Well, new to us, anyway.

She is changing jobs at work and she will be traveling all over the valley and her base office is way the other side of Vegas. Although she will get mileage for certain travel, her running the current SUV was just going to get ugly in fuel costs.

Found this at the local BMW dealer after trying out two or three different cars. This one came at a good price, it's CPO and is well equipped, unlike many German cars. Here are a couple of pictures, but there is one important feature I have hidden. Can you guess what it is?

I'll bet johngalt gets it first.

Attached Images

	BMW_01.jpg (168.9 KB, 220 views)
	BMW_02.jpg (146.0 KB, 231 views)

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Very nice! As to what's hidden, what's a radar detector for $1000, Alex?

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Aha! The instant assumption that all BMWs are speeding. Not the correct answer, but a good try.

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Is it xDrive?

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50 Years of DSOTM

Nope. But here's a hint. Most imported in this spec had xDrive for some reason.

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Quadra Trac (or whatever they call their AWD these days)?

It's xDrive in BMW speak, and no, that's not the gag.

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Is it a Diesel?

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What, me worry?

We have a winner!!!

Yes, it has a 2.0 4-cylinder diesel. Turbocharging gives it 180 hp and 280 ft/lbs of torque to drive the 8-speed ZF slushbox that everybody uses these days. It's badged as a 328d in the US and Canada, with the equivalent being a 320d anywhere else. Many were imported with xDrive and most came heavily equipped. This one has the uprated lights, navigation, red leather interior with sports seats, lots of wood and 18" wheels.

EPA official numbers are 32 city, 45 highway, but nearly all diesels do way better than the city numbers. The trip meter had not been zeroed and showed an average of 37.3 mpg. The instantaneous readout was showing some impressive numbers during the drive home.

I was a little skeptical at first as the last car I drove of similar specification was a Jaguar XE, and it was a vibrating shed. BMW seem to have isolated the engine MUCH better. Power delivery in normal mode is FAR better than in the Jaguar which had biblical turbo lag. Ride is better than I expected given it wears runflats. Seats are great and have a memory function. That will be handy for when my wife wants me to drive. There is enough room for me to sit behind my driving position. Mind you, the modern 3-series is about the same length as the 5-series of my youth and actually has a longer wheelbase..

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Oh, yeah, that's right, Quadra Trac is Mercedes.
I get those teutonic manufacturers mixed up....

I know what you mean about diesels, they can be vibration monsters. Glad to hear they got this one right.
Speaking of which, Mercedes builds some darned nice diesels too. I have an old 1984 300CD turbo diesel that is a pretty cool old ride.

Those Germans know how to make a car. Or pretty much anything mechanical for that matter.

Nice car. What are the maintenance costs going to be? BMWs are expensive to maintain. Diesels are a bit more expensive to maintain over gas engines. A Diesel BMW, I wonder...

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Just a curiosity.....

How many miles will you have to drive that car to make up the return on investment to gain a few MPG?

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I thought Quadra Trac was Jeep. Mercedes use 4Matic AFAIK.

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It's not a few MPG. Around Vegas it will be about 2:1 or more in favor of the BMW compared to the Cadillac SUV she drives now. We would keep the Cadillac (just because) except I'm not that keen on driving it. The BMW came at the right price, believe it or not, so any hit I take on getting rid of the Cadillac will be minimal.

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Get pretty much anything serviced at a main dealer and it's expensive. Porsches are still at another of stupidity along with other exotics. BMW is about the same as Jaguar and Cadillac. The servicing cost difference on diesels and gas cars has been narrowed considerably by the European manufacturers.

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BMW is very expensive to repair whether done at the dealer (astronomical) or at an independent shop (still high). It's really the parts that are insane.

A factory turbo will run at least $2K just for the part. I hope yours lasts a long time.

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Probably just about equal to what it saves on fuel costs, given the great mpg vs the higher cost of diesel these days.

Yeah, I believe you're right. I was thinking back to the days when Mercedes owned Jeep.

I hope you got more than one key for it?

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Oh yeah, my wife is red hot on that kind of stuff.

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Many years ago, I worked at car dealerships. There were very few older high milage BMWs being traded. When they did show up they were immediately wholesaled.

BMWs are maintenance intensive and those costs is one of the biggest reason people get rid of them - and not just anybody can work on them. At some point the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

Don't get me wrong, BMWs are nice cars and run great, when they run great - I like them very much, but seeing them in the shop for routine stuff and the resulting costs scare me.

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Thread Killer.

I beat johngalt, nyah, nyah!

BTW, LVSteve, if you're not a member of the BMW Car Club of America, consider joining. They have lots of activities, and the monthly magazine, the "Roundel", alone is worth the dues. It's not just a club magazine, it's a first rate auto magazine.

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What, me worry?

I was slow tonight...

The diesel is a logical guess.
The gas 4-banger? That is inconsistent with 'well equipped'.
The straight 6? That is inconsistent with the desired fuel economy.
That leaves the diesel.

Several years ago I test drove a 330d, which was a straight 6 turbo diesel. It had well over 200 bhp and over 400 lb-ft torque. Believe it or not, I was actually impressed with it.

Hey Steve, I did notice one problem - it has a sun roof!

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Especially when he blurred out the model designation on the trunk lid. That "d" would have given it away.

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What, me worry?

Best wishes to you and your wife driving your new wheels.

An eye opener was when we looked around a Swiss BMW dealership showroom in the 80's and saw the normal car equipment level in that country.

Manually operated vinyl seats. Crank windows. No air conditioning. Really devoid of bells and whistles. I liked the simplicity better, but then again my favorite car is a 2CV.

Don't know how prices are structured in your area, but out here in the West diesel is about the same price as mid-grade, and cheaper than premium. Considering that most half decent cars have a turbo these days, you really need to put premium in them. In our market, the cost difference between regular and premium gas in percentage terms is less than 10%, so all those that scream "oh no, it needs premium" are barking at shadows given that most premium tuned motors have better fuel consumption.

In our case the fuel consumption will be about halved, so diesel being 5% more expensive than regular is a non issue. Sure, a BMW is not a cheap car to service, but neither was the Cadillac SUV it is replacing.

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FWIW, I'm actually a little further "out west" than you, and around here the pricing is similar. I don't have any turbo cars that aren't diesels so I'm comparing regular to diesel. Around here the difference between diesel and regular is around 10%.

I do all my own work on my vehicles too, so for me the biggest difference in maintenance costs would be parts and the inconvenience of getting them if they are for something uncommon.

I'm like BigWheelZip - I prefer my vehicles simple. I'd buy them with no fancy equipment beyond AC if they even made them that way anymore. Your Beemer or even your Caddy are WAY fancier than anything I'd ever own.

In your circumstance, if you weren't burning regular in the Caddy, and if the mileage is double, and if you're driving a lot, and if you're paying someone to do your repair/service work, then it may pencil out. Either way, have fun with it.

Your neighborhood sure has short driveways...

Is that a bullseye target on the inside wall of your garage?

Good luck with the new car. Maybe it won't need a lot of servicing.

BMW bring money withya

My XJ fit on my driveway just fine. The car behind is on the short driveway of three for that design of house.

With some of the newer properties a toddler's big wheel would take up most of the space.

As for the "target", if you mean the yellow and black thing, it's a wind-up extension cable.

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Yeah, the 6-cylinder BMW diesel was a great motor. I think they still use it or a newer version in the 540d.

Re the sunroof, I know, it's not a perfect world. It does have a solid sliding cover on the inside, so it's tolerable.

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Looking forward to the car review

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...nice BMW...

...just watched the Youtube below...according to it the engines of the future may be...3 cylinder...two stroke...diesels...

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A Country Boy Can Survive

Very nice vehicle. In Europe they probably sell more diesels in that model than gas models. Whatever you do, be very careful of where it gets refueled and who does it. Wouldn't take much gas to destroy that engine.