[Maddness]

Originally Posted by kevinm03

I was in your position 6 months ago. I was coming out of a Performance Pack GTI. The tax, vrt and fuel penalty on a x35d is too high here. I was looking in the UK too. I would only buy from a BMW dealer so that warranty work can be done in Ireland. BMW Ireland are a subdivision of BMW UK, hence why the spec is the same in both countries, and warranties are honoured here. Just note that the used dealer warranty in the UK is only 1 year versus 2 years on cars sold in Ireland.

I bought a 162 430d in Ireland in the end. The deal I got meant there was no saving in going to the UK. With flights, the ferry and fuel, it costs the bones of €1k going over for a car. Also you are pretty committed if you go over and teh dealer knows it.

A remapped x30d will be very similar to a Golf R in a straight line. I saw a 12-15mpg improvement in the 430d over the GTI so you will get nearly 20mpg over the R.

There are very few 330d's in Ireland but a lot of 430d's for some reason. If you do buy in the UK, you have to ring BMW up to get the car switched from the UK ConnectedDrive website to the Irish one.

Where are you based?

I'm in Dublin.