[Tris]

Hello all,

First post here, so a warm hello to you all

Ive been thinking about the possible purchase of a new 320d Edition M Sport Touring, to replace my current Audi A4 S-Line 2lt TDI.

This will be my first BMW, so i was wondering what everyone thought to this spec ?. Is there anything thats really worth while getting extra ?.

And what colors / Interior in everyone's opinion work best ? (am i right in thinking that the carbon black is only available on the editions ?)

The only thing that i think i want to do is upgrade the nav to professional, does anyone know what this costs ?

Cheers
Tris

[gIzzE]

Too late I'm afraid, they were run out models before the September facelift cars appeared.

Best bet is find on at a dealer with 5k miles on it and pay around £25k.



It will absolutely destroy your A4 in every respect, that I can promise you!!

[dxb335d]

even more so with a spider tuning box.

A warm welcome also to e90post mate.

[Carrera RSR]

Welcome. You can't order and spec them as new as they have completed the production on these in August. However a search around dealers may bring up an unregistered or ex demo one.

A great spec car for the money. Only available in Carbon Black, Sparkling Graphite and Silver. Leather. !8'' WTCC Wheels and Nav.

If your next car doesn't need to be new then its a good buy.

[dxb335d]

Carrera, what other engines did they do?

[Tris]

Very interesting, thanks for all the info !!!. I was being offered one "as new" today from a BMW main agent..

Some questions for tomorrow i think !

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Carrera, what other engines did they do?

Four cylinder petrol or denzil only.

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by Tris

Very interesting, thanks for all the info !!!. I was being offered one "as new" today from a BMW main agent..

Some questions for tomorrow i think !

Probably an 'ex demo' or 'employee' car. They will register them and use briefly and then sell asap showing a saving. New the car was only a grand more than the £28k ish E90 M Sport, £29.5k ish E91 M Sport model plus £4k of options for the additional £1k.

Subject to spec and mileage you shouldn't be paying any more than early £20k. Saw an E91 in my local dealer for £25k this week. Would have been £30ish new a few months ago.

[NFS]

Crazy how things change. When I bought my car 2 years ago the prices of nearly new cars, up to 12 months old, were only a couple of grand behind new.

Given that the usual discounts were 10-12% on new it didn't make sense to buy used.

Within a year of buying the car it all changed again with brokers offering discounts of up to 20% of new cars.

That well and truly killed the residuals of any nearly new vehicles. Now the credit crunch has pushed ALL prices down even further.

Mad to think that the market can change so radically in 2 years. Looking at the situation now you would be daft to buy a brand new car, when you can get a nearly new one for 30% less.

[gIzzE]

Less than that!!

Mate just bought a C180k sport Estate, 57 plate, 8k miles on it, black with black leather and lots of toys but no nav, listed for £28k and he paid........






£12k!!!


That is a serious bargain! Really nice car and he is returning 36mpg. The ride is sublime too.

[gIzzE]

There are some really nice 320d tourings about for £20k or there about at less than a year old with low miles.
Plus plenty of 330d's with nav for the same money as the new 320d's too.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Less than that!!

Mate just bought a C180k sport Estate, 57 plate, 8k miles on it, black with black leather and lots of toys but no nav, listed for £28k and he paid........

£12k!!!

That is a serious bargain! Really nice car and he is returning 36mpg. The ride is sublime too.

I think the dealers are directly to blame for the massive drop in used car values.

Far less people are buying, because everyone is concerned about big financial decisions at the moment. The dealers don't seem to have altered their game at all though. They are still buying at 'X' and selling at 'X+£2k'.

As the sales have declined, they've just bought cars for less taking advantange of people who want to trade in because they are concerned about private sale values.

Problem is this creates a spiral that continually drives prices down.

Not a problem for a cash buyer, but not great if you have a car that owes you something.

The other thing I have noticed while looking at cars over the last few weeks is the 'lowest price guarantee' approach from the car supermarkets. They are scouring the classifieds and making sure their car has the lowest asking price. But then they won't budge on it at all.

Of course the rest of the market has to then try to compete with those low prices - which are effectively also subsidised by the dealers, because these supermarkets are actually discount outlets for main dealer stock that they can't or won't put on the forecourt.

[Tris]

Well, ive just been offered a 1 month old, 320d edition M Sport, in Carbon Black, with black leather, upgraded pro nav, upgraded Hi-Fi, USB, Heated seats, electric mirrors with 340 miles on the clock for £27,990

He's pretty firm on the price (its the boss's car) but the down side is the dealership is MILES away (like 300 miles away !)..

Hmm

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Tris

Well, ive just been offered a 1 month old, 320d edition M Sport, in Carbon Black, with black leather, upgraded pro nav, upgraded Hi-Fi, USB, Heated seats, electric mirrors with 340 miles on the clock for £27,990

He's pretty firm on the price (its the boss's car) but the down side is the dealership is MILES away (like 300 miles away !)..

Hmm

Seems a little bit pricy to me for the moment. Bearing in mind this would have been about £34k list and the original owner would have probably got about 10% discount it would have been £30k (ish) brand new.

Is £2500 enough of a discount for that extra owner on the V5?

[gIzzE]

Agreed, coast2coastcars.com were doing these new for £26k.

The upgrade to pro nav was £380 and the hi-fi was £340 or there abouts. So still under £27k new.

I would want to be paying about £23/24k on that car at the very most. It is a touring yeah??



Here is the new 3 series with the same options....

Vehicle BMW 3-Series Estate diesel TOURING 320d M Sport 5dr
Factory Options Hi-fi loudspeaker system
Media pack - Professional - 3 Series
Dakota leather - Black

Additional Options
Basic Price £24757.45
Factory Options Price £2851.06
Discount £3313.02
Additional Options Price £0.00
Sub Total £24295.49
Manufacturer's Delivery Cost £506.38
Admin. Charge £300.00
VAT £4392.83
Road Fund Licence (12 months) £120.00
First Registration Fee £55.00


ON THE ROAD PRICE £29669.70


TOTAL SAVING £3540.30

That will be worth a hell of a lot more than the extra £2k it is now in 3 years time, I can guarantee you that.

Plus you get the new iDrive system etc.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Plus you get the new iDrive system etc.

That alone is going to add a lot of value. For the owner of the car and on re-sale

[Tris]

Is the Hi-Fi upgrade a worth while option ? Oh and yes, its the touring that i am looking at

[Carrera RSR]

My spec below. OTR price of £31500 or there abouts. Would have been £33500 but remember the £1k addition for £4k of options.

The price of the car being offered is too high. Boss's car or not they will want to sell as I bet they have further stock cars he could be driving.

Should ask the guy to put you on to his boss and agree a deal with him and miss out the middle man

[Tris]

Hello All,

Well i wasn't able to reach a deal over that car - it was up for £27,990 and taking the comments here onboard, i was only prepared to go to £25,990. So thats just a "small" £2K discount.

The most he would do was £500-1000 so i walked away from the deal.

The search continues though. Going to try and private sell my audi on autotrader first, and then possibly try and find an edition with pro nav with a few more miles on the clock

Cheers
Tris

[Carrera RSR]

You would have thought the dealer would be more hungry for the business seeing as my local dealer is full of used cars and has new cars on the floor. I am sure they are all the same.

From my experience I would recommend the Pro Nav, USB interface and Xenons as these are both useful additions and help resale. Beyond that its purely cosmetic or personal preference. If I could change anything on my car I'd like a better sound system. The standard is 'adequate' but not great.

Let us know how you get on.