BMW and M Power Owners

VincentHanna said:
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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That's a good price. There are very few 13 plate+ high spec cars out there under 25k.
 
wez130 said:
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.
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Depending on your financial situation it could be worth looking at borrowing the £21k as a personal loan. With rates at circa 4% you could extend the term to reduce payments and keep the monthly payment reasonable (sub £300 p/m), I don't know the total amount of interest payable on the deal you were offered but doing it this way would be about £3100 (less if cleared early by selling the car).
 
wez130 said:
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?
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Yes, poor spec 2 litre diesel F10's like that pop up all the time. The market is full of the damn things sadly :p

You can't move for them, every main dealer has them representing 95% of the 5 Series stock they hold.
 
SDK^ said:
520'd's are everywhere and 525d's less so
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They are much of a muchness - the point is that car isn't a particularly rare or unique example.

Almost all of the spec is standard, the only significant option fitted to it is the Professional Navigation.

If you want a 4 cylinder M Sport with just Pro Nav you are quite literally spoiled for choice, frankly I'd expect an LCI at that sort of money.

Dealer finance on used cars is almost never competitive btw - especially a PCP. All it's good for is 'manageable' monthly payments if you can't run to a loan but of course thats why the rates are rarely great, they target those for whom the monthly payment on a personal loan, however cheaper it is over the term, isn't feasible. If you have the flexibility to not use dealer finance I'd suggest you use it.

If you want to spend £350 a month on a 4 cylinder 5 Series then you can get a brand new 520d M Sport for that at 5.9% APR at the moment. This would probably be better than a similar monthly PCP on a 2 year old 525d, especially as the current 520d is now 190bhp so quite close to the 525d anyway. That's the first deal I found with 20 seconds on Google, I'd be amazed if you couldn't do better even than that. It's the current BMW UK offer. Brokers etc will doubtless do better considering you can factory order a 520d M Sport for 30k at the moment.
 
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I didn't realise they were 4 cylinders on the 525D!

I learned something new. My old 525D was 6 cylinders, i just assumed these were. It wasn't that dagdag noisy either.
 
wez130 said:
I didn't realise they were 4 cylinders on the 525D!
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Yup - the first ones were 6 cylinder N57's, essentially the same engine as the 530d only with less power. But from July 2011 production switched to the twin turbo 4 cylinder engine first found in the old 123d.

The first 525d's represent good value now, they are somewhat unloved offering neither the pace of a 530d nor the economy of a 520d but for those who value refinement over performance they are, IMHO, a better car.
 
Updating iDrive CIC NBT (CIC-High) maps - Dealer was supposed to do this. They only updated the firmware though which I could have done myself in 5 mins....

Anyway. Googled it, lots of links offering stuff.

Basically, what are the latest maps (Western Europe I assume), where can I download them and who is the best person [cheapest/reliable] to get a code to allow me to do it.

Also - How many USB sticks will I need and how long does it take to update?
 
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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Direct injection petrol engines tend to be a bit clattery at idle. You don't get the vibrations that you do with a diesel though so a bit of soundproofing takes care of it.
 
holymonk said:
Is there much movement with haggling BMW used approved? I am after a Z4 but its about 2.5k over my budget (its 21k).
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This gets asked all the time - the answer is 'sometimes' and it depends on each individual car. If it's overpriced there is more room than if its very keenly priced - also if they've had it months they are usually more willing to do a deal than if its fresh on the forecourt.
 
panthro said:
Fox, what's the difference between adaptive drive and dynamic drive?
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BMW have nicely made this as confusing as possible.

'Dynamic Drive Control' is the rocker switch which allows you to chose between driving modes, firming up throttle response, steering feel and gearbox mode. This is fitted to either:

a) A car with the Sport Automatic Transmission option
b) A car with the Adaptive Drive option
c) A car with the Dynamic Damping option
d) A car built after September 2011

'Dynamic Drive' is the active suspension system which uses active stabilisers to control bodyroll.

'Dynamic Damping Control (or VDC, Variable Damper Control) is the electronically adjustable suspension which allows you to change the firmness of the suspension.

'Adaptive Drive' is an options package which combines Dynamic Drive and Dynamic Damping Control/VDC together.
 
[TW]Fox;28733001 said:
BMW have nicely made this as confusing as possible.

'Dynamic Drive Control' is the rocker switch which allows you to chose between driving modes, firming up throttle response, steering feel and gearbox mode. This is fitted to either:

a) A car with the Sport Automatic Transmission option
b) A car with the Adaptive Drive option
c) A car with the Dynamic Damping option
d) A car built after September 2011

'Dynamic Drive' is the active suspension system which uses active stabilisers to control bodyroll.

'Dynamic Damping Control (or VDC, Variable Damper Control) is the electronically adjustable suspension which allows you to change the firmness of the suspension.

'Adaptive Drive' is an options package which combines Dynamic Drive and Dynamic Damping Control/VDC together.
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:eek: Too confusing. Thanks for clarifying. I suppose the best way of telling is by checking the VIN for the options.
 
Correct.

I'm not sure how much of a bonus Adaptive Drive is on an older used car. It's not as if there is anything wrong with the standard setup and the cost of replacing bits of the Adaptive drive system is huge - I believe the dampers are four figures each and dampers are wearing parts unlikely to be covered by warranty for ever.
 
It looks a bit hideous with a small set top box sized thing sitting awkwardly on top of the dash :S

If it was made to curve around the top of the dash and at least appear somewhat seamless then that would have been better.
 
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