My company car list is so dire that this is about the best of a bad lot.

Any reasons why I shouldn't? the next best option would be a 1.6D Passat SE. God I can hardly bring myself to type that...

It's not quite as big in the back as I'd like but hopefully the RWD, low tax and high mpg will make up for that.

For those with an E90 3 series saloon, do the rear seats fold. The split folding seats are an option but if the standard one folds in one go, that will do.

Steve

 

Steve - the seats on the 318d saloon I had as a loan car didn't fold. Definitely a very silly idea making folders an option. It was a right pain squeezing my surfboard into it!

Other than that, decent motors. Nothing comes close for power/efficiency.

 

Admit it, you must be on the BM payroll

 

When you have/had one, you begin to understand these things.

 

Nope, split-fold rear seats are not standard on E90's

Those 320d ED models look terrible IMO - someone at work was also considering one as a company car, but the standard spec is poverty, and they really do look poverty on the outside too with 16" wheels which are really thin (obviously to reduce rolling resistance), and you can't upgrade to bigger.

Guy at work went for an A3 2.0 TDi s-line instead, but sounds like you're even more limited on option... can't you just take a car allowance and buy something half decent?!

 

Jesus, its like the days of the Chevette, where a split fold seat was a luxury !

Definitely a better option than Passat, even if the seats on the Passat split 56 ways !

 

My company has decided to 'incentivise' us to take a car rather than the cash by essentially doing us over on the allowance.

It has stayed the same for 6 years (£375 which is £220 take home on a 40% tax band) so plus the co. car tax you wouldn't pay - say £130, is £350 - not a lot to buy, insure, service and tax a half decent car. Oh, and the car has to be younger than 5 years plus a few other conditions. Plus I drive 30k per year.

The annoying thing is the way Lex price their monthly leases. It means I can have a 320ED BMW but not an Octavia vRS, an A4 or even a half decent Mondeo! Nor are we allowed to add some of our own money to improve our choice of car. The more I type, the more I feel a revision of my CV is due!

I agree the 16" wheels look weedy, but given the alternatives....

Steve

 

By the way which is the best BMW forum for the E90?
After Other Marques.

Steve

 

Given the alternative, surely a winner. The normal 320d is great, so just some different wheels is not really hardship considering the costs.

 

The grey/black cloth interior and SE seats would be my main turn off on the BM. Not exactly back friendly either IMO.

(then again, Passat SE is not much better, not so dark and dull I suppose).

I really loath poverty spec in any guise TBH; May as well buy a Kia.

 

Steve - the UK section of e90post.com is the best place to look.

 

Split folding seats aren't even standard on the 5 series, I had to pay close to £400 for them on a £50k car ffs!!!

Steve BMW land is alos quite a good forum.

Good luck.

 

I'd keep these for a cheap set of winter tyres to go on, and buy a second hand set of larger wheels for the summer.

The 320ed makes a lot of sense I think.

 

The car would be a co. car so I doubt the lease company will let me change the wheels as they wouldn't want to pay the extra for the larger tyres.

To be honest, the wheels don't look that bad as the suspension is quite low. they look nice and easy to clean too - better than the 10 spoke Zeniths on my vRS!

Steve

 

Don't worry about wheels. Just a fashion fad that most fall for. Big wheels weigh more, break and the super low profile rubber needed utterly kills the ride quality. THE single most pointless fashion accessory of modern cars.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYryyA28go

 

LOOK!!! THEY SPINNIN *****!! THEY SPINNIN!!!

Steve

 

If I had a white one, would painting the 16" wheels gloss black be a bad thing?

Steve

 

You are a card, you are!

(oh, you driven an Alpina D3 on the 19's...?
It's like wafting around on 70 section tyres )

 

White is cool; Just don't drive it in Dudley...everyone will think your a taxi!

(local coucil by-law, all private hire taxis round there have to be white )

 

Nope but I imagine it would be even comfier on smaller rims.

Give me one advantage of giant rims apart from looks?

All it does it means people spend twice as much on tyres and seem to accept that their massive wheels break. SO many M Sport wheels have cracked. Do owners consider trying stronger, smaller rims? No, they keep on buying more, keep on breaking them all to look "cool."

Look at motor racing (which, let's face it, all fast cars owners want to be seen to be into) - what cars have massive rims? Yes touring cars are largeish rimmed but then look at a racetrack - mirror smooth. We live in a country full of potholed roads that are largely ignored by the government. Big rims break, They ruin the ride. They need tyres that cost twice as much.

Mildly justified on something with genuine monster power but does a 318d M Sport need 255/35 18" (or even 19") tyres? Does an Audi 2.0TDI? No it doesn't. And it ruins those sort of cars key benefits - cheapish to run, efficient, comfortable.

It's a conspiracy I tell you...

 

But how comfy do you want?

May as well put 13" 70 section tyres on your Beemer - that'd be comfy.
You'd look a **** mind...

I'd wager the Alpina on it's 19's is as comfy as your SE on it's 16's and will handle waaaay better, even with it's measly 450Nm.

Go on - try one.


A conspiracy - I think you may well be right!

 

I have 17s - 16s are too small for the brakes.

I bet an Alpina doesn't handle waaaay better and it's got a gay four pot motor and orange wood.

I do like the "proper" B3s and B8s though.

A B8 Touring would be splendid.

 

No wood in the D3.

You're right of course, only a 4 pot but doing 20k miles per year and paying tax on the fuel it needs to be a 4 and not a 6!

Still, 214 bhp and 56 mpg is plenty for her indoors

 

Zip - I like the D3 (and all Alpinas) but not for me. For a start the wheels look SO hard to clean! And some have those slightly naff stickers.

Had a look at petrol Alpinas (just for research) and resale values seem completely random. Some drop like a stone, others hold their money really well.

Alpina get several things right - they don't spec i-drive, they don't use run flats and they generally look very, very subtle.

 

The stickers are a cost option and to date a very tiny amount of people in the UK have specced them. (or in Germany)
Most of the cars you see with them are ones that Sytners specced.

My mate had an E46 B3 3.3 and the value of that dropped quite a lot after 3 years.

The one we're having (coupe) WILL have i-drive - it's part of the Lux pack.
Never had a problem using it in the 5er - even the missus can use it and she struggles with an ipod!

We specced up a 330d coupe and to be honest she just wasn't interested in 6 pot this, 0-60, 0-100 that.... she wants exclusivity and mpg.

I did try telling her that living in the same city as the sole Alpina importers won't necessarily guarantee exclusiveness....

 

It's a nice motor.

What about that one on here that packs a big V8 but looks (almost) like a stock E36 316i? SO cool!

I don't get on with i-drive or onboard shat nav but I'm in the extreme minority there. As with most things.

Sytners were great when I bought our BM - through their Leicester branch.

 

I like big rims if they suit the car. My M5 has 19 inchers and they have never cracked or broken, it looks right for the car.

My 535d will have 19 inch alloys as well, I had a 530d on 19s for the weekend and it was very very comfortable.

On the whole I don't like loud in your face cars but a car of a decent size needs decent size wheels or it just looks odd. It's not about being a fashion victim, some things just look right and some don't.

imho

 

Ding - the problem is, car designers are making cars with HUGE arches that need massive rims "or they look odd." The F10 being a prime example. Even 19s look fairly small.

It just seems to be getting worse and worse. They'll be a stage when small hatches have 20s as standard and "economy" cars will need massive rubber and the associated costs. I just think it's got a bit silly.

Not all big wheels break of course but they are more prone to kerbing and breakage due to ultra low profile rubber. We live in the UK, not on a race track.

It's brilliant having an "anti victim" Landy with 16" 235/85s...

Anyway, it's an "argument" that gets me nowhere so I'll stop.

 

Ding - the problem is, car designers are making cars with HUGE arches that need massive rims "or they look odd." The F10 being a prime example. Even 19s look fairly small.

It just seems to be getting worse and worse. They'll be a stage when small hatches have 20s as standard and "economy" cars will need massive rubber and the associated costs. I just think it's got a bit silly.

Not all big wheels break of course but they are more prone to kerbing and breakage due to ultra low profile rubber. We live in the UK, not on a race track.

It's brilliant having an "anti victim" Landy with 16" 235/85s...

Anyway, it's an "argument" that gets me nowhere so I'll stop.