BMW and M Power Owners

I'm picking up a 2010 330i coupe this week with 34k miles on it and full BMW service history. If the last service was in February, would there be any point in getting a new service for the car? I've always been advised to service newly bought used cars.

Also, the tyres are all Bridgestone 19" run flats, should I replace these with normal tyres? They have plenty of tread on them.

Is there anything else I should do other than the usual cleaning, etc?
 
Had a drive in an M2 this morning having jumped straight out of my M135i and whilst the car definitely felt much more connected than mine I was a little underwhelmed by it's straight line performance, which is all I could test on the open road. Above 5K RPM it seemed to have a bit more go than mine but otherwise there was very little in it (unsurprising really).

The brakes, however, were much better. Much more immediate and better feel, and in combination with the wider tyres it will out-stop an M135i/M235i pretty comfortably I'd expect. The ride is sharper and you definitely feel more through the rear of the car than in mine. It had a manual gearbox which was fine, but the clutch was SO light I struggled a bit with it to begin with. I'd definitely order the M-DCT (which is what the previous owner changed it for apparently).

I imagine it would be an absolute hoot on track, but I'd definitely be wary of spending £50K on one for daily use. From inside the car there's basically nothing to distinguish it from mine, and therefore I don't think it feels like a £50k car ought to for most of your daily driving. There are no options available for it that you can't get on the M240i for example.

All that said, the one I drove had done nearly 19k miles and the dealer wanted almost 40K for it. That's pretty decent value retention considering this particular example was ~£45k new.

Also whilst I was there I asked (out of interest) about the new 5 series, and the dealer told me that they are selling more petrols than diesels so far, and more 540i than 530i as well so Fox, there's hope for you yet!
 
Unfortunately they've also ruined the petrol range...

530i - is a 4 cylinder
530e iPerformance - has only 180bhp in petrol mode and therefore doesn't even offer 530d performance
540i - is only available with stupid 4wd for the UK market. Bizarrely in Australia, where they also get right hand drive cars, you can only get it in RWD. What gives BMW?

Sigh. Just at the point where diesel is getting actually good, everyone goes bonkers. Where was the anti diesel crusade 10 years ago!?
 
hurfdurf said:
People are really dumb and take 10 years to figure out something is terrible and merely a poor mans fuel no matter how much you try and spice it up with turbos?
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The trouble is they've taken so long to bother to get annoyed about it that they've started to get annoyed after diesel has significantly matured into something massively better than it ever was. A decent Euro 6 diesel is actually good. Finally. Just as it starts to become unfashionable.
 
I honestly would rather have diesel RWD over petrol 4WD. I have no interest at all in all 4 wheels being driven in a 5 Series and I'm really frustrated that they've gone down that route.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I honestly would rather have diesel RWD over petrol 4WD. I have no interest at all in all 4 wheels being driven in a 5 Series and I'm really frustrated that they've gone down that route.
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Whereas if they had put 4wd in the F11, I would have specced that without hesitation.

hurfdurf said:
What are the downsides to 4WD?
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Now he will come out with extra weight, reduced fuel economy, and poorer handling dynamics, and for no real benefit for most of the UK population. Which I kind of agree with, and why it should be an option not a requirement.
 
hurfdurf said:
What are the downsides to 4WD?
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Mainly a small hit in fuel consumption but the B58 revision of the petrol engine is superb on fuel I personally think you will get it within 10mpg of the diesel, which makes the diesel a bit pointless in my opinion. I've done a few thousand miles in an X-drive car and think this system is great. It's got the balance of a RWD car but traction at all times, it's got enough rear bias to tighten your line using the throttle.

I am sure Fox will come round to it when he buys one, he was anti diesel before he bought a diesel. I have seen a few 540is on the roads now so they may be easier to pick up second hand. One advantage of the anti diesel press.
 
hurfdurf said:
What are the downsides to 4WD?
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More weight, higher fuel consumption, inferior handling, more tyre wear.

Dangerous Dave said:
Mainly a small hit in fuel consumption but the B58 revision of the petrol engine is superb on fuel I personally think you will get it within 10mpg of the diesel, which makes the diesel a bit pointless in my opinion.
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I'd be amazed if it got within 10mpg of the G30 530d - remember that has the benefit of being RWD instead of 4WD, too. Though 10mpg isn't exactly a 'small' hit in fuel consumption.

It's the elephant in the room in all this new-found petrol enthusiasm from government and the mainstream press - nobody seems to be mentioning the fact that the reason we have so many diesels in the first place is because our fuel is exceptionally expensive..
 
4WD variants of Mercs, BMWs, VWs, etc. have been around for decades on the continent, and they used to be almost exclusively found in the Alps :p

Having owned a Seat Leon Cupra 4 and an 8P S3, 4wd was brilliant when needed, but on the Leon it was totally pointless when I moved out of Norway. S3 Quattro meant amazeballs grip in the wet and it climbed mountains without chains when I went boarding in winter.

Would I buy a Quattro or xDrive again? Unlikely. For once I agree with Fox in that unless you live somewhere where you have snow and hills/mountains, it really just saps power and fuel for very little gain.
Having said that, axle tramp and TC cutting in while trying to make progress in low gears on my FWD A6 is tiresome.
 
The bit I don't get is why Australia has only the RWD 540i? I'd perhaps understand if BMW had made a decision that it was only viable to tool the RHD 540i for one powertrain layout but that obviously isn't the case as the Aussies get the RWD one and we get the 4WD one.

It's not as if xDrive has been a runaway sales success over here when the choice is offered either, virtually every 320d you see is RWD not 4WD.

It seems somewhat odd to go from a situation where xDrive isn't offered at all on the 5 Series to one where its your only option....
 
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