BMW and M Power Owners

GinG said:
Evening all,

Following on from a thread I started about changing my A4 to a Jag, spoke with my bosses who are happy for me to look at lease deals to get me in brand new cars.

Went to the BMW showroom today and fell in love with the 4GC, just went on national lease website to spec up and came to around £360 ex.VAT per month. Just wondering before I start looking around at proper quotes is this the spec I ideally want to be looking at? Assume the above is the roundabout budget.

Click to expand...


I have a 4GC in 430d variant. It came with the m-sport plus pack so has the 19 inch wheels and harmon kardon stereo. The wheels I wouldn't bother with, the standard ones are fine and probably a lot less noisy. The stereo is a decent improvement on the standard one and I would get it again. Other than that it has the active suspension but not having driven one with out for any real distance it's hard to put a value on that.

Otherwise the 4GC is well specced and has all the toys you really need as standard so no need to go mad on the configurator. I'm very happy with mine. I also tried a 5 series which was clearly more refined but larger than I wanted (the 4 only just fits on our drive without overhanging onto the pavement) and I am not aghast at the interior like some :)

I would try and spend some time in one at speed as they are quite noisy (wind/tyre roar) but I just turn the stereo up and it doesn't bother me! I can see it being an annoyance for some though.
 
Last edited:
Thanks again for the input all.

Quick question, if in the spec list it says BMW professional radio/cd/mp3 is it just that or is it a sat nav system also? For example:

Auxiliary point for auxiliary devices
BMW professional radio/CD/MP3
CD Changer preparation
DAB Digital radio
 
Last edited:
Hi all, going to look at a BMW 116D Auto Sport later today, 2012 with 20k on the clock and looks in fantastic condition for £13k. I'm after a motorway cruiser, but something that looks decent, isn't too big and returns decent MPG.

Whats the general thought on these cars? Anything I should look for in particular?

Thanks
 
timmyp30 said:
Hi all, going to look at a BMW 116D Auto Sport later today, 2012 with 20k on the clock and looks in fantastic condition for £13k. I'm after a motorway cruiser, but something that looks decent, isn't too big and returns decent MPG.

Whats the general thought on these cars? Anything I should look for in particular?

Thanks
Click to expand...
A 116d will be horrible on the motorway - you'll forever be changing gear trying to overtake trucks. Is a 118d or 120d out of budget?
 
GinG said:
Thanks again for the input all.

Quick question, if in the spec list it says BMW professional radio/cd/mp3 is it just that or is it a sat nav system also? For example:

Auxiliary point for auxiliary devices
BMW professional radio/CD/MP3
CD Changer preparation
DAB Digital radio
Click to expand...

This is just the basic specification.
 
Hey guys, need some advice. Thinking about buying a second BMW 3 series coupe, however it looks like most at my budget (~15k) are 5 years old and have pretty poor spec. I was looking at 3 series saloons and it seems I can get a newish car (by maybe a year or so) with more spec for the money? Coming from a mercedes what is the BMW equivalent to the "premium plus" spec package?
 
mjt said:
A 116d will be horrible on the motorway - you'll forever be changing gear trying to overtake trucks. Is a 118d or 120d out of budget?
Click to expand...

Trucks which are limited to 55mph.....

My sister had a 116d auto, going from Stoke to Taunton regularly in it I never noticed her having to overtake trucks on the M5, she sat happily @80 in it on cruise which it maintained easily, trucks manage 89.... Km/h :p
 
The Chemist said:
Hey guys, need some advice. Thinking about buying a second BMW 3 series coupe, however it looks like most at my budget (~15k) are 5 years old and have pretty poor spec. I was looking at 3 series saloons and it seems I can get a newish car (by maybe a year or so) with more spec for the money? Coming from a mercedes what is the BMW equivalent to the "premium plus" spec package?
Click to expand...

There isn't an equivalent. M-Sport will give you some of the little things, but is really little more than a bodykit and wheels. There is no "catch all / most" option that covers most of the options. You spec the car how you want.

Pretty sure even merc didn't do a "premium plus" package 5 years ago though. Is that not a new thing with the new C-Class onwards?
 
xs2man said:
There isn't an equivalent. M-Sport will give you some of the little things, but is really little more than a bodykit and wheels. There is no "catch all / most" option that covers most of the options. You spec the car how you want.

Pretty sure even merc didn't do a "premium plus" package 5 years ago though. Is that not a new thing with the new C-Class onwards?
Click to expand...

Yeah I think so mate. Was given the go ahead from the Mrs to look into new cars so I will book a test drive for the 3 series and 4 series.
 
Gotta love the dealers... Went to one over the weekend to test drive a M135i before placing an order. I was especially keen to as I've only had manuals but with the praise of the 8sp auto with the 135 I thought I'd give it a go in the hope to see it working with me. So, as I said to them, I want to try the car in auto before parting with cash. All they had was a 120d and they were confused why I was unwilling to part with cash after trying the 120d, as they kept saying the 135i is the same, just quicker. Surely it's not wrong to be expected to demo the same model of car you're wanting to buy? It seemed a bit naff to be told "yeah, the handling and steering is slightly different and it's a diesel instead of petrol, but the 120d should be enough to demo."

This was all before the frustration of not being able to get a solid "it will cost x" from them, as they were (initially) happy to keep saying they'll match any quote they see. I produce a price from a broker and suddenly it's ums and arrs as it's obviously eating into profits. The humour/frustration is, I've got an even cheaper quote from TRL, but as it's not easily corroborate by a quick google I only mentioned the broker price. So, walked away not only unable to demo the model of car I was wanting to buy, but also feeling like they're unwilling to give me a realistic price they're willing to accept for a car of the spec i've provided. How do they expect to keep going (or are they just reliant on people that haven't done their homework before buying?)
 
DereksDontRun said:
Gotta love the dealers... Went to one over the weekend to test drive a M135i before placing an order. I was especially keen to as I've only had manuals but with the praise of the 8sp auto with the 135 I thought I'd give it a go in the hope to see it working with me. So, as I said to them, I want to try the car in auto before parting with cash. All they had was a 120d and they were confused why I was unwilling to part with cash after trying the 120d, as they kept saying the 135i is the same, just quicker. Surely it's not wrong to be expected to demo the same model of car you're wanting to buy? It seemed a bit naff to be told "yeah, the handling and steering is slightly different and it's a diesel instead of petrol, but the 120d should be enough to demo."

This was all before the frustration of not being able to get a solid "it will cost x" from them, as they were (initially) happy to keep saying they'll match any quote they see. I produce a price from a broker and suddenly it's ums and arrs as it's obviously eating into profits. The humour/frustration is, I've got an even cheaper quote from TRL, but as it's not easily corroborate by a quick google I only mentioned the broker price. So, walked away not only unable to demo the model of car I was wanting to buy, but also feeling like they're unwilling to give me a realistic price they're willing to accept for a car of the spec i've provided.
Click to expand...

Find another dealer, they've probably made their quota for this month and assume that as a test drive is high up on your list that you might simply be a test pilot. Poor attitude by them but I imagine they do get their fair share of time wasters. I ended up ordering my car from Scotland due to the shocking service I received from BMW Chiswick (they also gave me the best deal).
 
Last edited:
^

A friend had a similar experience with BMW, wanted to test drive an M5 (currently has an e60 M5 from new) and was offered a extended weekend test of........


A 520d manual - you couldn't make it up!
 
it's ridiculous. Yeah, I was only in jeans and a hoody as it's the weekend, but I was/am a serious buyer and had obviously done their homework - surely you're not expected to wear work clothes on a weekend just to be treated as a buyer?!? I knew all about the options I wanted, even providing a list of exactly what I wanted to avoid the "oo, this is far better than that" upsell -so obviously wasn't on a whim passing the dealer at the time and after a jolly in one of their cars. Hell, if I was after that then surely I would have been wanting something more than a 1 series...

With 16 plate cars around the corner, why don't they have key models of each available to demo (hell, I wasn't even asking to borrow the car for a weekend)? it just seems crazy to expect someone to buy a 30+k 3.0l 6 pot petrol car and only get to demo a 2.0 diesel... I even had 2 of their sales ppl pushing me as "it's just a similar 1 series"... I pointed out they had a couple 135 used cars available on their website, which surely would be more representative, but they were too much trouble to get out there and then. I've told them I'll be back in a couple days and expect to try a 135, whether it's an approved used or new (and will expect/need them to match the cheaper quote to get my business).
 
Dealers are mostly useless, tho my current BMW garage are find but I didn't by my car from them. Problem I have now is that I got my first Z4 from a Aston Martin garage and they were amazing, so no one else (normal) comes close now.

Turned up in normal cloths, aged 23 in an old Ibiza FR and a salesman came straight over asked me how I was and offered me and my dad a drink before I had even mentioned what car I was after (Dad was covered in paint from decorating). Have to say the coffee was amazing as well.
 
badgeruk said:
Have to say the coffee was amazing as well.
Click to expand...

It's not bad at my local BMW either actually.

Even better when you consider I take my 3 series in for an MoT at £30, and me and my girlfriend get through a couple of drinks and biscuits whilst waiting, perusing the cars and using the wi-fi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom