gangzoom

The 1 series is very cramp in the back, and BMW is very good at making you pay extra for eveything. Hence theres lots of poorly speced used ones around. They are no doubt good to drive but not really convinced that a 118d/120d benfits much from been RWD with less than 200bhp on tap.

A3s are just dressed up golfs, which isnt a bad thing given golfs r pretty good, but you might as well save a few ££s and buy a golf:)

I considered getting a "shed" after I had a Nismo replica kit put on my Z. At the time I was also doing spening nearly 2hrs a day commuting to work. I tried driving my wife's Civic and my Dads Mazda 6 just to see what it was like but hated it. Whats the point of paying all that insurance/road tax/servicing on a lovely car like the Z and not even bother driving it.

For the past 10 months maybe longer i've been filling up at sainsburys every week at an average of about £70 a week maybe more and have been using my nectar card. I dont shop there except for the odd thing and have built up just under 1300 points, now this is only worth around £12, which given the amount i've spent i feel is awefull.

 

So today i've signed up for a tesco's clubcard, they're opposite each other so no extra travelling and tesco's is 99 ron. so already has a advantage. I'm going to see what the rewards are like at tesco's but wondered if anyone had done a comparisant?

Get a Tesco credit card and you get extra points on top of the normal points, I also have a Halifax credit card that give you £5 cash back every months as long as you spend £300....yeaph I'm definatly getting old

Hope your doing well Mitz...off to India soon to see the rest of the "new" family...looking forwards to it, but sounds like driving there is a big nono

Hasn't the whole anti-cyclist issue been done before...obviously the biggest danger on the road is a 15kg pedal bike which rarely get above 20mph, let's ignore the 1.5ton, 4 meter long lumps of metal most of which can do 100mph been controlled by people who are usually fiddling the stereo, doing their hair, talking on the phone.

For the anti-cycling brigade:

How many of you actually cycle to work regularly?

How many of you have been hit by a car whilst cycling / on a motorbike?

How of many of you know friends who have been hospitalised by dangerous drivers (luckily none of them have died)?

I answer yes to all of the above, and to be honest it's sad to see colleges and friends give up commuting to work on a bike because the fear of been run over by an idiot driving a car!!

6.5k will easily see u into a nice E46 330i. Not driven one but RWD a straight 6 engine. Don't think they have too many reliability issues either. Infact if ur not desperate to sell the Z the current E90 330is are now hitting the £10k mark, give it a few more month and the new 3 series will be out you might find the 330i within ur budget....

Simply for saving money u cannot really beat the Micra, it'll be cheap to insure, fuel and run....but I wouldn't want to have an accident in one, parents use to have one when I was a tiny lad, a range rover rear ended it whilst at the lights, the entire rear end including where I would be normally sat turned into a massive crumple zone

The bimmer may be better than the Z, but this place is head and tails better than the BMW forums...use "E90 posts", seems better than some of the others.....so will hang around here for a while yet, who knows when the wife's Civic starts falling apart (which may be never, it's done 41,000 miles in 2 years and only had to pay for 2 tyres and some front brake pads ). I'll defiantly be nudging her to look at some Infinit's

I’ve been without my 350z coming up to 2 months now, and thought I do a mini-review of the the 335i thats replaced her.

Engine: The first thing to say is just how amazing the power unit is. At 306BHP the engine isn't short on power, but can return 30mpg+ when driven sensibly. I previously been dubious of turboed cars due to the fear of turbo lag. But the 335i really has no or very minimal turbo lag, certainly anything above 2k rpm and she just pulls all the way to the 7k red line like a NA unit. There is talk that BMW actually underrated the engine in the official specs, I don't find that hard to believe since the 335i seems to pull much better than the Z ever did at speeds of 60mph+.

There does seem to be issues around engine cooling, but there's plenty of info about how to improve this. Getting more air into the engine bay seems the key.

Drivetrain: My 335i is the first auto car I’ve driven. In daily use there’s nothing to fault, just stick into D and away you go. If you really want to make progress just stick into DS mode or use the full manual mode with the paddles. The auto box shifts flawlessly, and even blips the throttle on down shifts.

Handling: I’ve never driven any BMWs before the 335i and use to make fun of the 'we bring joy' BMW adverts, but I have to admit the steering feel and general handling of the car is fantastic. Though turn in is not quite pinpoint it's certainty much better than alot of other cars I've driven. My car has the M sport suspension and run-flat tyres, personally I find the ride fine, but that may be because I'm use to driving cars with hard suspension set ups and more than willing to trade comfort for better handling. My only gripe with handling was the lack of a true LSD.

Differential: When I first found out BMW only fitted their M cars with a mechanical LSD i was shocked. After all how could BMW claim to care about 'driving joy' if they are too tight to fit a LSD to a 300bhp+ car. Luckily for only £1300 Birds down in London with install a LSD. I had this done within 10 days of taking ownership of my 335i, and couldn't be happier. No longer does the car bog down mid corner due to the TC kicking in, and the feeling of the backend squatting down as the LSD transfer power from one wheel to another is fab.

Mods: BMW offer power kits, extra spoiler kits as dealer fitted options for a price. On top of this there seems to be countless after market support for the car. As well as the LSD I’ve fitted a lip spoiler, window spoiler, debaged and carbon effect diffuser…all cheap copies off ebay but paint matches actually perfect and lets me save a few £££

Practicality: The main reason I bought my 335i was the fact I wanted some thing more grown up and practical than my Z. The interior of the 335i is better than the Z, the iDrive system is actually quite easy to use when you get use to it. Its got a reasonable boot and plenty of space in the back.

I've also been pleasantly surprised at how many positive comments I've had from people about the car, and contrary to popular believe have even been let out of junctions by other drivers despite driving a BMW. Mpg wise I'm getting about 20 around town, and on long runs 35+, which for the performance on offer is simply amazing.

Value for money: I paid £20k for mine from a main dealer, and she is just over 3 years old. I plan to spend £5k on performance mods at the end of which I think I'll have a car which is close to M3 pace but much more subtle, and with lower running costs. Obviously I would love an M3/M5 but that's going to have to wait another 5 years when the mortgage is smaller!!

Overall: I been lucky enough to own some fabulously cars in the last 7 years, but without a doubt the 335i is the best to date. I still find it hard to believe BMW has produced a 4-door saloon that handles better, and is faster than many dedicated sports cars. 2 months on and still find my self laughing out loud every time I find a empty stretch of road and put my foot down.

One happy 335i owner

I think my bimmer looks much better debaged, she now blends in with all the debaged 320ds on my street...hair dryer, dental floss and some good shampoo is all that I used.

I've been tempted by the NEX-5 as an addition to my 450D, mainly because its so small...but a lack of lens has put me off, and I have to say I do love having a true optical view finder. When you really start getting into photography you quickly realise the quality of the lens really impacts on image quality.

Most DLSR bodies made in the last 5 years are pretty similar and all seem to get good reviews, main difference been if you buy a Canon body your locked into Canon lens, Nikon body and your have to buy Nikon lens etc...

My new faviourte toy is my wideangle lens, lets you take some very bizarre looking pictuers

Currently saving up for this ..17-55mm with a constant F stop of 2.8, and its IS...a bargain at £790

Don't worry about road noise, it's the fact that BMWs are so smooth rather than the Z been too raw. I commute in my Z for 70miles daily for 12months and had no complaints:-)

Don't worry about road noise, it's the fact that BMWs are so smooth rather than the been too raw. I commute in my Z for 70miles daily for 12months and had no complaints:-)

I've just gone from a 350z to a E90 3 series. My old Z had much more charcter than my current 3 series, but the 3 series is without doubt a better over all car. Doing 80 in the bimmer feels like doing 50 in the Z (mainly due to how quiet it is). The steering on the BMW actually give as much feedback as the Zs, and given the bimmer can seat 3 extra people plus carry all their luggage its pretty impressive. Despite having more power the BMW is also more economical.....Having said all this if i was given the choice of a 350z or BMW 1/3 series and I was 25 again it would be the Z every time But these days i'm getting old, even found my self wondering how quite a 7 series must be with double glazed windows:dry:

whoo...black 350z with Nismo kit from Worcestershire area....it doesn't happen to have a nismo gear knob by any chance

Feeling slightly better now than I did 3 hours ago....it is only a car after all (albeit my pride and joy!!) Still can't get my head around how someone in the 'caring profession' can be so dishonest.

Thats why my Z use to live at the furtherest end of the car park, it meant i had to walk for a extra 2 minutes but at least i knew my Z would be safe

Some fab phots here

I love my 450D, like everyone else wish i had time to use it more...

but this believe it or not as taken with my iphone....

thanks all for the posts so far.

 

I have got hold of further information from the sller thats allowed me to check the car details, VIN number etc and used mycarcheck to check things out a bit further all stacks up. Also spoke to the two garages that have performed all the services and again everything ok, garages were v good actually and gave details of when tyres/brakes were replaced.

 

Also got hold of current keeper to try and understand why its being sold only 6 months after it ws bought and why only 1k miles since. Got through to the chap and it was his sons car but he lost his job after 2 months of owning it so had to sell it at auction. He also confirmed it wsnt damaged other than one scratch on rear arch which again sdtacks up with what the guy said in terms of work he had done.

 

So everything looks to stack up and am pleased i've gone to trouble of digging around. Sure, it might still have mechanical issues or maintenance needed in the near future but atleast nothing sinister.

 

As a result I have just paid the deposit, it's being MOT'd tomorrow and I'm picking her up at the weekend - smiling already!

 

cheers!

OMG your thorough when buying a car, I'm just happy with a stamped up service book, an uptodate MOT, a free cup of coffee, and few £££s off the sticker price

Good luck with the car, am sure your love it

Found this on a BMW forum, it was done by an independent tuner.

The 335i they tested has a N54 engine, which means 2 small turbos each feeding 3 cylinders, so a 8% gain in power...not that great to be honest and I doubt you can tell on the road. Apparently NA engines gain even less, not really sure why.

The recommendation from BMW is to use 95-98Ron, unlike the Z which clearly states 98Ron on the fuel cap (I think). I'm now purely using 95Ron in the 335i, but in the Z i never used 95Ron unless i was totally out of petrol and the pumps only had 95Ron.

Got my numberplate retention certificate back from the DVLA earlier in the week, so thought my old Z would be put up on the market soon...and so it seem

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3028810.htm

Still looks good, and i think the dealers given the front a respray. Not sure if they know much about Zs, love the "NISSAN MOTOR SPORT BODYSTYLING". Its also got 20mm spacers all round, a Nismo shifter, a pop charger, scorpion exhaust and EBC yellowstuff pads plus discs. I was the 2nd owner, and has full service history. Only bad bits was a stone chipped front which looks sorted. Its on for a fair price

what about one of these...

It's basically a more fun version of the golf. The 2.0L engine can be mapped to nearly 300Bhp without too much trouble, 5 doors, good build quality, and for £12K your be able to get a relatively new one I nearly bought the a brand new Cupra R at £25K to replace the Z.

Loving the auto box on my 335i, it's so smooth in 'D' mode i usually have no idea what gear the car is in. The auto box shifts up very quickly, and in normal driving the revs never creep past 2k. Put ur foot down and it will 'kick down', yes there's a 0.5sec delay as the box downshifts and the power comes on, in most situations its acceptable.

The 335i box also has manual mode with paddles (can be used even in D mode to overide the autobox). Apparently it shifts in 0.1 sec, and on down shifts rev match the engine. It's only in manual mode the box will let you take the engine to it's 7k rev limit, and will hold it there if you modulate the throttle (perfect for hard cornering). If you keep you foot down it will up shift automatically. Launching it from a standstill is ridiculously easy, left foot on the brake, rev to 2.5k, than simply floor the throttle and lift of the brake and watch what ever is next to you disappear into the back ground

I do admit it's not as fun as a manual, but in manual mode it shifts much better than I ever could and as a result the way it builds up speed is amazing!!

I can see how some people would never consider an auto because it dilutes the driving experience ( I was one of them ). But I think auto boxes are so good now (in the 335i anyway) there's no real reason not to buy a car because it's an auto

But go and test drive one for ur self before u decide.....

I think motivated, resourceful, intelligent people will get to the top no matter what their education status. Look as people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Simon Cowell, Richard Branson, Alan Sugar.... none of them graduated from university ( Gates dropped out of Harvard to start what was to become Microsoft)...i don't think anyone one would argue these guys failed in life because they don't have a university education.

Guess the insurance companies just don't to insure young drivers on the Z!! I remember I couldn't even get a quote for a Impreza STI when I was 20 so had to buy a peug 106 1.1 instead ....I would just accept the fact the Z is it of reach at the moment, save up for a few years and get a 370z

Pretty sure these aren't retail prices...but very good idea at what to expect when trading in a car and also how negotiation room you might have. Seems relatively accurate, my Z was Px for £8000, £300 under the 'excellent condition' valuation. I paid £20k for my 335i Which the guide valued at £19,000