Here at Checkered Flag, we like to be the first to tell you about new vehicles.  So, as a BMW driver (I love my 128i convertible), I am EXTREMELY pleased to unveil for you the leaked pics of the upcoming Sport Activity Vehicle, the BMW X1.  According to Car and Driver, this car has technically already been unveiled since it was shown last year at the Paris auto show under the name Concept X1.  Oh well, this is the first I have heard of it, how about you?  The official launch of the new X1 is expected later this Summer.  You know we will keep you posted on all the details including availability.  If you would like us to contact you when the X1 models arrive here at Checkered Flag BMW, send us an email and we will send you a personal invitation to come in for a test drive!

Larry Printz, Automotive Editor for the Virginian Pilot, shows the world that a $104,000 BMW 7 Series really is a bargain. 

Come for a ride with him as he chauffeurs you around in the back seat through a few quaint Norfolk streets.  Just remember to buckle your seat belt if he decides to throw this Bimmer into sport mode and give that twin turbo V8 motor a push! 

And if you would like to catch more from Larry, here is a good start in the Drive section of PilotOnline.  And if you're looking for more reasons to buy the all new 7 Series, or are doing some homework for the boss, Checkered Flag's own Christine has a bit more for you....2009 BMW 7 Series Video.

The Cash for Clunkers legislation is very close to potentially passing.  If you are completely unfamiliar with the program, or have some questions about it, we are here to help!

Checkered Flag is a participating dealership in the Cash for Clunkers program, and we are making it very easy for you to buy your new car from us.  Details are not set in stone at the time of this posting, but what we have deciphered from the many sources can be found on our Cash for Clunkers in Virginia page.

Checkered Flag has plenty of fuel efficient vehicles for you to choose from if you want to take advantage of this program - we also have plenty to choose from even if you just want to get a better MPG rating.

What do you do here at Checkered Flag?
I am a BMW Client Advisor.  Did you know BMW is one of the most recognizable products in the world?

Which Hampton Roads city or county do you live in? 
Virginia Beach

Do you have any children? Any pets?
My son Ethan, and my Boston Terrier, Chocolate

What?s your favorite TV show? Why?
I love the show Life.  I dont know if it is going to be  another season though *frown*.   Entourage, because I see all of me in the story, and True Blood.  Who does not want to be a Vampire?

What was the last movie you saw?  What is your favorite movie?
Star Trek, IT WAS AWESOME, GO SEE IT TODAY and Terminator Salvation, it was terrible.

What are your hobbies?
Weight lifting, driving, producing bands, does collecting whiskey count?

What kind of car do you drive? Why?
A 2008 BMW M3 because it?s the ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE.

What is your Dream Car?  Why?
I am blessed enough to drive it.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where?
Brazil, because it is a beautiful country. 

If you wrote an autobiography about your life, what would the title be?
I dont know what it would be. I am really just blessed to have done the things I have done and have the friends I have.

What is a date on your calendar you are looking forward to? Why?
November, I am planning to visit my grandmother in Germany

What's the one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
I am GERMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's the best thing about working for Checkered Flag?
Wow, where do I start?!!  We have a awesome team here, its like the Band of Brothers, everyone covers for everyone.  It wasnt until I went to NYC last summer, and the GM of a BMW store in NYC wanted to have a chat with me about what we do here, that I understood how great Checkered Flag is.
I sell the best product for the best company.

What do you do here at Checkered Flag?
BMW Client Advisor

Which Hampton Roads city or county do you live in? 
Virginia Beach, in the heart of Kempsville- gridlock central.

Do you have any children? Any pets?
We have an AWESOME three year old son, named Aidan.  We also have a chocolate lab named Moose, and a dachshund named Chloe.

What?s your favorite TV show? Why?
I don?t have a lot of spare time for T.V. but I do like Hells Kitchen? (Its raw!! You donkey!).  I also like to watch sports on the weekends- NASCAR, Formula 1, Golf, Baseball, Football.

What was the last movie you saw?  What is your favorite movie?
The last movie I saw in a movie theater was Madagascar 2.  I have several favorites that I can recite by memory:  Caddyshack, Airplane, Spaceballs? too many to list.

What are your hobbies?
Running, working out, catching waves when we have them.  Thank God for Hatteras.  Just having fun with my family.

What kind of car do you drive? Why?
BMW 335, Im trying to cling to my youth.

What is your Dream Car?  Why?
Dream car would be a Ferrari, back to reality, it would be a BMW 550.  That might actually be possible.  How much is a kidney worth these days?

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where?
Thats easy, Hawaii.  If you have never been, you have to go at least once.  The beaches are great, the waves are awesome, and the Poi is sooooo good!

Have you recently celebrated any milestones (birthday, anniversary, etc)?
I recently had my one year anniversary with Checkered Flag.  Boy does time go by quickly.

What type of music do you listen to?
I listen to everything, it just depends on the mood Im in at the time.

What?s your favorite restaurant?
Ruth?s Chris Steak House.  My brother-in-law is the Sous Chef, and when we go we get treated like royalty. 

What?s one invention you couldn?t live without?
Uh, the car.  If it wasnt for that, I wouldnt be working here.

If you wrote an autobiography about your life, what would the title be?
Living Aloha

What is a date on your calendar you are looking forward to? Why?
August 30th- my wifes 40th birthday.  We are going sky diving- God help us!!

What's the one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
One of my all time favorite bands is The Carpenters.  Dont even try to pretend that you don?t like them too!

What's the best thing about working for Checkered Flag?
No brainer, the people.  I really do work with the best managers, and fellow client advisors.  We look after each other and that is very rare these days.  I have fun going to work every day.  How can you beat that?

See over 500 quality used cars on Virginia Beach Blvd this weekend at our first ever Garage Sale!  You can view our used cars on Checkered Flag.com, then take advantage of the Garage Sale pricing in the stores as you cruise down the Blvd.

All cars are backed by one of three warranties:

    * Original Warranty from when the car was new
    * Certified Pre-Owned Warranty
    * Best Test Warranty

Did we mention pricing is as low as $499?  And because it is Checkered Flag, you know we really have cars that low.

>> We brought in special vehicles for this event, and some will not be on our website.  Feel free to call, chat, or email us ahead of time.

Watch the Garage Sale TV Commercial.  The whole thing ends on May 24th, 2009.

What do you do here at Checkered Flag?
The question is what dont I do?  My job description says I am a Sales Manager at BMW/MINI.

Which Hampton Roads city or county do you live in? 
Virginia Beach

Do you have any children? Any pets?
My wife Judy and I have custody of our eight year old granddaughter Maylen, and my step son Daniel (Maylen?s Dad). We have two dogs, both are Cairn Terriers (Toto, dog from the Wizard of Oz). One male his name is Ozzie (as in Wizard of Oz, not Ozzy Osbourne, did I mention the wife is  a HUGE FAN), and one female, her name is Kasey, she was a rescue dog.

What?s your favorite TV show? Why?
I have many, 24, Heroes, CSI (The Original), Smallville, The Unit, Reaper, Lie to Me, My Name Is Earl, and Mad Men. THANK GOODNESS for the Digital Video Recorder. Please dont ask how I actually have the time to watch all these shows.

What was the last movie you saw?  What is your favorite movie?
The Last Movie I saw was Step Brothers (IT WAS TERRIBLE), I am just glad it was through NetFlix and not ten bucks at the movie theater. I have many movies that I really like but no one favorite. Here is just a sampling of some:

Heart Break Ridge & The Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood is a bad man)
Pure Country (It makes my wife cry)
Better Off Dead (Two dollars! I want my two dollars!)
Caddy Shack (Fore!!!! Oh I shouldve yelled two!)
The Natural (Oh, come on Hinkle!) & The Aviator (If they are on TV I have to watch them)

What are your hobbies?
Golfing, shooting pool, & going to the shooting range (No greater stress reliever than tossing a few hundred rounds down range! Am I right Marvin, Jim, Brett, and all the others who know what I am talking about?)

What kind of car do you drive? Why?
2007 Toyota Tundra Crew-Max, because every man, and house, should have a truck!

What is your Dream Car?  Why?
Who needs Dream Cars, when you sell the Ultimate Driving Machine!

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where?
I would love to go back to Africa for a safari excursion, I lived in  Zimbabwe as a kid for about 2 1/2 years, it was AWESOME!. However, if the Wife had any say it would be to Hawaii she has always wanted to go there.

If you wrote an autobiography about your life, what would the title be?
Oh My God! Did I Just Say That? -Or-  It Is! What It Is!

What is a date on your calendar you are looking forward to? Why?
05/22/2009, Married 10 years this Friday

What's the one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
Navy Brat here and I have lived in Naples Italy, Harare Zimbabwe, Manama Bahrain, and have travelled to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Germany, South Africa, & Mozambique.
When I was thinking about going into the Navy many years ago. I scored a 96 out of 99 on the ASVAB test, and a 74 out of 80 on the Nuclear Power Test.

What's the best thing about working for Checkered Flag?
It is a GREAT company with a local family history, and the people I work with are the BEST, Checkered Flag is like a second home (or is it my first home, I think I spend more time here), and that is why it is always enjoyable and exciting to come to work every day.

BMW has been pushing the envelope for quite some time.  They push it on every level for every vehicle segment there is.  For a quick example, just look at the way the wheels spin on the X6 (ask one of us what that means).

The new turbo motors are insane!  That is a ton of usable power with some very good gas mileage.  How many cars do you know that have over 300 horsepower and can get up to 26 MPG?  In fact, that usable power makes an enthusiast heavily debate over whether to buy a used E46 M3 or the newer E92 335i Coupe or Convertible. 

For Checkered Flag BMW, the 3 Series have always been our best selling BMW's.  It does not matter if we are talking about new or used - the 3 just rocks! 

Luxury, performance, safety, reliability, and cost....the 3 Series does each extremely well.  And a lot of those things it does well outside of its market segment! 

On a personal note... the new 3's are much more supportive than older body styles.  I used to have the previous generation M3 (E46 chassis) and found my back hurting after long drives.  When I drive the current generation 3 Series (I usually go for a 335i Coupe by the way) I have zero issues with back stiffness.  In fact, of the entire BMW lineup, I find the 3 Series to be the most comfortable with the least amount of seat controls.  What I mean by that is if you compare a 3 to the M5 or a 7 Series you will find an infinite amount of seat positions in the latter two models.  It is less work to find the "sweet" spot in a 3 Series.

Even though BMW cannot uphold all warranty work when you begin to modify a car, I have to say that I am a big fan of changing a few things up.  Unlike other cars, the 3 Series definitely supports a few cosmetic modifications within its styling very well.  My ideal look would include some pieces to get rid of the amber lighting on the front of the car, wheels, a front lip, and a small lowering of the car with coil-overs or springs.  If you read the E90Post forums, you can find a lot of examples of this.  And if you are all about getting from one red light to the next in the fastest amount of time (guilty as charged here), then there are some aftermarket options for increasing the power of the 3.0 liter turbo through some simple chip modifications - but that will most definitely put a ding on your warranty from BMW!

Here is Christine's take on the 3: