[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by cruvon

Then the 10K saving would buy a lot of beer

Prost

[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by kaishang

Try out the diesels if you want less fuel use. About 8L/100km CITY driving. Open road is about 6.5L/100km.

Thats pretty awesome. What do 320i drivers get? I know the stats on redbook.com.au but its nice to hear some real-world review.

[johnnydad]

Our current average for the 320d is 8.4 l/100km which is 90% inner city driving. Freeway at 120km/h fully loaded will get us 5.4l/100km. 325i is looking at 13.6/7.8 in identical conditions and I'd guess a 323i wouldn't improve much on that.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by johnnydad

The thing about a BMW, and especially one with M-sport, is its ability to corner hard and respond so nicely to driver input. Limits are pretty high for a road car and if you buy one above Audi, Merc, Subaru, Honda etc etc for the 'right' reasons (IMHO) the more powerful versions really do make sense as a value proposition over and above the I4. Yes, the 320i is a lovely car and yes you can chuck it around but the extra power adds another dimension on a challenging road (or track).

We test drove A4 and C-class extensively - it's probably easy to argue that these are better all-round buys (and believe me even the A4 1.8 Multitronic would leave the 320i a quivering mess at the lights, let alone the 2.0) but every time we went back to a BMW you could feel the greater feedback, better balance and greater driving satisfaction. In the end, the only way to get equivalent performance (i.e. for our needs) was to plump for the 320d which, being a non-M on 16's is almost overpowered!

Do agree about that John..besides the power which is good to have it's the feel and handling in a 3 that really makes it a drivers car

[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by cruvon

Do agree about that John..besides the power which is good to have it's the feel and handling in a 3 that really makes it a drivers car

Thats what I want in my next car... 'a drivers car'. My caprice is nice, has all the bells and whistles you'd get from a high-line euro car (mem seats, gps, entertainment sys, dip mirrors etc etc) yet its still rugged. Its a great car for what it is but being German, I like things engineered to excellence. The caprice is a bit raw. If I went to a 3 series or even a 5, I probably would miss some of the nice features I got in the caprice but I think I'm one of them people who will appreciate the engineering over the luxuries. I'm thinking of it as moving from an old house to a nice luxury apartment.

[kaishang]

The 3-er or 5-er is luxurious, even if it is missing some features which are listed on the spec sheet of a Caprice - I'd recommend a sunroof though and a 6-cylinder engine, which should come standard with memory seats anyway. The quality of materials and the overall build quality are on a different level to a Holden. You feel good driving a BMW

Another thing I noticed - about once every 6 months in Oz if I'm driving a regular car like a Commodore, some moronic chump will give me the finger for some perceived ridiculous offense like wanting to turn left or turn right or slow down so I don't run over a pedestrian etc etc. So far it's never happened to me in a BMW. Don't know why, but it hasn't. Driving a Commodore used to attract some ultra moronic behaviour in other drivers.

The base-spec stereo on the 3-series is widely regarded as very substandard. You may want to budget $1,000 for an audio upgrade if your BMW is not already fitted with a better stereo option. Non-basic stereos can be identified if the doors have tweeters installed in the corners next to the side mirrors.

Originally Posted by anonymousmoose

Thats what I want in my next car... 'a drivers car'. My caprice is nice, has all the bells and whistles you'd get from a high-line euro car (mem seats, gps, entertainment sys, dip mirrors etc etc) yet its still rugged. Its a great car for what it is but being German, I like things engineered to excellence. The caprice is a bit raw. If I went to a 3 series or even a 5, I probably would miss some of the nice features I got in the caprice but I think I'm one of them people who will appreciate the engineering over the luxuries. I'm thinking of it as moving from an old house to a nice luxury apartment.

[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by kaishang

The 3-er or 5-er is luxurious, even if it is missing some features which are listed on the spec sheet of a Caprice - I'd recommend a sunroof though and a 6-cylinder engine, which should come standard with memory seats anyway. The quality of materials and the overall build quality are on a different level to a Holden. You feel good driving a BMW .................

Thanks for this. It will be next year when the lease on the caprice is done. Hopefully the next model (F30) in the 3er will be released by then and prices on the E90 will drop more. Maybe the 5ers will depreciate more too. I saw a 330i for about $34k on a trading post, but it sounded a little too inexpensive. Maybe the owner selected the wrong model.

[kaishang]

The new F10 5-series has been on sale in Euro-land for a while now: long enough that you can walk into a BMW dealer and buy a secondhand one with about 5,000 miles on it. E90 used values will probably drop a little when the F30 comes out, but that probably won't happen until Q1 2012 and they won't reach Oz for a few months after that.

Originally Posted by anonymousmoose

Thanks for this. It will be next year when the lease on the caprice is done. Hopefully the next model (F30) in the 3er will be released by then and prices on the E90 will drop more. Maybe the 5ers will depreciate more too. I saw a 330i for about $34k on a trading post, but it sounded a little too inexpensive. Maybe the owner selected the wrong model.

[BMW //MPOWER]

Originally Posted by kaishang

The new F10 5-series has been on sale in Euro-land for a while now: long enough that you can walk into a BMW dealer and buy a secondhand one with about 5,000 miles on it. E90 used values will probably drop a little when the F30 comes out, but that probably won't happen until Q1 2012 and they won't reach Oz for a few months after that.

Try more like May 2011 for the 1st batch to hit the roads in oz.

[anonymousmoose]

Originally Posted by BMW //MPOWER

Try more like May 2011 for the 1st batch to hit the roads in oz.

If that's the case, it may be good timing. I gotta double-check when the caprice finishes its lease.

[johnnydad]

I had understood that it was to be previewed at the next Frankfurt show (15th-25th September 2011) with European release after that and appearance in Australia very late 2011 or early 2012.

[Ninjaoz]

earliest would be 2012..given the 7 yrs cycle time and E90 started in 2005.