E90 write-off, now the F30 upgrade

[VernonD]

Hi all

On my past thread I shared my horror story of my E90 320d sportspack that got written off after a guy with a Citi Golf jumped the stop sign.

Now I wish to say that after 21 days of mourning I decided to use some of my spare savings for a deposit on a F30 320d sport line. Got it for R300K at Donford BMW Stellenbosch. She got 79000km on the clock and still 3 yrs motorplan left.

I couldn't afford the sportspack F30 but thought the sportline would be as close to the E90 sportspack as possible.

The car still looks good but drives very different to my sportspack E90. The suspension is way softer and the car is not so low to the ground to what I'm use to. The steering wheel is also crazy-light and when going into corners I don't feel that 'clinging to the road feeling'.

I want to ask if there some hints you guys can give me as to what I would have to look out for on the F30's as I will be driving just as much with this car as I did with my previous car and I didn't have any issues with my E90. I am reading some of the comments on the F30 320i and 328i but not so much on the 320d.

 

[prado]

Congratulations! I can't tell what to look out for on an F30 but I can say for sure that it's a beauty! :thumbs:

The opportunity to drive a new 3 series and the presence that an F30 has is special indeed. Many happy kilometres!

 

[MaX]

Congrats on the new ride!

I had a lux line 328 before my current m sport line and i know exactly what you are talking about regarding feeling a bit loose. That unfortunately is one of the down sides of the softer suspension. It is however a false sensation created by the body roll. Keep an eye in the speedo when hitting the twisties and you will notice the car carries alot of speed through the corners. When you go into a corner be very smooth and let the car settle, then you can star leaning on it.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Congrats! Can't say anything regarding the F30, but I am sure there are plenty of members here that can, and will in due course. Such a shame that your car had to be written off though... :nonono:

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Very sad to hear about your E90, never cool when that happens..

I own one of the very 1st F30 320d's made in SA. I have posted quite a few things regarding my car on the forum, among others the factory faults to look out for, but I would assume most would be fixed on your car (worst of it is the suspension).

Suspension:
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=50864

Summary of all issues I had (F30 and F20):
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=59095&pid=979551#pid979551

Mine has been a special case really.. :fencelook:

Now.. Let me say.. Excellent choice of car :thumbs: For a mix of decent power and consumption you cannot get better besides buying a hybrid. Just today again went on a cruise around and got between 3.6-4.4l/100 @ 120km/h hiway only. In-town consumption over the past 10,000kms settled on 7.0l/100, she is sitting at 75,000.

I love driving my car, I love looking at her when I park her and walk off. To me.. She is the best daily I have ever had, no jokes. :thumbs:

 

[Iceman007]

Congratulations a very good choice. I own a 320d myself. There were only two major issues with the F30 and it is the steering rack that I assume is sorted and the seats that rust that was on the first models.

Enjoy the car and that ZF transmission:thumbs:

 

[VernonD]

Congrats on the new ride!

I had a lux line 328 before my current m sport line and i know exactly what you are talking about regarding feeling a bit loose. That unfortunately is one of the down sides of the softer suspension. It is however a false sensation created by the body roll. Keep an eye in the speedo when hitting the twisties and you will notice the car carries alot of speed through the corners. When you go into a corner be very smooth and let the car settle, then you can star leaning on it.

Thanks man, I did feel that when going into corners at speed, I am use to the car feeling more ' onto the road' and got a scare when I went into a corner and didn't feel the same response in the F30

---

Very sad to hear about your E90, never cool when that happens..

I own one of the very 1st F30 320d's made in SA. I have posted quite a few things regarding my car on the forum, among others the factory faults to look out for, but I would assume most would be fixed on your car (worst of it is the suspension).

Suspension:
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=50864

Summary of all issues I had (F30 and F20):
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=59095&pid=979551#pid979551

Mine has been a special case really.. :fencelook:

Now.. Let me say.. Excellent choice of car :thumbs: For a mix of decent power and consumption you cannot get better besides buying a hybrid. Just today again went on a cruise around and got between 3.6-4.4l/100 @ 120km/h hiway only. In-town consumption over the past 10,000kms settled on 7.0l/100, she is sitting at 75,000.

I love driving my car, I love looking at her when I park her and walk off. To me.. She is the best daily I have ever had, no jokes. :thumbs:

Thanks for the links, I'll go through them now. I have driven only about 800km so far when I got the car but am only able to get 4.8l/100km and I drive in Eco Pro mode. I keep on having to put the car in Eco Pro mode every time I start-up the car and it's a bit annoying. Is there some other setting you put on the iDrive to get to that economy? I drive the Steptronic paddle-shift version so I don't know if this might be the reason for me not getting to that economy.

 

[Nastaliq]

The annoying bit of having to select Eco-pro mode is a niggly.
you will have to code to change that. basically, the car defaults to comfort each time and you need to select eco-pro.

if you code, or get the dealer to code it for you, it will default to eco-pro mode.

Remember, with each new revision of the car (I am not talking about LCIs), the cars tend to get lighter.
Less dense plastics, more aluminium, less steel, less rubber, more plastic etc.

This is why if you go back and drive an E30 and an F30 back to back its like driving a brick versus a cotton wool ball. just keep that in mind.

the paddle shift should have no effect, unless of course you are using it in paddle shift mode (Sport +), where you may not be changing gears optimally. as such, you may experience poorer economy.
something to think about.


all in all, the 320d is an awesome car in a diesel. I drove an E90 LCI 320d and I loved that car.

The pull was insane, all while being very cheap to run.
Enjoy the car, and post us up a few more pics of the car.