BMW 130i..

Are you paying in cash? If not maybe a small loan to top the difference up and you can get the car you really want?

Otherwise the 125i is not a depreciation friendly car so I expect it'll shed the £2k you need it to by next Summer :)
 
Paying in cash (with the part-ex) but also paying off a big loan at the same time (getting a smaller loan on that to consolidate and take monthly payments down from £300/mo to £120) so I'm not sure if it'd be wise, and if I would easily find a 125i still within that budget.
 
[TW]Fox;17819732 said:
Great fun but the pre LCI ones (LCI was 2007) do not have the level of interior quality you'd expect from a BMW.
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I borrowed a 120d (2008) last week and was very surprised by the quality of the interior. The seats were good but the general quality of the plastics felt very poor, on a simlar level to some of the chevrolet crap we have as pool cars and not even close to an A3.
 
That will have been an LCI model. It's not a 5 Series but it's noticeably better than 'Chevrolet crap'.

Not even close to an A3? :confused:
 
[TW]Fox;17826344 said:
That will have been an LCI model. It's not a 5 Series but it's noticeably better than 'Chevrolet crap'.

Not even close to an A3? :confused:
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The plastics just felt cheap, the bit on the bottom of the centre console in front of the gear stick especially so. Most of it was far better than a Chevrolet but odd bits weren't. I was surprised as I thought the 1 series would be at least up to the standard of a 3 series for people to put up with the crap packaging.

The A3 is a worse car to drive but the interior quality feels a lot better.
 
Gribs said:
The plastics just felt cheap, the bit on the bottom of the centre console in front of the gear stick especially so. Most of it was far better than a Chevrolet but odd bits weren't. I was surprised as I thought the 1 series would be at least up to the standard of a 3 series for people to put up with the crap packaging.

The A3 is a worse car to drive but the interior quality feels a lot better.
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Totally agree. It really is **** poor.
The LCI is a vast improvement, but barely BMW standards IMHO.
 
Regarding the interior quality, M-Sport trim actually improves on some of the weaknesses. Lots of aluminum instead of plastic, nice steering wheel and gear nob, and leather option is a must IMO, if only for the improved door trim!
I'm rather picky about things, and I appreciate it's all subjective, but there's nothing that annoys me about the interior, and that's unusual. (I use lots of hire cars through work, and I'm always moaning about interior niggles).
 
I drove one of those a few years back. It felt like a fast cruiser but... wasn't big enough to be one. But it was too nose heavy to be a fun hot hatch :(
 
[TW]Fox;17832674 said:
I drove one of those a few years back. It felt like a fast cruiser but... wasn't big enough to be one. But it was too nose heavy to be a fun hot hatch :(
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To be honest I know where your coming from with that statement but really the focus doesnt feel that much different to that too
 
At the end of the day, as much as I want something spritely and fun, I'm not the kid of person who would get the most out of something raw performance wise like an Integra Type-R etc.. so I think something like that might suit, I just want something, without sounding crude and immature, a bit faster than my current car, and just fancy a change!

I tested a TT Convertible 3.2 DSG a year or so back just out of idle curiosity but was with a stingy dealer who wanted a 3-5 minute end of the road and back test drive, litrally had it in auto with him saying "if you hit a paddle now it'll still change" which was obvious enough anyways if you have done ANY reading up!

Would love to find a 3.2 S-Line with DSG, but I think that'll end up pushing the price up past 11k!

Will have a look locally and see what I can find, couldn't see a location on the one you linked Widdy?
 
it says middlesex on this ad - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2155518.htm

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...7hn/keywords/dsg/radius/1500/page/1?logcode=p
that one looks nice too eh ? its only 100 miles from you and I think its well worth travelling that type of distance for the right car

Or even - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...page/3/postcode/sl37hn/keywords/r32?logcode=p this way you can get your DSG and also 5 doors without looking like a shoe :)

Also just to throw a curve ball have you ever looked at these ? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../page/1/radius/1500/postcode/sl37hn?logcode=p
Agai I tried one when I changed cars a while back and I really liked it very good quality interior and same lovely 5 pot warble like the focus but maybe a little more reserved :)
 
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mjt said:
Totally agree. It really is **** poor.
The LCI is a vast improvement, but barely BMW standards IMHO.
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This is nothing new, even the latest models have crap plastics from 3 series to 5 series.

The £65,000 M3 M-DCT I oggled not long ago at the dealer had crap plastics as well and I felt my E46 felt more solid around the cabin.

It's all about costs savings y0.
 
Khaaan! said:
The £65,000 M3 M-DCT I oggled not long ago at the dealer had crap plastics as well and I felt my E46 felt more solid around the cabin.
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Which bits? I've driven plenty of E90/E91 and didn't feel it to be of a lower standard than the E46. It was about the same, which is a bit of a shame really as you'd hope it would get better.
 
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