BMW and M Power Owners

I've just left a deposit on an 05 E90 330i SE Manual in Monaco Blue.

It has the Champagne memory sport seats, iDrive, Active Steering, Dual Zone Climate, Cruise. Seems to have most of the options apart from Xenons. Decent tyres all round (though runflats), 90% BMW dealer history, 10% specialist.

I have bought it as a replacement to my knackered S2000. I liked my E46 328i so hopefully it won't disappoint too much. If it really does, I'll keep the S2000 and sell the E90.

My notable observations during the test drive:

1) The gearbox is rubbish compared to the S2K.
2) I didn't like the driving position and the clutch pedal feels like it's too far to the right.
3) Interior and seats don't compared well to the E46.

I bought it anyway as it was cheap and I need to get rid of the S2K. I'm picking it up on Saturday and am looking forward to it.
 
Right in the market for a new car as my lease is soon running out on my focus ST (yay!)

Come across a 335d i like the look of over on the BMW AUC website.

The dealership is over a 100 miles away from where i live so currently just talking over phone/email.

Has anyone ever brought a AUC BMW without first seeing it? Also hows peoples luck getting money off the sticker price with AUC?

The dealership is Ridgeway Salisbury BMW.
 
LordVader said:
Right in the market for a new car as my lease is soon running out on my focus ST (yay!)

Come across a 335d i like the look of over on the BMW AUC website.

The dealership is over a 100 miles away from where i live so currently just talking over phone/email.

Has anyone ever brought a AUC BMW without first seeing it? Also hows peoples luck getting money off the sticker price with AUC?

The dealership is Ridgeway Salisbury BMW.
Click to expand...

Forget getting money off
 
I bought two last year without seeing them first (as I live in Jersey) and I wouldn't recommend it as dealers are untrustworthy. One I did manage to get my dad to go take a look at first so I knew it was tidy, the other one I relied on videos and comments from the dealer, which was a mistake as their idea of "perfect condition, no marks" clearly wasn't the same as mine - it had various nicks and scratches and the valet was appalling. After much wrangling with them I brought the car back to the UK when I visited for summer hols and they came and collected it and sorted all the issues (this was 4 months after purchase). It was simple enough getting the cars delivered to the port in Southampton and then the shipper took over - AUC dealers should deliver anywhere in UK at their cost.

I would recommend that you get anyone to go take a look first, whether friend, family or fellow OCUKer, if you are unable to go yourself.

Note, if it is an AUC dealer that is a chain you can put down a fully refundable deposit (£500 or £1,000) and they will deliver it to another branch of their dealership which is more convenient. If you don't like it or can't get to it you can simply ask for a refund. Only time they don't seem to do this is if they're fairly certain they can sell the car where it is.

Re money off: I got zero off list price of the E93 330i but got £800 off the X3 and a full tank of fuel (can't believe that's not standard :mad:). You'll be more likely to get discounts from dealers in Scotland and Wales in my experience of haggling with them. Their 120 point car inspection will reveal what the tread on each tyre is, if below 4mm they have to replace, if 4-5mm then try to negotiate with them to put new tyres on. You can also try to negotiate 18/24 months warranty (although AUC has to come with 12 months as standard).
 
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Just swapped my mid range speakers and added a tweeter to the woeful 'pro' stereo setup, difference is staggering bearing in mind I only shelled out £80 for the upgrade!

FYI I used the mini cooper mids part code: 65-13-3-428-196
and the LCI tweeters - 65-13-9-220-750

Well worth doing if like me you find your stereo not up to the task, quite how BMW can happily ask for 50k+ for a car and ship it with such awful stock speakers is beyond me!
 
[TW]Fox;29631438 said:
I have never bought an AUC without getting money off so this is rubbish. If you get nothing off then the salesman was better than you and knew you'd buy it regardless :p
Click to expand...

I walked away from a few! The one I did end up with he didn't give me a penny off but...weirdly gave me a fair bit extra on my trade in.
 
Will Gill said:
Just swapped my mid range speakers and added a tweeter to the woeful 'pro' stereo setup, difference is staggering bearing in mind I only shelled out £80 for the upgrade!

FYI I used the mini cooper mids part code: 65-13-3-428-196
and the LCI tweeters - 65-13-9-220-750

Well worth doing if like me you find your stereo not up to the task, quite how BMW can happily ask for 50k+ for a car and ship it with such awful stock speakers is beyond me!
Click to expand...

Was it plug and play or did you have to solder? I'd seen a guide for the F10 I'm tempted to try, how did you get along?
 
On another note just had a couple of days in a brand new 318i Touring, that 3 cylinder engine is woeful, slow, didn't work well with the 8 speed auto and worse economy than my 530D.

Always nice to get your own car back, after paying the ridiculous cost for new rear disc/pads and the insane micro filter price.
 
Today when I was driving home I noticed my idle dropping, almost 'bouncing' off the 'stall' point in my manual 330ci when in gear with the clutch pedal depressed. When I got home I let it idle in neutral and it sounded very lumpy and uneven, with the car shaking. It seems to run 'alright' if I apply some throttle (both in neutral and in gear).

I did a video of the engine noise. Note the hissing from the air filter area and the VANOS bearingy rattle. You can hear them both clearly when I turn the engine off at the end. Although the bearing rattle has been there for a while (I used to think it was normal)

I'll update this with a youtube link when it has processed...

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...e/MVI_0011.MOV
 
Thanks, i'll have a read later. Although, it might have to wait a while now, i've just forked out for 4 new tyres and i need to have the tracking checked as my front left tyre has worn on the edge. BMW want £20 to check and £60 to adjust it.
 
Will Gill said:
Just swapped my mid range speakers and added a tweeter to the woeful 'pro' stereo setup, difference is staggering bearing in mind I only shelled out £80 for the upgrade!

FYI I used the mini cooper mids part code: 65-13-3-428-196
and the LCI tweeters - 65-13-9-220-750

Well worth doing if like me you find your stereo not up to the task, quite how BMW can happily ask for 50k+ for a car and ship it with such awful stock speakers is beyond me!
Click to expand...

I find mine to be OK (I also have pro audio), although only once I'd turned off "surround" in the tone settings. Have you fiddled with that at all?
 
Its here! woo! :D

Needs a proper clean and polish. :)

09LPyZO.jpg
 
Hi,

Hoping I can get some help as I've just bought a BMW 120d last week (13 plate). I have an LG G4, obviously on android. Is there any way of connecting so that I can listen and change track via iDrive? At the min I'm having to use the Aux cable, which isn't ideal. I've trawled the internet with little success.

When connecting via Bluetooth I just get the phonebook and calling.

When connecting via USB I just get not supported.

I've updated the software to the latest version (3007).
 
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