Soldato
How come you wouldn’t buy it outright?
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
How come you wouldn’t buy it outright?
Soldato
Yeah, that's a valid point. I'm not completely sold on the looks and ultimately I want to be able to look back on my car and smile. I don't think the G8* does that for me. If the M3T had the front end of the M340i it'd be a different story. The Alpina B3 Wagon as an example, IMO, looks much better.Thankfully paper bags are reasonably cheap too. M&S do them
Soldato
You’ve got the purple M3 right? It’s a properly smart looking car. Think I’d really struggle switching to an M3T and looking back on it, having previously had an F80.
I do, yeah. I still really enjoy it, in fact I'm looking at having adaptive LED Icons fitted this year as for whatever reason it wasn't spec'd when new but nearly every other option was. The GTS flash has made all the things I hated about the car go away (slow moving in traffic, pulling away at roundabouts like a normal person, the fake jolts in the sportier DCT settings etc). The CSC7 also don't try and kill me in the wet which the MPSS are exceptional at. The final payment for the top up loan I got for it is also in the summer and after that I won't owe a penny on it.
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Soldato
Seems like a no brainer to keep it.
A lot of people like the ZF8 but I really don’t rate it in a sports car.
I can think of the works to describe why, but it just doesn’t feel right.
It makes the response feel slower overall. I think it’s because you don’t get than snap on gear changes.
Find it changes the entire dynamic of the car.
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Don't say that on M3 Cutters, there's a guy on there that wants the ZF8 in his F80 (might be an F82 not sure). He's adamant that it's a better gearbox than the DCT and that's the whole reason why BMW's M division chose it for the new car.
Still weighing up options, I have a lot of equity in it and I know the sensible decision is to pay off/get a loan for the balance but part of me just wants a new toy
They chose it because it supports 4WD for less £ than redeveloping ZF8
Accountants decision
I don't like the stock DCT map for the F80 comp, I've struggled pulling out of parking spaces, and it's dangerous at times on roundabouts. I suspect the F87 mapping is different to the F80 from people I've spoken to. The GTS flash has made a dramatic difference.
Fair enough. My neighbour also has an F80 comp, he hasn't mentioned anything. Perhaps one day he will let me have a go in it!
One thing I will say is that with the GTS flash, MDM mode is pretty wild in comparison to stock. First drive post flash I ended up looking out of the passenger window unexpectedly on a local roundabout.
I’ve got a 540i which is really just used for pottering about. Had it almost a year and I don’t regret it at all. Fabulous car, fabulous engine. Makes me smile every time I get into it
My warranty is expiring in May, so I have some thinking to do on whether to extend or not.
It would be nice to be able to flash some bits like said GTS flash and fit an android auto box etc, maybe get the suspension done too.
I still have my warranty, from what I've read the GTS doesn't show up as it's still OEM software, it's engine tuning that flags up right away on ISTA. It'll probably bite me in the backside but from my experience so far it's worth it.
My dad has a 330i Touring and it's more than fast enough for his needs, and it can be incredibly frugal in eco pro. But it's still a 4-pot and not a patch on the M340i at all.
If you can afford the extra fuel, insurance, etc. just get the M340i. You'll regret not getting one.
On the comp the slow stop-start on the DCT was a pain - I put the CS map on (I think) and it improved it no end.
Yeah exactly that. I don’t care much for the extra performance or whatever it’s means to give, I care more for the fact that’s it’s made it far better in normal driving conditions.