Hhhmmmm, got a spare set?

Just realised (watching the first race of touring car championship) that Nicolas Hamilton (yep lewis's) brother is doing a full season of BTCC. So what? He has Cerebral Palsy, which makes it astonishing he's in a car in the first place. Brave boy, hes onto a major hiding to nothing. BTCC is cut throat racing.

Anyone own a 1 series BMW? ,what's it like as a day to day family car with a small toddler/child?

I have a 54 plate 116. Nothing special but I really like it and at £2k with 65k miles on the clock 18 months ago I think it was great value.

It's just me and the dog so I dont stress too much about space but there is zero leg room behind me (I'm 6'2").
The boot is pretty decent in size, seats flatten nice and easily and the boot opening is a decent size and square enough to load big stuff unlike some modern cars.

Drive wise I think it's great in comparison to its competitors with similar engines.

Worth bearing in mind rear wheel drive. It makes it a better drive but if it is your main run around could cause problems in snow and ice. Doesnt bother me as I work from home so I just wont go out but if you need to get places that will be a problem.

I'm not sure when they started, probably with the new shape but there are front wheel drive options now, possibly just the 1.4 model. Bob will know better. The naming is a right state in the new shape range iirc.


One thing I really like is that despite my car being 15 years old it absolutely does not feel like it. Simple, clean, well built design.
Naturally missing modern features like USB and proper bluetooth (it was 3 years before the first iPhone after all). More modern examples will naturally have these features.
Not especially exciting looking but exciting at this level rarely ages well.

Will you park it properly tho?

Aye, insurance is the only real issue with importing Japanese cars. You’d be best off going to a broker like A-Plan and letting them find someone willing to take it on. Or get advice from owners clubs on their forums.

That is a beautiful car tho. I would take that over a Golf or S3 anyday... but I am a Japfan.

My brother used to have a Nissan 200sx.
Great fun in short bursts but nauseating as a daily driver.
Imagine going on a cruise but instead of plain sailing on a luxury liner it was white water rapids in a dinghy hours on end.

If it is fun in Forza it will ruin you on a daily commute.

@bob,@livdiv cheers. Missus has a golf which we use as the main car with the little one. I always fancied a rear wheel drive car and the new 1 series released Q4 this year is a 4 cylinder AWD car. (doesn't interest me). Therefore the outgoing current 1 series is the last rear wheel drive 6 cylinder 335bhp car. I fancied a M140i for myself. We rarely use my old car on the weekends to ferry the little one around so I think I could be ok with an M140i. There should be enough space for his car seat and when we swivel it around enough space for his legs for next 3 years (he'd be 4 years old by end of the pcp).

You can pick up a new m140i shadow edition with Pro sat nav, adaptive m suspension, adaptive headlights, folding mirrors, rear parking sensors, heated seats for around £310 a month with 3k upfront new on a 3 year pcp deal. Add an LSD to it and that takes payments to £360 a month. In theory total outlay would be around 20k but the GFV of the car would be 16k (LSD adds 2k to the GFV). Order book for factory produced 1 series ends in June. Also there is the hassle of swapping winter tyres in and out every year. LSD should help with the power, but winter tyres are recommended by more than a few BMW drives who I've spoken to. I also like the idea of having a lighter colour interior.

Or more can be more sensible and by a used old shape 2011-2018 3 series diesel, 335d X drive with around 25,000 miles on the clock for around 23k (that a 17 plate).

Just theoretical mind, though in a year from now I wonder what the price of pre 2019 6 cylinder m140i's will be. I wonder if it will become a future classic?

PCPs are becoming a ticking time bomb of debt like subprime mortgages which caused financial chaos a decade ago. Something like 90% of new car deals are PCP deals. The expectation is that there is a healthy 2nd hand market for these cars when they are returned after 3/4 years.

Leasing is still probably the best way to go if you want to drive this year's model of car X.

Its a mindset thing though isnt it. Some famous guy said "..if it appreciates buy it. if it depreciates then rent it"...

Cars depreciate, on a pcp your lucky to come out of it with £500 of equity. I've never leased (cant afford to) but i understand why people do. Latest cars, no MOT for 3 years, hassle free motoring. After 3 years if your bored, get something else on a lease. Yeah your paying the depreciation for the car over 3 years. How is that any worse than getting a car on PCP at full dealership price and it losing over 60% of its value by 3/4 years? Paying the GFV on a PCP is never a good idea financially.

Saving up and buying outright is always gonna be the sensible move. Borrowing/leasing/whatever is always gonna cost you.

afgavinstan wrote:

I absolutely positively completely will never ever ever ever ever have that option in my life, though. The idea of having multiple tens of k's sitting is so alien to me.

Me too. I genuinely believe most people should buy second hand cars. I’ve had plenty of sub-£1k cars and loved them all. Our society’s attitude to cars has shifted over the past decade or two – the finance culture we live in (I guess thanks to successive neoliberal governments?) has led everyone to believe they should have new (or new-ish) cars all the time. Great for the motor industry. Nuts for normal folk like us. I’ve never expected to be a person who can spec a brand-new car. Ever.

poprock wrote:

Saving up and buying outright is always gonna be the sensible move. Borrowing/leasing/whatever is always gonna cost you.

Not really. We offer low rate finance and I'm sure we're not alone. At least you end up with the car at the end. Ultimately you'll be able to work you way up.

Public transport is the pits.
Nationally trains are totally fucked.
Locally outside of cities public transport is totally impractical for anyone who actually needs to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.