New daily - BMW 325d M Sport.

[Steve_PPP]

So the old Mondeo did me proud, 6 years of commuting and over 50k done before she finally got sold. It's replacement is this.... a 2014 F30 325d M Sport.

Bought from Big Motoring World (about a mile from this weekend's SES meet venue in Bluebell Hill) - mainly because of the huge amount of choice available and good prices. Their sales tactics are pretty aggressive but I got a reasonably decent salesman assigned (before I'd walked more than 10 feet through the door, I should add ) but I guess I can understand why they do it that way. On that weekend, they had over 100 F30 beemers in my price bracket, so they can't afford to waste hours opening up dozens of cars with each customer. It's very much a case of pick a couple of examples from the website and then turn up to look round them, then take home the nicest one if your happy with it!

This one was very clean, completely standard, and under 30k miles on it, so made sense.

A few photos from the advert...







And some after it's first wash at home

[Steve_PPP]

And a few little tweaks already... LED DRLs to replace the nasty yellow bulbs (half n half pic below).



And a proper wheel clean and seal. Took a couple of hours per wheel but being a lease/company car they'd never had much time and attention spent on them! Needed tar remover and a claying to sort out, but came up well. New centre caps added as the old ones were bubbling and looked nasty.

[Rdlangy1]

Is a cracking car Steve

Love the interior and wheels came up a treat

[scooby doo]

Nice , bet it shifts too .

[scotty]

Very nice just dont break the exhaust aint cheap as its a Msport

[nikkinokkinoo]

Very nice , pretty rare being a manual.



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[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by scooby doo

Nice , bet it shifts too .

214bhp, 450Nm and apparently a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds. Although I haven't tried yet....

This era of beemer have 3 modes (throttle maps I guess) - Sport, Comfort and Eco. It defaults to Comfort every time you start it but from what I can tell, its the most pointless mode. If I'm on an empty road and want to push on, I chuck it in Sport and everything feels sharper. If I'm in traffic and can't really make progress, then its in Eco.

My 30 minute commute in Eco seems to be averaging 53-57mpg which I'm pretty happy with for a car of this size (and weight).

Originally Posted by scotty

Very nice just dont break the exhaust aint cheap as its a Msport

Howcome??? I guess you mean the twin exit backbox? As I assume the rest of the exhaust is the same on all models....

Originally Posted by nikkinokkinoo

Very nice , pretty rare being a manual.

Thanks mate, yeah I still prefer a manual. I know the 7 speed auto in the F30 is meant to be awesome, but I think i'd just get bored....

[Steve_PPP]

And a little more tinkering this afternoon after getting back from the pub meet....

I've never really liked the chrome front grills on the car, especially as the M Sport has the black headlight infills and this car was spec'd with gloss black trims around the windows etc. Managed to source a pair of brand new genuine BMW gloss back grills online without breaking the bank!

Before:



Halfway:



After:



And to think I said I wouldn't tinker with this car when I bought it
Poor old scoob will start to think she's being neglected!

[Red Baron]

Surprising how different it looks, I like it.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Howcome??? I guess you mean the twin exit backbox? As I assume the rest of the exhaust is the same on all models....

From the down pipe its twin cats and twin pipes all the way back i got a quote from bmw for our old 330 msport at a cost of 2.5k for a new oem one but went to quick fit and got a replacement for 1k fitted lol but not sure what yours would cost .

[Bolesroor]

Very nice Steve , plus I have have flat drive envy

[Banstead Stig]

That's nice, Steve.

I remember reading a statistic a few years ago that the 3 Series had overtaken the Mondeo as the repmobile of choice, so makes sense that the same has happened with commuter cars in the PPP household.

[scooby doo]

Black kidney grills are a must!
looks tons better!

[Lucky]

Very nice Steve, and a good upgrade from the trusty mondeo. Should see you right for a good few years. Love what you have done to the front, much more aggressive looking.

[Rdlangy1]

Missed this on sat - loving the new grill surrounds mate

Have to track the Scoob a bit more so she doesn’t feel left out

[Steve_PPP]

Thanks guys, much prefer the front end look now. They look nice with a splitter too but that might have to wait....

Originally Posted by Banstead Stig

I remember reading a statistic a few years ago that the 3 Series had overtaken the Mondeo as the repmobile of choice, so makes sense that the same has happened with commuter cars in the PPP household.

Hah, didn't even think of that but yes, I remember hearing the same. It became a repmobile due to its variable servicing plan (up to 20k miles between services depending on driving style) so it kept the costs down for the company car/fleet operators in the first 3 years of ownership.

Mine is saying I've got 14k still to go before a service and it has already done 4k since the last one - don't think i'll be waiting that long. Probably get into a routine of once a year, and I'll be doing about 10k in that time.

[NL03Scooby]

Looking good with the new black grills. Hope they were not too much of a faff to fit, was it a bumper off job in the end?

I have considered the same course of action with the Mini but since I picked it up I have really started to like the chrome bits and the way they break the looks up a little, thinking I will leave it as is, for the time being...

I am in the same boat with regards to modding the daily/other car though, I really shouldn't put more money then I have too in to the Mini but in needs a new exhaust and who doesn't fit a nice uprated stainless system when given half a chance!

[Rdlangy1]

Originally Posted by NL03Scooby

Looking good with the new black grills. Hope they were not too much of a faff to fit, was it a bumper off job in the end?

I have considered the same course of action with the Mini but since I picked it up I have really started to like the chrome bits and the way they break the looks up a little, thinking I will leave it as is, for the time being...

I am in the same boat with regards to modding the daily/other car though, I really shouldn't put more money then I have too in to the Mini but in needs a new exhaust and who doesn't fit a nice uprated stainless system when given half a chance!

Exhaust then mod the Scoob, mod the Scoob, mod the Scoob

Big plans can’t happen without first dipping ur toe in, then diving head first into the unknown pmsl!

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by NL03Scooby

Looking good with the new black grills. Hope they were not too much of a faff to fit, was it a bumper off job in the end?

Nah, wouldn't have bothered if that was the case

Pretty simple, a few bolts along the top edge of the bumper and then you can get to the clips to release them. The whole top section of the bumper will flex forward with a bit of pressure as only the thin bit down the middle holds it rigid!

Second one is much easier as you can reach through the hole vacated by the first!

[phil1981]

Is it a really good car ?
Been thinking g if changing my golf gtd for a 330d m sport.
Does anybody I ow what servicing prices etc are like and if anything to look out for when buying.
Sorry hijacking your thread here

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by phil1981

Is it a really good car ?
Been thinking g if changing my golf gtd for a 330d m sport.
Does anybody I ow what servicing prices etc are like and if anything to look out for when buying.
Sorry hijacking your thread here

Not a problem So far, its feeling like a very good car. I tend to be driving it slower than my old Mondeo ST TDCi which seems a bit daft, but the beemer likes to cruise effortlessly. And I guess all the eco-bull**** in modern cars is making me paranoid about how much fuel i'm wasting when flooring it!

Look at the spec of what you're buying carefully, a lot of msport cars didn't come fully loaded - lots are missing things like satnav, heated seats etc (I have neither...). If you can get hold of the VIN before buying, chuck it into https://www.bmwvin.com/ and it'll give you a complete breakdown of all the options on the vehicle. I did it a week after owning the car and still learnt new stuff I hadn't found

Some had the standard M Sport suspension, some have the electric adaptive suspension. Some have the big blue M brake kit, some don't. Expect a discs/pads change to be rather expensive if you get one with it! All were fitted with runflats but see what is on the car now - mine is half/half as a lot of people hate them (me included). When the front tyres are worn out, then i'll replace them with normal tyres too.

Not too clued up on servicing costs as I haven't needed one... and I must admit I'm not too clued up on what goes wrong on these either. I knew about the timing chain tensioner on the N47 diesel engine (which mine has) but it mainly affects the pre-2013 cars. If you're looking at a 330d then you won't have to worry about that with 6 cylinders though

[phil1981]

Thankyou.
Any info is certainly useful.
I went in an msport the other week and it did feel so smooth and comfortable and it does cruise well even at 70mph

[Red Baron]

Personally I think you're better off without the Sat Nav, especially in a second hand car that you intend to keep for a while, I've used quite a few in different cars and none of them have been very good and they cost a fortune to update. Cheap magnetic phone mount and Waze for me or the TomTom for driving on the continent.

[Steve_PPP]

Yeah I agree Shane, which is why I wasn't fussed about not having it. They all seem clunky and address/postcode input is slow slow compared to using Google maps or Waze on a phone.

[Steve_PPP]

A year later and the beemer is still proving to be a great daily. Did 500 miles last weekend to Manchester and back, averaging 60.8mpg on the way and 56mpg on the way back (was driving a bit quicker to get home )

Found a decent BMW independent specialist to look after it in BMR Performance, Turners Hill, who seem good guys. It's had its EGR Recall done so hopefully it won't go up in smoke, even though they checked all the parts and decided mine warranted no action.
Also had a steering knock fixed with a new bushing in the rack that BMW only released last year. £30 + fitting. Previously customers were getting told by BMW that they needed a whole new rack at over £2500 + coding. Feck that!

What else.... got another set of wheels last autumn for winters (Dunlop WinterSport 5's) which will probably be going back on in month or so.

Biggest annoyance so far is the fixed rear seats and not being able to get anything big in the car. Should have gone for the F31

[phil1981]

F31 still ain’t much bigger and I believe the folding seats are an option.
Although I do love my F31

[munk]

very nice steve!!! that old scoob will be gone soon and youll have an m3 sat there i reckon!...

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by munk

very nice steve!!! that old scoob will be gone soon and youll have an m3 sat there i reckon!...

haha thanks mate. don't fancy an old bug do you?

[ABWRX]

Just read through this one now as well, nice car! There’s a BMW specialist I’ve used a few times on SM Tidy industrial estate called PBM (Porsche, BMW & Mercedes). They’ve done excellent work on our E46 before and the only reason I found out about them was because the local garage I used for normal repairs couldn’t fix a problem we had with the radiator fan staying on permanently after turning the engine off so they recommended PBM and within 30 seconds on the phone to them they knew the problem as it was common with the E46’s. I haven’t used them in a while as the Beamer has been SORN for a year. Thought I’d mention it incase you needed a garage closer to home and always handy to have somewhere to get a 2nd quote!


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[munk]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

haha thanks mate. don't fancy an old bug do you?

if i had enough room in my garage id have them all

[Steve_PPP]

BMW still going strong and still enjoying it. Was going to move it on for something a little newer but decided to replace Claire's poxy Astra instead, so looks like it will stay for a while longer.

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

It's had its EGR Recall done so hopefully it won't go up in smoke, even though they checked all the parts and decided mine warranted no action.

And it seems BMW have been forced to change their stance on this - either that or they didn't have enough parts last year so sent me on my way as mine wasn't presenting any problem signs at the time...

But had a phonecall from BMW Gatwick and its got to go back in next week for a full EGR cooler replacement under recall. Wonder if I can blag a new 8 Series as a loaner

[phil1981]

Glad yours is going good.
I got an F31 330d with quite a high spec and it’s still going strong.
In over a year I’ve only had to replace 4 tires and of course the usual service costs.

I’m getting an average 38-40mpg according to fuelly app and I don’t drive it sensible.
Goes well,pretty quick and comfortable.

Must say one of the best cars I’ve had

[Steve_PPP]

Nearly 3 years since the last post and the BMW is still part of the household. It's only done a few thousand miles a year due to covid and the whole working from home thing. Plus we took out a 3yr lease on a Seat Arona for Claire in Feb 2020 based on 10,000 miles/year, as she was commuting 40 miles a day back then. A month later, that all changed and we've been putting all the random mileage on that instead - it goes back in a month having only done 14k out of the 30k allowance

Anyway, the BMW has been great over last 4-5 years. Still only on 50k for a 2014 car, and with prices of 2nd hand cars going crazy over the last few years seems to be worth not far off what I paid for it.

It's got another recall pending for the EGR cooler (again) - as BMW revised the part and released a new design in July 2022 which mine needs. I could really do with an estate these days but there's always that little concern about moving on a great example that's got no faults and has been perfect.... for something else that is an unknown quantity. Hmmm.

[Rdlangy1]

Seems a well worthy investment then mate

[Frenchie]

Sorry to steal the thread,but hi Ryan ,how are you doing Mate. Would be up for another meet next year and a wash and brush up if possible, that's the Subaru, not me.

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Would be up for another meet next year and a wash and brush up if possible, that's the Subaru, not me.

[Steve_PPP]

So... after nearly 6.5 years of ownership, this BMW has been sold. With covid and the subsequent hybrid working model that came along since, I only did 35k in it during that time.

It's replacement (also a BMW) has taken it's place on the driveway.

[Red Baron]

Interesting how it's changed for you since Covid, I'm back to 3 days a week in Crawley now so my poor A4 has had another 21K added since I bought it in July last year, probably didn't know what had hit it, had only been averaging 6-7k a year before I bought it, seems to be taking it in its stride though.

[Steve_PPP]

I'm averaging 2 days a week in the office (also Crawley) but obviously I'm much closer than you. We've basically gone to a model of having to work 50% of Mon-Thurs in the office, and we don't even open up the building on a Friday.

[Lucky]

Let’s see the replacement then