BMW and M Power Owners

Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2006
Posts
3,919
Location
Lincolnshire
JLR stuck two fingers up to that rule :cool:
Are car remote start systems legal in Britain?
Those who have access to private, off-street parking are legally able to use an app to remotely start a car’s engine and leave it running without being present.

However, the DfT told BuyaCar that on the public road, use of such apps “would only be lawful where the driver was in close attendance and could take control of the vehicle if needed.”. It’s an example of technology appearing to outpace the lawmakers.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/107/made
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
21,946
Are car remote start systems legal in Britain?
Those who have access to private, off-street parking are legally able to use an app to remotely start a car’s engine and leave it running without being present.

However, the DfT told BuyaCar that on the public road, use of such apps “would only be lawful where the driver was in close attendance and could take control of the vehicle if needed.”. It’s an example of technology appearing to outpace the lawmakers.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/107/made
Someone needs to hold the bag and persuade BMW/Merc to retrospectively enable it in time for winter. Really miss the remote warmer!
 
Caporegime
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
37,491
Location
Leafy Cheshire
Anyone here got any opinion on the i8? Having been driving the wife’s Passat GTE to work on occasion has made me realise that commuting even with a PHEV with modest range can be done on electricity only. I’m still doing a number of longer private journeys a month that ultimately means a full EV is still a bit of a faff due to range.

I’ve been thinking about moving on the 440i whilst it’s currently worth more than I bought it for, and jumping into an i8. It’s certainly going to be costly (about double the value of the 440i), so it’s not going to be paying itself back in fuel savings alone, but with future residuals it might make sense long term.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
33,883
The more I look at cars and how much they cost now the more I think I'm just going to keep my M140i for the foreseeable. An M340i touring in the spec I want is over £60k (maybe just under with discounts) which is quite frankly an absurd amount of money IMO.
 

DRZ

DRZ

Soldato
Joined
2 Jun 2003
Posts
7,417
Location
In the top 1%
Anyone here got any opinion on the i8? Having been driving the wife’s Passat GTE to work on occasion has made me realise that commuting even with a PHEV with modest range can be done on electricity only. I’m still doing a number of longer private journeys a month that ultimately means a full EV is still a bit of a faff due to range.

I’ve been thinking about moving on the 440i whilst it’s currently worth more than I bought it for, and jumping into an i8. It’s certainly going to be costly (about double the value of the 440i), so it’s not going to be paying itself back in fuel savings alone, but with future residuals it might make sense long term.

I have given them some consideration. They are pretty strange/interesting to drive and you'll have to make your mind up there but certainly the thing that put me off the most was getting in/out of the thing. You need around 31cm of completely clear space beside the car to get the door open. Then you've got a fairly significant sill. As a daily, that's gonna get annoying quickly.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2009
Posts
10,254
Anyone here got any opinion on the i8? Having been driving the wife’s Passat GTE to work on occasion has made me realise that commuting even with a PHEV with modest range can be done on electricity only. I’m still doing a number of longer private journeys a month that ultimately means a full EV is still a bit of a faff due to range.

I’ve been thinking about moving on the 440i whilst it’s currently worth more than I bought it for, and jumping into an i8. It’s certainly going to be costly (about double the value of the 440i), so it’s not going to be paying itself back in fuel savings alone, but with future residuals it might make sense long term.

Ive also looked at them, but they were at least £10k over my budget… so I passed. They do seem like incredible value.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2013
Posts
9,121
I have given them some consideration. They are pretty strange/interesting to drive and you'll have to make your mind up there but certainly the thing that put me off the most was getting in/out of the thing. You need around 31cm of completely clear space beside the car to get the door open. Then you've got a fairly significant sill. As a daily, that's gonna get annoying quickly.
I had a sit in one at the local showroom a couple of years ago
Coming from a 911 then into my current e92 m3, I was surprised how hard it was to get in. My mum managed okay getting out of a 911, but I reckon an i8 is going to be tricky for a lot of people. I couldn't quite put my finger on why though, it felt as though your feet are further forward to me than a normal car which might be the difference.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,638
Car went in to get the reverse camera sorted today...
A couple of hours later they've done something in the system that has messed the nav up.. They don't have a code thing for it, they went on to tell me map updates and not included In warranty, I explained the map update was done prior to me getting the car by bmw so they said as favour they will order a new map update and as someone lives near me they will nip and do it one of the days. So for now I have no nav which isn't end of world but still annoying.
As its been raining on and off today I thought I wojld check the reverse camera out... Blurry as hell and can't see out.
To say I'm annoyed is an understatement at the moment as I had to take leave to get it the nearest bmw dealer.
Half expecting them to be awkward with the camera as looking online others have had to push bmw to replace it under warranty.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
@rG-tom

Hi Tom, do you mind me asking what you paid for it?

I was looking at one of these as a new car in Jan but the current car market inflation has pushed it out of budget.

Many thanks :)

2018 single owner 15k miles AUC from a BMW dealer I paid £26,250. WBAC gave me £25,100 for my 430i, that was 2019 single owner 15k miles.

I had been watching for a while and at this age mileage and spec I would have expected this to be listed at about £31.5k....i actually enquired on a similar one with 23k miles that was up for over £31k and it sold before I could even look at it.

For perspective, wbac would give me £27.5k for it right now (if we ignore they won't buy cars that have under 4 months on the v5 :D), the trade price is about 27.6k and the book retail is £31k
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2014
Posts
6,570
Location
Sunny Sussex
2018 single owner 15k miles AUC from a BMW dealer I paid £26,250. WBAC gave me £25,100 for my 430i, that was 2019 single owner 15k miles.

I had been watching for a while and at this age mileage and spec I would have expected this to be listed at about £31.5k....i actually enquired on a similar one with 23k miles that was up for over £31k and it sold before I could even look at it.

For perspective, wbac would give me £27.5k for it right now (if we ignore they won't buy cars that have under 4 months on the v5 :D), the trade price is about 27.6k and the book retail is £31k

Blimey, that seems good for the current climate, but is ultimately too pricey for me still, considering how, as a platform, the 4 series is a few years old at this point.


Nevertheless, £1500 for an upgrade to a 6 cylinder and fully kitted out? No brainier! :eek:
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
Blimey, that seems good for the current climate, but is ultimately too pricey for me still, considering how, as a platform, the 4 series is a few years old at this point.


Nevertheless, £1500 for an upgrade to a 6 cylinder and fully kitted out? No brainier! :eek:

buying completely cash yeah 26,250 is silly, but given i had a car that i could sell high too, it was indeed a no brainer! The 430i was only 24,900 in 2019 at 6 months oldwith 10k on it, so at 3 years old with 15k to get £25,100 shows how stupid the market is currently.

I think the 440i will hold its value better once the bottom falls out of the market, too :)
 
Associate
Joined
5 Oct 2004
Posts
491
Next step, MPPSK to take it to >360bhp and give it a bit more of an interesting exhaust note :)

Very nice, do you know the build date of the car? I looked into getting the MPPSK kit for my old 340i it as there were some great deals around for the kit, unfortunately I wasn't able to as the car was built after August 2018 (either July or August I think) so it had the PPF fitted which meant it wasn't compatible, which was rather annoying as there weren't any other similar options really!
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
Very nice, do you know the build date of the car? I looked into getting the MPPSK kit for my old 340i it as there were some great deals around for the kit, unfortunately I wasn't able to as the car was built after August 2018 (either July or August I think) so it had the PPF fitted which meant it wasn't compatible, which was rather annoying as there weren't any other similar options really!

yup mine is May 2018, I was specifically trying to find a pre-PPF one :) What was the best deal you saw? Currently Rybrook Warwick are winning with £1500 fitted for the chrome rather than carbon -tipped exhaust.
 
Associate
Joined
5 Oct 2004
Posts
491
yup mine is May 2018, I was specifically trying to find a pre-PPF one :) What was the best deal you saw? Currently Rybrook Warwick are winning with £1500 fitted for the chrome rather than carbon -tipped exhaust.

I think the deals were around £1595 fitted, or a £1/200 more for the carbon tips but this was mid/late 2019, as soon as they told me I couldn't have it I stopped looking.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
33,883
We went to BMW today mainly to look for a replacement for my mrs's ageing 1 series. While I was there I had a good look at an M340i touring and while it is lovely, it didn't give me that wow factor I was expecting, certainly not for the £60k price tag it carries all optioned out. I also didn't find the boot all that big for a touring. We then looked at an X5 and a 5 series touring and again, no wow factor. Then I spotted this in the used car park:

https://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/vehicle/202106043465135?quoteref=f8f739f3-c8e7-4053-9d40-92d7f8b80c67

Before I knew it I was driving it and I've not giggled like a girl when driving a car for quite some time. It's quick as to be expected, handles nicely although it was a test drive so can't really push it. Probably too fast for public roads but the two things I really liked was the quite frankly silly gear change plus the noises from the engine and exhaust when motoring on and changing gear, especially down shifts. I found the interior to be a touch nicer than my M140i but more special due to the carbon fibre although it's largely the same place to sit. The seats are much, much nicer and it's something I've never particularly liked about my M140i - they're fine but just not as comfortable as I would like. In the F80 M3 they are much nicer. What got me though was just the way the thing felt compared to my M140i. The steering, seating position, stance, how much better the chassis feels. It's certainly got me thinking. I wouldn't get this one as it's black and the interior felt like it had done twice the mileage but I'm now looking for a well optioned one and considering my options.

My mrs also likes the look of the 2 series grand coupe so we are looking at those as well.
 
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