Is it worth it?

Yes, 320 is a 4 cylinder whereas a 325/330 will be a straight 6 - unless the F30 is going turbocharged?
 
wez130 said:
Yes, 320 is a 4 cylinder whereas a 325/330 will be a straight 6 - unless the F30 is going turbocharged?
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The F30 is entirely turbocharged, yes (320i and 328i are 4 cylinder turbo, 335i is 6 cylinder turbo) but the E92's of which he is looking at are all normally aspirated bar the 335i (Excluding diesel, of course).
 
Buchanan0204 said:
Any advice on what model to go for? I'm definitely wanting the coupe model, petrol and a 2litre engine. I'd also like a sat nav and the other gadgets mentioned above. Other than that I have no clue on the models. Tried looking at comparison charts but it just went on about engine torque and other stuff I have no interest or clue about.
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You don't seem that bothered or intersted in performance - which is absolutely fine, and my advice will reflect this.

If you chose a 3 Series Coupe with Professional Navigation, you will gain the 'cool screen' in the centre of the dash. I'd strongly advise this - because combined with another option, USB Interface, it also works as an excellent music centre and car control system. Cars built after September 08 with Pro Nav have a hard drive, higher resolution screen and much improved user interface.

There are two engines I'd suggest you look at - the 320i and the 325i.

The 320i is a 2 litre 16v 4 cylinder engine developing 170bhp. The 325i is actually a 3 litre 24v 6 cylinder engine developing 214bhp. However as its a direct injection engine it's actually stunningly economical for the engine size and has a combined mpg figure of almost 40mpg, so it's very much worth considering.

I normally brand it as a pointless engine because for those people into performance a 330i has the same engine with more power and the same running costs. However as a result the 325i is the unloved model in the range and you stand a much better chance of getting a much newer 325i than you do 330. There are also quite a lot of 325i about whereas the 330i is reasonably rare.

Both the 320i and the 325i have reliability issues so ensure you budget the circa £500 a year for the BMW warranty, then you dont need to worry about it.

Also be aware that a set of tyres for the cars on the 19 inch wheels is almost £1200.
 
Thanks for that Fox, cleared a good bit up for me!

I think I'll probably be looking at the 2 litre 320i. Performance isn't my number 1 priority, however I do like a bit of oomph, something my Mazda doesn't have. It's a 1.6l petrol and it's extremely and painfully slow. I'm thinking anything that can do 0-62mph in no more than 8 seconds will be fine for me.

I am impressed with the fuel consumption of the 3 litre though, that's pretty damn impressive.

I seen the music features on the options list. Definitely sounds perfect for me. I have a tonne of music and would love a hard drive to store it on.

I seen models with "sport plus" "sport" and some other terms after it? Does this give me more toys inside? Or is it just purely performance based? I'd like as much toys as possible really. I'm a gadget fan.
 
Is the audi a4 3.0tdi any good? I see it's pretty damn quick with over 40mpg?

I do roughly 15k per year at most and don't do a lot of motorway? Does this rule out a diesel for me? Again, don't know a great deal about the disadvantages of diesel.
 
I'd go for a Z4 3.0L Si Coupe, pretty cheap to run, you dont need rear seats, decent on fuel for the amount of mileage it sounds like you do and a great (ie RWD) drive. Rare on the road as well.
 
[TW]Fox;21277990 said:
I looked at the A5...
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I don't get why you think the A5 is so terrible. I went in a 11 plate one spent about 3-4 hours in one albeit as a passenger and thought it was pretty good. Maybe you just tried a bad example or something. :o
 
[TW]Fox;21307768 said:
Your budget probably doesnt extend to a really nice current shape A4 with the 3 litre TDI and anyone spending £10k+ on the old shape is a nutcase.
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I'm now considering finance. Rather than blowing 10k. I would like to avoid the huge deposit right enough. I'm seeing some crazy deposits being required... near enough £10k what I was planning on buying an actual car for!
 
InQ said:
I'd go for a Z4 3.0L Si Coupe, pretty cheap to run, you dont need rear seats, decent on fuel for the amount of mileage it sounds like you do and a great (ie RWD) drive. Rare on the road as well.
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I am really open to all makes and models. I have considered a sporty thing... I do like the idea of it. However, nothing seems to tickle my fancy that I've seen anyway. Most are too basic inside and designed for one thing... speed. The boxster being an example. I've drove a 03 boxster S and found it to be a proper drivey car that you need to work at. While this is fun, I'm guessing I'd get bored of it pretty quickly and want something easier to drive.

Girlfriend thinks the Z4 looks like a shoe... so, that's out of the equation.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
I don't get why you think the A5 is so terrible. I went in a 11 plate one spent about 3-4 hours in one albeit as a passenger and thought it was pretty good. Maybe you just tried a bad example or something. :o
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I explained in detail at the time. Perhaps it's a context thing, it probably feels quite nice compared to a smaller A1.
 
[TW]Fox;21310243 said:
I explained in detail at the time. Perhaps it's a context thing, it probably feels quite nice compared to a smaller A1.
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Off topic a little. I think the A3 is one the ugliest cars around at the moment. It just doesn't look modern at all for 2012. They're also mega plain and boring inside. I'd imagine the money goes in the four circles at the front of the car and perhaps the mechanics.
 
8P came out in 2004, and it's a design that works still, hennce it still being on sale, i personally don't think it's an ugly car, far from it in S3 form especially. And the interiors can be drab yes, but stick a couple of options on it and it transforms it. (RNS-E for a start). I still miss my A3.
 
wez130 said:
8P came out in 2004
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No it didn't, he was right, it came out in 2003. It has been for sale for almost 9 years and it desperately shows. It is a tired, old and dated design which Audi have now facelifted twice - the last facelift was particularly desperate as it involved covering it in all sorts of tacky bling.

You can't blame Audi for any of this - if people still want to queue up and buy such an old car simply because it has a 2 litre diesel engine, and Audi badge on it and it says S-LINE then they'd be daft not to cater to this need.

But objectively, it's absolutely ancient now. Since it came out BMW have introduced and completely replaced the 1 Series, VW have moved from Mk4 to Mk5 to Mk6 Golf, etc etc.

A 9 year product life in the car market is virtually unheard of on a consumer hatchback. It normally just doesnt happen.
 
wez130 said:
8P came out in 2004, and it's a design that works still, hennce it still being on sale, i personally don't think it's an ugly car, far from it in S3 form especially. And the interiors can be drab yes, but stick a couple of options on it and it transforms it. (RNS-E for a start). I still miss my A3.
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I like the s3, would have one in a heartbeat infact as I think its still one of the best all round hot hatchbacks sold at the moment. The s3 can be forgiven for being based on an old plarform by me at least as I still think it drives very well and i've got a bit of a soft spot for them if I'm honest having owned an 8L A3, but the cooking a3 has had its day some years ago.

The replacement can't come soon enough, needs a complete refresh....imo. If you compare the life cycles of the 8L and 8P there's a massive difference - 96ish to 2003 for the 8l so about 7 years, 2003 to when, 2013 at last guestimate for the replacement? 10 years is a long time for a single model these days
 
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There is a a difference between looking awesome and looking like it should still be on sale. An M3 CSL looks awesome but you would all laugh if it was still around as a new car.
 
Would your money not be better spent on something that you can pay off with just cash. I've never fancied getting a car on finance, and can't see any benefit unless it's 0% apr...

2008 BMW 5 Series 525i

I'm no BMW expert, but this seems to be a good deal. Better than a 3, good engine (assuming it's the same one as Fox has described before in the 3). And you'll get more gadgets in the 5, and a much nicer ride...

But I could be wrong of course
 
[TW]Fox;21311077 said:
No it didn't, he was right, it came out in 2003. It has been for sale for almost 9 years and it desperately shows. It is a tired, old and dated design which Audi have now facelifted twice - the last facelift was particularly desperate as it involved covering it in all sorts of tacky bling.

.
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I stand corrected, the sportback was released in 2004
 
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