Newbie - potential M400 buyer wanting advice
Discussion
Hi all.
Having test driven an M400 I am completely and utterly in love with what I hope will be my next vehicle.
However, I have a couple of questions/concerns.
I've browsed through many of the posts in this forum and whilst most seem to contain positive ownership stories there are a good few that talk of situations bordering on nightmare scenarios.
So - please feel free to either put my mind at rest (hopefully), confirm my fears or just give good honest ownership feedback.
GTO-3R owners please respond to this too; I want a general overview on the ownership experience.
I own an E46 M3 Convertible (04) with the only custom change being a brake upgrade. SMGII/SatNav/TV, blah, blah - it's a high spec car.
This is my second E46 M3, the previous one being a Manual Coupe.
I don't expect a Noble to have anything like the back-up that BMW give (which has been excellent in my experience), nor am I looking for toys inside the car (otherwise why would I look at a Noble).
All I expect is a car that delivers the ultimate (or close to) in driving thrills, performance to die for (hopefully not quite that radical) and....key point here....a car I can use every day in spring and summer.
I'll be buying a second runner for any bad weather days - but I like using my cars and not just looking at them.
Mileage would probably be 6k p.a. on the basis of buying the second runner.
I know how the Test Drive felt - astonishing. I know how well planted the car felt, and I was surprised at how well put together the car felt.
So, my concerns/questions?
1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
Cheers guys (and girls?).
Having test driven an M400 I am completely and utterly in love with what I hope will be my next vehicle.
However, I have a couple of questions/concerns.
I've browsed through many of the posts in this forum and whilst most seem to contain positive ownership stories there are a good few that talk of situations bordering on nightmare scenarios.
So - please feel free to either put my mind at rest (hopefully), confirm my fears or just give good honest ownership feedback.
GTO-3R owners please respond to this too; I want a general overview on the ownership experience.
I own an E46 M3 Convertible (04) with the only custom change being a brake upgrade. SMGII/SatNav/TV, blah, blah - it's a high spec car.
This is my second E46 M3, the previous one being a Manual Coupe.
I don't expect a Noble to have anything like the back-up that BMW give (which has been excellent in my experience), nor am I looking for toys inside the car (otherwise why would I look at a Noble).
All I expect is a car that delivers the ultimate (or close to) in driving thrills, performance to die for (hopefully not quite that radical) and....key point here....a car I can use every day in spring and summer.
I'll be buying a second runner for any bad weather days - but I like using my cars and not just looking at them.
Mileage would probably be 6k p.a. on the basis of buying the second runner.
I know how the Test Drive felt - astonishing. I know how well planted the car felt, and I was surprised at how well put together the car felt.
So, my concerns/questions?
1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
Cheers guys (and girls?).
M3Changing said:
Hi all.
Having test driven an M400 I am completely and utterly in love with what I hope will be my next vehicle.
However, I have a couple of questions/concerns.
I've browsed through many of the posts in this forum and whilst most seem to contain positive ownership stories there are a good few that talk of situations bordering on nightmare scenarios.
So - please feel free to either put my mind at rest (hopefully), confirm my fears or just give good honest ownership feedback.
GTO-3R owners please respond to this too; I want a general overview on the ownership experience.
I own an E46 M3 Convertible (04) with the only custom change being a brake upgrade. SMGII/SatNav/TV, blah, blah - it's a high spec car.
This is my second E46 M3, the previous one being a Manual Coupe.
I don't expect a Noble to have anything like the back-up that BMW give (which has been excellent in my experience), nor am I looking for toys inside the car (otherwise why would I look at a Noble).
All I expect is a car that delivers the ultimate (or close to) in driving thrills, performance to die for (hopefully not quite that radical) and....key point here....a car I can use every day in spring and summer.
I'll be buying a second runner for any bad weather days - but I like using my cars and not just looking at them.
Mileage would probably be 6k p.a. on the basis of buying the second runner.
I know how the Test Drive felt - astonishing. I know how well planted the car felt, and I was surprised at how well put together the car felt.
So, my concerns/questions?
1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
Cheers guys (and girls?).
Read all my threads. I love my M400, mine is 3 months old, done the Gumball 3000, started with 1645 miles, after running her in, returned to the factory for second service with 5960 miles. Pushed all the way and no problems.
That is not to say you will not have any issues. The M400 is in super car territory for half the price.
Buy it, use it and if you do get a problem, the support is FANTASTIC.
That goes for the advice and guidance from current and passed owners to the factory.
The factory is superb. I know of only one owner with an M12 that has had a “bad experience”. I know him, respect him and we are friends. I do not necessarily agree with him. I will say this, I have owned both, and the M400 is a completely different machine and most, if not all niggles have been resolved.
Like most super cars, the car needs care and attention. Run her in properly, treat her nice and your other half may let you buy one
As for depreciation, buy the M400 for what it is and what it can do. You can not buy happiness, well you can actually, buy a Noble. Then save up for the surgery to remove the grin.
Kind regards
Ash
ps, if you want to chat, contact me via my email address, leave your number and I will call you.
Hi,
I agree with Ash.
Buy one and you will love it.
Why buy one if you are considering selling and values though? As a customer, the factory have been absolutely brilliant and the back up and support is great. The more cars Noble have built, the more little niggly points have been ironed out.
JAZ 34
I agree with Ash.
Buy one and you will love it.
Why buy one if you are considering selling and values though? As a customer, the factory have been absolutely brilliant and the back up and support is great. The more cars Noble have built, the more little niggly points have been ironed out.
JAZ 34
Sure there are a few bad experiences on here, but remember...
People rarely pop up and post "nothing went wrong this day/week/month/year". In any forum you'll therefore clearly find more negative than positive experiences.
Some cars have had issues. My original 2.5l was a good example. However, and that is a big however, as the production runs increase the early problems get fixed. I've not heard of anything serious on the M400 apart from a few early cars that had some engine issues (wrongly built by the third party supplier as far as I can tell) but that's been it. All us M400 people seem to have similar stories, back it goes for each service, and that is it.
So - to each of the questions
> 1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
One isolated case, and if I remember that case correctly it was because the owner wanted the car gone quickly. Look in the back of most car magazines and you'll find pretty much every car will loose 20% the moment you take it off the forecourt. Selling a car like this on the back foot after just a year will result in the above.
Nobles are in short supply (there are only around 750 of the things) and hence if you are a desperate seller or buyer you will loose/pay over the odds. If you view car ownership as a method of not loosing money you are in cloud cookoo land!
We aren't talking BMW money - my X5 lost a mere 10% over 2.5 years, but then the M12 that I chopped in at 24000 miles and 2.5 years only lost 36% of what I paid for it, so that's pretty good IMHO.
> 2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
Nobles can have problems, they are a hand built supercar afterall. However, if you treat them well, and probably most important, build up a good relationship with the deler, and are prepared to put up with the odd thing until the next service (the gear change on my M400 has gone 'off' - I could say it's a complete disaster and make a huge fuss about it, or I could just slightly modify my gear change technique and then let the factory sort it out when I take it up there soon) then you are lucky in that the early owners have found pretty much every problem you can find.
> 3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
Yep - I do it/did it with both of my Nobles (I do around 10-12,000 miles per year in mine). The comfort and the torque in the M400 engine makes it an ideal commuting car IMHO!
> 4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
Nope - that's around it, 600ish for a minor, £1kish for a major. I've never had anything bigger than £1200 (apart from all the changes I made
> 5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
Take out a third party one if you are that concerned. Me - I'm not bothering now I know how bullet proof the M400 is.
> 6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Depends on the dealer. Don't ask, don't get
> Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
Pant wettingly fantastic
> Cheers guys (and girls?)
Yep - there are some girls on here, which proves it must be a good bet
J
People rarely pop up and post "nothing went wrong this day/week/month/year". In any forum you'll therefore clearly find more negative than positive experiences.
Some cars have had issues. My original 2.5l was a good example. However, and that is a big however, as the production runs increase the early problems get fixed. I've not heard of anything serious on the M400 apart from a few early cars that had some engine issues (wrongly built by the third party supplier as far as I can tell) but that's been it. All us M400 people seem to have similar stories, back it goes for each service, and that is it.
So - to each of the questions
> 1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
One isolated case, and if I remember that case correctly it was because the owner wanted the car gone quickly. Look in the back of most car magazines and you'll find pretty much every car will loose 20% the moment you take it off the forecourt. Selling a car like this on the back foot after just a year will result in the above.
Nobles are in short supply (there are only around 750 of the things) and hence if you are a desperate seller or buyer you will loose/pay over the odds. If you view car ownership as a method of not loosing money you are in cloud cookoo land!
We aren't talking BMW money - my X5 lost a mere 10% over 2.5 years, but then the M12 that I chopped in at 24000 miles and 2.5 years only lost 36% of what I paid for it, so that's pretty good IMHO.
> 2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
Nobles can have problems, they are a hand built supercar afterall. However, if you treat them well, and probably most important, build up a good relationship with the deler, and are prepared to put up with the odd thing until the next service (the gear change on my M400 has gone 'off' - I could say it's a complete disaster and make a huge fuss about it, or I could just slightly modify my gear change technique and then let the factory sort it out when I take it up there soon) then you are lucky in that the early owners have found pretty much every problem you can find.
> 3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
Yep - I do it/did it with both of my Nobles (I do around 10-12,000 miles per year in mine). The comfort and the torque in the M400 engine makes it an ideal commuting car IMHO!
> 4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
Nope - that's around it, 600ish for a minor, £1kish for a major. I've never had anything bigger than £1200 (apart from all the changes I made
> 5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
Take out a third party one if you are that concerned. Me - I'm not bothering now I know how bullet proof the M400 is.
> 6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Depends on the dealer. Don't ask, don't get
> Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
Pant wettingly fantastic
> Cheers guys (and girls?)
Yep - there are some girls on here, which proves it must be a good bet
J
My details for starters.
3R from new. Only car. Came from EVO 6.
£19K's a bit high for an M400 but being realistic you're going to be hit. Due to bad timing (Noble dropped the price of 3R's 2 weeks after I got mine) I think I'm probably down £14K in 11K miles and a year.
Not at all really. I've have the odd little problem but it never lets me down.
It's my only car. Even been out in the snow in it. Ok, I don't have to use it every day but you tend to want to.
About £600-800 every 6000 miles.
It's great. I've had no issues getting things sorted and the levels of knowledge and service at the two places I've had mine done are the best of ANY car I've had (and I've had lots).
Worth an ask but it's really going to be dealer specific.
This is going to sound a bit over the top, and you'd probably have to know me to believe it but...
Owning the Noble has literally changed my life. I'd have never met the people I have, and done the things I have if I'd not got it. For example look at this :- www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=182957&f=23&h=0&hw=denmark
People respect it as a choice of car. Cars pull in to let you past as it looks so scary fast to them in their mirrors.
If you hate attention and don't like answering questions from truely interested people all the time (even the chavs respec it fella, top mota geez) then it's probably not for you. Otherwise, even though it's an expensive game (no more than any other performance car) it's well worth it.
3R from new. Only car. Came from EVO 6.
M3Changing said:
1 - depreciation. Someone has commented on losing £19k after 10,000 miles in a year. What levels of depreciation have other (former more likely) owners experiences?
£19K's a bit high for an M400 but being realistic you're going to be hit. Due to bad timing (Noble dropped the price of 3R's 2 weeks after I got mine) I think I'm probably down £14K in 11K miles and a year.
M3Changing said:
2 - reliability. I don't want a car that I'll be forever making time to take back to a dealers. Just how reliable/prone to annoying faults are they?
Not at all really. I've have the odd little problem but it never lets me down.
M3Changing said:
3 - daily runner. Is it really viable as a daily runner in decent weather?
It's my only car. Even been out in the snow in it. Ok, I don't have to use it every day but you tend to want to.
M3Changing said:
4 - servicing. Inspection I on an E46 M3 is £650, Inspection II is £900 - so I'm used to fairly high costs. Is this the ballpark we're in or should I expect additional costs?
About £600-800 every 6000 miles.
M3Changing said:
5 - warranty. How good is it? I'll be honest and say 12m/12k worries me. 36m/60k on the M3 is of good comfort.
It's great. I've had no issues getting things sorted and the levels of knowledge and service at the two places I've had mine done are the best of ANY car I've had (and I've had lots).
M3Changing said:
6 - P/X. How receptive to the likes of M3's in PX are dealers? I'll be discussing this tomorrow and probably later in the week with them, but I'm interested in a general opinion. If they're going to bid me below trade (Glasses) then I won't entertain it.
Worth an ask but it's really going to be dealer specific.
M3Changing said:
Basically, what's your experiences of the cars.
This is going to sound a bit over the top, and you'd probably have to know me to believe it but...
Owning the Noble has literally changed my life. I'd have never met the people I have, and done the things I have if I'd not got it. For example look at this :- www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=182957&f=23&h=0&hw=denmark
People respect it as a choice of car. Cars pull in to let you past as it looks so scary fast to them in their mirrors.
If you hate attention and don't like answering questions from truely interested people all the time (even the chavs respec it fella, top mota geez) then it's probably not for you. Otherwise, even though it's an expensive game (no more than any other performance car) it's well worth it.
The M400 seems to be currently holding its value very well.
I had the most fantastic 18mnths in my 3R. If you love performance cars, and it seems you do, you'll be in heaven IMHO.
The car probably won't be as bulletproof as the M3, but even my brother's CSL has had it's issues. The Noble backup (esp. if you have the right dealer) is fantastic and the factory are always willing to help out.
Go get it, you won't regret it!
Sam
I had the most fantastic 18mnths in my 3R. If you love performance cars, and it seems you do, you'll be in heaven IMHO.
The car probably won't be as bulletproof as the M3, but even my brother's CSL has had it's issues. The Noble backup (esp. if you have the right dealer) is fantastic and the factory are always willing to help out.
Go get it, you won't regret it!
Sam
Ok,thanks for taking the time to reply guys.
I'll know a bit more about the likelihood of the purchase later today because I'm going to the dealers again and this time we can talk prices/PX's.
I am indeed a car enthusiast, and the club/contact scene is interesting because I've been active with the BMCC GB - so it's nice to see there are a few things going on here too.
On the point about depreciation, of course I am aware of the fact that it's not something I should be looking at if I don't want to lose money. The fact is that the M3 serves all it's owners relatively well in that respect. If anything it was question to find out how unique the £19k post was or what the general depreciation trend was. A few other queries I made elsewhere last night seemed to indicate M400 and new GTO-3R residuals were strengthening quite healthily anyway, so I'm a bit happier about that now.
The daily runner replies are very interesting - and that makes a big difference to me. My wife has what you'd call a nice car that's new so we can use that for family days out etc but I'd still probably want a runabout too. If anything to keep the miles down because I might end up having to do a fewand don't want to stack them all upon a car like the Noble (I know, I know, cars are for driving and all that, but you can see my logic in there).
Attention doesn't worry me. My M3 Conv is Phoenix Yellow and gets a lot of comments anyway, probably attracting more Chavs than a Punto with Steath Wing attached to the rear, so I'm happy with that. You don't exactly buy a Noble if you're called Violet and diminishing in size anyway do you...
I'll post again later and let you know whether or not I had a cardiac arrest when the dealer gave me a price on the M3...
>> Edited by m3changing on Saturday 2nd July 10:16
>> Edited by m3changing on Saturday 2nd July 10:17
I'll know a bit more about the likelihood of the purchase later today because I'm going to the dealers again and this time we can talk prices/PX's.
I am indeed a car enthusiast, and the club/contact scene is interesting because I've been active with the BMCC GB - so it's nice to see there are a few things going on here too.
On the point about depreciation, of course I am aware of the fact that it's not something I should be looking at if I don't want to lose money. The fact is that the M3 serves all it's owners relatively well in that respect. If anything it was question to find out how unique the £19k post was or what the general depreciation trend was. A few other queries I made elsewhere last night seemed to indicate M400 and new GTO-3R residuals were strengthening quite healthily anyway, so I'm a bit happier about that now.
The daily runner replies are very interesting - and that makes a big difference to me. My wife has what you'd call a nice car that's new so we can use that for family days out etc but I'd still probably want a runabout too. If anything to keep the miles down because I might end up having to do a fewand don't want to stack them all upon a car like the Noble (I know, I know, cars are for driving and all that, but you can see my logic in there).
Attention doesn't worry me. My M3 Conv is Phoenix Yellow and gets a lot of comments anyway, probably attracting more Chavs than a Punto with Steath Wing attached to the rear, so I'm happy with that. You don't exactly buy a Noble if you're called Violet and diminishing in size anyway do you...
I'll post again later and let you know whether or not I had a cardiac arrest when the dealer gave me a price on the M3...
>> Edited by m3changing on Saturday 2nd July 10:16
>> Edited by m3changing on Saturday 2nd July 10:17
I bought a Chrysler Voyager and a 3R in March and to date, the Noble has been back to the dealer once for an exhaust re-weld (free) and is there now for a new ball joint.
The voyager has has the roadside service to my house twice and has been on a flatbed once.
The Noble is the most amazing drive ever, the attention it gets is briliant (in comparison to say a ferrari when 50% is attention and 50% is abusive)
You have to be prapared to put up with niggles with a handbuilt car like this, as Joust says its about being realistic with the build and expectations.
I paid 44k for an 8 month old 3R so I would assume that the 1st owner did loose a few quid, but that will happen if you sell any/most cars in the 1st year.
2nd hand 3R's are IMO currently the best buy.
(I have not driven an M400 and don't want to either)
I would say that you could use it as an only car but I think your better off with another. 6K miles a year sounds fine, think I will do about that just as a weekend car.
Hope you make the right decision.
Greg Noble.
The voyager has has the roadside service to my house twice and has been on a flatbed once.
The Noble is the most amazing drive ever, the attention it gets is briliant (in comparison to say a ferrari when 50% is attention and 50% is abusive)
You have to be prapared to put up with niggles with a handbuilt car like this, as Joust says its about being realistic with the build and expectations.
I paid 44k for an 8 month old 3R so I would assume that the 1st owner did loose a few quid, but that will happen if you sell any/most cars in the 1st year.
2nd hand 3R's are IMO currently the best buy.
(I have not driven an M400 and don't want to either
) I would say that you could use it as an only car but I think your better off with another. 6K miles a year sounds fine, think I will do about that just as a weekend car.
Hope you make the right decision.
Greg Noble.
Been back to HHC today (Hexham).
They've only actually been a Noble dealer since November of last year but Tony Abrams (MD) is very helpful and has been very accomodating.
He took me out with him driving today. WOW, he knows the roads and certainly knew how to drive it too! I think that was needed because when you're new to a car on strange roads it's always difficult to wring the best out of them. Oh, and I almost put us through a hedge because of the closeness of the pedals when I hit the throttle instead of the brake....
I'm now just waiting for him to get back to me with a price on the M3 which will probably be next week some time.
Price wise the book is indicating 3k less than I want - but that's somewhere to start.
I'm actually looking at the M400 demonstrator they have. It has aircon, alarm/immob, Sony CD fitted and has done 1,800 miles. It's up at £55995 so with extra's included it's a bit of a saving on a brand new one and hopefully we'll have some more leeway in it. The car is Gunmetal Grey. Perhaps that wouldn't be my preferred choice if I paid the extra and got one brand new, but it'd be up there because I think it has a rather nice stealthy look about it.
Who knows, we'll wait and see. What I will add is the attention the car gets in amazing. A van driver stopped alongside at a junction just to look, I lost count of the number of people who just stopped mid-walk and looked, Passat driver was craning his neck in his car from behind us to get a good look and I even caught a 7-series driver slowing down in front of us, watching his mirror...and ever so sneakily putting his window down to listen as it went past.
I'll keep you all up to date and keep the feedback coming please guys (and girls!).
Oh, and one last thing, I'm not sure if I drove an M3 home or a 318i......that's how different it felt!
They've only actually been a Noble dealer since November of last year but Tony Abrams (MD) is very helpful and has been very accomodating.
He took me out with him driving today. WOW, he knows the roads and certainly knew how to drive it too! I think that was needed because when you're new to a car on strange roads it's always difficult to wring the best out of them. Oh, and I almost put us through a hedge because of the closeness of the pedals when I hit the throttle instead of the brake....
I'm now just waiting for him to get back to me with a price on the M3 which will probably be next week some time.
Price wise the book is indicating 3k less than I want - but that's somewhere to start.
I'm actually looking at the M400 demonstrator they have. It has aircon, alarm/immob, Sony CD fitted and has done 1,800 miles. It's up at £55995 so with extra's included it's a bit of a saving on a brand new one and hopefully we'll have some more leeway in it. The car is Gunmetal Grey. Perhaps that wouldn't be my preferred choice if I paid the extra and got one brand new, but it'd be up there because I think it has a rather nice stealthy look about it.
Who knows, we'll wait and see. What I will add is the attention the car gets in amazing. A van driver stopped alongside at a junction just to look, I lost count of the number of people who just stopped mid-walk and looked, Passat driver was craning his neck in his car from behind us to get a good look and I even caught a 7-series driver slowing down in front of us, watching his mirror...and ever so sneakily putting his window down to listen as it went past.
I'll keep you all up to date and keep the feedback coming please guys (and girls!).
Oh, and one last thing, I'm not sure if I drove an M3 home or a 318i......that's how different it felt!
M400 is fantastic. the only little niggle that I have is that it doesn't FEEL quite as fast as it is. Difficult to explain this, but if you do 120 in a Caterham you know that you are doing 120. Do what feels like 120 in a M400, and you end up at about 150. My prvious EVO6, was fast, but noisy and rattly, so were the Cossie and Westfield, and this gave a greater sense of speed. To me this just proves how well put together it is, and how well it handles, but try and explain that to a judge.
I have another 4 questions....
1. Whilst I was out in the car today it struck me that even though the aircon was on (on cold, speed 2) that the car still seemed rather hot inside.
It was 22 degrees outside.
How efficient do owners find the aircon?
2. Another thing too. At speed, Tony closed the air vents because they were really starting to whistle quite loudly. Is this normal? (This was after I'd noticed it was warm by the way so it doesn't explain why I felt the heat more than I expected to).
Bit daft really if you can't have them open on a warm day surely?
With the engine right behind your head I expect a non-aircon car to get hot quickly, but not with it.
Maybe it was just a false feeling because of the induced excitement of acceleration once again!
Thought it best to ask though!
3. The demonstrator has a fair few chips on the lower front valance. They've already said they'd get the lower section sprayed if I bought the car. Has anyone come up with an armour-paint-type-thingy finish on them?
4. Phone kits....has anyone had a handsfree kit fitted? If so, where! What did they do?
1. Whilst I was out in the car today it struck me that even though the aircon was on (on cold, speed 2) that the car still seemed rather hot inside.
It was 22 degrees outside.
How efficient do owners find the aircon?
2. Another thing too. At speed, Tony closed the air vents because they were really starting to whistle quite loudly. Is this normal? (This was after I'd noticed it was warm by the way so it doesn't explain why I felt the heat more than I expected to).
Bit daft really if you can't have them open on a warm day surely?
With the engine right behind your head I expect a non-aircon car to get hot quickly, but not with it.
Maybe it was just a false feeling because of the induced excitement of acceleration once again!
Thought it best to ask though!
3. The demonstrator has a fair few chips on the lower front valance. They've already said they'd get the lower section sprayed if I bought the car. Has anyone come up with an armour-paint-type-thingy finish on them?
4. Phone kits....has anyone had a handsfree kit fitted? If so, where! What did they do?
Cabin gets hot, for a number of reasons. Firstly one of the turbos is more or less poking you in the back. Secondly a LOT of hot air from the radiator bleeds into the cabin (this actually gets worse if you open the window). my aircon packed up in France in 37 deg C heat, so I know even at 120 opening the windows, you can feel HOT air coming in.
Stone chips. There are a lot of them, as paint doesn't bond as well to Galss fibre as it does metal. A few people have used armourfend pretty effectively. personally i'm just going to get the front clam re-sprayed when it starts to look really bad (this should cost about teh same as the Armourfend)
Stone chips. There are a lot of them, as paint doesn't bond as well to Galss fibre as it does metal. A few people have used armourfend pretty effectively. personally i'm just going to get the front clam re-sprayed when it starts to look really bad (this should cost about teh same as the Armourfend)
First thing I did when I ordered my M400 was to get Armourfend up to put a complete kit on it.
My old 3R had it and I must say it was very effective in as much as I don't even think I had a stone chip on it. The M400 does kick up a lot more stones than the 3R due to the tyre differences but so far so good!
I have an emailable Armourfend list and drawing if you need it to look at. Mail me on my profile.
JAZ 34
My old 3R had it and I must say it was very effective in as much as I don't even think I had a stone chip on it. The M400 does kick up a lot more stones than the 3R due to the tyre differences but so far so good!
I have an emailable Armourfend list and drawing if you need it to look at. Mail me on my profile.
JAZ 34
Hi Chris,
The car you tried should remain cool using a/c in those kind of ambients. Not sure how long the engine had been running, but it can sometimes take a while to dispel hot cabin air that's collected while the car's been stationary. If the system's working ok, it should keep you cool, but perhaps not as icy as cars with a lot more engine insulation.
Wind noise should not be an issue in the M400 until you reach just beyond 100mph. For sustained cruising above this speed, I'd recommend turning the a/c to re-circ, to stop pressure build up in the cabin, and the wind noise should be quelled. You should always keep vents open with a/c turned on.
Simon Hucknall
Press Officer
Noble Automotive Ltd.
The car you tried should remain cool using a/c in those kind of ambients. Not sure how long the engine had been running, but it can sometimes take a while to dispel hot cabin air that's collected while the car's been stationary. If the system's working ok, it should keep you cool, but perhaps not as icy as cars with a lot more engine insulation.
Wind noise should not be an issue in the M400 until you reach just beyond 100mph. For sustained cruising above this speed, I'd recommend turning the a/c to re-circ, to stop pressure build up in the cabin, and the wind noise should be quelled. You should always keep vents open with a/c turned on.
Simon Hucknall
Press Officer
Noble Automotive Ltd.
FWIW...
I have one of the older classic 2.5's. Have had it for a year, used it as a daily commuter to the station every week day (30m blast each direction)...all year round...and it hasn't missed a beat. I have a 3rd car just in case...but has yet to be called into action.
Also...if depreciation is a concern then an older car is your better bet...as the big hit has already been taken...not sure mine has depreciated more than a grand or two over the last year!
Whichever noble you pick you should have an absolute ball. Motoring just wouldn't be the same without it IMHO.
Good luck with your decision. M
I have one of the older classic 2.5's. Have had it for a year, used it as a daily commuter to the station every week day (30m blast each direction)...all year round...and it hasn't missed a beat. I have a 3rd car just in case...but has yet to be called into action.
Also...if depreciation is a concern then an older car is your better bet...as the big hit has already been taken...not sure mine has depreciated more than a grand or two over the last year!
Whichever noble you pick you should have an absolute ball. Motoring just wouldn't be the same without it IMHO.
Good luck with your decision. M
Simon
Thanks for that.
Speeds were creeping up as my right foot seemed drawn to the floor on long stretches of road and to be honest it is difficult for me to commit to saying the vents were fully closed, partially open, blah blah because the trip seemed a bit of a blur!
I'm now just waiting to see where we go in terms of my P/X (the M3 Conv).
On a footnote though, do Noble anticipate offering warranty extensions at an additional premium at any time in the future? E.g. after the 12m/12k, a fee payable for an extra 12m/6m or whatever. For someone like me that is looking at a demonstrator (although that might change depending on figures) it'd offer that extra peace of mind.
The latter isn't something that is a decisive factor right now, but it's a factor nonetheless. 12m/12k is short is anyone's book, especially after 36m/60k.
Chris
Thanks for that.
Speeds were creeping up as my right foot seemed drawn to the floor on long stretches of road and to be honest it is difficult for me to commit to saying the vents were fully closed, partially open, blah blah because the trip seemed a bit of a blur!
I'm now just waiting to see where we go in terms of my P/X (the M3 Conv).
On a footnote though, do Noble anticipate offering warranty extensions at an additional premium at any time in the future? E.g. after the 12m/12k, a fee payable for an extra 12m/6m or whatever. For someone like me that is looking at a demonstrator (although that might change depending on figures) it'd offer that extra peace of mind.
The latter isn't something that is a decisive factor right now, but it's a factor nonetheless. 12m/12k is short is anyone's book, especially after 36m/60k.
Chris
Gassing Station | Noble | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff