BMW and M Power Owners

thewanted · 3 Jan 2015 at 11:13

panthro said:
Yes I've driven several cars with the 8 speed gearbox extensively. My DCT gearbox has never been jerky around town or in general, unless you put it into the fastest settings.

Fair enough. I've not driven a BMW with a dual-clutch gearbox, but the 6 and 7 speed DSG boxes in my previous VWs were not great in town.

J1nxy · 3 Jan 2015 at 11:15

panthro said:
I prefer the DCT gearbox, it's faster and more responsive.

Then again I'm probaby in the minority of x35i engine owners. For every day driving the 8 speed is smoother and easier to live with.

Have you tried it in a x35i car such as the M235i? Slow is not something that I would ever call it when shifting in full sport/manual mode.

panthro · 3 Jan 2015 at 11:16

J1nxy said:
Have you tried it in a x35i car such as the M235i? Slow is not something that I would ever call it when shifting in full sport/manual mode.

I have; I test drove an M235i a couple of months ago, and have done several hundred in an M135i. I never said it was slow!! The DCT shifts faster and you feel more connected. The downshifts are more entertaining too. The 8 speed is a fantastic gearbox though. I just find it odd that they offered it on the later 335i and then took it away for the new models.

J1nxy · 3 Jan 2015 at 12:24

panthro said:
I have; I test drove an M235i a couple of months ago, and have done several hundred in an M135i. I never said it was slow!! The DCT shifts faster and you feel more connected. The downshifts are more entertaining too. The 8 speed is a fantastic gearbox though. I just find it odd that they offered it on the later 335i and then took it away for the new models.

Fair enough, personal preference and all that...

It was probably a packaging thing, where the ZF is standard across the rest of the engine range why bother making/engineering the DCT into just 1 model (M cars being the exception)

Ghosteh · 4 Jan 2015 at 15:23

[TW]Fox;27424172 said:
The 'Sport' trim level is a bit weird anyway, I had a 420 Sport loan car for a few days. Wasn't impressed, didn't feel like an expensive car.

So after driving a 420d Sport and 428i M-Sport today, I definitely know what you mean about the Sport, I wasn't impressed at all, it felt like a newer model of my old 320d, didn't feel like a sports car in the slightest. The M-Sport was fantastic to drive though.

thewanted · 4 Jan 2015 at 15:47

Ghosteh said:
So after driving a 420d Sport and 428i M-Sport today, I definitely know what you mean about the Sport, I wasn't impressed at all, it felt like a newer model of my old 320d, didn't feel like a sports car in the slightest. The M-Sport was fantastic to drive though.

Surely that's down to the completely different engines as opposed to the trim level? Were they autos?

Ghosteh · 4 Jan 2015 at 15:50

Yeah both autos. I wasn't so much comparing the performance difference, more the trim, driving position and general feel of the car.

panthro · 6 Jan 2015 at 08:55

330d needs new calipers, discs, pads and the fluid changed due to the caliper seizing and warping the discs. £667 for the whole job, rip off or not a bad price?

mattx2 · 6 Jan 2015 at 09:30

panthro said:
330d needs new calipers, discs, pads and the fluid changed due to the caliper seizing and warping the discs. £667 for the whole job, rip off or not a bad price?

I was quoted about 800 for the same on a 130i seems reasonable to me

[TW]Fox · 6 Jan 2015 at 09:48

Ghosteh said:
Yeah both autos. I wasn't so much comparing the performance difference, more the trim, driving position and general feel of the car.

Neither of them are Sports Cars though and the feel should be fundamentally the same, M Sport is just extra bits of trim really?

LupoLover · 6 Jan 2015 at 09:53

mattx2 said:
I was quoted about 800 for the same on a 130i seems reasonable to me

Really good price id say from a dealer.

I paid nearly £600 for parts to do front and rear on mother in laws 2.0 Z4 (Same as 3.0)

panthro · 6 Jan 2015 at 10:11

It's from an independent garage that specialise in BMW. Car gave up on the way to work yesterday so got it recovered back to the garage and they're in the process of fixing it. Its only the front brakes.

Ghosteh · 6 Jan 2015 at 10:57

[TW]Fox;27437365 said:
Neither of them are Sports Cars though and the feel should be fundamentally the same, M Sport is just extra bits of trim really?

I suppose it came down to the Sport just felt a bit nicer than my 320, where as the M Sport felt different. Maybe if I added a few of the options from the M Sport to the Sport and it would feel closer, but at that point, I may as well just look at an M Sport and have those options included as standard.

mrkambo · 6 Jan 2015 at 11:57

Had my car MOT'd on the weekend, and tester said everything was peachy, not a single advisory

He did mention that my rear subframe bushes are starting to to look brittle, so i want to replace these before they give up, has anyone used the powerflex bushes on subframe? This is on a E36 cabrio

mrk · 6 Jan 2015 at 13:00

Set of 16 wheel nuts ordered from Cotswold, also ordered a Silverline torque wrench off Amazon, that was £15 but came with a few hundred 4/5 star reviews and one guy did a comparison with a calibrator to see the actual values, seemed to be a right bargain of a tool.

panthro · 6 Jan 2015 at 13:37

I've owned my Z4 19 months and only just realised I can stream my Spotify via Bluetooth to the stereo

BluBallz · 6 Jan 2015 at 14:28

Just picked up my first BMW, E46 330Ci Clubsport and I'm in love

Uncle_Gravy · 6 Jan 2015 at 14:29

Has anyone here actually had any experience in a E63/4 645/650? I've had the great pleasure a while back to have a brief go in my neighbor's brother in law E64 645ci which involved blasting it down the road and back (the NOISE!)

But I generally wanna know what its like to live with, its gonna be a fun/show off car for me so not a commute car (Maybe take it to work occasionally

)

BluBallz said:
Just picked up my first BMW, E46 330Ci Clubsport and I'm in love

Not many people like the CS, but I love them, in the flesh they look miles better than they do on a picture. And i'm glad you haven't got the horrible split CS rims

Looks nice, details and price?

mrk · 6 Jan 2015 at 14:38

CS above looks nice, interior pics? Details? Come on do it, do it now!!

A 645/50 as a "fun" car? Surely it's too big and heavy to be classed as "fun"

BluBallz · 6 Jan 2015 at 14:56

Some interior pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/fxAfT *Cue Auto Box Hate*

Quite high mileage at 130k but has been main dealer serviced since new. Leather is looking a bit old now but nothing major, mechanically perfect bar an oil level sensor.

Looked at quite a few 330's but kept coming back to this one as it just felt "special"