While i dont mean it as harshly as that post probably sounded, i think with respect you actually do not know what you want at all - hence the suggestion of stepping back a bit.
You change cars every 5 minutes, often changes styles, no doubt taking a bath each time. Its a seriously expensive business which is resulting in a lot of money being spent needlessly with no real result. You could be in a seriously nice car for the budget which is clearly available, but is instead being pointlessly wasted over and over again
This change is an "enforced" change, as with my XFR, the car has enough faults for me to lose confidence in it and at that point I need to maximise what I can get from the dealer and manufacturer to put me in the best position going forward. Given the restrictions this puts on me, limiting choices in used cars for example and given the options open I believe I've reached a favourable outcome.
If the car hadn't suffered from the range of faults and their continued re-occurrence I wouldn't be changing, particularly so soon after buying this one.
I think you should buy my M5 off me instead, cheaper and much better
No thanks

can't get a seating position in a 5 that works for me, and I've tried since the E60 to do it.
[TW]Fox;27060508 said:
Because it's a diesel.
The N57 engine *is* impressive - I really like it. It's smooth, its refined, its powerful, it even sounds quite good. But it's still a diesel, it's still not as smooth as a petrol and therefore if the option exists I'd always opt for the petrol six in favour. You have that choice - you are ordering a new one - I didn't, so had to buy what was available.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with and enjoy this engine. But it's not as good as 35i engine for reasons which you can't really quantify on paper.
I like both the x35 i and d engines. In the 3/4 the 35i engine is not in the same state of tune as the M235i and when driven back to back I can tell. I could cure this with the MPPK, but thats another £1500 on top, which I don't want to spend and if I was doing that I'd also want the MPE as well.
Having driven back to back the M235i and 335d last weekend they obviously have quite different characteristics but are both great engines and are capable of propelling the car at a fair rate of knots.
As I've said as I'm changing the car/model I decided that I might as well go for the whole hog, and fancied something with AWD again as well, so have decided on the 335d.
That's not quite true. A lot depends on how you spec the cars. A highly specced 3 might have some better components than a poverty specced 6 but certainly not if specified to the same relative level.
You obviously want to justify your decision to yourself but the 3 isn't in the same league as the 6.
Where have I said that its in the same league, I was specifically comparing certain components and stating that there is commonality across the BMW range, hence the bit of my statement which you didn't quote.
I was also referring to the lights on the 3 series with the visibility pack which are of a better specification than those of the adaptive/HBA on the 6 series, the 3 has the anti-dazzle system, the 6 does not without specifying the full LED system.
If I wanted a 6 I'd get one, but having looked at the costs involved, available space for carrying my kids around and the overall size, I'd decided against it.