Do you need anything more than a 320d?

[Mike22233]

nickfrog said:

yonex said:

1. A pickup type thing to take stuff to the dump, Carry bikes etc
2. A lightweight fun car
3. A bruising middleweight.

Therefore M3, Caterham and Amarok.

That's all the cars I ever need

Excellent. I agree, perfect line up - I have the poverty version at the moment : M135i, Yaris 1.0 (!!!) and Qashcow.

I have 2/3 covered (although I would like my light car to be closer to 500kg’s) but I still need to own a defender to cover #1.

[andrewparker]

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

I'm still of the opinion that it couldn't be described as anything but a first world problem

[Tractor lad]

I'm never buying another diesel.

M135i auto and a 2.5 manual, oldish petrol Subaru Outback for a bit of off roading, load lugging pot hole bashing and generally not-giving-a-stuff. Works well for us.

[cerb4.5lee]

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

I agree and same with the M3 as well they are just too heavy to focussed on comfort and have miles to much sound deadening to be fun to drive, you just have to align your expectations of them and appreciate they are boring but I think they drive pretty well.

You wont ever get many thrills from a 3 series regardless of what model it is but as a comfy car to get from A to B they do an alright job but a Mondeo will do exactly the same job as well.

[RobM77]

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

According to your profile you used to own one! Or did you forget which imaginary cars you dreamt up when you joined PH?

[RobM77]

s m said:

Wonder if Chris has driven the new Jag XE 2.0 200 R Sport diesel?

Very good write up and road test in Autocar.

Scored very highly for ride/handling, bit quicker than the 320d and base price a bit cheaper. Not as economical though

Thanks for the tip - I've just been out and bought Autocar so will read the review tonight. There's also a Rob Wilson feature, which is always a good thing.

After a quick scan through the review in the shop it seems they prefer the XE's ride and handling to the 3 series, which is superb news What's also exciting for me is whether Jaguar share BMW's DBW throttle latency problems with their petrol engines, because if they don't then I'll be making a return to petrol if and when I buy one. All good!

So maybe we could answer the thread's question with "yes, you need a Jaguar XE"?

Edited by RobM77 on Wednesday 1st July 15:03

[Ares]

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

As boring as listening to bleat on about how much they hate them, usually with no actual experience of one? <yawn>

[Tractor lad]

My E91 335d was quite fun.
The wife's uncle has a new F30 320d Luxury and it is quite dull.

[Ares]

cerb4.5lee said:

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

I agree and same with the M3 as well they are just too heavy to focussed on comfort and have miles to much sound deadening to be fun to drive, you just have to align your expectations of them and appreciate they are boring but I think they drive pretty well.

You wont ever get many thrills from a 3 series regardless of what model it is but as a comfy car to get from A to B they do an alright job but a Mondeo will do exactly the same job as well.

I've just spent a day at Oulton Park in the new M3 and M4. Have to say, massive leap forward and far far from boring with thrills a plenty (this coming from someone that raced Caterhams). BMW have near nailed it as an M-Saloon.

Mondeo.... Funny.

[RobM77]

Tractor lad said:

My E91 335d was quite fun.
The wife's uncle has a new F30 320d Luxury and it is quite dull.

In terms of ride and handling, you'll need the F30 M Sport to match the E9x standard spec suspension in terms of balance. This is also true for the 1 and 5 series.

[Tractor lad]

RobM77 said:

In terms of ride and handling, you'll need the F30 M Sport to match the E9x standard spec suspension in terms of balance. This is also true for the 1 and 5 series.

I think an M135i (which we have) is sort of M sported but maybe more? Handles nicely anyway.

[RobM77]

Tractor lad said:

RobM77 said:

In terms of ride and handling, you'll need the F30 M Sport to match the E9x standard spec suspension in terms of balance. This is also true for the 1 and 5 series.

I think an M135i (which we have) is sort of M sported but maybe more? Handles nicely anyway.

That's what I assume, yes. Last year I did a back to back comparison of a brand new M Sport and a non M Sport 1 series and the standard 1 series had a rather soft understeer to it, whereas the M Sport handled neutrally, like the old 1 series.

I'm not sure where the M135i fits into that, but I assume that it's got M Sport suspension, or perhaps the distinction is because it runs its own setup, biased for handling like the M Sport? I've only tried the outgoing 135i coupé, not the newer M135i, so couldn't comment.

[cerb4.5lee]

Ares said:

cerb4.5lee said:

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

I agree and same with the M3 as well they are just too heavy to focussed on comfort and have miles to much sound deadening to be fun to drive, you just have to align your expectations of them and appreciate they are boring but I think they drive pretty well.

You wont ever get many thrills from a 3 series regardless of what model it is but as a comfy car to get from A to B they do an alright job but a Mondeo will do exactly the same job as well.

I've just spent a day at Oulton Park in the new M3 and M4. Have to say, massive leap forward and far far from boring with thrills a plenty (this coming from someone that raced Caterhams). BMW have near nailed it as an M-Saloon.

Mondeo.... Funny.

I have read that they have moved the game on big time with the current M3/4 and the owners of them on M3cutters seem really happy with them as well, I thought the photos you put up of the Oulton park day were really good too!

[RobM77]

cerb4.5lee said:

Ares said:

cerb4.5lee said:

sealtt said:

I would hate to own a 3 series, just soooooooo boring.

I agree and same with the M3 as well they are just too heavy to focussed on comfort and have miles to much sound deadening to be fun to drive, you just have to align your expectations of them and appreciate they are boring but I think they drive pretty well.

You wont ever get many thrills from a 3 series regardless of what model it is but as a comfy car to get from A to B they do an alright job but a Mondeo will do exactly the same job as well.

I've just spent a day at Oulton Park in the new M3 and M4. Have to say, massive leap forward and far far from boring with thrills a plenty (this coming from someone that raced Caterhams). BMW have near nailed it as an M-Saloon.

Mondeo.... Funny.

I have read that they have moved the game on big time with the current M3/4 and the owners of them on M3cutters seem really happy with them as well, I thought the photos you put up of the Oulton park day were really good too!

That's really good to hear. I haven't driven the new M3 yet and it's all too easy to focus on the turbocharged engine compared to the outgoing V8 and I6 before it and feel negative about the car as a whole.

[cerb4.5lee]

RobM77 said:

That's really good to hear. I haven't driven the new M3 yet and it's all too easy to focus on the turbocharged engine compared to the outgoing V8 and I6 before it and feel negative about the car as a whole.

Yes I agree and there are a few on cutters that have gone E92 M3 to the current one and they say they haven't looked back at all so it is positive which is very good, I still haven't had a go in the current one either but I would like to try it.

[Tractor lad]

RobM77 said:

That's what I assume, yes. Last year I did a back to back comparison of a brand new M Sport and a non M Sport 1 series and the standard 1 series had a rather soft understeer to it, whereas the M Sport handled neutrally, like the old 1 series.

I'm not sure where the M135i fits into that, but I assume that it's got M Sport suspension, or perhaps the distinction is because it runs its own setup, biased for handling like the M Sport? I've only tried the outgoing 135i coupé, not the newer M135i, so couldn't comment.

I tried an F21 120d Sport; that was firm-ish but ours is firmer. Some bits are just M Sport (the brakes I think although Brembo makes them), some are "M Performance" like the engine and quite possibly the suspension. Not enough to justify the slightly OTT (but thankfully small) M badges but more so than a 118d M Sport.

The handling is excellent; the only road I've "run out of car" on was a very very twisty coast road; the only time I wanted an LSD and slightly sharper throttle response. I was pushing it very hard though.
Every other time it's been great; they tyres don't like being cold and appear Teflon coated until warmed a little and you need a little care in the wet but that slight lairyness suits me fine.

[anonymous-user]

Going way OT but I'm looking at an E90 M3 tomorrow

[cerb4.5lee]

yonex said:

Going way OT but I'm looking at an E90 M3 tomorrow

The four door M3 is very rare and seems really sort after, enjoy the day and let us know how you get on.

[GreenArrow]

A 320d is in many ways the ideal car for UK roads. One roared off past me around a motorway roundabout the other day and I have to say I was impressed at the take off for a 2 litre diesel. top speed more than adequate for UK, great handling etc..

but boy are they common now. I for one am absolutely sick and bored of seeing endless 320ds, A4 TDIs and C220 CDIs day by day..I really, really want the new Alfa to be a success and introduce some latin flair, but history does not bode well!! New Jag XE is a peach too....

[anonymous-user]

cerb4.5lee said:

The four door M3 is very rare and seems really sort after, enjoy the day and let us know how you get on.

Thank you, I will do for sure. I know it's not the answer to everything but I need 4 doors and the days of normally aspirated big bore engines are already gone. I have to be honest, for years I denied myself certain cars thinking they would either bankrupt me or I wouldn't like them, life really is too short to worry about such things, but I always did. Whilst I have the means why the hell not