330d or a 335d
- Thread starter Liquidfox
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![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
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Oh, how come that 535d is bad fox? I'm assuming the spec right?
It really does suck being in the North East when it comes to car purchases, it means a days travelling to go and pick one up and unless the dealer is very accommodating and willing to record a video it means going off pictures 
The only thing it appears to have is Pro Nav. It claims to have quite a bit of other stuff - but they are not Xenon lights and it says it has those, I can't see the camera in the boot recess either so who knows..
It's also one of the very first F10's so the standard spec is nothing like as generous as the later ones - hence things like heated seats missing.
You can get a fairly well specified 530d for this sort of money. I think my old one went for about 15kish in the end and that was an SE with Dynamic Pack (19's, Sport seats, dark headlining, sports wheel), Sport Auto Transmission, Visibility Package, Heated Seats, Pro Nav, folding mirrors and well under 60k so cheap warranty available.
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Oh I know, but I like to be able to see things in person before buying them. Having to spend 10 hours travelling for something I might not actually like (or may be not be as it's made out to be) can be a bit off putting! I've been extremely fortunate with all my previous cars in that they've only ever been 30-60 minutes away. I've seen a couple of stinkers that were nothing like the adverts described or showed, luckily it's only a small amount of time out of my day and minimal fuel.
I suppose the budget of this car compared to my previous cars should hopefully mean I'm dealing with a better quality seller this time around and shouldn't have these kind of problems!
Would you guys be comfortable buying from a private seller in this kind of case if it already had an existing BMW warranty? In my mind it provides the same level of protection that a dealer purchased car would as long as the level of cover is correct.
[TW]Fox;30130191 said:
After having a quick look around I much prefer the look of the M-Sport bumpers, that and the chrome around the windows puts me off a bit (I assume the latter is an SE feature?)
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Chrome is an SE feature but many don't have it. Mine had had the nicer high gloss black shadow line.
I agree the M Sport is better - I eventually upgraded to one - but at this end of the market you can have either a crap abused or tired M Sport or a nice SE.
You need rather more for a really nice M Sport.
I agree the M Sport is better - I eventually upgraded to one - but at this end of the market you can have either a crap abused or tired M Sport or a nice SE.
You need rather more for a really nice M Sport.
Behave a diesel E90 a high performance premium machinewe are not talking about M3's M5's or even a far superior F10 535d that have a far superior interior or driving experience.
The E90 interior/exterior is dated and depressing and given that apart from the badge the 335 doesn't look any different on the outside next to the new no1 chav chariot of choice the E90 318/320 that can be had for around 5k now and is seen everywhere with gangsta lean reclined seat and sick m sport rimz on every council estate I would want something better and different for my 15k!
Granted the 335d would spank most other performance style/hot hatch cars on the road especially with a map but by today's standards is a 3 litre twin turbo producing 286bhp all that impressive? Especially one that can throw up eye watering bills and produces rubbish mpg compared to modern fast diesels?
Yes I know the 2 cars I suggested are also driven by chavs and far slower than the 335d etc but having driven an e90 I don't think a 1 year old well specced Golf is far off an 8 year old 3 series in terms of quality and gadgets.
To sum it up if I was OP I would look at other cars. All the 335 offers is straight line speed and not much in the way of value for 15k!
Golf is one of the dullest cars I can possibly imagine within the 'premium' marques. In fact, I can't thing of a duller one.
Hmmm possibly the Audi A3, but that's basically the same thing.....
If one was looking at the F3x range of cars, is there a big difference between business nav and pro nav? Are there any "must have" options for these cars?
F3x prices for 330d seem to start at £20K and 335d from £25K or so (Looking at touring only though) Is the extra money worth it?
F3x prices for 330d seem to start at £20K and 335d from £25K or so (Looking at touring only though) Is the extra money worth it?
Business nav has the smaller screen and older software. Go for the pro nav.
Pro Nav is IMHO essential. The cars are designed for it, the screens look silly when they are artificially small by virtue of the missing Pro Nav. It gets you a better navigation system, a much nicer and larger screen, which allows split screen functionality etc. I would filter any car without it. It’s annoying BMW even offer it.
Essential options on an F30 are Xenon headlights – the front of the car looks absolutely awful without them as it has dire reflector lenses – as well as the professional navigation and probably Sport Automatic Transmission. That is the basics covered and anything else is ‘nice to have’ rather than essential.
On the subject of nice to have rather than essential, that brings us onto the 335d v the 330d. The 335d is incredible – it is very quick yet very frugal and very refined. However the 330d is similarly excellent. It feels only slightly slower and still posts a 0-60 time of a ridiculous 5.2 seconds. The approach I took when comparing 35d with 30d was that I didn’t mind which it was and that I’d buy the first example that met my other criteria, ensuring that I didn’t end up with something old or high mileage or low spec just because it was a 35d. This ended up putting me in a 30d with which I am entirely satisfied. You will get much of the 35d premium back at resale but that doesn’t change the fact that on a fixed budget you are likely to have to accept an older/higher mileage car if you opted for 35d over 30d. My last airport rental was a 330d M Sport Touring and honestly if you find the performance ‘lacking’ you probably need to go and buy an M3 to find satisfaction!
The other thing to bear in mind with the 3 Series is that the 35d is only available as an XDrive. This means that it doesn’t handle as well as a 30d as it retains the SE suspension and not the M Sport suspension.
[TW]Fox;30145955 said:
I didn't know that, thanks. Would prefer nicer handling over 4WD.
So, if the car has the widescreen nav then its the Pro version? How can visually tell the difference between the headlights.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...ing-3-0td-330d-m-sport-258bhp-touring/5861956
Like this sort of thing? Red leather is cool but would rather the grey exterior.
Apologies for the hijack OP.