Looking at 420i
Discussion
Hi everyone, I’m a newbie to this site and a newbie to the BMW world as well so please ignore the silly questions I may ask!
I’ve recently put a deposit down on a 2015(65) 420i Xdrive Coupé, I’ve read a few reviews online since and it seems to say that this is the engine to avoid, does anyone know much about the engine, I know power output and torque isn’t ideal with them compared to the 20d but the car would only be going 3/4 miles a day so it doesn’t warrant the diesel, can the 20i be remapped safely has anyone done it, I had a focus ST tdci at the moment and I’ve put a tuning box on it and it’s made a world of difference to that, would this be a better option than a remap?
Also after seeing a few other 4series coupes the xdrive looks a bit like a bus with the huge wheel arch gap. I’ve looked at lowering springs just to get that subtle drop to make it look a bit lower and more agressive but I can only find ones for the non-xdrive model will they fit the same?
Finally, the single tail pipe on the 20i looks awful in my opinion, is the exhaust diameter the same as the 430i so I could find a twin pipe backbox from one of those to replace the single?
Again sorry if all these questions seems stupid, but I’m totally new to the world of BMW so I’m cautious on what can be done with the car.
I’ve recently put a deposit down on a 2015(65) 420i Xdrive Coupé, I’ve read a few reviews online since and it seems to say that this is the engine to avoid, does anyone know much about the engine, I know power output and torque isn’t ideal with them compared to the 20d but the car would only be going 3/4 miles a day so it doesn’t warrant the diesel, can the 20i be remapped safely has anyone done it, I had a focus ST tdci at the moment and I’ve put a tuning box on it and it’s made a world of difference to that, would this be a better option than a remap?
Also after seeing a few other 4series coupes the xdrive looks a bit like a bus with the huge wheel arch gap. I’ve looked at lowering springs just to get that subtle drop to make it look a bit lower and more agressive but I can only find ones for the non-xdrive model will they fit the same?
Finally, the single tail pipe on the 20i looks awful in my opinion, is the exhaust diameter the same as the 430i so I could find a twin pipe backbox from one of those to replace the single?
Again sorry if all these questions seems stupid, but I’m totally new to the world of BMW so I’m cautious on what can be done with the car.
Jdun5747 said:
Hi everyone, I’m a newbie to this site and a newbie to the BMW world as well so please ignore the silly questions I may ask!
I’ve recently put a deposit down on a 2015(65) 420i Xdrive Coupé, I’ve read a few reviews online since and it seems to say that this is the engine to avoid, does anyone know much about the engine, I know power output and torque isn’t ideal with them compared to the 20d but the car would only be going 3/4 miles a day so it doesn’t warrant the diesel, can the 20i be remapped safely has anyone done it, I had a focus ST tdci at the moment and I’ve put a tuning box on it and it’s made a world of difference to that, would this be a better option than a remap?
Also after seeing a few other 4series coupes the xdrive looks a bit like a bus with the huge wheel arch gap. I’ve looked at lowering springs just to get that subtle drop to make it look a bit lower and more agressive but I can only find ones for the non-xdrive model will they fit the same?
Finally, the single tail pipe on the 20i looks awful in my opinion, is the exhaust diameter the same as the 430i so I could find a twin pipe backbox from one of those to replace the single?
Again sorry if all these questions seems stupid, but I’m totally new to the world of BMW so I’m cautious on what can be done with the car.
Hello welcome to PH before we start you'll get some posts telling you you're an idiot for daring to personalise your car,/you're wasting your money/you should have bought a 330/335i, ignore them & do what you want.I’ve recently put a deposit down on a 2015(65) 420i Xdrive Coupé, I’ve read a few reviews online since and it seems to say that this is the engine to avoid, does anyone know much about the engine, I know power output and torque isn’t ideal with them compared to the 20d but the car would only be going 3/4 miles a day so it doesn’t warrant the diesel, can the 20i be remapped safely has anyone done it, I had a focus ST tdci at the moment and I’ve put a tuning box on it and it’s made a world of difference to that, would this be a better option than a remap?
Also after seeing a few other 4series coupes the xdrive looks a bit like a bus with the huge wheel arch gap. I’ve looked at lowering springs just to get that subtle drop to make it look a bit lower and more agressive but I can only find ones for the non-xdrive model will they fit the same?
Finally, the single tail pipe on the 20i looks awful in my opinion, is the exhaust diameter the same as the 430i so I could find a twin pipe backbox from one of those to replace the single?
Again sorry if all these questions seems stupid, but I’m totally new to the world of BMW so I’m cautious on what can be done with the car.
Now for a bit of hypocrisy
why are you buying an Xdrive? The Extra Weight/Worse Suspension/Drivetrain Loss etc make it a worse car than the 2wd version.If you get in contact with Eibach or AC Schnitzer they both sell springs for your car, they start from around £240.00
You can also get this car remapped rather than a Tuning Box & again there are a number of good companies who can do this for you.
Finally the Exhaust Pipes can be done by a local exhaust fabricator.
I hope this helps.
Hi thanks for the reply it’s nice to not get someone slaying me for buying the “wrong car” and having a go for asking about changing some aspects
I only went for the 20i as it’s a shared car and the insurance would be too much on the 30i and above, it’s a shame but I thought I’d like to make the most of what I can afford.
Again xdrive isn’t ideal but the deal I was offered by the dealer was really good and I figure it may come in handy some times, not sure how good it is compared to Audi’s Quattro?
I read horror stories with other males about remapping so it’s worried me hence why I went for a tuning box on my focus, it looks like the remaps give you a much better power output than tuning boxes from what I’ve seen online
I only went for the 20i as it’s a shared car and the insurance would be too much on the 30i and above, it’s a shame but I thought I’d like to make the most of what I can afford.
Again xdrive isn’t ideal but the deal I was offered by the dealer was really good and I figure it may come in handy some times, not sure how good it is compared to Audi’s Quattro?
I read horror stories with other males about remapping so it’s worried me hence why I went for a tuning box on my focus, it looks like the remaps give you a much better power output than tuning boxes from what I’ve seen online
Mapping horror stories are normally from people who went for the cheapest map rather than spend a bit more & get a reputable company to do the job.
Depending on where you are in the country, I'm sure there are people on PH who'll be able to recommend a good tuner near you.
I wasn't criticising you model choice, it was more regarding the choice of Xdrive.
Depending on where you are in the country, I'm sure there are people on PH who'll be able to recommend a good tuner near you.
I wasn't criticising you model choice, it was more regarding the choice of Xdrive.
Ahhh I prefer to spend the money on something like that just for the piece of mind, I’m living in bath at the moment but travel to south wales to see family no and again so Hopefully there’ll be someone that can help.
Oh no I didn’t mean that you were criticising,
I’ve asked the question in other forums and people have criticised the decision.
Oh no I didn’t mean that you were criticising,
I’ve asked the question in other forums and people have criticised the decision.
Jdun5747 said:
Ahhh I prefer to spend the money on something like that just for the piece of mind, I’m living in bath at the moment but travel to south wales to see family no and again so Hopefully there’ll be someone that can help.
Oh no I didn’t mean that you were criticising,
I’ve asked the question in other forums and people have criticised the decision.
Can you stretch to the 430i? If I was in your position, I would be looking at the 430i with 60bhp or even better still the straight six 435i. Oh no I didn’t mean that you were criticising,
I’ve asked the question in other forums and people have criticised the decision.
You could probably get a 335i for cheaper than the 420i.Croutons said:
Oh that’s great! Thank you for that I’ll sure be giving them a callChallo said:
We had the 420i for 6 months and although a good car felt the engine was a little underpowered, but everyday it was a great car. Good buy and you should get half decent economy.
Thank you, it’s always good to hear from someone who owns/owned one. Hopefully with the remap it won’t feel underpowered and I won’t regret my decision DoubleD said:
Have you checked the insurance costs of a remapped 420i vs a standard 430i? You might find that there isnt much in it.
That’s a fair point actually I haven’t checked yet. I’ll take a look tomorrow but I’m guessing there wouldn’t be much in it as they’d both have a similar power output jwilco said:
Given their only 6 posts in 30 months are on this thread, then hopefully that means they bloody love it and are too busy enjoying themselves to find the time to post on car forums!
Hopefully! I think no news is good news in this case. Would be interesting to hear their thoughts, though.UnfathomableBison said:
I'm a bit late on parade here but I came across this thread as I'm in the market for a 420i myself.
Interested to hear your thoughts a couple of years on and how it treated/is treating you?
I kept the car until June this year, I loved it extremely comfortable as you’d expect with a BMW, initially there was a good bit of power there, I came from a focus ST tdci and never had a car that broke the 210bhp mark so the BMW was within the power bracket i was comfortable in.....for a while.Interested to hear your thoughts a couple of years on and how it treated/is treating you?
Negatives for me, the fuel economy being a 420i i wasn’t expecting fantastic returns on fuel but i would have though 30mpg+ would have been realistic. I averaged around 26-28mpg that was a mix of town and motorway driving. It also became extremely boring to drive after around 6 months maybe this was because i went for xdrive? I’m not sure, it was definitely more of a comfortable cruising car as opposed to something I felt connected to and excited by. But despite all that it was a fantastic car and I would definitely by another F32 but I think I’d opt for the 440i or the 435D never time around.
If you’re getting it for motorway driving and spend 70%+ of your time on motorways then 100% I recommend getting it, they’re brilliantly comfortable and look incredible, BMW nailed the styling with F32 in my opinion other than the new 8 series this is the best looking car in their line up.
So to sum up, it treated me extremely well, I had no issues with the car during my ownership it never had to go in for any repair work, servicing wasn’t that expensive i paid £350 for a major service at BMW, but i just outgrew it in the end and wanted a change. I would recommend the car to anyone but just work out if the 420i is the right engine to go for first
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