BMW and M Power Owners

xs2man said:
I know of at least one local to me making that sort of power.
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As do I, thing is, would it actually be that great to drive and be a nice ownership experience over say a half decent e46 M3 that was designed with such power in mind in the first place?


Having been a huge fan of 300 - 400bhp Cosworth Sierras back in the day and driven a fair few, I wouldn't entertain one over a scruffy,leggy e39 M5 for example.

I've always found modded cars are more about headline power bragging rights rather than being good - in the main - to own & drive.
 
Gaygle said:
A £50k car having xenons and leather is hardly anything to rave about any more. 15 years ago that would have been noteworthy. 10 years ago BMW were fitting these as standard to an E92 316i. Hell, my girlfriends £400 Mazda 6 has both leather and xenons. The professional iDrive is good though.

Maybe I've been spoiled (ha!) but a 2016 M car where you still have to pull handles and shuffle yourself around to adjust the seat isn't great. Electric memory seats w/lumbar should be standard - whereas BMW want another £1000 for these, plus another £300 if you want them heated. It only has the basic bluetooth as standard also as opposed to the enhanced.
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Welcome to the options world of German cars.
A £145k Porsche 911 Turbo S has cruise and rear wiper as (expensive) options, for example. Yet these are standard on most low end cars now.
 
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SDK^ said:
Welcome to the options world of German cars.
A £145k Porsche 911 Turbo S has cruise and rear wiper as (expensive) options, for example. Yet these are standard on most low end cars now.
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My low end car has a rear wiper, though it doesn't have a 3.8 litre 580hp turbo.
 
I need a new car, but can't decide if I should buy a later model 3 series touring (2010-2011) or spend more money on a higher mileage F11 5 series (most likely SE spec as that's all I can afford). The main requirements are: touring model, pro-nav CIC iDrive, heated seats, auto gearbox (sports auto if F11), xenons. I don't have more than £15k max and I'd prefer it to be under 100k miles.
Edit - it has to be 6 cylinders.
 
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panthro said:
I need a new car, but can't decide if I should buy a later model 3 series touring (2010-2011) or spend more money on a higher mileage F11 5 series (most likely SE spec as that's all I can afford). The main requirements are: touring model, pro-nav CIC iDrive, heated seats, auto gearbox (sports auto if F11), xenons. I don't have more than £15k max and I'd prefer it to be under 100k miles.
Edit - it has to be 6 cylinders.
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If you can find one within budget, a sub 60k f11 with BMW warranty is where I'd FAR rather be, I would be wary of running a higher mileage f11 without a warranty though as they are so damn complex, fantastic cars as I'm sure Mr Fox would concur.
 
Scania said:
If you can find one within budget, a sub 60k f11 with BMW warranty is where I'd FAR rather be, I would be wary of running a higher mileage f11 without a warranty though as they are so damn complex, fantastic cars as I'm sure Mr Fox would concur.
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Not entirely sure you could get a decent F11 for his budget though. And I'm pretty sure Fox wouldn't agree that a sub-par 5 series is the way to go.

That being said. The budget probably wouldn't have to pushed too far beyond £15k to get into a decent one. Probably starting around £17k for a decent F11 touring 530d SE with reasonable spec.
 
xs2man said:
Not entirely sure you could get a decent F11 for his budget though. And I'm pretty sure Fox wouldn't agree that a sub-par 5 series is the way to go.

That being said. The budget probably wouldn't have to pushed too far beyond £15k to get into a decent one. Probably starting around £17k for a decent F11 touring 530d SE with reasonable spec.
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I'm not implying he gets a sub standard one at all which is why I said if he could find one in budget, my point re Fox was that he'd concur they are good cars rather than me suggesting buying a high mileage one which I don't.
 
Was there a point in time where Xenon's and/or LED's became standard on M Sport models of the 3 and 5 series, or have they always been an option?
 
fergie128 said:
Was there a point in time where Xenon's and/or LED's became standard on M Sport models of the 3 and 5 series, or have they always been an option?
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M Sport does not affect whether a car has Xenon's or not.

The 3 Series does not have Xenon/LED as standard - you get halogen's with reflector lenses as standard on a 3 Series. The 3 Series has, with the exception of the E92/E92 Coupe/Convertible, never had standard fit Xenon lights.

Xenon lights on a 5 Series were optional until the July 2013 facelift at which point they became standard fit.
 
panthro said:
I need a new car, but can't decide if I should buy a later model 3 series touring (2010-2011) or spend more money on a higher mileage F11 5 series (most likely SE spec as that's all I can afford). The main requirements are: touring model, pro-nav CIC iDrive, heated seats, auto gearbox (sports auto if F11), xenons. I don't have more than £15k max and I'd prefer it to be under 100k miles.
Edit - it has to be 6 cylinders.
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I think you'd probably quite easily get an early F11 525d Touring with well under 100k miles for £15k. The 525d is a good choice because it lacks the appeal and thus price of a 530d but has the same N57 engine so offers the same levels of refinement.

Sport Automatic Transmission should not be a deal breaker because you can enable it through coding anyway (Though obviously without paddles).
 
Cheers, will have a look. Seems like they changed from 6 cylinders to 4 cylinders at the end of 2011?
I would prefer sports auto, but yes I suppose it shouldn't be a deal breaker. I really hate the non sports auto gear stick :p
 
Yikes, that's a heck of a price for an M2... I wouldn't like to pay that... it's crazy!

I just had a call from my local BMW garage in Switzerland... they are still available to order at normal price... no price gouging over here... only downside is the build list is about 6-7 months long so I wouldn't get delivery until December.

I have made an appointment to take a closer look and extended test drive on May 6th... looking forward to taking a closer look and getting a good run in one.
 
So a friend of mine has an E39 520i which he uses for commuting and such... Would anyone like to add to my list of reasons why installing a 10lb flywheel is a daft idea on a car like that? (standard weight is 22lb)

I've already covered the need to slip the clutch more, how tedious it will be in traffic, engine braking which is more violent and less 'useful', an affect on fuel economy because of the reduced amount of energy in the flywheel, the fact that it won't pull itself along at idle anymore, etc... But he still thinks it is a good idea, I'm going nuts. He is reminding me of me when I have a silly idea... :p

He says the main reason is because it has a DMF and the car is on 140,000 miles and he doesn't want it to fail... Firstly, is it really a DMF? In a petrol E39? And secondly, if it is, is it the same sort of affair that you would find in a diesel, and does he have reason to worry?
 
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Stick with the standard weight flywheel. A lighter flywheel will feel horrible. Mine felt groce at slow speeds and coming to a stop.
 
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