stock air intake in my 2006 BMW E46 M3. When I bought the car in 2014 it came with an aftermarket cold air intake (CAI). Replacing the CAI had been on my project list for a while. The CAI name is a misnomer – most of them become […]
The third annual GAIN conference took place earlier this month and was again a huge success. GAIN has become the conference to attend for B2G marketing professionals. Hundreds of government marketers gathered to share best practices around the general theme of customer experience. My personal favorite was the presentation on the customer journey given by […]
Last month we bought a 2016 BMW X5. Our three year lease on a 2016 Ford Edge Sport was ending, which we had purchased after our accident that fall. Rather than leasing again we purchased the BMW X5 as a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle, which inspects and reconditions the vehicle while extending the warranty coverage. […]
Recently we got back from a quick trip to Pittsburgh, PA. Neither of us had ever been before and we were ready for a different scene not too far away. We had also read that there was a flourishing foodie scene in Pittsburgh and decided to see for ourselves. The rumors were well-founded. Pittsburgh today […]
Earlier this month Michael Brenner published a good article on his Marketing Insider Group site outlining some common content marketing pain points. Brenner is a former corporate CMO who became an early evangelist for the content marketing approach. I talked about his prediction for native advertising back in 2014. His list of seven problem areas […]
This weekend my E46 M3 got some important preventative maintenance. Working with a guy from M3Forum who specializes in this work, we locked down the Vanos system on my car. Vanos is an abbreviation of the German word for the variable camshaft timing system. The system on my S54 engine adjusts the timing of both […]
This weekend I performed some basic maintenance on my 2002 E39 M5. This was at another productive DIY event put on by the National Capital Chapter of the BMWCCA. It was held at Proctor’s Foreign Auto Services in New Carrollton, MD. Owner Tim Proctor has hosted the DIY crew before and was very gracious, helping […]
Mike Miller is a subject matter expert on BMW technical and maintenance information. Mike is the long-time staff member and technical editor for Roundel and formerly for Bimmer magazine (sadly killed by its publisher). He’s a former mechanic, and holds a Master’s of Environmental Law degree from Vermont Law School. Mike is essentially a mentor […]
Recently IDG put out a customer survey designed to show what B2B technology buyers are looking for when considering IT purchases. As one of the largest online media and marketing organizations focused on technology, IDG has a vested interest in staying on top of what IT decision-makers want. So does StoryTech, so I’ve reviewed their […]
Recently Gabriele and I have had three excellent wines while dining out. Two were Italian, and one was a Bordeaux. We had a nice Barolo while away for a week on vacation in West Virginia. We had dinner at the Press Room restaurant in Shepherdstown – nice place and recommended. (Bistro 112, a French place […]
This past weekend I assisted on a fairly common BMW procedure. I helped my friend Duane replace the valve cover gasket on his 2002 530i. I had never seen an E39 valve cover gasket replaced, and sometime down the road may need to replace on my M5. The National Capital Chapter DIY event was hosted […]