335d/435d or 535d

[Fox-]

Welshbeef said:

Note next time I'll be buying the extended leather on the dash - previously id thought what an utter waste.... Um mind changed its now vital and makes things very special indeed

Then you'll need to spec a brand new one as it's probably the rarest factory option on an F10. I have never, ever seen one for sale with it.

[Welshbeef]

Fox- said:

Then you'll need to spec a brand new one as it's probably the rarest factory option on an F10. I have never, ever seen one for sale with it.

Fox I'll agree with you on this one - super rare but worthy of the extra if you can afford it.

[tighnamara]

Welshbeef said:

I've driven a 420d M sport fully loaded F30 330d M sport fully loaded and own a F10 535d.

Interior is worlds apart literally its a gulf. However if you've not been in the 5 you'd not be aware of this difference which is to say you'd get used to what it has to offer but once you try the 5 you'll know its such a better spec car.
Note next time I'll be buying the extended leather on the dash - previously id thought what an utter waste.... Um mind changed its now vital and makes things very special indeed

Merino and extended leather certainly changes the feel and look of the F30

[tighnamara]

Welshbeef said:

I've driven a 420d M sport fully loaded F30 330d M sport fully loaded and own a F10 535d.

Interior is worlds apart literally its a gulf. However if you've not been in the 5 you'd not be aware of this difference which is to say you'd get used to what it has to offer but once you try the 5 you'll know its such a better spec car.
Note next time I'll be buying the extended leather on the dash - previously id thought what an utter waste.... Um mind changed its now vital and makes things very special indeed

Merino and extended leather certainly changes the feel and look of the F30

[Welshbeef]

tighnamara said:

Merino and extended leather certainly changes the feel and look of the F30

You can say that again

[JNW1]

akeithj said:

OK lets forget about MPG. At the moment there is very little difference in contract price between

1.535d msport
2.435i msport
3.435d msport

So which one would you go for?

Take an extended drive in each and pick the one you prefer; you could probably make a case for any of them depending on what you want from the car!

[JNW1]

335d said:

I really like the E92 M3 as well - it would make an ideal weekend car. I understand what you mean about the handling, but I'm wondering if you are still on the original springs? That relatively cheap change improves things significantly - turn in is far sharper and it is much less vague. Apparently non runflats, particularly Michelin PSS make quite a difference too. I'm waiting to wear out my runflats before switching.

My car is on standard springs with adaptive suspension. In truth, though, I'm not actually disappointed with the way it goes or handles; I never expected sports car agility from an estate weighing 1.8 tonnes and generally the F31 335d is a very decent machine and is meeting my expectations. There's only one area where I find it a tad disappointing but I've said my piece on that.....

[Wills2]

akeithj said:

OK lets forget about MPG. At the moment there is very little difference in contract price between

1.535d msport
2.435i msport
3.435d msport

So which one would you go for?

Even though its a bit of a big old thing, I do prefer the 535 interior, only trouble it's about 10 inches longer than the 4 series, however what you may loose in performance you make up for in refinement.

I think out of the three either the 435i or 535d, the 5 offers more refinement so you won't hear the diesel clatter at low revs/partial throttle, the 4 if you spec full leather as it really lifts the interior but wait on the 4 if you want that as they are bringing out a 440i soon rumour has it with 340hp.

[ZX10R NIN]

Wills2 said:

akeithj said:

OK lets forget about MPG. At the moment there is very little difference in contract price between

1.535d msport
2.435i msport
3.435d msport

So which one would you go for?

Even though its a bit of a big old thing, I do prefer the 535 interior, only trouble it's about 10 inches longer than the 4 series, however what you may loose in performance you make up for in refinement.

I think out of the three either the 435i or 535d, the 5 offers more refinement so you won't hear the diesel clatter at low revs/partial throttle, the 4 if you spec full leather as it really lifts the interior but wait on the 4 if you want that as they are bringing out a 440i soon rumour has it with 340hp.

I'd pick the 535d much nicer interior a bit more classy rwd (unlike the 3/4 you don't have to have the Xdrive) so for me it would have to be the 5

[Wills2]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd pick the 535d much nicer interior a bit more classy rwd (unlike the 3/4 you don't have to have the Xdrive) so for me it would have to be the 5

The "i" isn't xdrive.

[tjlees]

akeithj said:

OK lets forget about MPG. At the moment there is very little difference in contract price between

1.535d msport
2.435i msport
3.435d msport

So which one would you go for?

Even though its a bit of a big old thing, I do prefer the 535 interior, only trouble it's about 10 inches longer than the 4 series, however what you may loose in performance you make up for in refinement.

What happened to the toe rag?

Knowing you like the quality with most of performance/handling - 535d and most men wouldn't complain about having an extra 10 inches

However the 435 is a thing of Beauty. Add the merino seats and dashboard then you'll have 10 inches less and most of the quality.

[Welshbeef]

Wills2 said:

I think out of the three either the 435i or 535d, the 5 offers more refinement so you won't hear the diesel clatter at low revs/partial throttle, the 4 if you spec full leather as it really lifts the interior but wait on the 4 if you want that as they are bringing out a 440i soon rumour has it with 340hp.

About time too BMW have been lagging in the BHP stakes with the 335i over S4 350Blietech

[335d]

akeithj said:

OK lets forget about MPG. At the moment there is very little difference in contract price between

1.535d msport
2.435i msport
3.435d msport

So which one would you go for?

Even though its a bit of a big old thing, I do prefer the 535 interior, only trouble it's about 10 inches longer than the 4 series, however what you may loose in performance you make up for in refinement.

It all comes down to your usage-

If you spend most of your time on the motorway, the 535d is the most refined and would be my choice.

If you spend most of your time on smaller roads and put handling over refinement, then the 435d which feels so much more nimble and fun to drive than the bigger car. I don't regret my move from an F10 to an F30, even though I gave up some refinement, and the interior is a step down.

I wouldn't buy a 435i, although might consider a 440i.

[Shezbo]

I think the trouble with a 4 series is - does not feel very special inside (3 series - base or platform) even with better leather etc.

Silk purse etc.

[Wills2]

I would have agreed whole heartedly until I sat in an M3 and M4 with full leather (nappa) that coupled with the carbon trim and the contrasting stitching completely changed the look and feel of the interior and I really liked it.

And that's from someone who really didn't like his f31 interior.

[Jobbo]

Welshbeef said:

drmark said:

Well I get 37 out my F31
35 out of my F11 530d
25 out of 135i
And 9 out of a RRS SVR I test drove recently

Edited by drmark on Tuesday 17th March 17:02

So 48% more economical x35d over the 135i.

Do we need to continue to debate this aspect anymore? Its clearly better mpg like for like driving by a very significant margin.

The M135i is not a fair comparison with the 335d; it is notably less economical than my much heavier 535i due to the low gearing.

I have been averaging about 29-30mpg out of the 535i; worst of 27.3mpg for the tank, best of 33.0mpg. The most annoying thing is that the fuel warning comes up with about 10l remaining of a 70l tank. Even when I eked it out a bit, I only got 64l in. There's a lot of wasted range until you get used to how far you can push it.

[JNW1]

Jobbo said:

The M135i is not a fair comparison with the 335d; it is notably less economical than my much heavier 535i due to the low gearing.

I sort of take your point but EVO magazine ran a long-term M135i and I don't remember their fuel consumption being that bad; from memory the monthly reported mpg figure was over 30 on more than one occasion and it would probably be fair to assume that their car wasn't exactly spared the beans! Therefore, I would suggest an M135i averaging 25mpg is either doing lots of short runs and/or is being driven very hard!

[Jobbo]

JNW1 said:

I sort of take your point but EVO magazine ran a long-term M135i and I don't remember their fuel consumption being that bad; from memory the monthly reported mpg figure was over 30 on more than one occasion and it would probably be fair to assume that their car wasn't exactly spared the beans! Therefore, I would suggest an M135i averaging 25mpg is either doing lots of short runs and/or is being driven very hard!

That's fair enough too - whatever, I don't think it's a representative example of cars with the 35i engine. There's also a notable difference in the official figures between manual and auto versions.

[moffat]

With a new 35i engine imminent (to be called 40i apparently) I wouldn't bother with a 435i. The engine is a bit old now and I think the diesel has it beat.

I suppose on the 4 series the differences are more apparent though i.e. SE suspension, exhausts and xDrive so a slightly harder choice.

[Diderot]

JNW1 said:

Jobbo said:

The M135i is not a fair comparison with the 335d; it is notably less economical than my much heavier 535i due to the low gearing.

I sort of take your point but EVO magazine ran a long-term M135i and I don't remember their fuel consumption being that bad; from memory the monthly reported mpg figure was over 30 on more than one occasion and it would probably be fair to assume that their car wasn't exactly spared the beans! Therefore, I would suggest an M135i averaging 25mpg is either doing lots of short runs and/or is being driven very hard!

With short local journeys we average 23-24 in our M135i (auto). On a long run yesterday into London from the South Coast I averaged 29.5. Same journey into London in my 635d I get about 38mpg.