New car for PMKeates time

Dandle said:
All modern BMWs Audis Mercs etc use a stupid lacquer on the plastics and if it gets scratched or touched too much it starts to peal and looks really tatty. The pre and post LCI cars all use the same leather, plastics and build just the LCI is a lot less quirky in design and the main thing to improve the cabin was they added extended aircon to most of the range instead of the really crap looking basic a/c in the pre LCI. My brothers in-laws pre LCI is like new inside but its been looked after extremely well.
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Yeah it's the 'soft-touch' lacquer that's peeling all over the place on this one. It's got to the stage where I'm half tempted to remove all of it and just leave the bare plastic. The leather on the gear top has gone pretty smooth as well.

Interesting about the LCI air-con because as you say, this pre-LCI model has the standard air-con and it looks like it could have come out of a 1980s Skoda!

PMKeates said:
There's no manual 535d variant because BMW did not have a manual driveline that could reliably cope with the torque. Therefore, it's automatic only. However, a manual would benefit from the setup as much as the automatic. The automatic makes it even smoother, as automatics do any surgey engines, by allowing the torque converter to slip and thus the engine RPM to raise to a more optimum point and then gradually deliver that to the wheels.
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Ah that explains why the old man didn't go for the 535d then. (Rightly or wrongly) he's got a thing about manuals being more of a 'purer driving experience' so he would have discounted the 535d out of principle.


Cheers for the info this evening, I feel like I've learnt a lot!
 
Hope you enjoy it, the power delivery of the engine is one of the nicest things about the x35d and they match very well with autobox. I had Michelin PS2 ZPs on the 335d I just sold and having done just under 18K since I bought it they had about 5mm tread on all tyres with consistent wear. They cost a bit more than the other brands but well worth it.

Does it have any of the speaker upgrade packs in it? I fitted the OEM Alpine upgrade to the 335d as the standard setup was dire.
 
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J1nxy said:
Hope you enjoy it, the power delivery of the engine is one of the nicest things about the x35d and they match very well with autobox. I had Michelin PS2 ZPs on the 335d I just sold and having done just under 18K since I bought it they had about 5mm tread on all tyres with consistent wear. They cost a bit more than the other brands but well worth it.

Does it have any of the speaker upgrade packs in it? I fitted the OEM Alpine upgrade to the 335d as the standard setup was dire.
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Interesting note about the PS2s. They are probably my favourite tyre of the ones I have used - excellent grip, good feedback and long life. I may give them another go, but they are a bit outdated now. The Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 tyres are supposed to have all the class-leading benefits of the previous generation Asymmetric but with improved fuel economy and I suspect increased tyre life, so I am *more* tempted to give those a go! Either way the car has four nearly new Continental Sport Contact 2s, so I suspect it's going to be a while before I need to change tyres.

With regards to the audio, the salesman tried to say it had hi-fi, but Fox and I both believe it does not. However, I am moving to the 535d from an E39 530i with standard audio (mostly - I fitted a Sony SOT). The E39 has probably the worst audio of any car since the 80s. My first car, a 1994 Ford Escort 1.6 LX, had a better audio system in the Ford 2006 radio, and I am totally not joking. I briefly tested the 535d's system and it sounded a million times better and bassier than the 530i, so I will be happy!
 
The PS2 were the ZP which are the runflat version so still a pretty modern tyre in that respect and reportedly the best of the run flats out there. I didn't try any others as I never needed to change them but would have stuck with them or the latest version of them.

The e90 had ok base but nothing in the mid or high range out the box, it was almost as bad as the e46 system, but not quite...the alpine upgrade added tweeters in the door frame upgraded speakers in the front doors and amp'd the front channel including the underseat subs, which made a noticeable difference.

One thing with the auto which i did notice a fair bit was that it tended to stay 1 gear to high at roundabouts in D, usually flicked it to S as I approached as that knocked it down that one gear and then didn't need to then be messing with getting it out of manual mode as I came off the roundabout.
 
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PMKeates said:
With regards to the audio, the salesman tried to say it had hi-fi, but Fox and I both believe it does not. However, I am moving to the 535d from an E39 530i with standard audio (mostly - I fitted a Sony SOT). The E39 has probably the worst audio of any car since the 80s. My first car, a 1994 Ford Escort 1.6 LX, had a better audio system in the Ford 2006 radio, and I am totally not joking. I briefly tested the 535d's system and it sounded a million times better and bassier than the 530i, so I will be happy!
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do you have subs under your seat?

which ever you do actually have its definitely more than adequate
 
J1nxy said:
The PS2 were the ZP which are the runflat version so still a pretty modern tyre in that respect and reportedly the best of the run flats out there. I didn't try any others as I never needed to change them but would have stuck with them or the latest version of them.

The e90 had ok base but nothing in the mid or high range out the box, it was almost as bad as the e46 system, but not quite...the alpine upgrade added tweeters in the door frame upgraded speakers in the front doors and amp'd the front channel including the underseat subs, which made a noticeable difference.

One thing with the auto which i did notice a fair bit was that it tended to stay 1 gear to high at roundabouts in D, usually flicked it to S as I approached as that knocked it down that one gear and then didn't need to then be messing with getting it out of manual mode as I came off the roundabout.
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Ahh I see on the PS2s.

I had an E46 too but it did have the Harman/Kardon system. I LOVED that stereo and it's basically about as good as I'll ever need in a car. I don't expect it to be anywhere near as good as that, just simple 'good enough' and that I think it is - at least for now. A more pressing entertainment upgrade for me would be the DAB retrofit, so I can listen to gaydar for every waking hour of the day. Although, there's another even MORE important upgrade coming before that ;)

By one gear too high do you mean 2nd gear? If so, that's ideal! I'd much prefer it to be using 2nd gear 99% of the time. I find 1st too short and powerful for a relaxing drive in the 530i, so the 535d being shorter and more powerful is worse. Flicking to DS is what I do now if it's very busy and I need a sudden burst.
DAIR said:
How much do these go for?
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For an LCI 535d M Sport? Not much less than £18k unless it's done lots of miles (or you buy outside the AUC network).
 
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PMKeates said:
By one gear too high do you mean 2nd gear? If so, that's ideal! I'd much prefer it to be using 2nd gear 99% of the time. I find 1st too short and powerful for a relaxing drive in the 530i, so the 535d being shorter and more powerful is worse. Flicking to DS is what I do now if it's very busy and I need a sudden burst.
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It just tends to be lots of torque converter slipping when you want the car to actually slot into the gap in the traffic, which is where flicking it into DS fixes the problem. For normal day to day driving D is fine its just when you want the punch DS does it very well.
 
Will Gill said:
eh?

do keep up chap

there was some confusion as to what system he had, dealer said hifi, PM not so sure, I asked if he had subs

ill let you work out my reasoning :)
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But they all have speakers under the seat, you wont tell if they are subs or not unless you compare one car with hifi against one without or look at the speaker. Surely if that was your reasoning looking for tweeters would be far easier as they are either fitted or not.
 
Settle down everyone!

My threads are exclusively lovefests.
J1nxy said:
It just tends to be lots of torque converter slipping when you want the car to actually slot into the gap in the traffic, which is where flicking it into DS fixes the problem. For normal day to day driving D is fine its just when you want the punch DS does it very well.
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Lots of torque converter slipping is great - what I like best about autos! I love that continuous RPM with seamless gear changes as you approach your desired speed. I know the 535d won't be as 'good' as the 530i at slipping because the ZF 6HP28 avoids it to boost fuel economy. I personally find you can position the car pretty well with the converter slipping because there's enough low-down power to get away with it. It's only really when it's super busy that you need a solid shove, and in those instances it's where I'd knock it in to DS.
 
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