Discussion
OK help me out with this one.
I had a E90 LCI BMW 330d which I ordered from new and Mrs Puff and I specced it the way we wanted it. I really got along with that car. So did Mrs Puff, up until around the 90,000 mile mark when she seemed to decide it was too unreliable, even though it has had only one breakdown since we bought it.
Anyway, the pressure from Mrs Puff got too much, Mrs Puff wanted an SUV and I bought an 18 month old F25 X3 30d which only had 12,000 miles on it and sold the E90. Obvs being a used car, I bought the best compromise of what I could find, not what I wanted. Mrs Puff and I liked a Jeep Grand Cherokee but she thought it was too big (it would have got into our parking spot, but it could have been a bit annoyingly tight). OTOH once you go SUV, I don't think there is that much of a difference between an X3 and a Jeep.
Anyway, I've only had this X3 for a week and it is pi$$ing me off. I don't like the brushed aluminium interior trim. I don't like the manual seats. The dash and gauges look a bit cheap compared to an E90 3-series, at least to my eyes. It has these ridiculous 20" wheels with 275x35x20s on the rear so even though it is a softroader 4WD, you can't take it on a busted up road because the tyres are too low profile and I'm worried about cracking the rims. We had a couple of flat tyres on the 330d, but it was never a problem as it was on standard 17-inch wheels and everybody had the tyres in stock, same day. I know it will be at least a day or longer to get tyres for the X3 if there is a flat and they will cost twice as much. It's really the manual seats which are annoying me most as I have to make multiple adjustments to them instead of just pressing the memory button on my 330d electric seats.
Am I likely to be finding some love for this X3 over the next few months or will I be trading it in?
I had a E90 LCI BMW 330d which I ordered from new and Mrs Puff and I specced it the way we wanted it. I really got along with that car. So did Mrs Puff, up until around the 90,000 mile mark when she seemed to decide it was too unreliable, even though it has had only one breakdown since we bought it.
Anyway, the pressure from Mrs Puff got too much, Mrs Puff wanted an SUV and I bought an 18 month old F25 X3 30d which only had 12,000 miles on it and sold the E90. Obvs being a used car, I bought the best compromise of what I could find, not what I wanted. Mrs Puff and I liked a Jeep Grand Cherokee but she thought it was too big (it would have got into our parking spot, but it could have been a bit annoyingly tight). OTOH once you go SUV, I don't think there is that much of a difference between an X3 and a Jeep.
Anyway, I've only had this X3 for a week and it is pi$$ing me off. I don't like the brushed aluminium interior trim. I don't like the manual seats. The dash and gauges look a bit cheap compared to an E90 3-series, at least to my eyes. It has these ridiculous 20" wheels with 275x35x20s on the rear so even though it is a softroader 4WD, you can't take it on a busted up road because the tyres are too low profile and I'm worried about cracking the rims. We had a couple of flat tyres on the 330d, but it was never a problem as it was on standard 17-inch wheels and everybody had the tyres in stock, same day. I know it will be at least a day or longer to get tyres for the X3 if there is a flat and they will cost twice as much. It's really the manual seats which are annoying me most as I have to make multiple adjustments to them instead of just pressing the memory button on my 330d electric seats.
Am I likely to be finding some love for this X3 over the next few months or will I be trading it in?
Andy665 said:
Surely you were aware of these things prior o purchase?
Sounds like pressure from OH has seen you buy a car that is perfectly ok other than being of a type you did not really want to purchase in the first place.
Third BMW in a row so I know these cars. But knowing the spec sheet or a short test drive and fiddling with the manual seats all day long are two different things. Sounds like pressure from OH has seen you buy a car that is perfectly ok other than being of a type you did not really want to purchase in the first place.
I thought I couldn't live without a sunroof, so got the best compromise car with a sunroof. Now I've got the car, I think I could live without the sunroof if I got a nicer to look at interior and electric seats.
ZX10R NIN said:
You'll be trading it in & you already know it, so it looks like a Grand Cherokee will be gracing your drive around October time. 
Haha. Yeah maybe when Mrs Puff gets used to SUV size, she will be ok with an extra seven inches long and an inch or two wide 
Extra 7 inches and inch on the width fnarr fnarr
Edited by creampuff on Saturday 9th June 12:48
Hmph. I've gone overseas for a week on a bit of business and this X3 is annoying me more and more even when I'm not there to drive it.
Have researched the tyres some more: not only does it have 20 inch wheels which actually make it less suited to bad roads than the old car, even if the old car was RWD and the X3 is AWD, but the X3 has different sized front and rear tyres, so it's twice as hard to find tyres for it.
Most tyre places don't stock the same brand/type of front and rear, except for Pirelli P Zeros - the word in the motorbike world is that tyre delaminations are rare, but when they happen it always seems to be Pirelli. OK this is a SUV not a bike but I've still avoided buying Pirelli tyres my whole life.
So if I don't want Pirellis, it takes 3 days for anything else to turn up.
Wondering if I should buy a space saver spare or just budget for 3 days of hire car in the event of a flat tyre?!?
Have researched the tyres some more: not only does it have 20 inch wheels which actually make it less suited to bad roads than the old car, even if the old car was RWD and the X3 is AWD, but the X3 has different sized front and rear tyres, so it's twice as hard to find tyres for it.
Most tyre places don't stock the same brand/type of front and rear, except for Pirelli P Zeros - the word in the motorbike world is that tyre delaminations are rare, but when they happen it always seems to be Pirelli. OK this is a SUV not a bike but I've still avoided buying Pirelli tyres my whole life.
So if I don't want Pirellis, it takes 3 days for anything else to turn up.
Wondering if I should buy a space saver spare or just budget for 3 days of hire car in the event of a flat tyre?!?
Swop it onto a square set up on 18’s
It will transform the ride .. unfortunately you’ll still have the hard M-Sport suspension but it will feel massively better
Mine is on 18’s without the sport suspension and the ride is excellent and really supple
Wheelsets can be picked up for about £500
Agree with you about the brushed Aluminium trim .. fortunately I bought mine new and specced a dark trim and light interior .. it transforms the feel of the interior
I assume you don’t have the pro-media pack as that gives a better dash display
Spec them right and I reckon they are the best all round cars BMW make .. but the big wheels destroy the feel of the car
It will transform the ride .. unfortunately you’ll still have the hard M-Sport suspension but it will feel massively better
Mine is on 18’s without the sport suspension and the ride is excellent and really supple
Wheelsets can be picked up for about £500
Agree with you about the brushed Aluminium trim .. fortunately I bought mine new and specced a dark trim and light interior .. it transforms the feel of the interior
I assume you don’t have the pro-media pack as that gives a better dash display
Spec them right and I reckon they are the best all round cars BMW make .. but the big wheels destroy the feel of the car
Edited by Earthdweller on Monday 11th June 08:11
Edited by Earthdweller on Monday 11th June 08:12
^ Although it is an M-Sport, it has the M-Sport suspension deletion, so it is the standard suspension and actually feels quite OK to drive. It's just the angst of getting hard to find tyres and the higher possibility of cracked rims which is bothering.
Where can you get 18" wheels for £500? I'm guessing this is used.... eBay? That might be ok.
Where can you get 18" wheels for £500? I'm guessing this is used.... eBay? That might be ok.
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|https://thumbsnap.com/tK1038Ht[/url
I bought a set of genuine bmw alloys off fleabay for £550
18” tyres are far cheaper and with higher sidewalls ride much better .. they can be had as all season or winters as well
Lucky you have the M-Sport suspension delete 👍
|https://thumbsnap.com/tK1038Ht[/urlI bought a set of genuine bmw alloys off fleabay for £550
18” tyres are far cheaper and with higher sidewalls ride much better .. they can be had as all season or winters as well
Lucky you have the M-Sport suspension delete 👍
Edited by Earthdweller on Monday 11th June 08:18
^ Agree about the interior: my old car had a light interior. and I liked it.
I've rented around 60 cars due to work related travel, over the last 2 years. From Fiat 500s right up to BMW X5s. Most of them have had manual seats and dark interiors, so I thought it would be OK. Unf have realised that what is OK for a rental car is annoying with your own car.
The 18-inch wheels seem like a good idea. With cheaper tyres, I don't even think it would cost me anything if I Fleabay them again when the X3 eventually gets traded.
Do you know what width of 18" wheels I need? Can I get any 18" wheels of that width or do I need spacers or anything similar?
I've rented around 60 cars due to work related travel, over the last 2 years. From Fiat 500s right up to BMW X5s. Most of them have had manual seats and dark interiors, so I thought it would be OK. Unf have realised that what is OK for a rental car is annoying with your own car.
The 18-inch wheels seem like a good idea. With cheaper tyres, I don't even think it would cost me anything if I Fleabay them again when the X3 eventually gets traded.
Do you know what width of 18" wheels I need? Can I get any 18" wheels of that width or do I need spacers or anything similar?
^ Thanks for the advice on swapping the wheels for 18"s. That hadn't occurred to me.
This set is on Fleabay now
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M368-M-SPORT-ALLOY-...
They come pre-kerbed. OTOH it is only a matter of time before the at-present unscratched 20s on the car at the moment get scratched.
I'll either get these wheels or wait a bit and see if some clean ones turn up on Fleabay. The 20" tyres on the car now look like they have a few thousand miles tread left on them yet so have a bit of time. That is if I don't get a Grand Cherokee in the meanwhile
This set is on Fleabay now
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M368-M-SPORT-ALLOY-...
They come pre-kerbed. OTOH it is only a matter of time before the at-present unscratched 20s on the car at the moment get scratched.
I'll either get these wheels or wait a bit and see if some clean ones turn up on Fleabay. The 20" tyres on the car now look like they have a few thousand miles tread left on them yet so have a bit of time. That is if I don't get a Grand Cherokee in the meanwhile
creampuff said:
^ Thanks for the advice on swapping the wheels for 18"s. That hadn't occurred to me.
This set is on Fleabay now
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M368-M-SPORT-ALLOY-...
They come pre-kerbed. OTOH it is only a matter of time before the at-present unscratched 20s on the car at the moment get scratched.
I'll either get these wheels or wait a bit and see if some clean ones turn up on Fleabay. The 20" tyres on the car now look like they have a few thousand miles tread left on them yet so have a bit of time. That is if I don't get a Grand Cherokee in the meanwhile
That's a decent price for a full set with tyres. Worth checking if the kerbing can be repaired as well.This set is on Fleabay now
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M368-M-SPORT-ALLOY-...
They come pre-kerbed. OTOH it is only a matter of time before the at-present unscratched 20s on the car at the moment get scratched.
I'll either get these wheels or wait a bit and see if some clean ones turn up on Fleabay. The 20" tyres on the car now look like they have a few thousand miles tread left on them yet so have a bit of time. That is if I don't get a Grand Cherokee in the meanwhile
Just remember to check if your car has the 'active' type tyre pressure monitoring sensors (TPMS) or if it uses tyre circumference measurement to detect punctures - and whether those wheels have the right valves if you do have TPMS. The TPMS system needs specific valves in the tyres that communicate with sensors in the car - if they're not there you'll get warning bongs and lights every time you start the car.
When I was looking at OEM wheels on ebay a few years ago I noticed that a lot of them had the TPMS valves removed (probably because they sold for about £150 a set). You could swap the valves from your 20s if needed of course, but you'll probably be looking at £100 by the time a tyre monkey has removed 8 tyres, swapped the valves, then put 8 tyres back on.
Just get a space saver for emergencies, I had a flat the other day at home and it was a bloody pain as tyre gloop wouldn't fix it . Even though everywhere stocks the tyre it was a pain getting it sorted .
If you don't like the car, just trade it for what you want, lifes too short, sod pissing around with a tired set of wheels on a nearly new car.
Second hand wheels are a lottery as well , some are great , lots are shiiite
If you don't like the car, just trade it for what you want, lifes too short, sod pissing around with a tired set of wheels on a nearly new car.
Second hand wheels are a lottery as well , some are great , lots are shiiite
Ok, this X3 is still getting on my nerves. Even the kids think it is too slow compared to the 330d. I wish we had just bought a new jeep at 0% APR and about £11,000 off, but that's a different story. Mrs Puff seems to like the X3 so I'll have to keep it a year I think. Current tyres wont last the year.
A set of 18 inch wheels have come up on eBay which I was thinking of buying and putting on now, or buying and putting on when there is a bit more wear on the current 20" jobbies.
Does anything tricky need to be done with TPMS valves if the new wheels don't have them and I have to get them fitted?
A set of 18 inch wheels have come up on eBay which I was thinking of buying and putting on now, or buying and putting on when there is a bit more wear on the current 20" jobbies.
Does anything tricky need to be done with TPMS valves if the new wheels don't have them and I have to get them fitted?
I bought a set of winter wheels for my 2 series: they didn’t have the TPMS sensors but I bought some from eBay, pre-coded (whatever that means...) for BMW. They were fitted when the tyres were fitted, and the car picked them up automatically after a mile or so. Nothing else needed doing, so I reckon if you buy the right sensors you’ll be fine
I've decided to leave buying any smaller wheels. My wife seems to like the X3. I just do not like it, esp as I just had a biz trip to France where I rented a WV Passat and found that more pleasant than the X3 in every way, even with 100hp less power.
Last time we got a puncture in the 330, she complained about having to wait 2 hours for a new tyre to be found. She might start to like the X3 a bit less once she realises, due to the exotic tyres, that if a puncture happens the car is being recovered on a truck for a 2 day wait for a special tyre order.
Last time we got a puncture in the 330, she complained about having to wait 2 hours for a new tyre to be found. She might start to like the X3 a bit less once she realises, due to the exotic tyres, that if a puncture happens the car is being recovered on a truck for a 2 day wait for a special tyre order.
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