BMW 320i vs 320D: your choice?

Foxhound5366 said:
Oh don't say that 0.o I hope to goodness that's not what my car has ... and it does have big rims too, thanks to the Luxury Line trim. Oh well, with great looks comes great ... pain.
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The width is the bit that hurts. Don't think the 320 is quite as bad. Remember, the 330D pushes quite a lot of torque through those wheels.

My front tires are about a grand less, if memory serves.

Also, found dealership prices on par with tires shops. Not worth shopping around unless you have lots of free time.
 
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So here's another interesting BMW question: I got a quote on a one-year extension to my BMW Motorplan, and it's a relatively hefty R17 630.

Has anybody purchased an extension and been happy they did? Did you save yourself some big expense that year, or did you regret you'd gotten it?

I discovered that apparently I can get the amount added to my car finance, but that might not be worth it in the long run (it appears I'd pay around R10 000 in interest over a standard 60-month term).

Also a random couple facts: you can only extend your BMW Motorplan to 7 years from the date it was purchased, so two one-year extensions (and they only come one year at a time) above the standard five year plan.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
So here's another interesting BMW question: I got a quote on a one-year extension to my BMW Motorplan, and it's a relatively hefty R17 630.

Has anybody purchased an extension and been happy they did? Did you save yourself some big expense that year, or did you regret you'd gotten it?

I discovered that apparently I can get the amount added to my car finance, but that might not be worth it in the long run (it appears I'd pay around R10 000 in interest over a standard 60-month term).

Also a random couple facts: you can only extend your BMW Motorplan to 7 years from the date it was purchased, so two one-year extensions (and they only come one year at a time) above the standard five year plan.
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Ask dealership for warranty rather, covers the major stuff for unlimited amount. Cost 14k for 2 years unlimited Km.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
So here's another interesting BMW question: I got a quote on a one-year extension to my BMW Motorplan, and it's a relatively hefty R17 630.

Has anybody purchased an extension and been happy they did? Did you save yourself some big expense that year, or did you regret you'd gotten it?

I discovered that apparently I can get the amount added to my car finance, but that might not be worth it in the long run (it appears I'd pay around R10 000 in interest over a standard 60-month term).

Also a random couple facts: you can only extend your BMW Motorplan to 7 years from the date it was purchased, so two one-year extensions (and they only come one year at a time) above the standard five year plan.
Click to expand...

I broke even after the first year, and then came out well ahead after the second. The last two years after it expired has been trouble free motoring.
 
So I'm just about to pull the trigger on getting new run flat tyres for my 320i, and when I asked a tyre place I trust which they'd recommend for comfort, they said the Michelin Primacy HP Zero Pressure are more comfortable (albeit only slightly more expensive) than the factory-fitted Continental ContiSportContact 5 SSR Run Flats I currently have on.

Anybody have an opinion on those two tyres? If I'm going to be spending R12 000+ on a new set, it'd be nice to know I got the best in that price range.
 
Primacy HP all the way, never got a tyre again that could match the performance.
Sad that its not available in my car's wheel size anymore.
 
Ok, so in the ongoing public service nature of this thread, I am happy to confirm that my 320i managed to return an average fuel consumption of 5.8 litres/100km between Johannesburg and Durban and back, kept on cruise control all the way and staying at the speed limits. Quite a nice change from the 9 l/100km it was averaging in city driving!

Also I went for the Michelin Primacy HP ZP tyres after all, and am very happy with them ... paid just over R7k for two tyres and insurance, but they fixed the annoying wobble my previous tyres introduced in the steering (the two fronts had been suffering from uneven tyre wear).
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Ok, so in the ongoing public service nature of this thread, I am happy to confirm that my 320i managed to return an average fuel consumption of 5.8 litres/100km between Johannesburg and Durban and back, kept on cruise control all the way and staying at the speed limits. Quite a nice change from the 9 l/100km it was averaging in city driving!

Also I went for the Michelin Primacy HP ZP tyres after all, and am very happy with them ... paid just over R7k for two tyres and insurance, but they fixed the annoying wobble my previous tyres introduced in the steering (the two fronts had been suffering from uneven tyre wear).
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That consumption is bloody good for a 2 liter petrol car.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Ok, so in the ongoing public service nature of this thread, I am happy to confirm that my 320i managed to return an average fuel consumption of 5.8 litres/100km between Johannesburg and Durban and back, kept on cruise control all the way and staying at the speed limits. Quite a nice change from the 9 l/100km it was averaging in city driving!

Also I went for the Michelin Primacy HP ZP tyres after all, and am very happy with them ... paid just over R7k for two tyres and insurance, but they fixed the annoying wobble my previous tyres introduced in the steering (the two fronts had been suffering from uneven tyre wear).
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Sounds bit exspensive the conti's ssr are R2700 a piece. Can you feel the diffrence? All mine is conti ssr tyres.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Ok, so in the ongoing public service nature of this thread, I am happy to confirm that my 320i managed to return an average fuel consumption of 5.8 litres/100km between Johannesburg and Durban and back, kept on cruise control all the way and staying at the speed limits. Quite a nice change from the 9 l/100km it was averaging in city driving!

Also I went for the Michelin Primacy HP ZP tyres after all, and am very happy with them ... paid just over R7k for two tyres and insurance, but they fixed the annoying wobble my previous tyres introduced in the steering (the two fronts had been suffering from uneven tyre wear).
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Does the 320i have same size all round now? Or still fatter rears over fronts?

If it’s the same all round then you need to keep a more careful eye on rotation to prevent this happening again.

It’s almost never the tyres but rather the car setup that causes it to happen.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Does the 320i have same size all round now? Or still fatter rears over fronts?

If it’s the same all round then you need to keep a more careful eye on rotation to prevent this happening again.

It’s almost never the tyres but rather the car setup that causes it to happen.
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Same size all around. No clue how it happened, I bought the car secondhand so I'll blame the former owner.

GTX, I also purchased insurance on each tyre, that was another R1 000. The main difference is that the Contis are rated as Extra Load, which means they've been stiffened up ... that is meant to make them harder wearing but also impacts the ride quality.

I got a couple opinions about that online and wad recommended the Michelin way at TWT too. My biggest quality issue came from the damage on the old Contis, so can't compare apples with apples now. I'm sure BMW did their research before putting them stock, but I wanted something a bit softer and these do have a BMW star rating as well.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Same size all around. No clue how it happened, I bought the car secondhand so I'll blame the former owner.
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Yeah previous owner probably didn't rotate regularly enough.

But in Motorplan BMW should really be on top of that.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yeah previous owner probably didn't rotate regularly enough.

But in Motorplan BMW should really be on top of that.
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There's BMW and BMW I'm realising ... the BMW dealership I bought my car from sold it to me like that, and when I reported the wobble to them they only aligned the tires (probably to save the cost of having to replace the tires themselves). And they delivered my car to me badly scratched and with damaged rims, and I had to then return the car to them for repair. Changed dealers immediately and the next batch gave me great service and identified the problem, still my cost to fix (no way in hell was I dealing with Dealer #1 again).
 
Gtx Gaming said:
Ask dealership for warranty rather, covers the major stuff for unlimited amount. Cost 14k for 2 years unlimited Km.
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I mailed my dealership about this and was told that mechanical warranty is not available. ( Auto Atlantic CPT)
Only maintenance plan can be extended.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Ok, so in the ongoing public service nature of this thread, I am happy to confirm that my 320i managed to return an average fuel consumption of 5.8 litres/100km between Johannesburg and Durban and back, kept on cruise control all the way and staying at the speed limits. Quite a nice change from the 9 l/100km it was averaging in city driving!

Also I went for the Michelin Primacy HP ZP tyres after all, and am very happy with them ... paid just over R7k for two tyres and insurance, but they fixed the annoying wobble my previous tyres introduced in the steering (the two fronts had been suffering from uneven tyre wear).
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5.8 is nothing short of remarkable. Is that an OBC figure, or actual fuel usage?

I know several people that this exact model of car sitting with 11L in town and 9L on the freeway.
 
justplain said:
I mailed my dealership about this and was told that mechanical warranty is not available. ( Auto Atlantic CPT)
Only maintenance plan can be extended.
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My new BMW dealer gave me a proactive call and quoted me on both options, extending the maintenance plan (like R28K for 2 years) or just extending the warranty (R14K for 2 years). Honestly not sure about either option, I'm not afraid anything's gonna just break on my car and she's running like a dream.

Tman* said:
5.8 is nothing short of remarkable. Is that an OBC figure, or actual fuel usage?

I know several people that this exact model of car sitting with 11L in town and 9L on the freeway.
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OBC. Next time I do it I'll go full Economy Run measures on it, with a little notebook and calculator. I was pretty impressed with the cruise control, it seemed to do a very good job of keeping the car at the perfect speed the entire time, and handling the acceleration and engine braking well with all the unpredictable hills on that route. Speaking of 'exact model of car', do your friends have the F30 320i? That's the newer turbocharged engine, the older E90 had a thirstier naturally aspirated engine.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
My new BMW dealer gave me a proactive call and quoted me on both options, extending the maintenance plan (like R28K for 2 years) or just extending the warranty (R14K for 2 years). Honestly not sure about either option, I'm not afraid anything's gonna just break on my car and she's running like a dream.



OBC. Next time I do it I'll go full Economy Run measures on it, with a little notebook and calculator. I was pretty impressed with the cruise control, it seemed to do a very good job of keeping the car at the perfect speed the entire time, and handling the acceleration and engine braking well with all the unpredictable hills on that route. Speaking of 'exact model of car', do your friends have the F30 320i? That's the newer turbocharged engine, the older E90 had a thirstier naturally aspirated engine.
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F30.

E90 320i is horrendous
 
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