BMW and M Power Owners

[xs2man]

Is the manual not in iDrive itself anyway?

 

[shifty_uk]

Traffic icon about half way down the left hand side of the map view.

Why on earth would you want to though?

Unless you mean the radio ones, in which case there is a physical traffic report key.

Did the car not come with the quick reference guide?

It's the radio ones I mean. I couldn't see anything in the guide hence the > face. Is that the little button next to the volume control?

 

[wez130]

IIRC, It's the button next to the '1' on the numbered buttons along the cd player.

 

[chroniclard]

My first auto car. I kind of miss having a manual, though dont think you can spec it on a 340i, but only about 5% of the time when having a "play". Otherwise the the auto box is just nicer to drive in every way.

 

[EddScott]

Right, one final questions from me. I'm off to local dealers tomorrow.

How does the used approved work?

There is a car that I like the look of which comes up on the used approved search but its in Tring and I'm in West Wales - it's also a different dealer group. Does that matter?

I take it they'd want a deposit first before moving it? If there was something blindingly wrong with the car, could I refuse it? And no, I'm not going to go through all the faff just to pull out over some random made up problem. Just asking the question.

 

[Dis86]

Doesn't work like that at all. They're all separate dealerships still.

 

[MoRT489]

If an AUC car is held within a dealer network (e.g. Sytner) they are usually willing to move it to another dealership within their own chain that is closer to you. The deposit is a bit silly as it's fully refundable if for any reason you decide not to proceed, but I suppose it weeds out the chancers who have no intention of putting down any money.

 

[Teuton]

Thanks fox.

If I'm genuinely looking at one of these then the 340i is really out of budget.

Are the discounts from the dealers? If I walked in with the spec'd up car would the discounts be offered there or do I go through a 3rd party? Would I have to pay the lot up front?

I like the black bits I'd forgo the black bits but the alcantara type steering wheel and fake carbon really brings out the chav in me

Jez - would it? I've no idea about how residuals work. I would have thought by the time I came to sell it on it would be out of warranty and personally I'd rather go for the transmission less likely to cause problems buying new or 2nd hand.

If I buy one of these it's at least a 5+ year car ownership for me. I've not driven a modern auto and my only regular experience of auto boxes is the one in my mothers B7 A4 which is effortless but a bit pants for anything other than moving. The manual box is cheaper on the build list.

FWIW I really like the m performance package too. It is a love/hate thing I guess and a lot of car enthusiasts hate anything like that but what can you say? I guess it brings out the inner chav/boy racer in some of us, I just think it looks a lot cooler

With regards to finding discounts, try speccing a car up on somewhere like carwow. You spec a car and they will contact dealers that they have agreements with who will give you a quote for your order. You can either accept one of those deals or take the quote into your local dealer and ask if they'll price match it. Some will, some won't but you can always ask.

 

[[TW]Fox]

How does the used approved work?

The dealer gets a car, cleans it, makes sure it isn't a complete shed and flogs it with a 12 month cast iron warranty.

There is a car that I like the look of which comes up on the used approved search but its in Tring and I'm in West Wales - it's also a different dealer group. Does that matter?

Yes, it very much matters. It means you need to go to Tring tomorrow instead of down the road

I take it they'd want a deposit first before moving it? If there was something blindingly wrong with the car, could I refuse it? And no, I'm not going to go through all the faff just to pull out over some random made up problem. Just asking the question.

They won't move it - it doesn't belong to them and has nothing to do with them. There is a small chance they might buy it from the other dealer to sell to you but this is fairly rare and you'd be mad to do this anyway unless you wanted to play sticker price.

You can only have them moved easily within dealer groups, and even this kills your negotiating position normally.

 

[[TW]Fox]

FWIW I really like the m performance package too. It is a love/hate thing I guess and a lot of car enthusiasts hate anything like that but what can you say? I guess it brings out the inner chav/boy racer in some of us, I just think it looks a lot cooler

It's just junk though isnt it? Covering the car in even more M badges just seems naff - it's got enough from the factor anyway and there is nothing 'M PERFORMANCE' about a diesel 3 Series so quite why you'd want to cover it in M Performance stickers like you'd cover a 14 year old Subaru in ENKEI stickers I've no idea

 

[EddScott]

Yes, it very much matters. It means you need to go to Tring tomorrow instead of down the road

Out of interest I rang the Tring dealer and the lad said they would drive it to me to view. As you say it wipes out any negotiation. And, in all honesty, I hadn't considered haggling the price. I thought that if you weren't buying 100% with cold cash it reduced your chances of getting money off. Apologies if this all sounds very noob of me, I've never bought from a dealer before.

a 14 year old Subaru

This is quite literally Plan B. Although I'll hold off the stickers....a bit.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Out of interest I rang the Tring dealer and the lad said they would drive it to me to view. As you say it wipes out any negotiation. And, in all honesty, I hadn't considered haggling the price. I thought that if you weren't buying 100% with cold cash it reduced your chances of getting money off. Apologies if this all sounds very noob of me, I've never bought from a dealer before.

I only buy from BMW main dealers now - there is always something in the price, usually at least 5%.

Obviously it depends, if a car is mega keenly priced you are not getting thousands off.

 

[Teuton]

Out of interest I rang the Tring dealer and the lad said they would drive it to me to view. As you say it wipes out any negotiation. And, in all honesty, I hadn't considered haggling the price. I thought that if you weren't buying 100% with cold cash it reduced your chances of getting money off. Apologies if this all sounds very noob of me, I've never bought from a dealer before.



This is quite literally Plan B. Although I'll hold off the stickers....a bit.

It seems fairly logical that dealers would prefer cash buyers but these days the opposite is usually true. They make more money selling finance packages - PCP in particular - so they are keener to sell those and usually give more discounts for finance.

For example, on carwow you'll get two prices (from what I saw, I guess it isn't the same for all brands), one for PCP and a higher quote for cash because some deposit contribution is excluded.

When I bought my car last month (Audi approved used) I got a £2000 deposit contribution due to their sale event (!!)on 10.9% (!!) APR PCP. I cancelled the agreement after 3 days, paid off the financed balance and effectively bought the car with cash with PCP discount (thanks to posts on here amongst other places for opening my eyes to this possibility).

I know it can all seem daunting (it did to me) but it's worth taking the time to find out how you can best finance a car and how best to buy it.

 

[Teuton]

It's just junk though isnt it? Covering the car in even more M badges just seems naff - it's got enough from the factor anyway and there is nothing 'M PERFORMANCE' about a diesel 3 Series so quite why you'd want to cover it in M Performance stickers like you'd cover a 14 year old Subaru in ENKEI stickers I've no idea

I agree the M badges are naff, but I like the bodykit and blacked out accents. I know it's chavtastic but I just can't help it!

 

[mrk]

There's something so right about the saloon M3, and that colour is superb. I would happily have one of those. Didn't realise just how quick they are too, competition pack drops 0-60 to 3.8s. The Sports exhaust also sounds nice.

I much prefer the look of the rear of the saloon than the coupe (M4), this just sits meaner to my eyes.

 

[shifty_uk]

It's the internets favourite, Trish

 

[MORE SPEED]

I much prefer the look of the rear of the saloon than the coupe (M4), this just sits meaner to my eyes.

For me it's to do with the arches. I think the M4's are the same as the normal 4 series coupe, whereas the M3 has huge flares vs the normal saloon body.

 

[Voxination]

There's something so right about the saloon M3, and that colour is superb. I would happily have one of those. Didn't realise just how quick they are too, competition pack drops 0-60 to 3.8s. The Sports exhaust also sounds nice.

I much prefer the look of the rear of the saloon than the coupe (M4), this just sits meaner to my eyes.

I completely agree, the M3 saloon looks so much better than the M4. Have a drive of one before you get your heart set on one though, you may find you're disappointed coming from best46.

 

[mrk]

Also, saloon has heated rear seats, one simply must have heated seats

 

[EddScott]

This will either sound quite amusing or highlight that I might be prone to the odd "blonde" moment. Possibly both.

Spoke to local dealers asking to test a 330d. I said I wanted a touring which they only had a 318d but offered a newly registered 330d saloon with sport auto and pro nav etc. So, Saturday morning, I popped down to the showroom and signed the forms and walked out to the car.

The lad handed me the keys and appeared to be leaving me to it. "Are you not coming too?" I asked and he said "No, it's your car, off you go" So I did.

I went to the GFs to gauge her opinion. She's a bit rubbish with cars and not really interested (She hates old JDM cars and thinks 205GTIs look like sheds ) so popped over to my mothers for a coffee and a more engaging opinion (My mother likes a posh looking car) taking the usual routes so that I get a genuine feel for the car.

It's getting on bit and I'm not sure if they close early on a Saturday so decide to head back. On arrival the salesman lad looks a bit miffed and apparently relieved that I'm back. "I thought I'd come back as I wasn't sure when you closed" not really understanding the look I was receiving. "You were only supposed to go down the road and back!"

I honestly didn't realise that was the deal. He didn't say go to the roundabout and back, he said off you go. Didn't specify time or anything and I didn't think to ask. He just seemed happy to just see me in the car and off you go. He'd rung me 3 times but I left my phone in my car. He'd honestly thought I'd crashed it or something.

"How many miles have you put on it?" he asks."About 30, is it a problem?" "Well yes, it's brand new. If it's got too many miles we can't sell it as brand new!"

I think by the mortified look on my face he knew I'd genuinely misunderstood. He was pretty good about it and I asked him if he was in trouble for it and he said it would be fine.

As for the car, well, it's very nice and all that but I don't think it's what I'm looking for right now. The auto box is lovely and the engine did shift although I didn't nail it too hard. The media thingy is impressive compared to the box of rocks nav I have in my B7 Audi. I just wasn't sure if I really wanted to dump £25K into one.