BMW and M Power Owners

The offset is wrong and the tyre sizes are out. In theory you could probably make them fit using spacers and different tyre sizes but it's quite a bit of effort to go to.

If you like that style of wheel the OEM LCI F10 M Sport 18 inch wheel is similar.
 
fergie128 said:
Currently looking around at new 3 series offers. What are your thoughts on this deal from Arnold Clark? Currently driving a 09 VX Insignia and looking for something new, I do about 8k miles a year. Possibly would prefer an estate but its not a killer.

http://www.arnoldclark.com/new-cars/bmw/3-series/320i-m-sport-4dr/0/ref/blk_x5paajgjye1m6no0
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Terrible deal, you can factory order a new one through a broker for thousands less. You can get a 340i new for 30k.

A 328i from a broker would be cheaper and better.
 
fergie128 said:
I'd never even considered using a broker to get a deal for a car. Can you recommend any?
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Take a look at the prices on broadspeed.com.

You can use them or you can use the prices as a guide for what you should be paying from your local dealer.

I would go for a 3 series with pro nav, xenons and sports auto with 30k. This goes some way towards making the 3 series a bit less down market feeling than the basic cars feel.
 
Demon said:
I went to look at two other localish ones (Up for £12K and £13K) before heading off to see the one mentioned earlier..

Short version, bought it as a weekend car/project for £8K
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Seeing the first two M3's earlier in the day initially the problem was one Fox will appreciate, getting into a car that's design is 17 odd years old is a bit of a culture shock.. The first two M3's sounded tappety/rough and had a lot of clonking going on through the drivetrain, with engines that sounded great on full song but ultimately made me feel uneasy..

The final one I ended up buying (not straightforward.. read on)
The car was very very clean outside, had a very quiet vanos, and didn't sound remotely as noisy as the other two, but had a few issues that let it down..
- Front seats (namely drivers) let it down for me, not completely ripped or worn through, but stiching coming apart on the bolster, and silver grey leather if neglected gets dirty..
- One a long test drive, everything was peachy (that engine.. wow!!!), but it did one 5 second period of misfiring at very low revs, the amber warning light flashed, but it quickly stopped misfiring and was perfect for the rest of the drive.. I phoned a specialist, he was helpful going through possible issues, and after checking a few things, he thought it most likely to be oxygen sensor or coil packs
- Windscreen was scratched badly (weird!)
- slight drivetrain clonk when dipping clutch in first, not as bad as the other two, but I have no other reference to know how good/bad any example is)..
- Factory Nav had a smear of dead pixels (although all worked)..

Based on all that, I went negiotiating quite hard, the only way I was going to do this was as a weekend/project car, something to tinker with, and with M3 bills in my mind, I was quite resolute and stuck to £8K which gives me loads of cash for a couple of really big bills and something to tinker/fix/make better which I enjoy..
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Looks clean, not keen on the rear spoiler and super skinny tyres but it looks a good example.

If history has no receipts for coil packs just change them all, normally eurocarparts or carparts4less with discount codes are very reasonable on coil packs, think I changed all six on mine for around £110. Also if it uses any oil change the air oil seperator again about £25 and easy to sort. :)

Your clunking will be backlash from the diff or worn diff bushes, I suspect the car is around 80-100k miles? If so the m-differential being clutch pack based is passed it best after 60k miles and can become clunky at lower speeds, emphasised more if an SMG car. One of those things to put up with ideally as a full diff rebuild will cost around £250-£400 and mean taking car off the road. Differential bushes cost a lot less and easy to do.

Enjoy the car, still one of the best M engines ever, I still love taking mine out and enjoying the S54 at full chat and some S6 gear shifts. :D
 
fergie128 said:
Broadspeed seems like something I should have looked at long ago!
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Broadspeed is good, just don't go crazy with the options. I'm still making my mind up on what options I want to ditch. Problem I have is my current model has everything apart from HUD. Speccing the same car with the same options adds another £10k onto the broadspeed price. Doesn't help that BMWs options lists are massive!
 
3 series Tourer looks tempting. However I'm also tempted by a Mazda 6 Sport Nav, seems to have all the gadgets as standard and only a little tighter on space.
 
fergie128 said:
3 series Tourer looks tempting. However I'm also tempted by a Mazda 6 Sport Nav, seems to have all the gadgets as standard and only a little tighter on space.
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Tourers are gorgeous, thats what I have at the moment. Getting the missus a new smaller car so I can finally get my kids out of mine so will be going for a saloon next time as don't need the extra space. Saves a bit of cash too going from a tourer to a saloon.
Mazdas a nice car too, mates got one through his company car scheme. Seems to have all the gadgets like you say.
 
cadmunkey said:
Broadspeed is good, just don't go crazy with the options. I'm still making my mind up on what options I want to ditch. Problem I have is my current model has everything apart from HUD. Speccing the same car with the same options adds another £10k onto the broadspeed price. Doesn't help that BMWs options lists are massive!
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To be fair, the cost of options is much of a muchness wherever you go. Your point is valid on these cheap lease deals, or any lease deal really, where they add zero to the residual value, so bump up the costs considerably. But for a car you are actually buying to own, if you want the option, you pay for it. It may or may not affect the residual value, but it's not the same situation as a lease.

As said, on a BMW, pro nav, xenons and sports auto are pretty much must haves. If going M-Sport, then M-Sport Plus is often a worthwhile addition too (it was on my 5 series anyway). It gave me the HK audio, which was a must have for me.
 
A question regarding BroadSpeed. One of the estates I am looking at has a saving of 4.5k on list price. The main dealers site currently has the same car on offer with PCP and has a £2500 deposit contribution. Am I likely to still get a deposit contribution from the dealer even when I have been introduced to them using BroadSpeed? Or am I really only going to save £2k realistically.
 
xs2man said:
To be fair, the cost of options is much of a muchness wherever you go. Your point is valid on these cheap lease deals, or any lease deal really, where they add zero to the residual value, so bump up the costs considerably. But for a car you are actually buying to own, if you want the option, you pay for it. It may or may not affect the residual value, but it's not the same situation as a lease.

As said, on a BMW, pro nav, xenons and sports auto are pretty much must haves. If going M-Sport, then M-Sport Plus is often a worthwhile addition too (it was on my 5 series anyway). It gave me the HK audio, which was a must have for me.
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Completely agree, some options you can't live without imo on a 3 series. The Msport plus pack is £1900 unfortunately but not one I'd do without ;)

fergie128 said:
A question regarding BroadSpeed. One of the estates I am looking at has a saving of 4.5k on list price. The main dealers site currently has the same car on offer with PCP and has a £2500 deposit contribution. Am I likely to still get a deposit contribution from the dealer even when I have been introduced to them using BroadSpeed? Or am I really only going to save £2k realistically.
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You can add the option of a PCP quote to your broadspeed order. I'm sure you still get the contribution. Dealers want your business after all!

Also Fox recommended drivethedeal to me a while back so check those guys out for your Mazda 6 options.
 
fergie128 said:
320i M Sport, £359 deposit, £359 per month over 4 years.
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Is that really how you saw it? '359 a month'.

It was £30,000.

I guess it explains how some dealers get away with some prices if people just disregard the actual cost of the car and see it only as '£x per month' :(

FWIW £359 a month for 4 years means £17,000 to borrow a 320i for 4 years.

Great. Not.
 
Yeah, I'll be honest and just saw it as low deposit and £359 a month, which in my head actually sounded reasonable for a 3 series BMW. I was basing that off what I had seen under 'Offers' on the main BMW site where deposits always seem to be in the thousands.

Buying on PCP I am sort of stepping into the unknown for me, so I'm still trying to work out what constitutes a good deal.
 
[TW]Fox;29354195 said:
Is that really how you saw it? '359 a month'.

It was £30,000.

I guess it explains how some dealers get away with some prices if people just disregard the actual cost of the car and see it only as '£x per month' :(

FWIW £359 a month for 4 years means £17,000 to borrow a 320i for 4 years.

Great. Not.
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£4.3k to drive around in a brand new BMW doesn't seem too bad too me?

Its not like you can get one for £200 a month. Think you'd have a heart if you saw how much a new TT costs monthly/over the term.
 
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