330i SE Coupe

[catherinej]

We have been offered a very substantial discount off a 330i SE Coupe and I wondered what people thought to the spec.

Monaco Blue Met
Cream Beige Dakota Trim
Bluetooth
Hifi Upgrade
Auto
Walnut trim
18" Star Spoke Wheels

Edited to say the colour is Monaco Blue

Edited by catherinej on Wednesday 16th May 15:45

Edited by catherinej on Wednesday 16th May 16:02

[baz1985]

catherinej said:

We have been offered a very substantial discount off a 330i SE Coupe and I wondered what people thought to the spec.

Orient Blue Met
Cream Beige Dakota Trim
Bluetooth
Hifi Upgrade
Auto
Walnut trim

Great imo. Might as well spec Nav Prof if still speccable?. Is it £5k off list?

[catherinej]

baz1985 said:

catherinej said:

We have been offered a very substantial discount off a 330i SE Coupe and I wondered what people thought to the spec.

Orient Blue Met
Cream Beige Dakota Trim
Bluetooth
Hifi Upgrade
Auto
Walnut trim

Great imo. Might as well spec Nav Prof if still speccable?. Is it £5k off list?

No Baz the car is a physical one.

[Mr_Sukebe]

Assuming that includes leather, looks good.

[catherinej]

Mr_Sukebe said:

Assuming that includes leather, looks good.

Yes the cream dakota is leather trim.

[Andrew D]

Type E92 I assume?

But what about the wheels?

Nice car, not as mental performance as the 335i, but then also not as obvious/common. The N52B30 motor has plenty enough poke for that kind of car anyway, and keeps true to the BMW NA purity thing too, rather than selling out to forced induction in the name of extra power.

The spec looks reasonable, and I'd definately want automatic transmission on that car. Nice colour combination, I like to get away from boring black leather whenever I can. The wood trim isn't to the tastes of many, but I happen to like it and it goes best with cream leather. THe Hi-Fi sound package will be a nice extra, but won't really add to the value; Logic 7 (or whatever the new Carver is called) is the in thing at the moment, and any audiophile will likely go for a car with that.

I'd prefer it to have cruise control if I were buying, but it's quite a rare choice and in no way a deal breaker. A lot of people will suggest Sat Nav, as it adds to the resale value, but I imagine the discount on this car will outweigh any resale benefit. I personally don't go for Sat Nav as it adds to weight and insurance, and I can generally read signs pretty well.

[catherinej]

Doh!!!!

Yes the wheels are 18" Star Spokes and yes it is a brand new E92.

It has cruise control as standard.

Edited by catherinej on Wednesday 16th May 16:00

[Andrew D]

Cruise Control as standard? About time! Merc have been handing it out free for a decade now.

Looks pretty good in that case, probably the spec I'd go for. Although I'd be tempted by Crimson Red; child of the eighties, what can I say?

[baz1985]

Andrew D said:

Cruise Control as standard? About time! Merc have been handing it out free for a decade now.

Looks pretty good in that case, probably the spec I'd go for. Although I'd be tempted by Crimson Red; child of the eighties, what can I say?

Andy, it was standard on all E46 SE/Sport, E39, E90 SE/M Sport.

Its optional on the E87 1 and Z cars still I think.

[abarber]

Catherine,
If you have any links / tips on getting a discount on a coupe, would be interested. Can't get much of them on broadspeed / drivethedeal etc.

Now decided against the Z4C due to depreciation / new Z4 rumoured for next year due to poor US sales.

Thanks,

Alan

[squeezebm]

baz1985 said:

catherinej said:

We have been offered a very substantial discount off a 330i SE Coupe and I wondered what people thought to the spec.

Orient Blue Met
Cream Beige Dakota Trim
Bluetooth
Hifi Upgrade
Auto
Walnut trim

Great imo. Might as well spec Nav Prof if still speccable?. Is it £5k off list?

Catherine,Sounds like a nice spec ..............Trading in the X5 ?

[festernath]

Andrew D said:

I personally don't go for Sat Nav as it adds to weight

You are surely having a laugh. We're talking a 4 seater coupe here, not Hamilton's Monaco car, will it really slow you down that much that you'll be sorry you fitted it?!?!

[Andrew D]

festernath said:

You are surely having a laugh. We're talking a 4 seater coupe here, not Hamilton's Monaco car, will it really slow you down that much that you'll be sorry you fitted it?!?!

Mine's not a four-seater coupe!

My assessment goes like this. I wouldn't use it more than once or twice in my ownership period (if that) which doesn't justify the additional insurance cost, weight, effect on weight distribution, maintenance liability, and fuel used to power it. And that's discounting the shortfall between the cost to spec the option and the added value come resale time.

Whilst these are marginal factors, the benefit that I'd derive from it is even more marginal. Moreover, I don't like the way it compromises the interior appearance in many cars (CooperS Mk.1 for instance).

As for the keeping-up-with-the-Jones' factor, I'd rather have a car that's perceived as performance focused than comfort- and gadget focused.

[bobthemonkey]

Actually, sat-nav is one of the few options that retain some value come resale as people want it - you try flogging a recent 2nd hand X5 without the comms pack.

[PAOLOH]

bobthemonkey said:

Actually, sat-nav is one of the few options that retain some value come resale as people want it - you try flogging a recent 2nd hand X5 without the comms pack.

I did, it took about 6 months and sold about 5 with comms pack in the same time!

[jamoor]

bobthemonkey said:

Actually, sat-nav is one of the few options that retain some value come resale as people want it - you try flogging a recent 2nd hand X5 without the comms pack.

agree, comms is essential for a quick and easy sale.

[PAOLOH]

jamoor said:

bobthemonkey said:

Actually, sat-nav is one of the few options that retain some value come resale as people want it - you try flogging a recent 2nd hand X5 without the comms pack.

agree, comms is essential for a quick and easy sale.

In general, when you are buying a prestige marque, you want all the toys.

[catherinej]

We have decided not to proceed with this car.

Instead we have come across the following again with an excellent deal on it.

330D SE
Auto
Monaco Blue
Black Leather
Piano Black
Bluetooth
Prof Nav
Folding Mirrors

[PAOLOH]

catherinej said:

We have decided not to proceed with this car.

Instead we have come across the following again with an excellent deal on it.

330D SE
Auto
Monaco Blue
Black Leather
Piano Black
Bluetooth
Prof Nav
Folding Mirrors

Sounds better due to nav
Don't fancy a sport?
Is there a big price difference?

[catherinej]

I'm a great fan of the M Sport cars.

I had a 318i M Sport
Had a Z4C Sport
Have an X5 Sport
Have a 120D M Sport

So this would be the first non Sport BMW. There is quite a bit of a cost difference and when I was first shown a picture of an M Sport Coupe I ended up changing the order to a Z4C as it didn't do anything for me.