BMW and M Power Owners

LordVader said:
Well to my surprise Sytner Leicester a week Friday ago emailed me and said IF they could do the deal i asked for, pay deposit that day and collect the car before the end of the month would i still be interested.

Went straight over Friday afternoon to do all the paperwork and collected it last Sunday.

Spec is :-
435i GC
M Sport Plus package
Interior comfort package

Only thing i wish it had is the power folding mirrors but hayho.

The N55 engine coupled with ZF gearbox is very refined....maybe even a little too refined. I might look into at some point seeing if there is any BMW m sport exhausts to get abit more noise.

Spent a day giving it a proper detail, only needed a quick and very light correction with my orbital polisher (white hex logic pad with Menzerna PO85RD) finished with autoglym hd wax

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New BMW with a straight 6! What is this? Very nice choice of engine I must say.
 
I can never really work out what the 4 GC is (It's the saloon version of the coupe version of a saloon?) but that does look really nice
 
This may be one for Fox... but what's the general consensus on F10 reliability? In particular the 525/530d with the N57 3.0 Diesel? Was having a browse on Autotrader earlier and there's some early 2010/2011 examples coming down to very reasonable money now i.e. <£15k without silly mileage. Had an E92 with the same engine for a couple of years and it needed nothing beyond servicing and was a great balance of performance/economy. Haven't read about any major issues with this engine like the N47 2.0D and the timing chains either.
 
There are no major issues with the engine, weirdly it's probably the most reliable engine in the F10. It is an incredibly complex car though which is why I have no interest in running mine without a warranty.

15k is enough to buy a really nice SE or a tatty M Sport.

My pick at sub 15k would be a 2010 with Dynamic Package, giving you most of the M Sport stuff bar the suspension and styling.
 
Just ordered the BMS intake for my M135i

Read quite a lot about it and after a few umms and ahhhs i just dumped the cash as the only way ill really know is to just connect the thing and drive :P
 
[TW]Fox;29740951 said:
There are no major issues with the engine, weirdly it's probably the most reliable engine in the F10. It is an incredibly complex car though which is why I have no interest in running mine without a warranty.

15k is enough to buy a really nice SE or a tatty M Sport.

My pick at sub 15k would be a 2010 with Dynamic Package, giving you most of the M Sport stuff bar the suspension and styling.
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Thanks Fox! I'd be happy with a nice SE to be honest, and most of those I saw in that price bracket were indeed SE models with Pro Nav. What is the standard audio setup like in the F10? The one in my E92 was pretty poor, it didn't even get tweeters.

Also has the BMW warranty gone up recently? I ran a quote on a sub 60k example and it was more than I thought I'd seen in the past. Over 60k was expensive enough that I'd probably risk it and put the cash in a pot for when something breaks.

How long have you had your 530d now, and have you had anything sorted under warranty?
 
I've had mine for just over 2 years now. In that time I've only had trivial items replaced under warranty. I renewed it a few months ago.

The warranty prices have gone up recently - it's now about a thousand quid a year for the comprehensive package with £100 excess but the coverage has improved too, they now clarified they cover 'wear and tear' up to 100k miles whereas before it was open to interpretation. It is frustratingly expensive when you consider a 3 Series is mechanically and electronically identical and yet costs significantly less. The price is insane over 60k miles and it's borderline whether it makes sense under 60k miles. There is a 15%ish discount for renewals.

I'm quite risk averse so I was simply not prepared to run it without warranty and always factored the warranty costs into my ownership cost projections.

Consider an AUC example because you'll get at least a year of coverage included which is worth about £1k anyway. You can haggle an extra year in most of the time as well, though be aware if you plan to renew the warranty if its over 60k when you do so it'll be expensive.

The stereo is surprisingly good - BMW OEM stereos are notoriously poor and I had grand plans to upgrade it but in the end I didn't bother as it's absolutely fine. My Dad had the Professional system in his older 520d and has Harmon Kardon in his LCI 520d which does sound better but not in a way that makes the stock system unacceptable.

On paper a 3 Series is simply a better prospect - it's cheaper to buy (Though perhaps not as readily available under £15k as they are newer), it's cheaper to run and the warranty is much cheaper. It's also available with the same great gearbox, same engine and the same excellent iDrive system. Yet every time I drive one - and I drive them reasonably often - I am left so disappointing with the way they are inside that I remain resigned to the fact I'm paying more for a 5 Series. The 3 Series always used to feel like a small 5 Series inside but the current model is just a big 1 Series :(
 
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I'll echo what Fox says here. I have a 3 series and it really is just a big 1 in terms of interior.
Handling, I'd say it's better. Much more fun and I can drive like a bit of a hooligan and regain control precisely when I need it. Whilst the 5 is nowhere near bargelike it just didn't have that more sporty edge but that's kinda the point, it's a very different animal. Much more refined ride. Much more refined interior. Generally higher quality throughout.
Same fantastic engines.

As I said I bought a 3. Every time I pass a 5 I know what lies inside and I do feel a tiny pang of regret. Do I dislike the 3? Not at all - it's great to drive.

I'm looking at buying a 6 at the minute so make of that what you will!
 
There is no question the 3 handles better.

My rental car to Heathrow Airport last month was a 330d - went well, drove well, utterly uninspiring inside. It just annoys me as I know how great it would be to own one if only they'd not done that inside :(
 
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