[R32Paul]

Greetings folks, long time lurker, first time poster.

We started looking to replace our A4 3.0 TDI Quattro Avant in March and ended up deciding that we wouldn't change until next year. We had driven a variety of 330d's and 328i's from our local dealer and compared them to the S4 etc.

Our local BMW dealer phoned last weekend to say that they had a 330d x drive in to try, which we did. This coupled with a 'sales event'...... led to today...

So today, much against our plan we have ordered one!

Spec is:

330d X Drive Touring;
Melbourne Red;
Black buffalo hide;
Professional Navigation;
M Sport Plus Pack;
Visibility Package;
VSS;
Adaptive Suspension;
Lumbar;
Heated front seats.

We dropped extended storage as £150 seems a lot for two nets and the odd cubby hole!

Dealer is hoping it will arrive in early September, so the waiting begins!

Thank you to all that have contributed to the decision process.

The thing that made us make the change now was an decent trade in and a significant discount. The dealer matched a lease deal on PCP (albeit 4 years vs. a 3 year lease).

UPDATE:

Having agreed all the figures and signed the order...... It turns out that the figures are wrong. Apparently the salesman didn't know that Pro Nav is an extra!!!!!!!! Hence all the figures are wrong and the monthly figure is too high for us.

Now planning on a. going elsewhere b. failing that de speccing the visibility pack, lumbar and heated seats to get to where we need to be.

[SeanH]

I'd keep the Vis pack, one of the best options I've ever had on my 3'er & mine was bought used. I'm currently trawling BMW AUC for a newer model to replace mine as it'll be 2 years old in Sept & I cannot find a car I like as they all have halogen lights.

[bwrlane]

Nice car. My advice would be to keep the pronav and ditch the x-drive. The non x-drive models are a) lighter; and b) lower. This means that they accelerate better in most situations, handle better and have better economy.

The extra traction of the x drive would mainly be felt in snow and ice. Some people prefer the more neutral handling feel of the x-drive and coming from a Quattro you may be one of those people. But the majority feel the non x-drive delivers the better overall handling experience.

You should also negotiate hard on a discount. The will almost certainly accept a discount equal in value to the price of the pronav when they realise you're considering taking your business elsewhere.

[ukbeemerboy]

Vis pack is part of the M Sport pack so knocking that off won't save anything as it shouldn't need to be specced anyway....

I am sure the dealer could come to some arrangement with a deal especially as your coming from an Audi...

[mproudfoot]

That's a nice spec and I'd concur with the above advice - firstly see if the dealer can do something for you, particularly if you mention that you;re looking to walk away. Failing that, do you need xDrive? The 330d sDrive handles very well and as already noted, lighter and lower.. and many of us have found our sDrive M Sport models absolutely spot on without the adaptive suspension so that could be a potential further saving.

The VIS pack, heated seats and lumbar are only a few hundred each (given that you have the xenons in the M Sport Plus pack) so it won;t save you enough to add the Pro Media. Plus.. heated seats are a must in the cold!

[Quakered]

If you have signed the order and that included the price, I would have thought you have a contract with the dealer. Might be worth asking a lawyer for a view.

If you are looking at savings then the adaptive suspension does nothing for the performance but does allow you to make the suspension less comfortable. I have the bog standard headlights with the auto dipping and they light the road ahead wonderfully!

If you are going for the Pro Nav you really also need the HUD. It is by a million miles the best extra in our car. You can always see the speed you are doing as well as sat nav instructions as well as telephone and entertainment.

[R32Paul]

Folks,

Thanks for the replys...

- The residuals are higher on the x-drive, hence it makes the PCP deal better;
- We are currently looking at dropping the annual miles to 8k and taking a calculated risk at the end of term (in the unlikley event that we hand the car back and do not trade it in);
- With regards to the discount, we have £7k off the dealer already, so they will not go any lower;
- With regards what to drop off, I need to keep the adaptive with the x-drive as it handles like a boat without (as it doesn't have the m-sport suspension). I'm toying with giving up viz pack 1st and then the lumbar in an effort to get to where we want to be.

[MRPoisson]

Originally Posted by R32Paul

Folks,


- We are currently looking at dropping the annual miles to 8k and taking a calculated risk at the end of term (in the unlikley event that we hand the car back and do not trade it in);
.

That is exactly what I did and I'm up to 7k miles after 6 months :-) As you point out, very unlikely to hand the car back in, most likely trade-in for a new one at the end of the deal

[dopper99]

Just thinking about this annual mileage thing on PCP.......

So handing the car back and walking away and if you do over the agreed mileage - they will hit you with a penalty. But cant you sell the car yourself at the end of the finance agreement (eg webuyanycar) and pay off your finance and not get hit with the penalty? Are you allowed to sell the car though or does this depend on how much is paid off?

If this was the case we could all put down 8K miles per annum and have cheaper monthly payments?

[browellm]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Just thinking about this annual mileage thing on PCP.......

So handing the car back and walking away and if you do over the agreed mileage - they will hit you with a penalty. But cant you sell the car yourself at the end of the finance agreement (eg webuyanycar) and pay off your finance and not get hit with the penalty? Are you allowed to sell the car though or does this depend on how much is paid off?

If this was the case we could all put down 8K miles per annum and have cheaper monthly payments?

Not quite in that order. You need to pay the GFV at the end, then you can sell the car for whatever you get.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by browellm

Not quite in that order. You need to pay the GFV at the end, then you can sell the car for whatever you get.

Reading this thread http://www.babybmw.net/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=41446 it appears you can just request a settlement figure, sell the car privately and pay off the finance. So you could sell your car at any time, eg 3 months before the end of your PCP contract.

[browellm]

Originally Posted by dopper99

Reading this thread http://www.babybmw.net/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=41446 it appears you can just request a settlement figure, sell the car privately and pay off the finance.

You still can't sell an asset you don't own.

So you can request an early settlement figure, but you have to pay that to the finance company before you sell the car on.

[Sabo]

Originally Posted by browellm

You still can't sell an asset you don't own.

So you can request an early settlement figure, but you have to pay that to the finance company before you sell the car on.

Apparently you can just have to settle the finance on the day of sale

[browellm]

Originally Posted by Saby

Apparently you can just have to settle the finance on the day of sale

Think about what you are suggesting. If I was going to buy a second hand car of some value, I would do a HPI check before buying it, which in your scenario would indicate that there was outstanding finance on it.

If you can find some muppett (sorry, customer) to agree to buy the car on the basis that you say you are going to cancel off the finance later that day, then all power to you.

Any sane buyer of your car would expect the finance on it to be settled before they hand over any money to you.

[Poohbore]

You could always drop the leather and heated seats.

[mproudfoot]

Originally Posted by Poohbore

You could always drop the leather and heated seats.

I assume this is an M Sport (owing to the presence of the M Sport Plus pack which is M Sport only afaik) which means even if he drops the Buffalo leather (what is that anyway, I don't see it listed as an option for the 330d xDrive M Sport touring in the configurator?), it still has a leather interior.. for which I'd say heated seats are essential.

[PJJ]

Originally Posted by browellm

Think about what you are suggesting. If I was going to buy a second hand car of some value, I would do a HPI check before buying it, which in your scenario would indicate that there was outstanding finance on it.

If you can find some muppett (sorry, customer) to agree to buy the car on the basis that you say you are going to cancel off the finance later that day, then all power to you.

Any sane buyer of your car would expect the finance on it to be settled before they hand over any money to you.

Though I've not done this, its not unusual to sell this way, as long as you're upfront with the buyer.

All you need to do is get the buyer to pay the finance company off directly and give you the balance of the sale price. This can be done over the phone with a debit card or with a transfer at the bank.

[browellm]

Originally Posted by PJJ

All you need to do is get the buyer to pay the finance company off directly and give you the balance of the sale price. This can be done over the phone with a debit card or with a transfer at the bank.

That's still paying off the finance first, whichever way you look at it.

[PJJ]

Originally Posted by browellm

That's still paying off the finance first, whichever way you look at it.

Yep. I was just responding to the suggestion that it wasn't a good idea to buy/sell a car with finance outstanding.

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by R32Paul

- The residuals are higher on the x-drive, hence it makes the PCP deal better

Now that's an argument i'd not yet heard for x drive...

[R32Paul]

On a separate note.....

Has anyone managed to negotiate the £752 delivery charge away?

[MarkG_M5Comp]

Originally Posted by R32Paul

On a separate note.....

Has anyone managed to negotiate the £752 delivery charge away?

You can do this if you collect from the factory

Jaguar offered that when the XF was launched - they just never came up with a date for me