Sir_Dave
ClioSport Trader
So with Brexit/Article 50/General economic slowdown appearing to halve my income over the past 6 months, it was time to stockpile some rainy day cash & pay off some loans ... so the idea was to sell the RS3 and buy a 5dr Golf Gti instead. Unfortunately, trying to find a 5dr mk6 DSG Gti with leather & xenons in that lovely grey colour was proving problematic, so i was drawn back towards my traditional holy grail of motoring. BMW.
Due to my low miles, my initial thought was naturally a 330i, & because i sit in soooo much town traffic these days, an automatic was a definite - having the manual Boxster means that ill never be driving this "for fun". On the flipside, i had bought a 330i manual touring for a friend recently and well, because i was used to boost now, the NA felt a bit flat at low speeds. With that in mind, i thought i'd also look at 335i's (with warranty!!) and 330/335d's as well. As with the Golf, finding an LCI saloon (for the newer pro nav) with Nav/Xenons (essential), Electric seats (i can never quite get comfy with the manual ones) & folding rear seats (just useful really) was proving tricky. So i decided to buy a coupe instead, as they come with all those things as standard! As the choice was far far greater, a black 330i, black 335i & white 330d were all lined up for last Saturday. Unfortunately both the 330i/335i sold before i could view them, which just left the 330d. Having not had a derv since the e46 320d, i was a little concerned about vibration at idle/low speeds, but if it was ok id probably buy it ...
It was more than ok, so bye bye RS3, hello 330d M Sport Highline:
Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Only really have dealer photos so far, but to be perfectly honest, they are far far better than anything i could ever take 😂
2 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
4 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
5 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
6 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
8 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
9 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
10 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
15 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Spec wise, its got everything i wanted, so LCI auto, Pro nav, 19's, xenons, electric/heated seats with memory, electric folding mirrors. The stereo is, compared to the B&O in the RS3, utterly woeful, so ill have to try & do something to improve it. I'm also missing being able to read the news on the Nav screen whilst sat in my daily traffic jam on the way to work :laughing:
Driving wise, & rather interestingly, the e92 really shows how far Audi have come with driveability, the RS3 is by all accounts, a flipping excellent car to sit in & pilot down a road, in all weathers, at warp speed. I had to pick Sarah up last night, in the dark, in the rain and promptly got the BM very sideways coming out of our car park, then almost aquaplaned off the road having hit a big puddle. In the RS3, i could have launch controlled out of the drive, then hit the puddle at 100 without worrying, whilst sat in one of the nicest interiors ever. It felt short, wide & stuck to the tarmac, by comparison, the e92 feels long, narrow & very skittish. The Audi really was an incredibly good car, very very good. I have to have another at some point :disrelieved:
The 330d is perfectly fine for driving to work/pootling about/going out on business though, which is why i bought it :up:
Bugger me new BMW floormats are expensive though, £100. FML.
Due to my low miles, my initial thought was naturally a 330i, & because i sit in soooo much town traffic these days, an automatic was a definite - having the manual Boxster means that ill never be driving this "for fun". On the flipside, i had bought a 330i manual touring for a friend recently and well, because i was used to boost now, the NA felt a bit flat at low speeds. With that in mind, i thought i'd also look at 335i's (with warranty!!) and 330/335d's as well. As with the Golf, finding an LCI saloon (for the newer pro nav) with Nav/Xenons (essential), Electric seats (i can never quite get comfy with the manual ones) & folding rear seats (just useful really) was proving tricky. So i decided to buy a coupe instead, as they come with all those things as standard! As the choice was far far greater, a black 330i, black 335i & white 330d were all lined up for last Saturday. Unfortunately both the 330i/335i sold before i could view them, which just left the 330d. Having not had a derv since the e46 320d, i was a little concerned about vibration at idle/low speeds, but if it was ok id probably buy it ...
It was more than ok, so bye bye RS3, hello 330d M Sport Highline:
Only really have dealer photos so far, but to be perfectly honest, they are far far better than anything i could ever take 😂
2 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
4 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
5 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
6 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
8 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
9 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
10 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
15 by Sir_Dave, on Flickr
Spec wise, its got everything i wanted, so LCI auto, Pro nav, 19's, xenons, electric/heated seats with memory, electric folding mirrors. The stereo is, compared to the B&O in the RS3, utterly woeful, so ill have to try & do something to improve it. I'm also missing being able to read the news on the Nav screen whilst sat in my daily traffic jam on the way to work :laughing:
Driving wise, & rather interestingly, the e92 really shows how far Audi have come with driveability, the RS3 is by all accounts, a flipping excellent car to sit in & pilot down a road, in all weathers, at warp speed. I had to pick Sarah up last night, in the dark, in the rain and promptly got the BM very sideways coming out of our car park, then almost aquaplaned off the road having hit a big puddle. In the RS3, i could have launch controlled out of the drive, then hit the puddle at 100 without worrying, whilst sat in one of the nicest interiors ever. It felt short, wide & stuck to the tarmac, by comparison, the e92 feels long, narrow & very skittish. The Audi really was an incredibly good car, very very good. I have to have another at some point :disrelieved:
The 330d is perfectly fine for driving to work/pootling about/going out on business though, which is why i bought it :up:
Bugger me new BMW floormats are expensive though, £100. FML.
