BMW 328i F30

[Tomas_90]

While waiting for the service to be done on my RCZ last monday i went over to the BMW dealership next door and sort of pretended to be interested in a car Asked if they had any test driving vehicles so the salesman hooked me up with a neat 328i that was standing outside. Mainly just to pass time while i was waiting for the RCZ.

They are great cars those new BMW's tho. Also had the new 8-speed Steptronic gearbox so that was fun to try. You can basically count all the times i've ever driven an automatic car on one hand so it's not an everyday thing. Even so with all those gears there was a darn lot of shifting up and down :lol: Didn't have paddles but ofc the maunal shifting on the lever. Nevertheless it worked great

The roads were all icy so you couldn't really feel the power at all. Even on the motorway at 100 km/h the ESP kicked in at 4000 RPM. 245 bhp & 350 Nm, RWD only.

And there was so much tech in that computer Test drive was only for 30 min so there was no way you could go through it all in that time. It had the big widescreen sat nav which is almost a must have in that car. Looks slightly terrible without it.

The salesman said they were gonna have a BMW Tour coming there on monday-tuesday so he thought i should come back and try some of the X-Drive models I might just do that. Got nothing better to do anyway since i'm on vacation.

Tho don't worry i'm not gonna do something stupid like go buying a BMW cause they are waay too expensive for me and besides i have no need for a big Saloon car at the moment anyway. So the RCZ stays!

 

[RCZ-R]

Yeah, those new F30 are very good cars.

Back in 2013 I was looking for a new car (RCZ R was not yet there on my list) and compared the F30 to current C class and the A4 Audi. All petrol engines around 200bhp. The 328i manual beemer proved to be the best of three. Superior handling, engine, gearbox and especially steering and ride comfort. Inside I liked it the most of them. Finish and material quality was great where the merc looked inside like a Dacia. Horrible. The Audi was like Audi, over-marketed in almost all areas. Dull to drive, terrible and loud like a diesel train engine (TFSI) and I don't like the interior. I still cannot understand how the Audi interior shall be of better quality than beemer's. Bollocks.

If normal car is on the list, it'd be the beemer for me

 

[Anonymous]

Its a classy car :thumbup: and i do normally prefer audis dashboards but not in a A4,"new A4 coming soon" the 2.0 engine in the Bmw is a cracker,and Tomas the satnav/screen is standard kit in this car :thumbup: But again it needs option packs to look the part like larger alloys and xenon/led lights

 

[Tomas_90]

Oh it's standard? It's the lesser 320's and the likes that has the smaller one then? That engine was indeed an amazing thing.

Cruising at 1250 revs (!) @ 80 km/h it was using 5.5l/100km (51 mpg) That's impressive, while still maintaining to deliver that much power if needed!

 

[Anonymous]

Ive had my 3 series 325 diesel since October and its brill, so responsive it just has the grin factor, so easy to overtake stuff and its an all round effortless drive, thought the hardness of the run flats would peeve me off, but its actually a softer ride than my old rcz, dash is not exciting , but functional and german which i like now, i used to like lots of buttons and lights until i had a Honda Accord ! pleased i opted for wood on the inserts instead of the cold aluminum which is standard.
Still havent found the indicator stalk

 

[Anonymous]

still havent found the indicator stalk

Stop looking, you won't have one on it, they are only available as an optional extra. :crazy:

 

[Anonymous]

Funny you talking about this. I currently have a finance application pending on one of these. Thought it would look nice in the garage next to the RCZ....

 

[RCZ-R]

Cruising at 1250 revs (!) @ 80 km/h it was using 5.5l/100km (51 mpg) That's impressive, while still maintaining to deliver that much power if needed!

yeah, you just dial that drive mode thing into ECO and it kills like 80 ponies but you can maintain astonishing MPGs. I was using the ECO mode all the time while cruising at steady speed and below 80 mph.

 

[Anonymous]

The downside of owning a 3 series...is they are more common than lamposts and shout out Company car ,apart from the M3 that is

 

[Anonymous]

The downside of owning a 3 series...is they are more common than lamposts and shout out Company car ,apart from the M3 that is

Totally agree! Thats why you park next to and not replace RCZ :beer:

 

[Tomas_90]

Good thinking

It's true tho. Nobody would look twice at a regular 3 series whereas the RCZ is a different story... :eusa-whistle:

 

[Anonymous]

The downside of owning a 3 series...is they are more common than lamposts and shout out Company car ,apart from the M3 that is

Totally agree! Thats why you park next to and not replace RCZ :beer:

:? :?

 

[Anonymous]

The downside of owning a 3 series...is they are more common than lamposts and shout out Company car ,apart from the M3 that is

Maybe they are so popular is the tax you pay and the good residuals meaning you can get more for you money as a company car ? I only pay £365 in tax a month for a £40k car, all fuel, insurance,maintenance and tyres.
You could also say the same for Audi and Merc's on the roads these days,but the M3 is quite a popular company car BMW shifting more than privately.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that an awful lot of the new BMWs on the roads today are leased. Speaking to a few salesmen in Aberdeen, I am assured that the majority of new executive cars on the road (in this area at least) are leased.

 

[Anonymous]

The downside of owning a 3 series...is they are more common than lamposts and shout out Company car ,apart from the M3 that is

Totally agree! Thats why you park next to and not replace RCZ :beer:

:? :?

Stupid idea from my side? I also have this bad feeling about buying a 3 series...

 

[Anonymous]

I think that an awful lot of the new BMWs on the roads today are leased. Speaking to a few salesmen in Aberdeen, I am assured that the majority of new executive cars on the road (in this area at least) are leased.

An awful lots of cars are leased now a it makes marque car more affordable.
I guy who works for Mercedes shifts 1000 cars a year on leasing.

 

[Anonymous]

Stupid idea from my side? I also have this bad feeling about buying a 3 series...[/quote]

Im sure you will tell us why?

 

[Anonymous]

An awful lots of cars are leased now a it makes marque car more affordable.
I guy who works for Mercedes shifts 1000 cars a year on leasing.

The value of a company car these days is not was it was in my time of company car ownership. I paid nothing and everything including private mileage was for free :thumbup: Replacements every 80,000/3years, so we clocked up the private mileage to get a newer model quicker.

What sort of money does it cost the driver these days for the privilege of driving a company car?

 

[Anonymous]

An awful lots of cars are leased now a it makes marque car more affordable.
I guy who works for Mercedes shifts 1000 cars a year on leasing.

The value of a company car these days is not was it was in my time of company car ownership. I paid nothing and everything including private mileage was for free :thumbup: Replacements every 80,000/3years, so we clocked up the private mileage to get a newer model quicker.

What sort of money does it cost the driver these days for the privilege of driving a company car?

Yes agreed its not want it used to be, they realized that it was a benefit in kind which narked me as my car as a support engineer was my works vehicle as was full of test equipment and tools so i never used as a private car.
These days the tax you pay is based on the cars emissions but diesel commands an extra 3% .The emissions determine how much % of the car value is classed as benefit, fuel is worked out the same although the later is nearly as expensive as the tax on the car.
Today i pay approx £365 extra in tax a month for everything which sounds an awful lot , but i have no running costs or fuel to pay etc. I use 2 tanks of fuel a month which is half that amount.Back and forwards to the office is classed as private miles.
If it breaks or you have an accident they just give you another car straight away.
All my family living at my address are able to drive the car, my 19 year loved it when he used it to take his buddies to golf.
In the better months i motorbike to work and the misses has the car.

 

[Anonymous]

Crikey, I'd no idea it cost as much as that for the privilege of driving a company car