What next from an F30 330D?
Discussion
Almost exactly 1 year ago I bought what was essentially the perfect car for me.
An F30 330D M Sport with most (more on that later) of the options that I need. Paid around £19k for it as an AUC from BMW, I'd assume it is worth somewhere between £15-£16k now depending who you ask.
At the time I bought it, I was doing 50 miles each way on the motorway for work 5 days a week, so bought it to do that job in comfort with a decent amount of power. I do like the car, but considering I bought it on 31500 miles and it now has 35000 miles on it thanks to lockdown/remote working, it's safe to say it is not being used as was intended.
I'm toying with the idea of getting something else that is more suited for my requirements at the moment, although a part of me thinks it will be sod's law that as soon as I do everything will go back to normal and I'll need a car for that sort of mileage again.
I've recently got into road cycling (again thanks to the lockdown) and I'll often throw my bike in my wife's hatchback and drive to a friends to start a ride from there. My car annoyingly doesn't have the folding seats (which are an option) otherwise I would carefully put it in there.
I have had mostly hatchbacks before the 330D, I do like the way a rear driven saloon feels in comparison but I do miss the practicality of a hatchback, the more usable boot shape and the fact that with the seats down they turn into a miniature van.
I find myself looking at Audi S3's quite a bit recently and think I'd really like a 5 door hatch, although the 2017 cars I look at do seem rather expensive for what they are. I think considering that they are around the £25k mark, compared to my 330D I don't think I'd be getting £9-10k more car if I was to trade my car in against one.
OK they have a bit more power, OK they are quattro, but I think they use the Haldex system which is only part time AWD, yes the shape would bit a bit more useful, interior I'd say is nicer but other than being incrementally better in a few areas I am really struggling to make the price difference stack up.
An alternative would be a Golf R of similar vintage I guess, but something about them doesn't really do anything for me, and again I'd be looking at something around £22k for a 2017 car.
Just seeing if there is anything glaringly obvious I haven't thought of really, I do also like A35's but they are well out of my price range.
Another part of me thinks that for how little mileage I am doing at the moment and what looks to be the foreseeable future do I even need a nice car anymore?
TL;DR - Getting a bit bored of my 330D saloon. Fancy a change to something a bit less sensible probably in hatchback shape but think Audi S3's and Golf R's are too expensive. Suggestions?
An F30 330D M Sport with most (more on that later) of the options that I need. Paid around £19k for it as an AUC from BMW, I'd assume it is worth somewhere between £15-£16k now depending who you ask.
At the time I bought it, I was doing 50 miles each way on the motorway for work 5 days a week, so bought it to do that job in comfort with a decent amount of power. I do like the car, but considering I bought it on 31500 miles and it now has 35000 miles on it thanks to lockdown/remote working, it's safe to say it is not being used as was intended.
I'm toying with the idea of getting something else that is more suited for my requirements at the moment, although a part of me thinks it will be sod's law that as soon as I do everything will go back to normal and I'll need a car for that sort of mileage again.
I've recently got into road cycling (again thanks to the lockdown) and I'll often throw my bike in my wife's hatchback and drive to a friends to start a ride from there. My car annoyingly doesn't have the folding seats (which are an option) otherwise I would carefully put it in there.
I have had mostly hatchbacks before the 330D, I do like the way a rear driven saloon feels in comparison but I do miss the practicality of a hatchback, the more usable boot shape and the fact that with the seats down they turn into a miniature van.
I find myself looking at Audi S3's quite a bit recently and think I'd really like a 5 door hatch, although the 2017 cars I look at do seem rather expensive for what they are. I think considering that they are around the £25k mark, compared to my 330D I don't think I'd be getting £9-10k more car if I was to trade my car in against one.
OK they have a bit more power, OK they are quattro, but I think they use the Haldex system which is only part time AWD, yes the shape would bit a bit more useful, interior I'd say is nicer but other than being incrementally better in a few areas I am really struggling to make the price difference stack up.
An alternative would be a Golf R of similar vintage I guess, but something about them doesn't really do anything for me, and again I'd be looking at something around £22k for a 2017 car.
Just seeing if there is anything glaringly obvious I haven't thought of really, I do also like A35's but they are well out of my price range.
Another part of me thinks that for how little mileage I am doing at the moment and what looks to be the foreseeable future do I even need a nice car anymore?
TL;DR - Getting a bit bored of my 330D saloon. Fancy a change to something a bit less sensible probably in hatchback shape but think Audi S3's and Golf R's are too expensive. Suggestions?
Edited by Al U on Monday 4th January 07:25
Having just gone from a 2016 S3 (Saloon, which I owned from new) to a 2017 440i (Convertible, bought AUC), I’d say you’d miss the 330d. Yes the virtual cockpit is leagues ahead of the full black panel or even digital cockpit options of the BMW, but beyond that? The interiors are of similar enough quality and not a million miles apart in design either, certainly not different enough to be the crux of the swap (I guess the fact that I have the full leather dash option helps in the BMWs favour).
The BMW is more refined, and a better/more engaging drive, whilst the S3 is undoubtedly quick and capable, it’ll leave you feeling numb before too long.
The BMW is more refined, and a better/more engaging drive, whilst the S3 is undoubtedly quick and capable, it’ll leave you feeling numb before too long.
sherman said:
A petrol estate sounds like what you want and need for the bike.
I think an estate is a bit overkill really on the practicality side. My wife has an Astra hatch and I just whip my quick release front wheel off and throw the bike in her car with the seats down with little effort.It would be nice to be able to get the bike in an estate without taking anything off but that is probably the only benefit I would get out of it for the foreseable. Seems a bit much for the sake of leaving a front wheel on!
I had an F30 330d M Sport Touring for 4 years and 78k. Sold it 3 years ago but still miss it's mile-munching ability and all round capability.
How about swapping for a Touring, or treat to an upgrade to 335 d Touring with 4WD?
Failing that S4 estates have always struck me as good value after a few years from new.
How about swapping for a Touring, or treat to an upgrade to 335 d Touring with 4WD?
Failing that S4 estates have always struck me as good value after a few years from new.
paradigital said:
Having just gone from a 2016 S3 (Saloon, which I owned from new) to a 2017 440i (Convertible, bought AUC), I’d say you’d miss the 330d. Yes the virtual cockpit is leagues ahead of the full black panel or even digital cockpit options of the BMW, but beyond that? The interiors are of similar enough quality and not a million miles apart in design either, certainly not different enough to be the crux of the swap (I guess the fact that I have the full leather dash option helps in the BMWs favour).
The BMW is more refined, and a better/more engaging drive, whilst the S3 is undoubtedly quick and capable, it’ll leave you feeling numb before too long.
I had a 430d Gran Coupe as a loaner a while back and was really surprised how different that drove compared to the 330d. It felt considerably smoother but surprisingly more boaty.The BMW is more refined, and a better/more engaging drive, whilst the S3 is undoubtedly quick and capable, it’ll leave you feeling numb before too long.
That's another thing about the 330d I have never been impressed with. It just doesn't feel very "chuckable" when pushing on, I find I have to drive it slow in fast out to get the most out of it. It also has a lot more body roll than I expected considering how stiff it feels and how badly it rides over bumps etc.
Interesting points about the interior, I don't have any issue with the quality, just little things like the ambient lighting only being two colours and like you say the black panel looking very basic compared to audi virtual cockpit.
It's interesting as well that you think it's a more engaging drive, is your car an Xdrive? Mine isn't so I can understand it if yours isn't either.
BlueJ said:
I had an F30 330d M Sport Touring for 4 years and 78k. Sold it 3 years ago but still miss it's mile-munching ability and all round capability.
How about swapping for a Touring, or treat to an upgrade to 335 d Touring with 4WD?
Failing that S4 estates have always struck me as good value after a few years from new.
As said above I don't think an estate is really necessary at this point, although I guess it's a different option to a hatchback. More saloon like handling but with a bigger boot I guess? How about swapping for a Touring, or treat to an upgrade to 335 d Touring with 4WD?
Failing that S4 estates have always struck me as good value after a few years from new.
What did you go to from the 330d?
What did you go to from the 330d?
Briefly into a Lexus RX450h - at the time I wanted something more refined and with a luxury feel. I couldn't live with the CVT gearbox, so fairly quickly swapped it for a Lexus RC F.
I've had the RC F for a couple of years now and am still enjoying it, but I always admire good estate cars as I'm also a cyclist and in the Touring could take 2 road bikes around the country for triathlons. (I missed your point re an estate not being necessary at this point).
ZX10R NIN said:
I may be wrong on some cars you can retro fit the folding mechanism, maybe you should look into this OP.
This is not really the case on the 3 series. The bench in my car is a one piece with no split, I'd need to find a split bench with leather in decent condition/colour match to mine as well of all of the hardware. An absolute faff of a path that I do not want to go down. ZX10R NIN said:
Yeah read through that before buying the car, basically a load of people umming and ahhing about whether it can be done coming to the conclusion that it is a faff.I've been trying to sell my F31 330D since October for £11k and it's had one time waster in that whole timeframe. Mine is fully loaded, in a good colour and great condition and is on around 45-50k miles. Seems whilst the Autotrader prices are staying strong, they're not actually selling very quickly.
Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
I went from a 330d touring to a 120d.
I miss the power (a little bit) but the handling is far better. We regularly go from Cov to Harlech and the 120d having less weight at the back is far better at overtaking/cornering on the dodgy Welsh roads. Fuel economy is 10mpg better too.
For your cirumstances i suggest a petrol hatch as like you said, the estate is overkill
I miss the power (a little bit) but the handling is far better. We regularly go from Cov to Harlech and the 120d having less weight at the back is far better at overtaking/cornering on the dodgy Welsh roads. Fuel economy is 10mpg better too.
For your cirumstances i suggest a petrol hatch as like you said, the estate is overkill
pb8g09 said:
I've been trying to sell my F31 330D since October for £11k and it's had one time waster in that whole timeframe. Mine is fully loaded, in a good colour and great condition and is on around 45-50k miles. Seems whilst the Autotrader prices are staying strong, they're not actually selling very quickly.
Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
BMW offered me £16k for mine in November, WBAC had it for £15k when I looked in December. £11K sounds cheap for a touring!Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
pb8g09 said:
I've been trying to sell my F31 330D since October for £11k and it's had one time waster in that whole timeframe. Mine is fully loaded, in a good colour and great condition and is on around 45-50k miles. Seems whilst the Autotrader prices are staying strong, they're not actually selling very quickly.
Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
You haven't tried any of the car buying services since depending on age then I'd have expected even they would offer greater than that. I did a just out of interest on our 2015 F31 330d just prior to Christmas and over 11k was on offer even with a lot more miles. For the very same reason as the OP with a car spending most days gathering dust other options being considered.Hopefully you'll have far better luck than I had!
scot_aln said:
You haven't tried any of the car buying services since depending on age then I'd have expected even they would offer greater than that. I did a just out of interest on our 2015 F31 330d just prior to Christmas and over 11k was on offer even with a lot more miles. For the very same reason as the OP with a car spending most days gathering dust other options being considered.
WBAC in October for mine was down at £9k. It's a 62 plate so perhaps that has made a material difference.Mind you, I did a WBAC quote on another one of my cars 4 weeks ago and yesterday and the difference was around 40% so perhaps if I ran it again now it might be higher. I ended up removing the advert from AT at the start of December and decided to blame it on Covid!
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