BMW and M Power Owners

The BMW 4 cylinders have generally always been more refined than the 4 cylinders from other makers. The idle noise is a little like a diesel though, this hasn't changed one bit even from the N42 days.


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The wheels on that 7 series are hideous :S
 
Housey said:
Ive had 11 (I think) BMW's and I've never had a 4 pot. They are not as good as a 6 cylinder car, no matter how much you try to convince yourself, they just aren't.
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I agree... although, for 4-pots, the BMWs are good options like mrk says... they just pale in comparison to their own 6-pots (and others).

[TW]Fox;28728410 said:
The trouble is that people are simply abandoning 6 pots when buying new. The cars are just not out there, which is a real shame.

BMW tried to offer the 530i alongside the new turbo 4 and it flopped - so they gave up.
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So wait until one comes up :p I've seen quite a few, even in the UK. Heck, even Thrifty car rental had a 535i... I was surprised it wasn't a d

VincentHanna said:
I like the 'sailing' function of the LCI (drivetrain disengages when you are cruising over 50kph and lift off the accelerator)
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The latest version of PDK does that also... I'm not quite sure how they managed to get that past UK approval though as to "coast" is against the law, you can even be ticketed for it if they could somehow prove it.

mrk said:
The BMW 4 cylinders have generally always been more refined than the 4 cylinders from other makers. The idle noise is a little like a diesel though, this hasn't changed one bit even from the N42 days.


Edit*
The wheels on that 7 series are hideous :S
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On the flip side... BMW 6-pot diesels are the most petrol-like of any diesel I've driven...

Yes, they are horrific... you can tell the vehicle came from Luton.
 
mrk said:
It's only "petrol-like" if the car continues to accelerate above 4500rpm ;)
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Compared to other diesels, it has improved driving characteristics.

The E36 328tds really surprised me with how free-revving it was.

But it sounded like a Sherman tank at the same time... hehe

I still prefer petrol though... no doubt about that :p
 
I was having a look at an F20(?) shape 120d M Sport today with all the goodies, have to say I was quite impressed with the kit it had, idrive and all that stuff as I've never messed with it properly before and the quality was the best in any small new car I've looked at for years. Not a creaky mess like a Golf.

Are these motors any good? I know the older 2.0 4 pot diesels had issues with timing chains etc?

I went to look at a Fiesta ST but I really was quite taken with the little Beemer. Even the Fiesta felt way better than the last few Golf's I've looked at inside!
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Even a 3.0 litre diesel is going to sound 'like a diesel' at start up/from outside the car, especially when the engine is cold. Once your in the car though it is not too bad.
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Even a 16litre V8 diesel sounds like a diesel at start up and from outside, very much so when cold, they sound fantastic and unbelievably undiesel like once warmed up though.
crinkleshoes said:
The latest version of PDK does that also... I'm not quite sure how they managed to get that past UK approval though as to "coast" is against the law, you can even be ticketed for it if they could somehow prove it.
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Scania's automatic HGV's have had this feature for a few years now and I somehow doubt they do this whilst flouting the law, I can only assume it's because it's controlled via the ecu rather than the driver?

Some clarification would be nice.
 
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Scania said:
Even a 16litre V8 diesel sounds like a diesel at start up and from outside, very much so when cold, they sound fantastic and unbelievably undiesel like once warmed up though.


Scania's automatic HGV's have had this feature for a few years now and I somehow doubt they do this whilst flouting the law, I can only assume it's because it's controlled via the ecu rather than the driver?

Some clarification would be nice.
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Perhaps, I'm curious... I know there's a clause about the vehicles supposed to be under power while in motion or some similar wording, hence the curiosity.

Doesn't bother me of course, it's a good tweak for fuel economy.
 
OllyM said:
Currently in California and picked up a pretty much brand new (500 miles on the clock) rental 528i on Friday.

An absolutely brilliant car, although I'm not convinced by the engine - it doesn't feel right in a 5 series. It's quite coarse when you press on, the auto start/stop is very intrusive and there's noticeable turbo lag at low speed. When it gets going it isn't slow though, and the 8 speed gearbox helps a lot.

This is a totally base spec car and the US market standard spec is seriously odd. It has full electric memory seats, folding mirrors, a sunroof, professional navigation with enhanced Bluetooth, sports auto with paddles yet has no parking sensors or camera! The leather isn't real either :(
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Interesting regarding the lack of parking sensors. Just speculating, but I wonder if it is a reflection of bigger spaces for parking in the US, and that by their standards a 5 series is not probably regarded as a "big" car.
 
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panthro said:
Question on the 5 series. Some cars I've seen have the "normal, sport" switch to the right of the gear stick, but some that don't have it. What does this indicate?
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Before the 2012 Model Year, the Drive Selection button was present if the car had at least one of the following options:

Variable Damping Control
Adaptive Drive
Sport Automatic Transmission

From the 2012 Model Year onwards all cars got it as standard irrespective of fitted options.

I'm considering viewing this car. It has the same gear stick as my old Z4 35i with the DCT gearbox, does this mean it has the sports auto transmission?
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All F10's have a digital joystick (Though it is subtly different on SAT fitted cars and has a leather shift gaitor). That one though does have the Sport Automatic Transmission.

What a terrible collection of photos. 'Here is my car in the pitch black. Here is the interior of my car looking like a dustbin with random junk everywhere'. Why do people do that?
 
Crimefighter said:
Interesting regarding the lack of parking sensors. Just speculating, but I wonder if it is a reflection of bigger spaces for parking in the US, and that by their standards a 5 series is not probably regarded as a "big" car.
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It's just to flog options. Parking aids are very popular in the US - infact most half decent domestic and Japanese cars have backup camera systems as standard.
 
[TW]Fox;28730233 said:
Before the 2012 Model Year, the Drive Selection button was present if the car had at least one of the following options:

Variable Damping Control
Adaptive Drive
Sport Automatic Transmission

From the 2012 Model Year onwards all cars got it as standard irrespective of fitted options.



All F10's have a digital joystick (Though it is subtly different on SAT fitted cars and has a leather shift gaitor). That one though does have the Sport Automatic Transmission.

What a terrible collection of photos. 'Here is my car in the pitch black. Here is the interior of my car looking like a dustbin with random junk everywhere'. Why do people do that?
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Thanks, good to clear that up. It's not the best advert, but it has some good options and low mileage for the prices. Seems worthwhile checking it out.
 
So i went to look at a few cars today, including a 2013 BMW 525D M Sport - just out of curiosity more than anything.
http://usedcars.lloydcockermouthbmw...80378-605305510-3497078.aspx?srcmdc=se_ce_re_

I took it out for a good test drive, then spoke to one of the managers about finance options. I haven't really set myself a budget for when i buy my next car, and am open to leasing / PCP and buying outright over finance. I've decided to set myself a maximum monthly budget of £300 as i'm comfortable with that and can still save a good amount every month.

They offered me £3.2k on my ageing A6 with 156k on it, plus 12 months road tax bringing the total finance down to about £21k but the payments were manageable, but out of my max budget at £360 pm with a final guaranteed value of £9200 (or balloon payment). I have told them i'd go away and think on it.

The car is immaculate, fantastic, beautiful inside with quite a bit of kit (not sure what's standard, but it had pro nav, advanced bluetooth, BMW assist and it's not even been broken in with 19k miles on it.

There was an Audi A6 S line at the same dealer, the same age, and the BMW was leagues ahead of it in every single way, i was going to test drive that, but i hated it after the BMW.

I could get the payments to under £300 / pm on the 525D if i put an extra £3000 deposit down, which i would have considered in January, but it's too much right now with me going to New Zealand in 5 weeks.

I guess, my question is, how often would a car like this pop up, i.e, will it be easy to find another when i get home in January? I know i said i wouldn't consider a RWD car due to where i work, but i really like these.
 
panthro said:
Thanks, good to clear that up. It's not the best advert, but it has some good options and low mileage for the prices. Seems worthwhile checking it out.
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That looks very good.

FYI I literally just 'paid' 23k for a 2013 build with similar spec and higher mileage (45,000)

Mine doesn't have the EDC or Dynamic drive either.

I say 'paid', I got a good trade in on my existing car, but that was the selling price before the trade in.
 
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