Goodbye 330i hello 435i Gran Coupe.
Discussion
What do you do when you’re laid up for over 3 weeks with Covid-19?
Watch films, read a little, sleep, follow the bizarre goings on in the US and finally turn to the classified ads to convince yourself that you need a new car...
My E91 330i has been a good car by any measure but has just clicked over 100k miles and that gave me an excuse to look at a change with a reason SWMBO would consider.
Early days of my search focused on a 640d / 640i. I love the look of these cars, particularly the interior and there’s some real bargains to be had. After reading many reviews however it became clear that these are big cars, over 5m long, and not the most practical with UK roads and car parks (I can still remember the fun I had trying to negotiate a particularly tight multi story car park in Leicester with an F10 530d; a 6 series would have been a nightmare!). I considered a G30 530d/540i but decided I didn’t want to spend that much and I didn’t want a large saloon.
The 4 series seems a perfect solution but it had to be the Gran Coupe because of the kids and the shorter front doors (small car parks again), it also had to have a 6 cylinder engine, preferably petrol.
There were a fair few choices and my search criteria was reasonably broad in that my “must have” list was fairly short; Harmon Kardon, M Sport, no blue interior trim (personal preference). Ideally I wanted the Adaptive Suspension as well.
After a bit of looking I found this;
Apologies for the poor photos; these are the day after collection and the weather has been miserable so I’ve had no chance to clean the dirt from the drive home (plus I’m rubbish with a camera).
A 435i Gran Coupe with a 300+ bhp 3 litre driving the rear wheels with my required spec seemed ideal, the spec highlights include;
- Harmon Kardon surround sound.
- Adaptive M Sport suspension.
- Adaptive Xenon Headlights.
- Sunroof.
- Sports Auto with paddle shifters.
There are a few other minor bits plus things like Pro Nav and heated electric seats were standard items. I worked out the original owner spent about £5k on options in total so not a badly specced car albeit there a many with much more.
I’ve waffled on a bit now but will just high a few initial impressions;
- it goes well (
) and makes a better noise than the 330i.
- the steering is more vague, particularly straight ahead, than the 330i. Comfort setting is light and the Sport setting simply makes the steering heavier but with no improvement in feel.
- the seats are really nice and the low slung driving position is excellent, possibly the best I’ve experienced being in the Goldilocks area between too high and too low.
- there’s a lot of tyre noise; I suspect this is a feature as much of the (Bridgestone Potenza Run Flat) tyre as anything else and needs some consideration as to what to do about it.
- economy is on a par with the 330i which is fine though I thought it would be slightly better?
- the gearbox is so much better than the 6 speed unit on the E91. Not that the older box is bad just that the newer 8 speed is very, very good and is possibly the biggest improvement between the two cars.
Plans in the short term are;
- treat the alloys - corrosion isn’t evident at the moment and I want it to stay that way. Does anyone have suggestions for what works?
- oil change. The car has a fbmwsh but the last oil change was just under 10k miles ago so in theory not due yet but I don’t hold with extended service periods.
- decide what to do about the run flats.
That’s it for now, thanks if you got this far. I will add more thoughts (and better pics) plus how it compares with the E9X as I get more familiar with the car. I still have the 330i because I can’t easily move it on under lockdown so doing a “back to back” might be interesting.
Watch films, read a little, sleep, follow the bizarre goings on in the US and finally turn to the classified ads to convince yourself that you need a new car...
My E91 330i has been a good car by any measure but has just clicked over 100k miles and that gave me an excuse to look at a change with a reason SWMBO would consider.
Early days of my search focused on a 640d / 640i. I love the look of these cars, particularly the interior and there’s some real bargains to be had. After reading many reviews however it became clear that these are big cars, over 5m long, and not the most practical with UK roads and car parks (I can still remember the fun I had trying to negotiate a particularly tight multi story car park in Leicester with an F10 530d; a 6 series would have been a nightmare!). I considered a G30 530d/540i but decided I didn’t want to spend that much and I didn’t want a large saloon.
The 4 series seems a perfect solution but it had to be the Gran Coupe because of the kids and the shorter front doors (small car parks again), it also had to have a 6 cylinder engine, preferably petrol.
There were a fair few choices and my search criteria was reasonably broad in that my “must have” list was fairly short; Harmon Kardon, M Sport, no blue interior trim (personal preference). Ideally I wanted the Adaptive Suspension as well.
After a bit of looking I found this;
Apologies for the poor photos; these are the day after collection and the weather has been miserable so I’ve had no chance to clean the dirt from the drive home (plus I’m rubbish with a camera).
A 435i Gran Coupe with a 300+ bhp 3 litre driving the rear wheels with my required spec seemed ideal, the spec highlights include;
- Harmon Kardon surround sound.
- Adaptive M Sport suspension.
- Adaptive Xenon Headlights.
- Sunroof.
- Sports Auto with paddle shifters.
There are a few other minor bits plus things like Pro Nav and heated electric seats were standard items. I worked out the original owner spent about £5k on options in total so not a badly specced car albeit there a many with much more.
I’ve waffled on a bit now but will just high a few initial impressions;
- it goes well (
) and makes a better noise than the 330i.- the steering is more vague, particularly straight ahead, than the 330i. Comfort setting is light and the Sport setting simply makes the steering heavier but with no improvement in feel.
- the seats are really nice and the low slung driving position is excellent, possibly the best I’ve experienced being in the Goldilocks area between too high and too low.
- there’s a lot of tyre noise; I suspect this is a feature as much of the (Bridgestone Potenza Run Flat) tyre as anything else and needs some consideration as to what to do about it.
- economy is on a par with the 330i which is fine though I thought it would be slightly better?
- the gearbox is so much better than the 6 speed unit on the E91. Not that the older box is bad just that the newer 8 speed is very, very good and is possibly the biggest improvement between the two cars.
Plans in the short term are;
- treat the alloys - corrosion isn’t evident at the moment and I want it to stay that way. Does anyone have suggestions for what works?
- oil change. The car has a fbmwsh but the last oil change was just under 10k miles ago so in theory not due yet but I don’t hold with extended service periods.
- decide what to do about the run flats.
That’s it for now, thanks if you got this far. I will add more thoughts (and better pics) plus how it compares with the E9X as I get more familiar with the car. I still have the 330i because I can’t easily move it on under lockdown so doing a “back to back” might be interesting.
Edited by Sn1ckers on Sunday 24th January 15:11
Looks really smart, I think the 6 series looks really good!
In terms of size, my other half drove a Merc CLS for three years as her daily car. It's a few mm short of 5m long but we never found it an issue to use. It did on occasion overhang the odd parking space but otherwise wasn't problematic.
Enjoy the new car mate.
In terms of size, my other half drove a Merc CLS for three years as her daily car. It's a few mm short of 5m long but we never found it an issue to use. It did on occasion overhang the odd parking space but otherwise wasn't problematic.
Enjoy the new car mate.
Lovely car OP. Nice upgrade on the 330 which is a cracking car in it's own right.
However, you've given an example of why I buy cars with 100,000 clicks. For some reason miles seem to bother a lot of the buying/selling public. I target cars that have done over or close to 100,000 miles because there are some real bargains to had with cars that have more than half their life left if they are maintained correctly.
However, you've given an example of why I buy cars with 100,000 clicks. For some reason miles seem to bother a lot of the buying/selling public. I target cars that have done over or close to 100,000 miles because there are some real bargains to had with cars that have more than half their life left if they are maintained correctly.
Alfahorn said:
Lovely car OP. Nice upgrade on the 330 which is a cracking car in it's own right.
However, you've given an example of why I buy cars with 100,000 clicks. For some reason miles seem to bother a lot of the buying/selling public. I target cars that have done over or close to 100,000 miles because there are some real bargains to had with cars that have more than half their life left if they are maintained correctly.
Thanks.However, you've given an example of why I buy cars with 100,000 clicks. For some reason miles seem to bother a lot of the buying/selling public. I target cars that have done over or close to 100,000 miles because there are some real bargains to had with cars that have more than half their life left if they are maintained correctly.
I don't have a problem in particular with cars with 100k+ on them; I definitely agree you can get fantastic bargains and the maintenance can be cheaper than lower miles cars because there's less pressure to use the dealer network to maintain a FDSH.
I just used the 100k milestone as an excuse to change cars. Not sure what I'll find as an excuse with this one as it's done less than 40k and I don't do many miles.
My 330i has a FSH and has not had a single MoT advisory / failure so hopefully will find a good home that keeps that tradition going..
Sn1ckers said:
Thanks.
I don't have a problem in particular with cars with 100k+ on them; I definitely agree you can get fantastic bargains and the maintenance can be cheaper than lower miles cars because there's less pressure to use the dealer network to maintain a FDSH.
I just used the 100k milestone as an excuse to change cars. Not sure what I'll find as an excuse with this one as it's done less than 40k and I don't do many miles.
My 330i has a FSH and has not had a single MoT advisory / failure so hopefully will find a good home that keeps that tradition going..
the 330 sounds like a steal for someone.I don't have a problem in particular with cars with 100k+ on them; I definitely agree you can get fantastic bargains and the maintenance can be cheaper than lower miles cars because there's less pressure to use the dealer network to maintain a FDSH.
I just used the 100k milestone as an excuse to change cars. Not sure what I'll find as an excuse with this one as it's done less than 40k and I don't do many miles.
My 330i has a FSH and has not had a single MoT advisory / failure so hopefully will find a good home that keeps that tradition going..
This is another reason why I buy 100,000 miles. I only do about 8,000 a year now and I have two cars to do that in.
I've had the car a month or so now and, sadly, this seems to have become almost it's natural environment:
I have to say I'm really happy with the decision to go for the GC with the 5 doors over a 3 / 5 series saloon or touring. The practically with going full estate is perfect for us.
The car has been superb so far with effortless performance and very comfortable seats.
I managed clean it today so feel obliged to insert a shiny car pic:
In the process of cleaning though it became obvious the car has never seen the Autoglym treatment that the garage were supposed to do:
Picture of wet roof. Spot the beading from the treatment....
This is being sorted by the garage so no problems.
I have some expenditure coming soon though. Firstly the rear offside is an original tyre (they've done 40k so not bad!) And is down to just over 3mm of tread. I will take this opportunity to replace both rears with decent non rat's though I haven't decided what yet.
Secondly the car has done 10k miles since it's last oil service (it has about 8k to go according to the obc) and will be changed soon. BMW charge £160 and I can get my local indy to do it for about £100 inc a BMW filter so may well choose the latter as I won't be resetting the service indicator for this 'middle' service.
One last pic to show the cleaned rear tail pipes.
I have to say I'm really happy with the decision to go for the GC with the 5 doors over a 3 / 5 series saloon or touring. The practically with going full estate is perfect for us.
The car has been superb so far with effortless performance and very comfortable seats.
I managed clean it today so feel obliged to insert a shiny car pic:
In the process of cleaning though it became obvious the car has never seen the Autoglym treatment that the garage were supposed to do:
Picture of wet roof. Spot the beading from the treatment....
This is being sorted by the garage so no problems.
I have some expenditure coming soon though. Firstly the rear offside is an original tyre (they've done 40k so not bad!) And is down to just over 3mm of tread. I will take this opportunity to replace both rears with decent non rat's though I haven't decided what yet.
Secondly the car has done 10k miles since it's last oil service (it has about 8k to go according to the obc) and will be changed soon. BMW charge £160 and I can get my local indy to do it for about £100 inc a BMW filter so may well choose the latter as I won't be resetting the service indicator for this 'middle' service.
One last pic to show the cleaned rear tail pipes.
First update of how things are going.
The car has now done just over 3k miles in my custody and I’m very happy with pretty much everything about it with a minor exception - more of that below.
First and foremost the car has been completely reliable which is always for me the first concern when buying a used car; have I bought a lemon? I had my first problem today which prompted me to post this update but the problem isn’t the cars fault.
We’re currently on holiday (me, the OH, and 2 kids) in Gloucestershire and got in the car today for a trip to Malvern for a walk up the hills only to find a vibration like you wouldn’t believe at any speed above 30mph. Bulging tyre I thought. Pulled over and tried to feel around the tyres however the gap between the car and the tyres is so small I couldn’t get my hand all way round. Bugger. So I went looking for a tyre shop where I was in Tewksbury but all were closed (bank holiday).
Just about to give up and in the middle of an industrial estate I spotted a body shop with the doors open. A few minutes later the very helpful owner of said body shop was jacking my car up so I could feel around the tyres (4 series don’t come with their own jacks - I’d love to have a chat with the person who thought that was a good idea!!). Turns out the rear offside had a bulge only slightly smaller than the hills we were hoping to visit.
Much phoning around found the right tyre at Kiki Fit Cheltenham so after a slow and steady 8 mile run and all is well.
Tyres are the cause of my only gripes with the car; tyre noise and the lack of a jack. I had hoped to replace both rear tyres with non run flats as an attempt to sort the noise problem but the bulge and tyre availability put paid to that.
Economy is around 25 on short journeys and I’m currently showing 31 for my trip to Gloucestershire and related journeys.
Performance is very good. This car is quick by any standard and it’s scarily easy to get to license losing speeds. Grip levels in dry conditions are high (I haven’t explored the wet weather limitations for obvious reasons!) though steering feel is not great. I’ve found the normal setting to be the best compromise as the sport setting firms the suspension to the point where only the smoothest of surfaces are tolerable.
Anyway, pic of the car outside the holiday home after a quick clean:
The car has now done just over 3k miles in my custody and I’m very happy with pretty much everything about it with a minor exception - more of that below.
First and foremost the car has been completely reliable which is always for me the first concern when buying a used car; have I bought a lemon? I had my first problem today which prompted me to post this update but the problem isn’t the cars fault.
We’re currently on holiday (me, the OH, and 2 kids) in Gloucestershire and got in the car today for a trip to Malvern for a walk up the hills only to find a vibration like you wouldn’t believe at any speed above 30mph. Bulging tyre I thought. Pulled over and tried to feel around the tyres however the gap between the car and the tyres is so small I couldn’t get my hand all way round. Bugger. So I went looking for a tyre shop where I was in Tewksbury but all were closed (bank holiday).
Just about to give up and in the middle of an industrial estate I spotted a body shop with the doors open. A few minutes later the very helpful owner of said body shop was jacking my car up so I could feel around the tyres (4 series don’t come with their own jacks - I’d love to have a chat with the person who thought that was a good idea!!). Turns out the rear offside had a bulge only slightly smaller than the hills we were hoping to visit.
Much phoning around found the right tyre at Kiki Fit Cheltenham so after a slow and steady 8 mile run and all is well.
Tyres are the cause of my only gripes with the car; tyre noise and the lack of a jack. I had hoped to replace both rear tyres with non run flats as an attempt to sort the noise problem but the bulge and tyre availability put paid to that.
Economy is around 25 on short journeys and I’m currently showing 31 for my trip to Gloucestershire and related journeys.
Performance is very good. This car is quick by any standard and it’s scarily easy to get to license losing speeds. Grip levels in dry conditions are high (I haven’t explored the wet weather limitations for obvious reasons!) though steering feel is not great. I’ve found the normal setting to be the best compromise as the sport setting firms the suspension to the point where only the smoothest of surfaces are tolerable.
Anyway, pic of the car outside the holiday home after a quick clean:
A large proportion of the steering feel you're so lacking, will be caused by the Bridgestone runflats, they're the work of the devil.
I've downsized my F30 330D Msport from the original 19" wheels to a set of OE 18" wheels and Michelin SuperSport tyres (non runflats), it made sizable improvement.
What's obvious is BMW don't build quiet cars these days, my E46 330D MSport, E90 335D M Sport and the F30 all suffer/ed from excessive chassis/road noise. A mates C class Mercedes 220D is far quieter from the perspective of tyre and chassis noise.
I've no doubt the BMW chassis is "sportier" than that of the Mercedes, but I think I prefer the calmer/quieter cabin of the 3 pointed star these days.
I've downsized my F30 330D Msport from the original 19" wheels to a set of OE 18" wheels and Michelin SuperSport tyres (non runflats), it made sizable improvement.
What's obvious is BMW don't build quiet cars these days, my E46 330D MSport, E90 335D M Sport and the F30 all suffer/ed from excessive chassis/road noise. A mates C class Mercedes 220D is far quieter from the perspective of tyre and chassis noise.
I've no doubt the BMW chassis is "sportier" than that of the Mercedes, but I think I prefer the calmer/quieter cabin of the 3 pointed star these days.
My F33 435i has the same 442M wheels but is on P Zero's (which the local main stealer supply so are presumably "standard fit"), and tyre noise is still an issue. Very surface dependent, sometimes nice and quiet, other times the noisiest car I've owned.
I've also had two split/bulged sidewalls, which is two more than I've had on either of my previous, runflat-clad BMW's, so might be a common F3X thing.
I've also had two split/bulged sidewalls, which is two more than I've had on either of my previous, runflat-clad BMW's, so might be a common F3X thing.
So, as is usual for me, the 435i has gone after less than a year.
Traded in to fund the purchase of an i3 for our daily trundling around and a prescient purchase given what’s been going on lately!
This means I have the wife’s 220d xDrive Active Tourer to trade in for a car more suitable for me; fun!
After some consideration I decided that, given my advancing years a luxobarge is the order of the day and money has been exchanged as a deposit on a 2013 740d with a few choice options. Delivery is expected to be in the next couple of weeks and a new thread will be started to cover my relationship with the new barge.
Keep your fingers crossed everything goes well!
Traded in to fund the purchase of an i3 for our daily trundling around and a prescient purchase given what’s been going on lately!
This means I have the wife’s 220d xDrive Active Tourer to trade in for a car more suitable for me; fun!
After some consideration I decided that, given my advancing years a luxobarge is the order of the day and money has been exchanged as a deposit on a 2013 740d with a few choice options. Delivery is expected to be in the next couple of weeks and a new thread will be started to cover my relationship with the new barge.
Keep your fingers crossed everything goes well!
Found it interesting reading the above, but I’m running the same 442m 19’s on my f30. Road noise is literally my only gripe with the whole car. I’m running bridgestone runflats too, and swore that in an attempt to reduce road noise i would go non-run flat when they wore down. But I recently just picked up a new set of runflats. I was really unsure what I would do in the event of a flat, especially given I share with my OH.
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