F31 - 440i or 335d dilemma

[cerb4.5lee]

Mike335i said:

Haha it really is not a problem to have RWD in the cold and wet. Seriously, this fallacy that you need AWD to get the power down is just nonsense.

Audi RS models are popular because they are the best Audi's and are a desirable brand for many. They are fast in a straight line and have loads of grip.

I think the problem is the 'using all of its power in the wet'. If you are worried about the safety of you family when pulling out of junctions, maybe address the driving style and drive to the conditions?

I don't have any trouble getting the power down in my car.

Agree with all of that.

[chandrew]

I'm in Switzerland and therefore all we can get is xDrive 340s (BMW don't sell anything over a 320 here with RWD). Mine has the M-Performance kit and adaptive suspension.

I was pretty luke-warm about it in the summer - fast but uninvolving. The suspension on the 19" wheels never felt right, especially on rougher tarmac. Off road (eg wet grass) it was pretty poor.

Now it's on 17" wheels and I'm driving it in the snow I'm far more impressed - even to the degree of really warming to / admiring the car.

You can put pretty much all of the power down in the snow. A week or so ago I was driving over a pass home at midnight - there was some blown snow on the road and as it was -15 so any meltwater was ice. I came behind a tourist who either had never driven on snow or more likely had summer tyres. I suspect I surprised him by how fast I went past.

This week I went cross country skiing and the car park was down a steep slope covered in black ice and compressed snow. Again, starting on such a slope was done without any slip.

On the very rare times it does slip - at the moment just when accelerating out of hairpins in the snow - it has a lovely balance with all 4 wheels making a gentle, easy to control slide.

I've had a Subaru in the garage for the last 20 years and in snow and ice xDrive seems to be at least equal. However my Forester XT got about 25mpg and the considerably faster 340 gets 35mpg. Let's not compare reliability though - not sure I'd run the BMW without a warranty whereas the Forester did 290,000 km / 13 years before something went wrong.

[Smuler]

lord trumpton said:

The car I'm looking to buy is this one

https://www.halliwelljones.co.uk/bmw/approved-used...

It was pre reg in April by BMW UK and has been bought and offered for sale at my local stealer. Its only got 20 miles on the clock.

Seems to have enough spec for my needs and given the list when new price was 44k then it's not a bad price.

What do you think of the spec and price?

It listed servotronic steering , as an option (upgrade) is that what makes the steering feel lighter, thus different than an non optioned 340?

[interstellar]

lord trumpton said:

The car I'm looking to buy is this one

https://www.halliwelljones.co.uk/bmw/approved-used...

It was pre reg in April by BMW UK and has been bought and offered for sale at my local stealer. Its only got 20 miles on the clock.

Seems to have enough spec for my needs and given the list when new price was 44k then it's not a bad price.

What do you think of the spec and price?

I would buy that car. Its brand new and a strong price for that spec especially with the pan roof.

I nearly ordered a new shadow edition last week and the best price I could get was £35700. This is 4k cheaper and available now, go get it!!

I have a 340i Touring too, its a great car and better now I have ditched the runflats. The steering is lighter and the car is quieter on the motorways for sure.

For me I wouldn't touch the diesel. The market is turning against it quickly and I wouldn't want to own one again, its only going one way imo,

[335d]

Looks a good price to me too, although as mentioned the lack of pro nav is a bit of a negative. It is also a slight shame that it is April 2017 registered. If it was registered in March, you would avoid the £310 per year (in years 2,3,4,5,6) luxury tax for having a >£40k list.

[interstellar]

I didn’t spec pro nav on mine and it’s absolutely fine for me.

I wouldn’t spec it on the next one as I don’t see value in it.

[lord trumpton]

Thanks again for the opinions.

Just got back from the dealership and I didn't buy. It was all washed off and sitting pretty but it just didn't do it for me.

I've got an ugly F07 Diesel at the moment and obviously the change in size and interior space was a big eye opener. Not surprising thinking about it as the F07 is based on the & series chassis.

So my question on the F31 is answered.

I'm going to stick with the GT for a while and keep a sniffer out for a 535d Touring or 535d GT

I've grown accustomed to wafting around with masses of room!

[cerb4.5lee]

lord trumpton said:

Thanks again for the opinions.

Just got back from the dealership and I didn't buy. It was all washed off and sitting pretty but it just didn't do it for me.

I've got an ugly F07 Diesel at the moment and obviously the change in size and interior space was a big eye opener. Not surprising thinking about it as the F07 is based on the & series chassis.

So my question on the F31 is answered.

I'm going to stick with the GT for a while and keep a sniffer out for a 535d Touring or 535d GT

I've grown accustomed to wafting around with masses of room!

I can understand you being a little underwhelmed by the 3 series with you being used to a 5GT, the interior in the 5GT is a lovely place to be, and for me the 3 series interior is one of its biggest weaknesses.

[Eddieslofart]

Mike335i said:

Haha it really is not a problem to have RWD in the cold and wet. Seriously, this fallacy that you need AWD to get the power down is just nonsense.

Audi RS models are popular because they are the best Audi's and are a desirable brand for many. They are fast in a straight line and have loads of grip.

I think the problem is the 'using all of its power in the wet'. If you are worried about the safety of you family when pulling out of junctions, maybe address the driving style and drive to the conditions?

I don't have any trouble getting the power down in my car.

Agreed.

[ggbmoore]

Mike335i said:

Haha it really is not a problem to have RWD in the cold and wet. Seriously, this fallacy that you need AWD to get the power down is just nonsense.

Audi RS models are popular because they are the best Audi's and are a desirable brand for many. They are fast in a straight line and have loads of grip.

I think the problem is the 'using all of its power in the wet'. If you are worried about the safety of you family when pulling out of junctions, maybe address the driving style and drive to the conditions?

I don't have any trouble getting the power down in my car.

Totally agree, half the fun is getting the back end to step out and this is far easier in wet conditions and totally controllable in my 335D coupe. This is one reason I'm lamenting on changing mine out for the more "sensible" touring xDrive. Plus you don't have to drive like a hooligan in it all the time. Just when the mood takes you. Other times you can just chill and cruise no issues.

[croftsj]

I sold my F31 340i last Saturday, enjoyed every minute of it, a combination of moving to Devon, elderly frail parents in Sussex and a dog means a F31 335d xDrive is inbound. I fully intend to visit DMS for a stage 1 remap in the very near future as well as adding a few tricks with some coding by Zedcoding (highly recommended by the way).

Will I miss RWD? A little I guess, what I will miss most is that glorious exhaust note in Sports + and the panoramic roof which completely transforms the car.

I wonder if DMS can do anything re the exhaust note on a knocker?

[JNW1]

croftsj said:

I sold my F31 340i last Saturday, enjoyed every minute of it, a combination of moving to Devon, elderly frail parents in Sussex and a dog means a F31 335d xDrive is inbound.

Apologies if I'm missing something but why does moving to Devon whilst having a dog and elderly frail parents in Sussex necessitate swapping from a F31 340i to a F31 335d?! I had a F31 335d for over 5 years and 80k miles and in reality there won't be a huge difference in fuel economy between one of those and a F31 340i; therefore, even if you're going to be doing more miles IMO the benefits on range and/or fuel cost won't be enough to justify the change. That only leaves a desire for X-Drive as a reason for swapping but on the basis a RWD 340i is hardly unruly or a handful I'm struggling to understand the logic in what you're doing!

[croftsj]

JNW1 said:

croftsj said:

I sold my F31 340i last Saturday, enjoyed every minute of it, a combination of moving to Devon, elderly frail parents in Sussex and a dog means a F31 335d xDrive is inbound.

Apologies if I'm missing something but why does moving to Devon whilst having a dog and elderly frail parents in Sussex necessitate swapping from a F31 340i to a F31 335d?! I had a F31 335d for over 5 years and 80k miles and in reality there won't be a huge difference in fuel economy between one of those and a F31 340i; therefore, even if you're going to be doing more miles IMO the benefits on range and/or fuel cost won't be enough to justify the change. That only leaves a desire for X-Drive as a reason for swapping but on the basis a RWD 340i is hardly unruly or a handful I'm struggling to understand the logic in what you're doing!

X-Drive is the main reason, Devon house is up a hilly un-made track, this will be my 3rd F31 so we have all the fitted crates, roof bars etc so didn’t want to change to another brand/model, I’m well aware the economy is similar, the 335 also has a marginally better spec than the outgoing 340.