Petem95

Good choice Jay - 335d SE coupe with the 19" alloys and sports seats will be a very nice car. I've driven the saloon varient and it's just a wave of torque!

You'll have issues getting the power down until things dry out a bit more tho

Matteeboy

Not if you're sensible - which isn't easy....

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Yep, when I was telling the misses about the economy last night, she said "well its not like you have to drive flat out all the time.." then paused and looked at me, I couldnt help but PMSL

If you've got it, its so difficult not the enjoy it...

Matteboy, just out of interest, what sort of MPG do you get out of it? I've seen peoples quoted figures?

I havent had anything over 30mpg for ages, so anything over that would be a revelation!

thesyn

If your spending £20k you really should check out a B7 S4.
You have to own a V8 once in your life

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

I plan on having one at some point, but my first choice would be the M3, the S4's really don't do much for me if I'm being honest.

Matteeboy

Jay Bee - same here. I need a V8 at some stage and I think it'll be an E90 M3...

I get a little over 30mpg on average - but bear in mind there are no motorways in Cornwall (!) and most of my driving is properly twisty country road stuff.

I've experimented on various journeys but yet to get the quoted 40mpg. High 30s if driven gently, low if not but not dipped under 30.

It's when the second turbo kicks in that the fuel rapidly disappears. But that second turbo is where the fun really happens so resisting temptation is very hard!

The newer facelift models are slightly better but not by much.

Tax is just over £200 a year - (just over 200g/km) but that dips to around £170ish post 2008 (178g/km I think). Not bad for the performance!

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Ah ha... just as I suspected. Whenever I've driven a so called performance diesel, the fuel consumption has always been similar to a reasonable petrol car.

If it manages >30 mpg that'll do for me. For the enjoyment factor, I'd normally expect <20 mpg

Oh and on the V8... next year

thesyn

You should drive an S4, I compared it to an E46 M3 and was pleasantly surprised.
Massive low rev torque and a V8 soundtrack with ( I'm sorry, way superior cabin build quality) I found very compelling.
S3 is a whole different proposition.
I know that you have made your decision but I just thought that I would sow a seed of doulbt.

Dream Weaver

Don't start being a **** again Matt, I never mentioned being superior, just that a 335 should have satnav IMO. I'm still considering getting a 335 for my own car so it was a genuine observation.

It wasn't a dig at you as I have no idea if you have nav or not, and honestly don't care so stop being defensive.

All good here Jeff, you still got the 205?

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

I agree on the interior build compared to an E46, not so sure compared to a E90. I've only ever been in the 335I & 335D Coupe SE, and the interior in these are really good (IMO). Unfortunately, I just dont like the look of the S4, specially compared to the aforementioned BMW

Matteeboy

Jay - agreed. The Audi is obviously very solid but the latest one just looks so fussy. I love simple dashboards and good ergonomics - the R32 I had was great for this - very simple dash yet loads of toys. The E9* Beemers are similar - solid yet simple (unless you go mad with spec) and everything is easy to reach and see.

My Astra was quite well made but the dash was horrendous and many controls were out of sight of the driver - DOH!

Dream - I was being silly. Am I not allowed? I just prefer the "single hump" look of non satnav/i-drive E9*s - the dash looks just like a breaking wave too - keeps me happy! My trust Phillips Navigator map, despite being the size of half the boot, is near OS map quality and utterly brilliant - epecially for locating hard to find surf beaches. Can satnob do that? No it can't. ;-)

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Simon,

Nope, don't have the 205 anymore, had real traumas with LAD after the engine 'upgrade' they did. It picked up a bearing on its 4th outing on track. Larton had the car for 6 months, then tried telling me it wasnt covered by the warranty because the engine was only half full of oil !! Anyway, after a visit in person he saw sense, and we agreed he would buy the car of me with a duff engine (for a reasonable price actually). Was a shame as when it was running it was awesome, it needed nothing doing to it (apart from the engine) because I had got everything done properly. Anyway, ho-hum!

I'm planning on another trackday car later this year, havent decided on what, will depend on how much funds I'm allowed to divert away from the wedding proceedings

That said, I think a 335 will be alright round the 'Ring wont it?

Matteboy, I kind of know what you're saying. In my experience though, when I come to sell this car on (which I probably will do within a 12 month period), having all the toys will def help that, as opposed to not having all the toys. By that I'm not suggesting that applies to everyone, but I'd guess that if there were two cars with identical mileage, age and price, the one with all the goodies would probably be the first choice for most people as there is the age old thing that people feel they're getting good value for money (again, thats not me saying the other one with less isnt good value for money).

I'm going to speak to the BMW dealer that I always used for my 330 to see if they can get me one. Had a look on the BM site last night and there are a few (albeit petrol) in the price range, so just need to see if they can find me a diesel.

Cant wait to get one (Si, you know you want a 335 )

Matteeboy

Jay - totally agree - most people prefer satnav. But we plan to keep ours for ages so it'll be worth naff all when we sell it anyway (although so far it has gone UP in value since I bought it!!).

I used Sytners and they were brilliant - great service, they delivered it, gave me a good price for my old car in p/x (and took it away - and crashed it on the way back - DOH!) and nice to deal with. They also prepared it so well it looked almost brand new.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Crashed it on the way back

I ended up getting my last one from Rydale in Sutton as my then local dealer (Bateman) couldnt do a dealer transfer with them for the car I wanted.

In the 2.5 years I had the 330, Bateman were excellent and I now know the service manager fairly well, who is ultra helpful. Even though they arent local to me anymore, I still used to take the 330 to them for servicing etc, it was worth the trip IMO, so if I can source it through them. that'd be great. WHat wasnt great was the depreciation on the 330 - that said, I did put 65k miles on it!

Matteeboy

I bought mine blind from Sytners in Leicester - over 300 miles away! So servicing it there would be tricky. Ocean Falmouth have been good so far (a couple of minor bits needed doing) though - and a 20 min drive away too.

Good luck with the search - I'd check out the UK section of BIMMERPOST = BMW Forum, BMW News and BMW Blog | BMW M3, BMW 3 series, BMW 1 series, BMW Z4, BMW 5 series, BMW 7 series, BMW X1, BMW X5, BMW X6 and beyond - an excellent resource.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Snap, same here. I paid the deposit over the phone to the dealer who was nr Birmingham, I lived at the time 60 miles north of Manchester!

Just left my details with the BM garage to try and find me one

Will have a look at that link

Dream Weaver

Also just been to the BMW dealers this morning in Blackburn to look at a 320d they had on their website (which isn't arriving til the weekend, Doh!!).

Had a sit in a 123d coupe whilst I was there - never liked these, but this had big black wheels and looked fantastic. The interior was very impressive, first time in a long while I've had to move the seat forward!!

I had to leave before I bought it.

Maybe worth a shot, or the 135i?

Matteeboy

I drove a 120d (normal shape 3 door) M Sport a while back and was impressed. Nice handling, quite well made. The 3er is definitely better built but the 1 series is a lot of fun. The coupe looks weird though - sort of like a squashed saloon.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

To be honest, I dont like the 1 series (hatch or coupe), I think they're more for the ladies , although I'm sure a 135i would be fun to drive.

stilover

Just in the defence of the S3. Think the Bucket seats make a big difference to the car feeling more sporty. They really do hug you.

Plus a simple re-map get's it to 300bhp. Have heard from a few people it does change the attitude of the car.

Dream Weaver

I have never liked the 1 series, we had a normal black 5 door version for a while when our old 3 series was in for some work and it looked like we had a black cab on the drive, but this really appealed to me.

I saw it as soon as I walked in and thought it was some race spec version - saphire black, looked low and had nice big black wheels fitted. Interior space and quality was nice.

This is it actually, although the pics don't do it justice.

Bowker Blackburn in Lancashire. Authorised BMW Dealer Approved Used BMW including 1,3,5,6 and 7 Series, X3, X5, Z4 and M Cars.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

stilover

are you referring to the seats which are standard in the RS4 (and option in the S3 / R32)? I've only seen one or two with those fitted.

I know what you mean though, really good seats can seriously improve the driving experience.

I think overall though, you park the 335 next to the S3, and the BM just looks so much more car for the money (IMO), and its very nice to drive too. Also, I dont really want to spend £20k on a car then 'have' to get a remap to enjoy the car. I think I'd soon get bored of the performance of a standard S3 (like by the end of the first day). I was underwhelmed by the S3, but the BM more than exceeded my expectation when I had one for a couple of weeks. At some point, I may consider a remap on the 335D, or I might just get shut by then and go for something better again.

The guy selling the grey S3 that I took out, offered me £500 off the price and offered to tax it for 6 months as well, which seemed ok, still want the BM though

Si,

I had a look at it earlier on Bowkers site, the photos dont really sell it do they? I'm sure it looks better in the flesh, but the Coupe is a little odd looking dont you think?

Dream Weaver

The photos are bad, in the flesh it looked really fantastic.

I've always opposed these 1 series coupes, and have mentioned that fact on here before, but this one just looked superb - wish I'd taken a pic now but was in a rush. I'm back there at the weekend but he reckoned he was selling it today, if not I will take some pics.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

He's going to sell it today eh?

Bet if I ring tomorrow morning, it'll be available but he'll be selling it later that day too

To be fair, if I was spending C £25k, I'd have no choice, it would have to be a CSL, to hell with common sense about economy and practicality!

Dream Weaver

Well he did say "hoping to sell it today".

CSL is nice, but I can't get over the "oldness" of an E46 now, been looking at E46 M3's as well, not to mention the heavy running costs for them.

I have to admit, there is something nice about running a performance diesel and getting 40mpg and cheaper tax, so a 123d or a 335d appeals to me a lot, especially with my Focus doing 22mpg at best.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

Its bloomin tempting though, specially when you see examples like this M3, even though its a 2003

They are starting to age a fair bit, but I personally dont associate the CSL in the same category, its a bit of a beast and I would forego the ageing thing, even if I only owned it for a few months, I feel its one of those cars I'd love to have owned and experienced (bit like my R34 GTR fetish)

I've found a 335D with all the bits I'm after, shame its exactly the same colour combo of my 330Ci M... and the fact its not at a main dealership doesnt sit that well. I'd prefer the piece of mind from buying from BMW, having done it before and had really good experience.

What you going to look at over the weekend?

PovK1

They are **** standard. Remap is a must on that engine. Completely transforms the drive.

Dream Weaver

Swapping Sarah's Civic for a 320d Touring, the later 177 engine version which should be fine for her.

Really wanted an M Sport version with all the toys, but the one we are viewing is an SE but just want to have a look and see what we think - it has all the nav, auto lights, leather etc so has good options.

Plus our previous M Sport Beemer was a bit firm on the suspension so we may prefer an SE version as it's only for her to get to work and back and for family trips etc so doesn't need to be sporty as such.

I do like the look of the M Sport versions though so need to try both and decide.

Jay_bee

iTrader: (1)

If its the 320D, def have to get the M, they look really nice. I know a few people have mentioned the weakness of the wheels, but they look the muts nuts IMO. Also, I find it difficult to believe that BMW would just let a design fault in the wheels not to be recalled if it was a genuine serious concern?

I'm really struggling to find a 335D in my budget with all the goodies I want, the only one I've found is not at a main dealer, and I'm reluctant to splash out this much money when its not coming with the main dealer backup. I'm even starting to consider getting the 335i, as there are a few of those in the BMW dealer network that fit the bill. What your thoughts?

Matteeboy

Dream - don't dismiss the SE. I actively looked for a 335d SE and not an M Sport (no one believes me but I wanted a very stealthy car) for the following reasons most of which apply to a 320d too:

The ride is very firm and the alloys are fragile but the 19" ones are much worse for cracking. Mine came with 17" alloys (tiny it seems) but sports suspension - the 17s give a nice ride and the suspension is nice and firm but compliant.
The front spoiler (to me) looks plasticky. It also sits very low and catches on our driveway (had a courtesy M Sport saloon for two days)
The rear "diffuser" is also plasticky and in the 335i/d, hides the twin pipes.
I can't stand dark interiors - the M Sport has black headlining which makes it feel like a coal mine.
I much prefer non M Sport alloys - yes that's weird but I think the M Sport alloys are too fussy and of course fragile. Many want bigger alloys but I think BMW's finest are non M Sport 18" Ellipsoids. I like mine too (17" 160 Star alloys) but of course they are too small for many.
I think "M" logos on a non "M" car are gay.
The M Sport steering wheel is very fat - looks cool but I wasn't keen.

However you get sports seats (feel the same as non sports but have a bit more side padding and an extendable base) which are nice.

Most prefer the M Sport but unless you must have that look, I wonder whether it's really worth it, especially in a four pot BMW.

S3 is actually quick standard - high 5s to 60 and under 14 to 100. That's fast.