Joe T said:
It was £12k - same as yours.
As I said above, its replacing a 97 Pug 306 DTurbo.
That sucks about the stereo - I will have to do some research, and see whats best.
Yours still ok mate?
Ah, sorry, got excited and just looked at the pics
The Stereo isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but the Sony Sound on Top amp is meant to be a very effective, very cheap and very quick fix. Sony don't make the amp any more, but they pop up on eBay all the time - I got mine for £31 (they were £109 new). It basically just sits between the head unit and the speakers and gives the system the amplification it needs.
I really didn't want to change the BMW head unit for various reasons. Firstly, the dash would look rubbish with an aftermarket job. Secondly, you'll lose the steering wheel controls (it is very difficult to get them to work after a HU change I've heard), aswell as the cool automatic volume control which changes with the speed of the car. I'd like to upgrade to the BMW widescreen TV head unit, but the whole kit will cost nearly a grand, even off eBay.
Mine gets better by the day - not found any issues with it, and it's closing in on 100k. Done about 1,000 miles on it so far too. The Sport ride is very comfortable on long journeys - I'm taking it to the South of France in the summer, and imagine it will be nice and cosy.
One thing that might shock you is the tramlining effect that the big 18" wheels cause. Basically, if you hit a bump in the road, the car will pull quite hard in a different direction, so you have to be quick at altering the steering, and being quite alert on small bumpy roads. I have got used to this now, and I would not consider it a problem (certainly not worth sacrficing the 18" MV's for). I was used to driving a VW Golf with 15" wheels, chunky tires, and featherlight steering, so that may have been why there was such a marked difference. My Dad has a Merc C220 with 17" Sport wheels, and he didn't notice the tramlining in my car.
