Showing results in  Forum [Show all channels]

Sort by: Relevance | Newest first | Oldest first

• MINI Cooper S R53 (2002 - 2007) - Rejecting cherished MINI Cooper S 13 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  Its annoying as when I agreed the finance with your salesman he told me how this car would only cost me a bit extra on payments per month than my previous BMW did. This is now not the case as each time I visits either dealership 1 or 2 I?m losing time from work as well as having to travel. Taking the first month as an example, I made at least 4 separate visits to dealership 2 service, so that is 16 Journeys between my home /work and the dealership.
• Vauxhall Insignia (2008 - ) - My day out at Millbrook Proving Ground 2 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  When we got back with this car, all the decent stuff (SRIs and Elites) were out, so out in one of the competitor cars that they'd laid on. Audi A4, BMW 3, Ford Mondeo, Honda Accord, VW Passat - all there for you to compare to the Insignia. Chose a Mondeo petrol for giggles as we'd never driven one before. Very small mirrors, the annoying heated windscreen but a lot more driveable than the Insignia petrol.
• Audi A3 + S3 (2003 - 2008) - A3 3.2 Quattro 11 Apr 2008 (Forum)
  No electric memory seats (Ford Scorpio, Peugeot 406). Now, heres the thing, I haven;t looked in detail at any Audi, BMW, or Merc before, but the dealer says that these premium German brands are usually badly equipped, however this is not the lead in 1.6 I am looking at, but the flagship 3.2 Quattro. Given the above, I am being "picky", expecting too much?
• Leaning out mixture is bad isn't it? 6 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  Continuing my latest obscession with fuel consumption.... On a recent long trip with a number of friends driving the same cars (BMW E32 735i) we did a consumption comparison. We ran at exactly the same speed (in convoy) at 70 mph on cruise-control for over 100 miles. Two guys claimed 30 mpg on the run there whilst I was down at 25 mpg (on our on-board computers).
• Limited Slip Differential - you the jury 8 Dec 2002 (Forum)
  can any of you knowledgable backroomers help with a 'discussion' that has started on another messageboard I frequent. You may have to excuse the simplicity of the arguement as it is a BMW forum.... The discussion revolves around how LSD actually works and I'll remove the names to avoid any embarrasment (I'll let you know which one I am after you've ruled in my favour!) Mr A: Hello.
• Vauxhall - the way it is 12 Sep 2001 (Forum)
  Ford seem to aim at the family and small car market with the 'individual' Ka, Fiesta and Focus. Seems Vauxhall still have the bearings to take on BMW's and the performance niche. Technology has advanced a lot with regards to cars and they are 'better' in many respects than 10 years ago, but don't you think you have to spend entirely too much money to get something 'as' fun?
• My first 6 weeks with a 520d 15 Jul 2012 (Forum)
  I’ve had a BMW 520d touring auto from 29th May and here are my first thoughts after 6 weeks and 4,500 miles of driving. My car is SE specification with no options other than an 8 speed automatic gearbox. It has standard 17 inch wheels and run flat tyres (no spare).
• Roadtest : Avantime 20 Jul 2002 (Forum)
  Well in terms of luxury I reckon it's up there with the Germans. In terms of engineering I think the Audis, BMWs and Mercedes of the world will always be very hard to surpass and Renault have realised this and so have attacked them on a style front and came up with a whole new type of car, the Designer Monobox Coupe Sports Greenhouse.
• Advantages of deliberately size limited cars 5 Jan 2018 (Forum)
  The consequence of ever larger cars is not being able to park then easily, the need to expand tarmac for them, losing front garden space, finding it difficult to manoeuvre them, finding them hard to see out of and place easily. I feel we are in a size race without much end. A desirable family car has gone from a bmw 5 series/Rover SD1 to an Audi Q7 or discovery in barely a generation. One weighs a almost twice the other and takes up probably 40/50% more space. It’s still carrying the same no of people. So I ask would we benefit from at least some cars being restricted in their size?
• CAT C AND D SALVAGE EXPLAINED 22 Mar 2016 (Forum)
    Take for instance a £50,000, 6 month old BMW. The vehicle has been involved in an accident and has a repair bill of £25,000, insurance companies  never normally repair vehicles with such extensive damage  and as a rule will write the vehicle off and sell it on as cat d salvage.
• mazda 6 diesel 2000cc sport diesel - mazda 6 2008 2000cc diesel noisey engine 13 Aug 2014 (Forum)
  and yes I certainly wont ever entertain getting another Mazda there are many cars out there that although older would cost considerably less and be far more reliable BMW e46 330 325 5 series with 3.0 petrol engine and much more. My gut feeling is the engine is knackered but it would be interesting to know if the engine sounds really rough when the oil is diluted massively.
• Volvo XC90 (2002 - ) - Sold the Outback! 2 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  Actually I was very happy with that decision, but it left a conundrum. I don't wan't an Audi Q7 (ugly and too expensive), I can't afford a seven seat BMW X5 (do they make them?), the Mercedes ML did do a seven seat model in the Mk1 version but it was a dog to drive and I will not have a Jeep under any circumstances. That left talking either Japanese or Volvo.
• Lease running out soon - what to do next 30 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  Would also prefer to be moving upwards in quality as 40k a year is a long time sat in the car - a while ago it looked like my car was going to go to a new employee and I was looking seriously at an A5 3.0tdi or a BMW 123d (very different cars I know but I liked them both for different reasons!). However the credit crunch may have put a bit of a stop to this. Insurance costs are not a concern as I have any car cover under our fleet policy.
• AllBrandsNew - buying experience report 4 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  I think to find fault with the handling you'd need to be travelling at VERY high speeds, certainly well above the UK legal limit and beyond any use to which I will put it. Previously I have owned a P11 Primera GTE and a BMW 520i E39, so I like to think I know a good handling car, and the Impreza definitely beats them. I will update if there are any problems with the car or getting the warranty document through.
• The Speed Camera Thread - Volume 15 5 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  If it catches too many people, and they think they have been penalised unreasonably, it becomes unenforceable. Richard North is a typical victim. From his BMW 5-series to his elegant country home North is the epitome of respectability. So it surprised his neighbours when police pulled up on his drive in July with an arrest warrant for non-payment of speeding fines.
• Santa's vehicular dilemma 13 Dec 2002 (Forum)
  A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo. V. Maybe Santa needs a BMW?
• Calling all engineers and web whizzos? 14 Oct 2002 (Forum)
  Background Here in Jordan almost all the second-hand cars imported into the country are sourced from Europe (Germany provides 75% of total, mostly BMWs and Mercs) or the USA, i.e. are catalyst equipped. However, you can only get UNLEADED fuel at a few fuel stations here in the capital, Amman. UNLEADED is simply not available at all outside the capital.
• Wonderful Range Rover USA service 13 Dec 2001 (Forum)
  So I had one more suprise when I picked up my keys...they were realy sorry that I had slipped through the cracks this way and in addition to all the work on the tank they replaced ALL fluids and filters and changed all 3 wiper blades and did me a new inspection sticker (Like a MOT)... also all at no cost! I first noticed this change in attitude at this dealer when Ford took over the brand... under BMW I spent over $2,000 one year on lots of minor stuff and never got as much as a lift to T station from them. They are also the local Jaguar dealer and let me take a new X type for the afternoon when the RR was not done by 13:00 as promised... this new Jag had all the bells and whistles including a fancy Navigation system that was actualy better than the one in the new Range Rover they let me use (7" screen rather than 5") (BTW I was very impresed with the new X type and I found it's driving position nicer than the S type).
• Three more test drives - Lexus, Peugeot and Skoda 27 Jul 2020 (Forum)
    My overriding feeling is that the forthcoming Octavia PHEV will be a very strong contender; as is the Ford Kuga which i tried a few weeks ago. Hopefully this, and PHEV versions of the BMW X1 and Renault Captur, will be with us later this year.  I'm sure people will point out any obvious contenders that I'm missing.  
• Alfa Brera - I've finally driven one 1 May 2007 (Forum)
  I changed down a gear and took off like a rocket, then needed to shift up again sharpish as the engine fell off the torque curve at around 4500 rpm. I took stock of the interior. Nicely put together if not up to BMW standards and very comfortable. There are some ergonomic peculiarities such as a rather strangely calibrated speedo and non-selfexplanatory climate control, but hey, it?s an Italian car. There are 3 instruments in the centre console, one is a turbo boost gauge so you can watch the turbo lag as well as experiencing it.