lozgti1

Wow.Fantastic drive.80mpg driving down dual carriageway and nil road tax

Perfect car.I have to hand it to BMW,they really have a winner.Can't think of anything that comes anywhere close in the class.If i had 28k,I'd get one tomorrow.Sport button thing works too!

We have a 2007 318 d .Seemed so dated after that

Want one!!

nik52wrx

I've never been a big BMW fan but recently somebody crashed into my Range Rover Sport and i was given a brand new X5 loan car and i have to say i was impressed.
It was much quicker than my sport, more economical and much cheaper to tax.
BMW certainly lead the field with their diesel engines, Land Rover take note!
Nik.

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

Yes fantastic performance and economy averaging over 64mpg 0-60 7.5

a5h

iTrader: (3)

Yeah what a car I have one at the moment and it is an amazing vehicle. If i needed a daily driver and had a spare £39k with all the bits it would be top of my list!

Dingdongler

What was the ride like over bumpy roads? My F10 535D MS rides poorly over such surfaces, very disappointingly so.

It may well be a combination of things ie sports suspension, run flats, big wheels etc.

However since my E60 M5 was much better over such surfaces (and I've read the new M5 rides well) I'm pretty sure it's mainly down to the run flats.

As a result I would never buy a BMW that has run flats again. I think this means I can only buy a M car

zip106

Oh no it doesn't......

A L P I N A

Jimpreza

Ding - I can gurantee it'll be the tyres. I had a 335 on runflats then went to an M3. The M3 rides 100% better over bumps.

Dingdongler

Oh yes, forgot about the Alpina!

Jim, spot on mate. My old M5 rode better over undulating roads than my current 5 series so it has to be the run flats. I really can't understand why BMW are so obsessed with these horrible things but then are happy to ditch them on M cars.

I drove a mate's new Jag XF the other day and I can tell you it put my car to shame in terms of ride quality.

I'll never buy a car with run flats again.

john banks

I thought the E60 M5 rode magnificently.

Are there any cars on runflats that do ride properly, perhaps a recently developed chassis designed around them?

Dingdongler

I've read the new M5 rides even better John.

Who else apart from BMW actually uses run flats? Pretty sure MB and Audi group don't.

zip106

Don't BMW even inflict them on the MINI?

chrispy200+

iTrader: (2)

Yup

Jimpreza

The Nissan GTR has runflats also.

Dingdongler

Really?? I never knew that!

john banks

Yes, they cost too much and ride badly, but the stiffness does seem to help smooth surface grip. I bet it would be faster on bumpy roads without the runflats though (and much more comfortable), even though smooth track times would suffer, but it is much more tied down than my non-runflat E46 M3 on 19s on bumpy roads where that was hateful. I've not yet had the opportunity of all four wearing out together to change them as I wouldn't want run flats on one axle and normal tyres on the other and at £1500 a set I'm not going to throw them away early!

My Legacy on non runflat 215/45 R17 is a paragon of compliance and comfort in comparison, and surprisingly by any standards.

Littleted

in the next 3 months im about to spec up the new 330D Lux, as I need that 0-60 LOL

Andy Porter

Another Alpina vote here. I test drove a few 330D's with 18's on ( non run flat ) and the ride was harsh. I was gob smacked how well my D3 rode on non run flat Michelin super sports 19's....different level orf ride quality completely...

Littleted

anyone test drove the latest 2012 330d, its got over 500NM of torque. Just wondered what your views were

ScoobyJawa

The old one had 500NM or 520NM depending on year. Chipped is 600-620NM, and boy they have some shove!

Razorwrx1

iTrader: (21)

Next doors got one of these, lovely motor. His badge is black and red, so are the alloys badge too. Must be a limited edition or something? Stunning car!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Trust me...even in SE spec it rides terribly. I was given a lift in a brand new 62plate f10 earlier this week. They aren't any better now compared to when they were first launched.

Our old e39 msport (with the M5 style 9x18 M-parallel wheels) rides so much more nicely, and has a spare tyre for when I have a puncture in the middle of france on a sunday 200 miles away from calais and no where to get it fixed.

BMW's mantra to dealers is to deny anything is wrong, but it seems once you get talking to some guys working at the dealership, 'unofficially' they know its a problem to those who know how a car (especially a BMW) shoud ride like. The one guy reckoned the problem is alot of people who buy BMWs have no clue of how a BMW should ride or handle. As long as it has the badge and enough toys they seem ignorant to it, and unfortunately that lack of feedback means BMW just carry on using run flats.

There is however talk thet the upcomming 3 series (facelift? ) will have options to have normal tyres. However will there be space for a spare tyre? I hope so.

One thing for sure it affects different models in different ways; I drove an X1 a few weeks back and it was better than a F10, but still a pretty nasty and unsettled ride. However, I drove 62 plate, f20 116 sport demo car, on loan on Thursday and its leagues above the F10, and much improved over the old one series, yes its still a hard ride but the car doesn't jolt or shudder in the same way as the F10 and F07s do and felt like a really well planted car (not sure if it had active dampers or not - hard to say, it did have a comfort mode, so maybe it did). It was in fact a cracking little car - the 3 door body in red with black leather, sport trim and black/chrome alloys looks superb. So good that I'm really itching to get my hands on a 135i to see if it can replace the R32 (must have active damping though, even though the 135i doesn't have runflats ).

Unfortunately the quest to find a large and comfy mile muncher for inter-europe travel continues....making do with a F07 and some tyre weld for now

Dingdongler

I couldn't agree more Ali. Everybody knows the ride on run flats is horrible. It's not just the ride actually, the handling gets upset by the poor ride.

I've come to the same conclusion as you that most people are so stupid they carry on buying these cars because of the badge. I will NEVER buy another car with run flats.

It's a real shame because there are so many good things about the F10 but is badly let down by the ride

Brun

Can you replace the run flats with normal rubber?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Yes.

Bit of an issue if you have a puncture though; No spare tyre, nor any space under the boot floor to fit one.

Brun

So are the boots just extra deep now?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Not really, the boot space is not really any different than the older models.

Actually with the new touring, I'd say there is less storage, due to the battery now being located in the middle (used to be in the corner). The old e46 and e39 touring had extra storage beneath the boot floor including further storage in well of the spare tyre. All there is now is two shallow trays.

ScoobyJawa

My E92 has storage under the boot floor too, bigger than a shallow tray....

martin850

iTrader: (51)

I have had a 62reg 320d sport for the past couple of days as a hire car and loved it. It was a lovely ride and had plenty of poke but with great fuel economy.

The interior was well equipped and had full leather seats (which as probably the only bad point were a little too tight on the kidneys and I'm no porker )

All in all a cracking car that I I could afford the £30k I would buy one.

Neanderthal

iTrader: (6)

Martin, didn't anyone tell you about the adjuster for the kidney cruncher?

martin850

iTrader: (51)

Nope, alot of the stuff I found by chance or playing with the buttons.