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      02-10-2013, 02:29 AM   #23
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10k off list, that sounds a decent deal. What percentage discount is that? Assume though its a 2012 registered car?
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      02-10-2013, 03:11 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saby View Post
Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but after reading various opinions from UK and US i thought sharing my experience with the f30 320i xdrive m sport can help those who considering getting one.
Regarding the engine like some others I was a bit concerned but only until I drove it. I traded in my 2011 e90 325d m sport with only 11000 miles on the clock for this car and I don't regret my decision. Obviously the 6cylinder diesel in my e90 was brilliant with tons of torque but this new 4cylinder engine with turbo is definitely a different league to the previous 320i. Yes it has a bit less torque at low rev than the 320d which I also driven but still pulls very nicely and it's so quite. Mine has the 8 speed sport auto gearbox which which makes it even nicer drive. The 4cylinder diesel is a great engine but personally I did find it bit rattling and noisy specially after coming from a 6cylinder diesel. I collected mine on a Monday early January and by Friday the snow came so it had the opportunity to prove itself and I have to say despite the summer tyres it still worked brilliantly. I was able to drive easily unlike in my e90 previously. The 320ix is a very refined car and this engine is more than enough for most people. Of course if money isn't an issue go for a nice 6cyl. petrol or diesel just for the fun(or sound)of it but hardly ever gonna be able to use that extra power. I always preferred big petrol or diesel engines but this 320ix is a great car indeed and a very smooth drive and having awd makes me feel a lot better as my wife drives it most of the time with my daughter at the back. It's a good time to get one of these as bmw trying to introduce to uk market I managed to get mine as a pre-reg with 10 miles on the clock with professional nav., sport auto, sun protection glass, folding mirrors,heated leather with 10k off the list price which made it impossible to resist. If you want want one just go for it you will like it!
Nice write up.
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      02-10-2013, 04:22 AM   #25
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Agreed, really helpful post.

I've never bought a new car before and not really sure how this pre reg thing works in practise. I am aware that dealers pre reg cars to inflate their sales, am I correct in thinking that each individual dealer will have a list of pre reg cars that they have to sell or is it a kind of a national list of all the pre reg cars in the dealer network?

Also if I was to try to put a deal together should I start by asking about pre reg stock? Whilst I would like to spec it myself a pre reg seems like a good way to save some money.
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      02-10-2013, 05:29 AM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saby View Post
Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but after reading various opinions from UK and US i thought sharing my experience with the f30 320i xdrive m sport can help those who considering getting one.
Regarding the engine like some others I was a bit concerned but only until I drove it. I traded in my 2011 e90 325d m sport with only 11000 miles on the clock for this car and I don't regret my decision. Obviously the 6cylinder diesel in my e90 was brilliant with tons of torque but this new 4cylinder engine with turbo is definitely a different league to the previous 320i. Yes it has a bit less torque at low rev than the 320d which I also driven but still pulls very nicely and it's so quite. Mine has the 8 speed sport auto gearbox which which makes it even nicer drive. The 4cylinder diesel is a great engine but personally I did find it bit rattling and noisy specially after coming from a 6cylinder diesel. I collected mine on a Monday early January and by Friday the snow came so it had the opportunity to prove itself and I have to say despite the summer tyres it still worked brilliantly. I was able to drive easily unlike in my e90 previously. The 320ix is a very refined car and this engine is more than enough for most people. Of course if money isn't an issue go for a nice 6cyl. petrol or diesel just for the fun(or sound)of it but hardly ever gonna be able to use that extra power. I always preferred big petrol or diesel engines but this 320ix is a great car indeed and a very smooth drive and having awd makes me feel a lot better as my wife drives it most of the time with my daughter at the back. It's a good time to get one of these as bmw trying to introduce to uk market I managed to get mine as a pre-reg with 10 miles on the clock with professional nav., sport auto, sun protection glass, folding mirrors,heated leather with 10k off the list price which made it impossible to resist. If you want want one just go for it you will like it!
I agree, brilliant post, and one that makes me feel a lot better. I really did agonise over whether to take the plunge for the 320i xDrive (which meant a lucky build slot that would ensure delivery before my A3 TDI quattro was due it's first MOT plus road tax) or hold out for the announcement on further xDrive models in the UK (i.e. the expected 320d xDrive). After sitting in both i'd already decided I couldn't go for a 1 series over a 3 series so it was a choice on 3 series models (with a brief dalliance over the X1).

It makes me laugh when some get so defensive over the diesel versus petrol argument. My current car is my first ever diesel and I love it, just like I loved the two litre petrol I had before it. I never felt a lack of power at any point in my previous petrols and despite the high torque figure it took me a while to get used to how to extract the power from the diesel. I just imagine i get used to where the power is in the 320i and i'll be happy.

I've been enjoying an average 45mpg in my diesel and am hoping for at least 35mpg average in the 320i (which my test drive supports). I do roughly 8,000 personal and 4,000 business miles per year and mileage rates mean neutral impact on the business miles and up to £300pa extra running costs for my personal miles. OK, the diesel would have been £2,200 more and it appears that it holds £2k over the 320i in GMFV but I feel i got a bigger discount on the 320i than I would have got on the 320d.

For company car drivers it really is a no brainer to for for the diesel for the very low BIK and great performance, but I honestly think that when it comes to resale of a 3 or 4 year old car the private buyer choice may be close, or may even be swayed towards the petrol as running costs get balanced out by maintenance costs.

Either way both 320i and 320d look like excellent all round cars and thanks to the above post i'm looking forward to the arrival of mine in a month even more :-)
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      02-10-2013, 09:30 AM   #27
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A friend of mine works for bmw and they as a dealership(which they act all individually) bulk by all sort of pre-reg models from bmw uk every few months often before new reg. comes out. All these cars registered firs owner bmw uk(it's got to do something with hitting some sort of sale targets for certain periods) and these cars get sold on to different dealerships. Like mine which I bought in January but got registered and of December therefore it's on a 62 plate. Still brand new as I was the firs one to drive and still only delivery mileage on it. Of course if you like to spec a car to your liking you need to factory order but if you don't mind to compromise on equipments or colour this is cheapest way to get your hands on brand new car. It doesn't necessary mean you won't be able to find one that you like just your options a bit limited but often these cars are well equipped like mine was as the only extra I don't have on this one compare to my e90 is the visibility pack which I didn't mind to compromise on as I still got everything else even the colour I wanted which is mineral grey. Obviously you will be the second owner of the vehicle but in my case it doesn't really matter as I'm on PCP and I will just trade in for a new one in two or three years time so I don't have to worry about having two owners on the car as I don't have to sell it.
Also you can get a better financial deal for a pre-reg car as being new compare to what they can offer on a used one.
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      02-10-2013, 09:32 AM   #28
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Oops! Sorry for the couple of spelling mistakes
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      02-10-2013, 10:13 AM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saby View Post
A friend of mine works for bmw and they as a dealership(which they act all individually) bulk by all sort of pre-reg models from bmw uk every few months often before new reg. comes out. All these cars registered firs owner bmw uk(it's got to do something with hitting some sort of sale targets for certain periods) and these cars get sold on to different dealerships. Like mine which I bought in January but got registered and of December therefore it's on a 62 plate. Still brand new as I was the firs one to drive and still only delivery mileage on it. Of course if you like to spec a car to your liking you need to factory order but if you don't mind to compromise on equipments or colour this is cheapest way to get your hands on brand new car. It doesn't necessary mean you won't be able to find one that you like just your options a bit limited but often these cars are well equipped like mine was as the only extra I don't have on this one compare to my e90 is the visibility pack which I didn't mind to compromise on as I still got everything else even the colour I wanted which is mineral grey. Obviously you will be the second owner of the vehicle but in my case it doesn't really matter as I'm on PCP and I will just trade in for a new one in two or three years time so I don't have to worry about having two owners on the car as I don't have to sell it.
Also you can get a better financial deal for a pre-reg car as being new compare to what they can offer on a used one.
So WHO is the supplying dealer?.
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      02-10-2013, 10:23 AM   #30
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I got the car from my local dealership but they actually have to buy the cars from bmw uk they don't just get them to sell on. Despite they main dealerships they all have to buy their cars they want to sell.
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      02-10-2013, 10:29 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saby View Post
I got the car from my local dealership but they actually have to buy the cars from bmw uk they don't just get them to sell on. Despite they main dealerships they all have to buy their cars they want to sell.
OK so it's BMW UK who are stock piling these pre-reg cars then good trick that insuring they meet margins and get the bonus payments, most dealerships are at it now. I may well look at a pre-reg next time.
The one I have now has all the extras including heated rear seats and steering wheel, but these things are not essential so a lower spec would be ok if the price was well down. Must look into this.
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      02-10-2013, 11:00 AM   #32
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Something like that! It's a common practice apparently with pretty much any make. Also these cars often can not be advertised on the dealerships website for some reason so wort checking regularly at local dealership what pre-reg cars they have or getting they usually able to tell before the stock comes in.
You've got a fabulous car in a great spec with an amazing engine!!! I'd like my next one in that colour but that's something can not be guaranteed with pre-reg sadly.
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      02-10-2013, 01:35 PM   #33
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Another happy 320iA xDrive owner here (although not in the UK). The car is not very economical especially in cold weather (averaging over 9L/100km in the first 2500km's), but I do love the refinement and lower noise over the diesel version as well as the grip from xDrive and a set of proper winter tyres. We've had about 10" of snow over the past couple of days and the car just takes off like it would in the summer Another benefit of the petrol engine over the diesel is that the car really warms up quickly (the heated steering wheel is getting warm in the same pace as the cabin).
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      02-10-2013, 03:12 PM   #34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davyk31 View Post
10k off list, that sounds a decent deal. What percentage discount is that? Assume though its a 2012 registered car?
Decent deal amazing I would say, they don't have a 330d m sport as well
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      02-11-2013, 02:02 AM   #35
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I personally haven't looked into the 330d options as I new they would be way out of my budget even my would have been if I factory ordered it with optional extras I have that would have been £35805 but it only cost me £25950 which is pretty good for an m sport xdrive with some expensive extras like professional nav and sport auto. I'm pretty sure it's not impossible to get a 6cyl. But most of the time they have the more affordable models on deals like recently my dealership had/still have great deals on 520ED well equipped not m sports but about £23000 for a new 5 series isn't bad at all.
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      02-11-2013, 03:50 AM   #36
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Quick question - what's the 8AT box like in the snow? Despite the xDrive I did wonder if the lack of control on the 8AT over the manual would make it a bit more difficult in snow/icy conditions?

Also - those who have the 8AT box, how easy/effective is the manual anti-stop/start, i.e. double braking to prevent the stop/start kicking in at a junction etc?
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      02-11-2013, 04:17 AM   #37
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As it has snowed last night I had the opportunity to test the car in snow again this morning, going through the car manual on the I-drive system recently discovered by pressing the traction button it puts the car in a limited traction mode specially for slushy or fresh snow conditions and it actually works nicely I did not loose traction on the way out of my dead end street. On the start/stop my experience so far as I only driven the car short distances the engine didn't even get up to temperature to activate it most of the time but when it did I just switched it off as I'm not very keen on it.
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      02-11-2013, 04:47 AM   #38
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Whats the double braking about, never heard about that trick?
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      02-11-2013, 05:10 AM   #39
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As I understand from the user manual, to prevent the start/stop kicking in when you stop at a juntion for example if you apply the footbrake quite hard then off and on again it is supposed to prevent the engine stopping. On a manual car you can just keep the clutch depressed, but obviously this isn't possible on the auto. Just wondered if it worked at all / well / easily. Maybe no-one has tried! ;-)
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      02-11-2013, 07:47 AM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NISFAN View Post
I got stuck on the carpark at the motor heritage centre, dead level and flat. Selected reverse and the rear wheels just spun. So slippery that I could take my foot off the accelerator and the wheels were still rotating slowly. Never seen anything like it.

Eventually got it free and spotted an F30 xDrive also EBII M Sport parked right at the road side in a disabled spot, lol
Hi - do you work at Palmersport? I've been there twice, it's awesome!
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