[Ti Rich]

Hi Guys

Been reading the posts here for the last few months and picked up a lot of information before joining today - many thanks.

I am test driving a 11 month old E90 335d M-Sport on Friday with 7K miles on the clock. Sounds are important to me and it's proven difficult to find a car with the right spec for me. The cars spec is:-

Electric Glass Sunroof
Elec Fr Seats. & Driver Memory
High Beam Assistant
Navigation - System Professional
BMW Connected Drive - Assist
Voice Control System
Bluetooth Phone Prep & telematics
DAB Digital Radio
Hi-Fi Sys Prof

So a few questions!

1) I have negociated a price just below 33K with a full retirm (I don't like the current Lemon Leather) - Is this price OK?

2) Anything to watch out for on the test drive?

3) My drive to work each day is 25 miles M-Way @ 75-80, and 15 miles down A-roads @ 55-60 with no traffic. I am hoping to get about 38MPG - is this realistic? I drive quite steady with just the occasional blast!

4) I also commute to Heathrow every few weeks (230 mile round trip) and so what MPG can i expect on longer M-Way runs at say 80mph?

5) Thinking of adding an I-Pod interface. Should I get the dealer to do this or is it DIY?

I really wanted a coupe but with a wife and 2 kids decided the saloon was the next best thing. Any advice gladly taken and I hope to be a contributing member soon.

Regards

Rich

[ChrisMWard]

Hi Rich and welcome to the forum.

Spec of the car sounds good. Has it not got Xenons as well?

As for MPG, we get 33 on a 45 mile daily commute which includes some 70MPH dual carriageway driving with slow moving traffic at each end. On longish runs it will creep up around the 40 mark.

As for the test drive just enjoy it and watch the speedo.

Regards

Chris

[BC4J]

Welcome! I get about 38 mpg average on a pretty similar commute.

Retrim? Does this mean you're having the existing leather stripped out & replaced with new (black I assume)?! Wow, that must be costing some money!

[skansa]

great car, check the wheels for kerbing and uneven tread wear. Also for scratched on the vinyl of the door. i get 31mpg sadly very little motorway. On short journeys the car eats fuel, as soon as you hit that start button you loose 20miles on the range!

for what motorway i have been on its very good, i did london cornwall return on 42mpg looking at 515 at tank.

not sure on the retro fit of USB interface, as it will be expensive. With all this extra work would you not be better served just waiting longer for the car you want?!

on the test drive make sure you like the feel of those run flats, also what spec alloys are there on teh vehicle. i have the 19" on msport and its a hard drive!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by BC4J

Retrim? Does this mean you're having the existing leather stripped out & replaced with new (black I assume)?! Wow, that must be costing some money!

I didn't understand this either. If the dealer is doing all this work for you, then you are paying for it in the sale price.

It's got to be worth £2k minimum. If the lemon is something you couldn't live with it may be worth holding out for a different car.

[GarryF]

Isn't the retro-fit ipod interface quite poor in comparison to the factory fit one, can be slow to respond, small limit on amount of artists it will browse etc? I'm sure that's the case on the 5 series, dunno about the 3

[red-max]

You're lucky you have a clear run most days - the 335d is a great car for m'ways and dual carriageways, and clear A-roads (if you can find some).

I'd say that 38mpg should be achieveable on the journeys you describe - as others have said the big diesels can be quite thirsty on short runs.

As for the test drive, my advice is to try to get the car for a few hours, and try it on a number of different types of roads. In my experience the road noise can be quite intrusive on certain road surfaces, but then I came from a 5 series that was very well insulated, so it might just be what I got used to.

Try some bumpy back-roads as well as faster roads and dual carriageways, and try the auto box in D, DS and in Manual modes.

The spec looks good, I hope you enjoy it...

[booforty]

If you can't live with Lemon leather, get another car. You will save yourself another couple of grand. There will be others available

[dxb335d]

You will love the 335d, its a very capable car.

Live with the lemon, its nice and you will get used to it..

What colour is the exterior of the E90?


Oh and welcome to E90post.com


Carlos

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by red-max

You're lucky you have a clear run most days - the 335d is a great car for m'ways and dual carriageways, and clear A-roads (if you can find some).

I'd say that 38mpg should be achieveable on the journeys you describe - as others have said the big diesels can be quite thirsty on short runs.

As for the test drive, my advice is to try to get the car for a few hours, and try it on a number of different types of roads. In my experience the road noise can be quite intrusive on certain road surfaces, but then I came from a 5 series that was very well insulated, so it might just be what I got used to.

Try some bumpy back-roads as well as faster roads and dual carriageways, and try the auto box in D, DS and in Manual modes.

The spec looks good, I hope you enjoy it...

I haven't really noticed a difference in road noise moving between a 5 series SE model and the 335D M-Sport but what I have noticed is how much more you feel pot holes and speed bumps.

I only road tested the car for about 30 minutes before I ordered it but that was enough to know it was the car for me.

[squeezebm]

Oh bugger i was just about to warn you about De Carlos

Live with the leater mate or as has been said take another look on AUC - Cars arriving soon etc,apart from that nice choice

[Ti Rich]

Hi Guys, thanks for the advice!

The dealer has offered to replace all the leather and four door cards for £1000 + VAT which I thought was not too bad. I could live with the lemon but the other half says no!! Outside the car is black.

It might all be in vain as the dealer has just emailed me to say someone else wants the car and can I put down a deposit. Problem is I am in brazil and don't want to do this without a testdrive.

Oh well, if it goes it goes!

[SDRX]

Originally Posted by Ti Rich

Hi Guys

1) I have negociated a price just below 33K with a full retirm (I don't like the current Lemon Leather) - Is this price OK?

2) Anything to watch out for on the test drive?

3) My drive to work each day is 25 miles M-Way @ 75-80, and 15 miles down A-roads @ 55-60 with no traffic. I am hoping to get about 38MPG - is this realistic? I drive quite steady with just the occasional blast!

4) I also commute to Heathrow every few weeks (230 mile round trip) and so what MPG can i expect on longer M-Way runs at say 80mph?

5) Thinking of adding an I-Pod interface. Should I get the dealer to do this or is it DIY?

Rich

Welcome to the forum rich. I have done almost 1100 miles in my 335d so can only give you a limited review of what is truely fantastic car. The engine itself is a engineering marvel, superbly quick and instant.

1) In my view paying well over £1000 for the interior trim change is unjustifiable. As the others have said, I would simply wait for another model, and if you were willing search nationally the wait may not be so long.

2) Enjoy the test drive, see if the diesel rattle at idle is an issue for you. And also note that the engine never really "sings" at you when you rev. You simply hear a refined/muted grunt which is very decieving until you glance at the speedo!!

3) Yep this should be possible. I am getting 34-36 mpg on my work route too (mixture of M-way and A-roads).

4) You should get about 35mpg

5) I'm crap at all forms of DIY so i would get BMW to do. I'm not sure if the retrofit is as good as factory fit, so the others will let you know.

Best of luck and enjoy your hols too!!

[networkguy]

Originally Posted by SDRX

2) Enjoy the test drive, see if the diesel rattle at idle is an issue for you. And also note that the engine never really "sings" at you when you rev. You simply hear a refined/muted grunt which is very decieving until you glance at the speedo!!

In which case, open all the windows late at night and suddenly that refined/muted grunt becomes a growl

I think too much sound proofing has robbed the driver of this wonderous sound

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by networkguy

In which case, open all the windows late at night and suddenly that refined/muted grunt becomes a growl

I think too much sound proofing has robbed the driver of this wonderous sound

I too think that under load it sounds a right beast.

[red-max]

Originally Posted by SDRX

In my view paying well over £1000 for the interior trim change is unjustifiable. As the others have said, I would simply wait for another model, and if you were willing search nationally the wait may not be so long.

You may already know this, but in case you haven't seen it, you can search the Approved Used BMW stock online here:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/advanced_search/

Or you could ask your dealer to find one for you, make them work for their commission ;-)

Probably worth taking a test drive in a 335d first though, to make sure you like the car.

[MonteB]

On your test drive dont forget to put on you seat belt and go really fast

[DaveC]

Looks like a pretty poor price to me, unless you are dead set on that spec something like:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_d...VD72040A000025

Comes in at 30k and has plenty of toys.

[booforty]

Originally Posted by Ti Rich

Hi Guys, thanks for the advice!

The dealer has offered to replace all the leather and four door cards for £1000 + VAT which I thought was not too bad. I could live with the lemon but the other half says no!! Outside the car is black.

It might all be in vain as the dealer has just emailed me to say someone else wants the car and can I put down a deposit. Problem is I am in brazil and don't want to do this without a testdrive.

Oh well, if it goes it goes!

Sounds like dealer bullshit to me. Don't pay anything until you've driven the car. Don't spend £1k on new leather, its money down the drain. Get another black E90 with an interior you like.

Shop around, try differnt dealers. Play them off against each other. Put them under pressure. Don't let this guy put you under pressure. I would tell him that you have better offers and make him work a bit harder

[Ti Rich]

Hi Guys

Thanks again for the advice!

The problem is I want DAB and Logic 7 and there are very few cars about that have this spec. Sounds are very important to me and I don't want to go down the retrofit route. The car DOES have Xenons too

Not bothered about diesel rattle - I drive a BMW engined MG ZT CDTi at present (rather tuned) so am familiar with 4 pot rattle!!

I know the dealer just wanted the car in his January sales figures but didn't bite. I am a sales man too..................he won't put me under any pressure i can assure you. The things I sell cost far more.......

35MPG on the motorway sounds a bit low!

I don't mind travelling anywhere in the UK to find the right car. I knocked up 23K miles on jets in the past four days.

[dxb335d]

What do you sell Ti-rich?

[Ti Rich]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

What do you sell Ti-rich?

I used to sell Capital plant (millions of pounds per order) but these days I sell Forensic Equipment to Police/Immigration all over the world - Like the stuff you see on CSI on TV. My sales areas are Latin America, Africa and about 50% of Asia so i get about a bit.