[JBD]

In my view, the 320d is a great option - no reason to pay more to get the 323i. Brilliant fun around hilly areas with the low end torque.

In terms of pricing, you should be able to get the 320d (with innovations pack - business sat nav, xenons, adaptive headlights) for about A$68k driveaway.

[TwoTriBeZ]

Thanks JBD.

Dealer delivery is $3995.

I too like the diesel but none with the m sport option.

I got offered a 323i for $69500 with 2300km on the clocked. Think it has been used as a service vehicle which was confirmed by another dealer who obviiouisly doesn't think I should buy it and should buy a new 320i instead.

options = innovations pack
PDC = front and rear
M-Sport with 18 inch
Sunroof

Do you guys think that is a good buy?

Or should I go for the 320i for about 64k driveaway with same options but brand new?

[Sherweeeny]

320i is painfully slow... id seriously go the merc to be honest with you, forced induction engines have the power plus the efficiency, and id say the c200k would be on par if not better than the 323i performancewise

[TwoTriBeZ]

haha sweeney, yeah I am at a loss.

The merc, the best they could do was $76800 with AMG pack and Sat nav. They said they don't want to prostitute the car.

I have heard the 323i ain't that much better then the 320i and consumes more fuel and that for the 6 cylinder, you should at least buy the 325i.

If I was to order one from build, it would definitely be 320D. He said the best he could do on an ordered 320D with m-sport, sunroof, innovations pack would be $74300 as they current 3 series discounts would not apply.

decisions, decisions. I actually just sold my Evo 8 so power is not taht huge of a concern for me I guess, as my missus will be driving this car 5 times a week while I will be driving it the weekends. We are probably looking more into the comfort these days but obviously don't want to over pay for a car.

[scheps]

74k? geez thats pretty exp.........

[TwoTriBeZ]

Hi Scheps,

expensive with those options? This is a build car though? Won't arrive till June I would say. How much do you think is reasonable for the 320D with the above options?

Cheers!

[Ninjaoz]

does it have to be BMW or Merc? you should also consider Audi A4 and Lexus I250

[TwoTriBeZ]

Had a lexus IS250 before, was too cramped at the back. I thought about the Audi. But don't think have any corporate plans with them. Plus front wheel drive and somehow I keep thinking its a glorified VW.

[Sherweeeny]

Originally Posted by Ninja333

does it have to be BMW or Merc? you should also consider Audi A4 and Lexus I250

definately agree! yes the is250 is cramped, but you should give the audi a serious go. sure you wont get a corporate package, but you could get this for 14k less than a 320d, and id say its a much nicer car, but yes fwd does get annoying at times, but the chassis is so good you dont really notice it.

[Zen]

Haha alot of decisions to make indeed.

Sounds like a diesel would be a wiser choice if theres daily driving invovled. At least you will get more mileage done compare to a petrol engined vehicle before you have to limp into your local petrol station.

For the love of god, don't buy the 320i. :P

If you want a petrol vehicle, I would probably say either the Merc C200, or the Audi 2.0T, Quattro if you feel uneasy about FWD. I probably won't even consider the IS250 as it is fairly cramped. After all, the reason you're puchasing a luxury sedan is to sit at least 4people in comfort and not in agony (lol maybe "agony" is a bit over the top).

I guess another fact you will need to think about is, if you decided to purchase the 320d, how much $$$ will you save compare with a petrol vehicle in the long run. Maintance costs etc..

[mmmmQuattro]

Originally Posted by Sherweeeny

320i is painfully slow... id seriously go the merc to be honest with you, forced induction engines have the power plus the efficiency, and id say the c200k would be on par if not better than the 323i performancewise

The 320i is slow out of the city, that's for sure.
I drove the C200k, and found it did have a bit more power, but I found the drive wasn't anywhere near as sporty.
I didn't like that the C200k didn't have as nice seats or steering wheel.
The C200k is also seemed to have slightly more vibration from the engine than the 320i.

I don't really mind the lack of performance in the 320i, as it is the family car and we rarely go out into the country. The 323i is much nicer to drive, even though it doesn't have much more power, as the six is so smooth and sounds great.
I ended up getting the 320i, as it was new (my wife had never had a new car, so this was her chance) and the rest of my family hates it if I drive fast, so I thought anything other than the 320i would be a waste.
It turns out that in the hills, they tell me to slow down. It does handle great!

I paid about $70k on road with innovations, pana sunroof, M/Sport, 18" wheels, PDC, folding mirrors; that was about 10 months ago; you should be able to beat that now.

[TwoTriBeZ]

haha, finally a positive review on the 320i. I was thinking the same thing. When I had my evo, I never once drove it hard during normal driving, only when overtaking. Sometimes its just a comfort to know the power is there when you need it even though you never use it.

I also did consider the Alfa 159 but resale value and cost of maintenance could really kill that choice.

Do you guys think I should wait till after this 3 series promo is over after 31st of March, as right now I feel that the dealers don't seem to want to negotiate because stock is low to fulfill these promotions. So much for financial crisis.

One last thing, with diesel, is it really that dirty when pumping at the stations??? I have never tried, maybe I should go check it out as I don't know if my missus will like that.

Toughest decision I have to make in the next 7 days hahahaha. I think the Audi shape will date very quickly but I am considering it. But its definitely on the bottom of my list.

HELP!!! lol

[mmmmQuattro]

You should drive the 323 (if you haven't already) - it is quite different to the C200k.
Back to the 320
If you find that you spend lots of time driving in the city, and as you said your partner drives it most of the time, then power isn't all that important.
If it was the only car I had, then I wouldn't have bought the 320 - but I already had a 330.
Which brings me back to the 323, if it is the right colour, right options and well priced, then take it for a drive - it costs nothing to look, but your time. I don't think that there is much difference in the fuel usage (I average 12 l / 100 in the 320 around town).

[bcoz]

Originally Posted by TwoTriBeZ

Toughest decision I have to make in the next 7 days hahahaha. .....

HELP!!! lol

I think that if you're not 100% comfortable with making a decision in the next 7 days (a decision that you have to live with for years), then DON'T make it.

Take your time.

There were good deals in December, then Jan, Feb, now ....there will be good deals in April, May, June and so on. New car sales in Australia fell 21.9% in February compared with Feb 08. All the sales/promos do is bring future demand (already reduced) forward. And guess what, when we hit the future and sales falls off a cliff, there will be new sales/promos to resuscitate demand. Demand won't start to recover until consumer confidence recovers and that won't happen until people can see beyond the recession.

From your posts, if I were to guess your preferred choice so far, I would say that it is the 320d. Remember, it's a buyers' market on factory orders too.

Good Luck with whatever you decide.

[TwoTriBeZ]

Thx for the great advise guys. I think I am too desparate at the moment because I have no vehicle hahaha. I will go on Saturday and do a few test drives, including the Audi.

My preference is still for a 320D with Sport Pack. But near impossible to find except there is a couple of dealer demos available.

I will test drive the 320i and see if I can live with it. Then will try not to make an impulse decision and see what happens around Tuesday next week haha. I will keep you guys up to date on who gets my hard earned money.

[VGR00]

The negative comments on the 320i only come from people who havent driven the car for an extended period of time. I've done 50,000 klms in mine and in the city or highway, it feels just fine. It's no slug and the 80 odd kw difference to my E39 530i is hardly noticable. The 6cyl engines are very smooth however the 323i is only marginally better on the highway and i feel the weight of the engine over the 320i puts it at a disadvantage in the city.

If you are not a badge snob, and looking at a balance between value for money and performance, then go look at the VW R36. Very exclusive compared to a BMW and maybe when its time to trade in, it might have retained a bit more value than the common as mud BMW.

You mentioned the Alfa 159. As much as I loved and still miss that glorious engine in my ex 156, I can relate to you comments.

[TwoTriBeZ]

Hi Vgr02,

Yeah I sat in a 156 2.2 with selespeed awhile ago and jeeez, the car was not fast but I actually enjoyed the jerkiness of the selespeed and the engine sound. It was so addictive. Brilliant brilliant noise it makes... better than the BMW in line sixes.

But then bumped into a couple of people who had to fork out 7k for a transmission fix and that just seem ridiculous. I am not sure how reliable the 159s are now but so tired of adding more choices to my list.

I do end up thinking the 320i is enough of course 320D would be good as the fuel consumption is low plus its a torquey engine so a little bit pricier may not be bad.

I am not a badge snob and was going to get a Golf GTI but but but.... I have not met a bloody friendly VW dealer and I have gone to 3. They don't even care to say hello and when i sat in a car they said please don't sit in it as it has been sold to which I thought, if it is Sold, shouldn't you put a sign on it and lock the doors. I was totally turned off and walked out the door. They are too cocky now because the cars are selling themselves.

Now an update, I just called Audi hahaha. They seem more willing to deal hahaha even offering corp packages with 3 years free servicing even if you company is not part of their corp plan. He even mentioned that yes Audi don;t have resale values as good as merc or BMW. So he was honest. Said for me to come in at 6:30 pm this evening to check out and talk more and he will drive me home. Now that seems to be service.... I will let you guys know how the test drive goes tonight. I may be turned lol turned into a front driver

[scheps]

When dealing with the audi guys perhaps not give them your phone number for one? so they know they dont have the option of calling you back and that you are ready to buy right there or never. And if you change your mind just go to another dealership.

i would go pretty aggressive coz esp you are adding a shit load ($$ wise) of options. Their nav is really a rip off and they know it. Makes the BMW ones look cheap and the screen is sooo much larger!

My guess would be asking for free onroads + the free sat nav as minimum, not sure if anyone has bought an A4 lately in the other threads.

Good luck with that!

[Sherweeeny]

Originally Posted by TwoTriBeZ

Hi Vgr02,

Yeah I sat in a 156 2.2 with selespeed awhile ago and jeeez, the car was not fast but I actually enjoyed the jerkiness of the selespeed and the engine sound. It was so addictive. Brilliant brilliant noise it makes... better than the BMW in line sixes.

But then bumped into a couple of people who had to fork out 7k for a transmission fix and that just seem ridiculous. I am not sure how reliable the 159s are now but so tired of adding more choices to my list.

I do end up thinking the 320i is enough of course 320D would be good as the fuel consumption is low plus its a torquey engine so a little bit pricier may not be bad.

I am not a badge snob and was going to get a Golf GTI but but but.... I have not met a bloody friendly VW dealer and I have gone to 3. They don't even care to say hello and when i sat in a car they said please don't sit in it as it has been sold to which I thought, if it is Sold, shouldn't you put a sign on it and lock the doors. I was totally turned off and walked out the door. They are too cocky now because the cars are selling themselves.

Now an update, I just called Audi hahaha. They seem more willing to deal hahaha even offering corp packages with 3 years free servicing even if you company is not part of their corp plan. He even mentioned that yes Audi don;t have resale values as good as merc or BMW. So he was honest. Said for me to come in at 6:30 pm this evening to check out and talk more and he will drive me home. Now that seems to be service.... I will let you guys know how the test drive goes tonight. I may be turned lol turned into a front driver

interesting! the advice i would give you is to take the car for a longer test drive than usual though. the CVT automatic transmission takes a bit of getting used to, so try taking off on a hill both forwards and backwards so you get the jist of the wait you have when you have just engaged the car into R or D. it is a bit annoying at first to get used to this slight lag, but (i never thought this would happen) you actually get used to it and drive accordingly, and once you are past that, it is actually quite a fantastic car, and it goes and handles alright as well for when you want to give it that bit of squirt, and the good thing about the 1.8t audis are that a quick chip ups the power to 150+kW if you ever actually feel the need for more. but yep good luck mate, and if it came down to bmw, id take the petrol anyday. diesels too expensive, both as the car AND the fuel and maintenance is slightly higher, so its better to just play it safe, even if it does mean your foot would be down more in the 320i than in the 320d

[TwoTriBeZ]

Diesel more expensive to run? Its about the same cost as 98ron petrol yea? So diesel is more expensive to maintain. I didn;t know that as dealers said they are cheaper because of less moving parts in the engine. But said service intervals are shorter.

Came back from a test drive of the Audi 1.8TFSI. hmmmm you mentioned about the CVT, yep it is weird. Feels like the Honda Jazz and I am a little concerned about the durability of CVT, just like the jazz, many problems plus the new Jazz has gone back to a standard automatic. When I accelerated hard when coming out of a street the gearbox gave me weird feelings. The revs went up then back down quick, must say was not too impressed. I guess you have to get used to it. Steering was ok, no where near BMW or Merc standards. But the price and the friendliness of the dealer and his honesty was second to none.

I really appreciated that. He was able to offer me 17k off a car that is to be ordered, so will have to wait 4 months. But that means and 09 build model with the gen 3 nav. Interior of the Audi is nice but I am still unsure of the shape, back is nice but the front bonnet is too round and long. I must be the only one who thinks the BMW with M sport kit is the looker of the bunch hahaha.

Well overall the Audi didn;t say buy me, but had good value for money.

Do you guys know how much servicing is for BMWs? Audi is apparantly $500 bucks but he was offering 3 years free service.

[scheps]

Umm i always thought diesel was cheaper to fix and maintain coz its simpler in design......

CVT is weird but you can do pseudo gear changes with the steptronic. Sorry forgot to mention that, i keep thinking its got dsg like mine.....

"honesty"? is that possible

M kits real nice, wouldnt mind putting the m kit on the audi , i also like bmw alloys patterns better......

its amazing how much you can get off by adding exp options, assuming nav meaning you did the nav, tv, voice con thing which is like selling the nav in 3 different pieces to make it look less exp lol. Maybe you could get a non cvt if you could get that much off? what was the rrp and how loaded?

My old e46 318 was 500 a service, will find out about e90 320 for you when i see my sis.

Did you just get more confused after all that , geez lifes tough huh!

[TwoTriBeZ]

haha ok here is a break down on the car.

82000 Driveaway 1.8TFSI in white
option are
- Comfort Line with Sat Nav. (new nav comes with voice control as standard, the new MMI stuff), saw it in the Q5.
- Xenons with LEDs (nice)
- Sunroof
- Parking sensors front and rear with that birds eye thingy
- Full Sportline package which includes the 18 inch wheels and all the interiro appointments and body kit.

So then he said look we are 3 cars short of this months quota so he can do it for 65k driveaway with 3 years free servicing. Appreciated his honesty there. He didn't pressure me either which was good and didn;t give me all that crap that its selling real fast out the door. Also did not push me to take one in stock.

Theres 2 of them at my house lol, in white as well. Looks pretty good, very long car.

But I am still unsure about CVT. Stronic is coming only for 2.0 TFSI Quattro and that will start at around 75k. If has the Stronic, I think the decision would be easier.

So tough lol, will be having a look what BMW can do on Sat but they don't seem as flexible even though they are really selling 2008 stock