Modding has halted... the GTI has a new companion!

[Garth]

I just couldn't live with the 1.6 mk4 as a second car so the GTI has now become the second car, replaced by this:





E92 330i coupe with a few choice options:
Bluetooth, 19" alloys, heated red leather  
and only 14k miles 

It was hard to find a 330 with a REAL gearbox. This was the only used 330 (i or d) in the whole of the BMW network with a decent colour combo and a manual gearbox. Everyone buys these with auto and the BMW auto box is terrible in my opinion.

The only downside is that it will be driven by my fiance as I do far too many miles to spoil such a nice car  

Modding the GTI will now have to be put on hold for a while... at least until after the wedding  

[liver]

lovely mate, deffo an upgrade from the fez, the poor gti though taking a back seat

get this mapped will be epic

[Garth]

lovely mate, deffo an upgrade from the fez, the poor gti though taking a back seat

get this mapped will be epic

CHeers mate. Not much point mapping this though as it's a 3L NA car. No turbo to wind up so not much gain. That said, it doesn't need it as it shifts as standard. The noise is simply  too!

[keith]

Nice
Check the indicators though seem to be an issue with them on beemers

[RedRobin]

The only downside is that it will be driven by my fiance as I do far too many miles to spoil such a nice car  

Modding the GTI will now have to be put on hold for a while... at least until after the wedding  

....Shall I tell Garth, or will someone else?

The words "short" and "curlies" and the dreaded "home improvements" come to mind

Glad it's not another diseasal though!

[Garth]

The only downside is that it will be driven by my fiance as I do far too many miles to spoil such a nice car  

Modding the GTI will now have to be put on hold for a while... at least until after the wedding  

....Shall I tell Garth, or will someone else?

The words "short" and "curlies" and the dreaded "home improvements" come to mind

Glad it's not another diseasal though!

Ha ha. I can honestly say (and I must be in the minority here!) that this is not going to happen  
I asked her what car she would like if money was no object. She said she wanted another 3 series coupe (I've had 2 before) with a manual gearbox and a decent sized engine. As luck would have it, I really wanted an E92 330i so winner! She always seems to want the same stuff as me.

The home improvements have been going on years and have now taken a back seat to the new car

I must be marrying the only woman in the world that doesn't nag or whine  

RR, diesel Beemers are ace! My last 2 were 330d's and it's nothing like the VAG diesel, they're monsters 

[RedRobin]

^^^^
Then she is most definitely worth marrying! A rare gal!

Yep, I know BMW make some of the best engines - I just don't like diseasals.. I think it's the sound I dislike so much, or lack of it! It's just my prejudice.

[Garth]

^^^^
Then she is most definitely worth marrying! A rare gal!

Yep, I know BMW make some of the best engines - I just don't like diseasals.. I think it's the sound I dislike so much, or lack of it! It's just my prejudice.

I know what you mean. Most diesels sound awful. The 330d sounds about as good as it gets from a derv and is almost like a loose 6 cyl petrol, but not quite.

I AM looking forward to 3L 6 cylinder petrol noises again though. Brum, brum! How can this engine give 39.2mpg on a combined run? It's insane. On a steady motorway run, it can hit 50mpg  It's twice the size/weight of the GTI, with more power. Happy days...

[RedRobin]

^^^^
The answer to your quezzie "How can this be done?" is quite simple:

B M W and German - They're good at what they apply their minds to. I'd have a Beemer again.

[Gene Hunt]

Very nice but terrible in bad weather.My mate has an M3 & it spent more time on the drive than on the road during the last winter.

[Garth]

Very nice but terrible in bad weather.My mate has an M3 & it spent more time on the drive than on the road during the last winter.

Your mate must be a REALLY $hit driver then!

I've had 2 of these already and can honestly say they're as good, if not better than my GTI in the wet. Sure, they're crap in the snow, but how often does it snow round here? Maybe 1 week a year?

I'm sick of people telling me about 'a mate' or 'a guy I know' or 'a friend of a friend' who has a horror story about driving a BMW in the wet. The fact is, these wet handling problems dissapeared with the E30. The E36 wasn't bad and the E46 was amazing in the wet. The E92 feels safer to drive in the wet than my GTI which throws it's nose around like mad in the rain.

Rant over 

[Gene Hunt]

Where were you last winter then ?. No snow in Leeds ?.

[Garth]

Where were you last winter then ?. No snow in Leeds ?.

Yep, in Leeds, about 1 week of snow as mentioned. If you want to be really precise, there were only actually about 4 days where there was snow on the roads. Once the gritters were around, there was no problem whatsoever. In that week, I drove a 320d a 330cd, a Z4, a mk4 golf and my mk5 GTI. The one that struggled the most in the slush was the GTI.
In the actual snow, the Beemers were all stuck dead I admit, but even in the slushy, gritty crap they were fine. 

[Gene Hunt]

  

[T88OMM]

Ummmm that is a lovely lovely car!