[chris_s1]

I went looking for a 320d in manual with no options. I was one of those 'my £95 Tomtom is better than your iDrive' kind of people at that time.

I ended up in a 325d Auto with tons of options that I'd never have specified and it has totally opened my eyes.
I am happy to admit I was completely wrong about what I wanted. Now I'll never have a manual as my daily driver again, and I'd also never even consider a car without iDrive, bluetooth or 6FL.

People want different things though - my previous car had leather, heated seats and folding mirrors and now I don't have those. I wouldn't pay a penny for them again - don't miss them a bit.

[Boyd1963]

Bought mine new and regret not going for the auto. The clutch is absolutely dreadful in my 320d. In fact I consider it to be dangerous as you never know when the car will grind to a halt when leaving a junction.

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by makkan00

You drove the car for 2 hours before buying it
How did seller let you do that? or was that dealer?

No I drove for 2 hours to go and see it.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by parapaul

No I drove for 2 hours to go and see it.

That make sense, my bad!

[Danny.B.]

I was looking for a 320d and ended up with a 330d so no i dont think i compromised!

[Danny.B.]

Well ok i nearly had a 320d with xenons but i think thats a good trade off

[Jif]

Mine came with lots of options I would never have looked for such as high beam assistant, adaptive headlights and voice control, trouble is I've now got used to most of them which makes buying the next car harder.

I was looking for a manual, but nearly impossible to find on a 330d E91.

[Theivz]

i generally wait and well speccd cars take ages to come up

the 1er had xenons/leather/sunroof/heated seats which is rare esp in white!

the e91 is a business edition which means sat nav/bluetooth but really lucky with pan sunroof/oyster nappa leather/xenons/heated seats ... other things i would have wanted are memory seats and power folding mirrors ...; and i suppose thats the compromise...

[ddogg35]

I spent so long looking for a new car that was what i wanted
the only thing i wanted but didn't get was halos

[hxs80]

Originally Posted by Mr Singh

I got everything I wanted at the time, no compromise there.

Its only after you buy it you wonder and wish about the extras others have and want them more!

That's true!

I got lucky that I found mine with the red leather interior and I wasn't even looking for it. It was still under warranty when I got it and the private dealer took it to the local BMW to get it all in top condition before handing it to me. Once, I got in and started reading forums and looking at what others have, I realized that mine is actually pretty basic! I don't have the premium sound but from what I read, I'm not missing much and could do better going after market. I don't like the double hump for the nav, but I wish I had A nav. I wish I had the shadowline trime. I wish I had the m looking bumper, ect. etc. haha. Over all, I'm happy with my car..oh. If I had a magic wand, I would change the color from black saphire to sparkling graphite. Black is such a pain to maintain...

[dopper99]

I wanted a 330d LCI with a manual box and these are rare as rocking horse sh*t. So in the end brought brand new so I could have everthing I wanted...

Black dakota leather seats
Front heated seats
USB Audio interface
Lumbar seats
Bluetooth phone prep
Xenon headlights
Adaptive headlights
High beam assist
Sun protection glass
Electric folding mirrors
Folding rear seats
Ski load to rear compartment
Extended storage

[spirocheter]

Good question! I would wait for what you really want, particularly interior trim, I hate the pensioner spec BMs out there.

I moved from an e46 330d manual which I loved (had xenons) to a 335d saloon, compromised on Lemon Yellow interior though sat nav was a very nice unexpected feature (although the sat nav is crap, I still love it)! The one thing I really missed was the xenons though as I drive a lot at night. Did 12K miles in that one and then drove our second car for eighteen months. I had spent about six months before finding another 335d, at the right price with the right spec and colour - black leather this time, the Lemon Yellow whilst really nice showed dirt and stains too easily (before you ask, stains from jeans and tea-shirts contaminated the colour and were a b!t@h to get out).

The new car has comfort access, folding rear seats, ski-load, heated seats, bluetooth phone, CD autochanger (who orders these any more)? The only thing I miss, which I've got used to now, is no USB.

I had set out looking for an LCI 330d manual touring though changed my search due to prices and rarity. Ideally I'd have had a touring 335d, but the spec and price were so appealing (and only 21K miles on an 08 plate) I had to jump on the one I bought.

So I'd wait if I were you, unless you can afford to change more often. You'll probably see the perfect spec the week after buying otherwise!

[doughboy]

I looked for 6 months in late 08 into 09 for a manual 335i tourer. There were non, zero, zilch. Must be the rarest 3er out there! So it was a non starter.

Ended up buying a new one instead

[pani_K3]

Wow, some good responses and stories here!

I'm going to slacken some bits off and find something that is 90% there and sod the rest. I'm coming from a MK1 facelift Focus so a suited and booted 330d will be miles ahead of anything my Focus has!! But as always if you're going to spend a big lump of money might as well try to get the best you can as I'm going to be keeping the car a good while.

MEGA; your 335d spec is mint and is more or less exactly how I'd have it!

[Barlows]

I'm on the lookout for an E92 335i M Sport at the moment and getting the right combination is hard!

My wishlist:
Black Sapphire/Titanium Silver/Le Mans Blue
Black/Grey Leather
Bluetooth
Sat Nav
+/- 50,000 miles
07 Onwards

Trying to find one that ticks all the boxes for my budget (~£15-16k) is proving near impossible!

The main thing i would have to compromise on is the Sat Nav but i believe i would lose the iDrive features which are really useful?

[Subzero2003]

My MUST HAVE list was:

-335 petrol
-Low miles/low owners/FBMWSH
-iDrive
-Xenon's
-Cream interior
-Good exterior colour

My desired options were:
- MSport
- Manual
- Upgraded audio

I had to sacrifice the M-Sport and manual options to get an otherwise utterly perfect car for me.

[Subzero2003]

Originally Posted by SeanCorky

The main thing i would have to compromise on is the Sat Nav but i believe i would lose the iDrive features which are really useful?

Don't sacrifice the iDrive (iDrive NOT satnav). The interior looks much better/more modern with the iDrive screen there and it is a lovely option to have.

I would recommend just waiting and watching until one comes up - which will happen, just have to be patient.

[Barlows]

Originally Posted by Subzero2003

Don't sacrifice the iDrive (iDrive NOT satnav). The interior looks much better/more modern with the iDrive screen there and it is a lovely option to have.

I would recommend just waiting and watching until one comes up - which will happen, just have to be patient.

My thoughts exactly - the interior looks 100 times better with the additional hump & screen!

I've had a look in the classifieds section on here and around last Summer there were a lot of cars selling which fit the bill for me, but it seems to be a bit dry at the moment. How long the other half will be happy with not having a car for will be the test!

[alzieboy]

Originally Posted by spirocheter

Good question! I would wait for what you really want, particularly interior trim, I hate the pensioner spec BMs out there.

I moved from an e46 330d manual which I loved (had xenons) to a 335d saloon, compromised on Lemon Yellow interior though sat nav was a very nice unexpected feature (although the sat nav is crap, I still love it)! The one thing I really missed was the xenons though as I drive a lot at night. Did 12K miles in that one and then drove our second car for eighteen months. I had spent about six months before finding another 335d, at the right price with the right spec and colour - black leather this time, the Lemon Yellow whilst really nice showed dirt and stains too easily (before you ask, stains from jeans and tea-shirts contaminated the colour and were a b!t@h to get out).

The new car has comfort access, folding rear seats, ski-load, heated seats, bluetooth phone, CD autochanger (who orders these any more)? The only thing I miss, which I've got used to now, is no USB.

I had set out looking for an LCI 330d manual touring though changed my search due to prices and rarity. Ideally I'd have had a touring 335d, but the spec and price were so appealing (and only 21K miles on an 08 plate) I had to jump on the one I bought.

So I'd wait if I were you, unless you can afford to change more often. You'll probably see the perfect spec the week after buying otherwise!

What are pensioner specs !! , as Im nearly 65 i want all the right kit on mine

[Chris100]

I did compromise to a certain extent.

Main requirements where:

M Sport version
Space Grey
Red Leather
225 Alloys
Bluetooth
Heated seats
Upgraded speaker pack of some kind
SAT NAV

Only options I am without is the NAV and speaker upgrade, would really like the NAV TBH but finding a 320d with it fitted is difficult to say the least.

[Laney]

Oh yeah. I also compromised on the number of doors. I would have liked to have gone for the coupe but practicality made me go for the E90.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Chris100

...
Upgraded speaker pack of some kind....

Yeah, thats one I wish I'd ordered on mine. I did try and ring up 2 days later after ordering it to change it but they reconed they could not change the order. So stuck with the standard stereo - but I dont know any different as I've not heard the upgraded ones and I dont think the standard one is too bad.