RE: BMW 320d: Driven

[thiscocks]

Presume it will be available with sensible sized wheels ie 16 or 17s.

[Nerdherder]

2smoke said:

ExPat2B said:

Each successive 3 series has been getting more mechanical grip and capability in the corners, at the expense of driver involvement. BMW don't seem to understand that although I can go round the corner faster, I have to want to go round the corner faster for it to be a worthwhile upgrade.

Completely agree with with you on that. My old F30 felt less involved going round a bend at 70mph than my GTI PP does at 50mph. I never ever took the F30 out just for a drive, only for business.

Fun drives does require a second car indeed.

[simonbamg]

thiscocks said:

Presume it will be available with sensible sized wheels ie 16 or 17s.

you have to prove your over 65 and have a bad back to tick this option

[anonymous-user]

I’m sure it’ll be transformed with some Birds kit. Overall, a better bet than the Audi!

[Monty Python]

Alucidnation said:

Too many exhaust pipes.

Agree - but the twin ones on the 320d look better than the squashed "rectangle" ones on the M340i.

[Slippydiff]

F30 current owner here. Had a nosey round a 320 a couple of hours prior to the launch evening. The new interior and specifically the dash looks nicer, the idrive display is far more neatly integrated too.

I can't remember if the car I looked at was 320 D or petrol, but I asked the salesman who was trying to sell me the car, how much it was ... I knew the OTR price was going to be shocking because the first thing he said was the new model has a lot of equipment fitted as standard, that came as upgrades on the F30. I cut him off as he ramped up the sales blurb/BS. So how much is it ? I asked bluntly.

£48K he replied .... !!!!!

£48k for 2.0 repmobile. Has the world gone stark raving mad ?? !!

[Greg the Fish]

ExPat2B said:

How is this car to drive ? How does it feel ? how communicative is the steering ? how does the chassis feel when accelerating out of a corner ? How does it feel when trail braking into the corner ?

Do you really think that most of the sheep that will lease these really give a damn?

[strike4A]

GTEYE said:

Tried one on Friday - on non adaptive M Sport suspension, the ride on UK roads was quite frankly terrible.

They’ve certainly made it a better drivers car, but they’ve gone too far on the firm ride.

And according to the dealer there is no manual, it’s auto only.

That dealer not well-informed.

318d and 320d available with manual transmission.

320i - automatic
330i - sports automatic

320d xDrive - sports automatic
330d - sports automatic

[anonymous-user]

Is there an ED with smaller wheels and balloon tyres?

[Wills2]

Slippydiff said:

F30 current owner here. Had a nosey round a 320 a couple of hours prior to the launch evening. The new interior and specifically the dash looks nicer, the idrive display is far more neatly integrated too.

I can't remember if the car I looked at was 320 D or petrol, but I asked the salesman who was trying to sell me the car, how much it was ... I knew the OTR price was going to be shocking because the first thing he said was the new model has a lot of equipment fitted as standard, that came as upgrades on the F30. I cut him off as he ramped up the sales blurb/BS. So how much is it ? I asked bluntly.

£48K he replied .... !!!!!

£48k for 2.0 repmobile. Has the world gone stark raving mad ?? !!

Yes.

[Court_S]

I like that - it looks nice in M Sport trim. The interior looks to be a good improvement, although the steering wheel doesn't look as nice as the previous version. The grills don't look quite as silly as some of the other recently released cars.

[Tom_Spotley_When]

Slippydiff said:

F30 current owner here. Had a nosey round a 320 a couple of hours prior to the launch evening. The new interior and specifically the dash looks nicer, the idrive display is far more neatly integrated too.

I can't remember if the car I looked at was 320 D or petrol, but I asked the salesman who was trying to sell me the car, how much it was ... I knew the OTR price was going to be shocking because the first thing he said was the new model has a lot of equipment fitted as standard, that came as upgrades on the F30. I cut him off as he ramped up the sales blurb/BS. So how much is it ? I asked bluntly.

£48K he replied .... !!!!!

£48k for 2.0 repmobile. Has the world gone stark raving mad ?? !!

Which is probably irrelevant outside of PH's weird "everyone pays with cash" idea.

They'll be between £350 and £450/month and that's all people will care about. List price could be as much or little as they want for all the difference it'll make to your pocket.

[Slippydiff]

Greg the Fish said:

Do you really think that most of the sheep that will lease these really give a damn?

Pretty much my thoughts. 1 out of every 1000 may give a damn, the rest will luxuriate in the badge on the bonnet and little else.

[budgie smuggler]

Is XDrive available on the 320i as well as the 320d?

[BFleming]

I've had a sit in a new 340i 4 weeks ago, and it must have had every option ticked. The cabin was a lovely place to be, and despite the grille I think they're a handsome car. Not beautiful, but not offensive either. The pricing though...

[Limpet]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Strange, as both of mine were decent. The first was a very early (2012) F30 which had an issue very early on with a body control module going haywire, and some of the plastics were a bit creaky (better on the later cars), but it took 60,000 miles of hard use without any other issues. The 2015 car that replaced it was faultless.

[nickfrog]

Slippydiff said:

Greg the Fish said:

Do you really think that most of the sheep that will lease these really give a damn?

Pretty much my thoughts. 1 out of every 1000 may give a damn, the rest will luxuriate in the badge on the bonnet and little else.

I reckon only 1 out of every 1000 worry and make assumptions about other people's motivations to buy and methods of paying for the depreciation. Although they all seem to be on PH!

[cerb4.5lee]

I'm a fan of the 3 series and I do really like the look of this both inside and out. There are getting quicker too and this 320d is as quick from 0 to 60 as the 2006 E90 330d that I had back then.

[Vee12V]

Wills2 said:

1525kg if that's EU then that's a great achievement in a car this big, looks good in blue with the M sport bits as well.

I'd like to see like for like specced cars on a scale. The whole 'the 2019 3 Series is up to 55kg lighter than the F30' is complete BS, as they compare the heaviest of the old series to the lightest of the new one.

[BFleming]

simonbamg said:

thiscocks said:

Presume it will be available with sensible sized wheels ie 16 or 17s.

you have to prove your over 65 and have a bad back to tick this option

LOL.
The wheel options are as follows:
320d & 320i: 16in to 19in wheels
320d x-drive, 330i & 330i x-drive: 17in to 19in wheels

This is the generic data from BMW though, not specifically for the UK, which will obviously be spec dependent (SE, M Sport etc).