[FSE23]

I can't understand BMW UK or just BMW policy in terms of model selection for UK market. Until recently X models were only available with diesel engines ( apart from x5/6M) while other countries have them all both petrol and diesels. 340i is only sdrive while 335d is only xdrive . I checked other countries too and it looks like most of the EU countries have both 340i sdrive and xdrive available apart from Spain where only xdrive 340i is available. I believe melting tarmac is that where you need xdrive.
There are so many people here who said that 340xdrive would be ideal car for them, recently I have started thinking the same way. The way the xdrive is useful in town or on A/B road is incredible. Yes, I don't need it for motorway. But the way you can actually merge fast incoming traffic is just unbelievable. I start loving it so much now.
Just prayer to BMW UK - bring 340 xdrive to the country ( wishful thinking)

[teaston]

I think it's just about them not being arsed to convert them to RHD! Remember F3x are the first 3 series to be offered in xdrive at all in UK!

[FSE23]

so if it is already available in diesel so why not in petrol? does it require so many changes?

[335dJa]

I read somewhere a while ago that it is an issue with the exhaust/turbo placement. On a rhd, the front driveshaft would clash with the exhaust and steering rack.

[225]

Agree think it is technical more than marketing. If the sorted out the ride height etc for next series I would certainly be looking at an xdrive.

[RobUK]

Originally Posted by piono

Yes, I don't need it for motorway. But the way you can actually merge fast incoming traffic is just unbelievable. I start loving it so much now.

I'm intrigued...

[ep22jg]

Originally Posted by 335dJa

I read somewhere a while ago that it is an issue with the exhaust/turbo placement. On a rhd, the front driveshaft would clash with the exhaust and steering rack.

This may be the reason, but the 330d/335d is also a straight six with the 8AT, so maybe not so different??
What ever the reason, they aren't here!!!

[Buster Blue]

Originally Posted by teaston

I think it's just about them not being arsed to convert them to RHD! Remember F3x are the first 3 series to be offered in xdrive at all in UK!

I believe there was a E30 325 xdrive.

[jnismith]

Originally Posted by Buster Blue

I believe there was a E30 325 xdrive.

yeah there was 325ix but it was LHD only, as was the E30 based M3

[E60525d]

Dont think it is for any technical reasons as the 340i Xdrive is available in other RHD countries such as Australia.

[HighlandPete]

A couple of thoughts.

It probably has got a lot to do with volume of sales. What are the sales of the 335i/340i in the UK? Forums aside, is it any more than small volume in any configuration (saloon, touring, coupe)? Also what were the anticipated sales for the models in the UK? May have been lower than the actual take up, when BMW were planning the models.

I also wonder what the real feedback is on xDrive in the 335d. If many are echoing the views on here and won't buy a 335d/435d because they are only available with xDrive, could well influence not even offering xDrive with the N55/B58 engines with very limited sales. May not be worth it, for the costs of type approval and supporting sales.

I'm sure BMW are building data for how the UK market is accepting xDrive in the 3/4-series, but there is no historical data for taking risks with more model releases.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

A couple of thoughts.

It probably has got a lot to do with volume of sales. What are the sales of the 335i/340i in the UK? Forums aside, is it any more than small volume in any configuration (saloon, touring, coupe)? Also what were the anticipated sales for the models in the UK? May have been lower than the actual take up, when BMW were planning the models.

I also wonder what the real feedback is on xDrive in the 335d. If many are echoing the views on here and won't buy a 335d/435d because they are only available with xDrive, could well influence not even offering xDrive with the N55/B58 engines with very limited sales. May not be worth it, for the costs of type approval and supporting sales.

I'm sure BMW are building data for how the UK market is accepting xDrive in the 3/4-series, but there is no historical data for taking risks with more model releases.

I agree. I would say its more down to marketing and who will buy an xdrive. Otherwise why isnt every BMW on sale not offered as xdrive?

I think they've only offered the models they think they will sell as xdrives (with the exception of the 335d which would probably be far too leary for the average bod without xdrive with all that torque).

[Drisser]

When I was looking at getting a 330d I was sure I was going to go for Xdrive but the combination of worse mpg, ride height and higher price made me question if I really needed it - and I was pretty sure I "needed" 4wd.

Having lived with my S drive for 6 mnths, albeit through a mild winter, it has convinced me I really don't need X drive at all. I hardly ever get traction light on despite hard driving..only now and again on the occasional wet roundabout, but not very often. I like the feel of rear drive handling the way it loads up the rear tyres, and winter wheels take care of bad weather just as well if not better than 4wd.

Not sure if I am the only one who thinks this but I am a convert of someone who thought they needed X drive and is now convinced I don't.

If they did an S drive 335d for example it might be tempting, but then a 330d has pretty much all the umph you need day to day.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Drisser

When I was looking at getting a 330d I was sure I was going to go for Xdrive but the combination of worse mpg, ride height and higher price made me question if I really needed it - and I was pretty sure I "needed" 4wd.

Having lived with my S drive for 6 mnths, albeit through a mild winter, it has convinced me I really don't need X drive at all. I hardly ever get traction light on despite hard driving..only now and again on the occasional wet roundabout, but not very often. I like the feel of rear drive handling the way it loads up the rear tyres, and winter wheels take care of bad weather just as well if not better than 4wd.

Not sure if I am the only one who thinks this but I am a convert of someone who thought they needed X drive and is now convinced I don't.

If they did an S drive 335d for example it might be tempting, but then a 330d has pretty much all the umph you need day to day.

Good points.

I was going to mention the thought, "do many 340i drivers in the UK really want xDrive?" when posting my earlier comment.

I personally wouldn't want a 340i with xDrive, any more than wanting my 535i with xDrive. The purity of a petrol engine RWD with the front wheels just steering the car is a big part of the attraction, without the weight and fuel penalty.

I've never found RWD lacking, winter is easy to cope with, as I'd also have winter tyres on an xDrive. I want to be able to stop as much as keep moving. In fact stopping is more important in severe winter, xDrive has no advantage, unless running winter tyres anyway.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Drisser

When I was looking at getting a 330d I was sure I was going to go for Xdrive but the combination of worse mpg, ride height and higher price made me question if I really needed it - and I was pretty sure I "needed" 4wd.

Having lived with my S drive for 6 mnths, albeit through a mild winter, it has convinced me I really don't need X drive at all. I hardly ever get traction light on despite hard driving..only now and again on the occasional wet roundabout, but not very often. I like the feel of rear drive handling the way it loads up the rear tyres, and winter wheels take care of bad weather just as well if not better than 4wd.

Not sure if I am the only one who thinks this but I am a convert of someone who thought they needed X drive and is now convinced I don't.

If they did an S drive 335d for example it might be tempting, but then a 330d has pretty much all the umph you need day to day.

My F31 335d is the first AWD car I've had and to be honest I don't feel like I've seen the light and will never have a RWD car again. I'm probably not the hardest driver around but most of the time I never found traction a problem with either my E46 M3 CS or my E92 335i; yes X-Drive is handy when you're trying to pull out quickly from (say) a wet junction but how many times was that really a problem in the M3 or 335i? Could probably count it on the fingers of one hand in 100k miles of motoring between the two cars. In contrast, the disadvantages of AWD (e.g. extra weight and inferior fuel consumption) are with you 100% of the time so the question I find myself asking is whether that's a worthwhile trade-off given I didn't generally find RWD to be a problem? For me personally the answer is "no" so, while I wouldn't go as far as saying I dislike X-Drive, I don't think I'd opt for it given the choice.

Also interesting to see some of the comments being made in favour of X-Drive; not saying they're wrong but they do seem very similar to the sort of thing fans of the Quattro system have been saying for decades so have some of you chaps been driving the wrong marque?!!

[FSE23]

Originally Posted by RobUK

I'm intrigued...

ok, occasionaly In a very wet day it might help

[FSE23]

Originally Posted by E60525d

Dont think it is for any technical reasons as the 340i Xdrive is available in other RHD countries such as Australia.

I checked yesterday and there aren't any xdrive 3 series in Australia, NZ, SA.

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

A couple of thoughts.

It probably has got a lot to do with volume of sales. What are the sales of the 335i/340i in the UK? Forums aside, is it any more than small volume in any configuration (saloon, touring, coupe)? Also what were the anticipated sales for the models in the UK? May have been lower than the actual take up, when BMW were planning the models.

I also wonder what the real feedback is on xDrive in the 335d. If many are echoing the views on here and won't buy a 335d/435d because they are only available with xDrive, could well influence not even offering xDrive with the N55/B58 engines with very limited sales. May not be worth it, for the costs of type approval and supporting sales.

I'm sure BMW are building data for how the UK market is accepting xDrive in the 3/4-series, but there is no historical data for taking risks with more model releases.

I would agree to a certain extent. ..but what do you think the volume of sales of 340xdrive would be in Spain? Almost close to zero or as that is the one and only 340i so quite a few?

[jnismith]

I've enjoyed having xdrive as the car feels somehow more safe. However the reason I got it was because the winter before I got it, I couldn't get my 525D off the drive for two weeks because of the snow.

Since then and after buying winter tyres as well, it hasn't bloody snowed so back to RWD is fine. Will probably cause the next ice age writing that.

[Rich9600]

I've driven a few xDrive cars and enjoyed the experience. For non thinking driving it is fantastic. Comfort mode and mash the loud pedal and you're going faster...

My mate has a similar 330d to my own, but his is xDrive whilst my one is sDrive. I was following him into work a few months ago (late summer) and we were both having a bit of a play on a dry warm road. He could get the power on so much earlier in his passively damped SE variant (with 225 tyres on all round) than I could in my adaptively damped MSport on staggered tyres. I found I was having to work the throttle as he disappeared up the road!

A few weeks ago with 225 winters all round on my car I was having a play with another mate driving home from work, the rad was damp and cold. He was in a 150hp Seat Leon diesel, I couldn't pull away form him until I was over 40-50mph, I just didn't gave the traction... I was constantly having the modulate the accelerator and was enjoying a little sideways slip in standard sport mode.

In both these situations an xDrive car would be much faster accelerating, for my driving skill level. However, I do enjoy driving a RWD car when I'm in the mood for some fun.

xDrive has the edge in acceleration particularly in urban situations, out if junctions and out if slow corners. However, once up to speed, when traction is less limiting, there is little difference. It's just weight to haul around.

Winter tyres have removed most of my winter driving sDrive anxiety, we got caught on the wrong side of the Pennies when it snowed and got home fine.

Though I know it's daft to worry about a few MPG on a £40k+ car, I find the xDrive MPG penalty to just be annoying.

xDrive is a good system, just not for me. The 335dx Touring as a sporty lifestyle vehicle is amazing. It will get you in and out of a caravan site or glamping field in bad weather.

But, I live in rural Cumbria all year round, and my next car will be a 6 cylinder sDrive, the classic BMW. If I can't get the sDrive power down, I'm probably trying to go too fast for my skill anyway...

[Lorcan]

The EU places limits, for environmental reasons, on the number of permutations each manufacturer can bring into each market. So BMW has to look at which models will sell well in a particular market and fill its allocation of permutations accordingly. It could bring in a 340ix, but it would have to drop something else from the range that might sell better or be needed in a certain segment.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Rich9600

Though I know it's daft to worry about a few MPG on a £40k+ car, I find the xDrive MPG penalty to just be annoying.

I don't find my 335d to give any less MPG, depite the xdrive and an extra turbo!

[rawbhp]

I wish my 335d was 2wd! I really don't like x drive. Yes it's safe and functional but it's not fun, even on an empty runway (which I discovered recently)