A guy at work had a look round the car today. He was wondering how powerful it was so I asked him to guess. "150bhp" was the answer..... Nearly choked when I told him it was 320 lol! :-)

Shouldnt of told him. Should of taken him for a drive and then to make a second guess haha.

I enjoy it when people guess what my Diesel produces. (265PS and 460 lb/ft)   Glad I got the car debadged, it looks like it's a boggo 2.1 diesel model

I get just shy of 40mpg on my commute in the morning form a cold start doing about 10miles on mainly single carriage A-roads if I'm pottering along. If I'm late and hooning it it'll be more like 25mpg.

Average for a tank is now high 20s but that includes a fair bit of stop start work around town.

That's great economy. I get less than that from my vRS. But my commute is 50 miles on a mix of A and B-Roads but all empty at 4am. Guess I'll start saving now for one.

well my MB goes back next summer (PCP) and I'm guessing that might work out quite well as the facelift 135 might be out by then. Of course this might be a good thing or a bad thing, but I got my 350CDi when the Face lift had not long been out and still got a great deal

That's great economy. I get less than that from my vRS. But my commute is 50 miles on a mix of A and B-Roads but all empty at 4am. Guess I'll start saving now for one.

You know it makes sense ;-)

Could that be because they wouldnt want to advertise the 1 series as faster than, it or as fast as, the flagship 3 series though?

 

no. the E90 is the previous generation M3 so it would be more like advertising a current 1 series as being faster than the old M3 but slower than the current M3. which wouldn't be bad way to sell either current model. makes it interesting to see what/if an M1/2 might be like though

 

noticed an M235i on site recently. that's a nice looking car

no. the E90 is the previous generation M3 so it would be more like advertising a current 1 series as being faster than the old M3 but slower than the current M3. which wouldn't be bad way to sell either current model. makes it interesting to see what/if an M1/2 might be like though

noticed an M235i on site recently. that's a nice looking car

Ahh i understand.

I'm not a big bmw fan boy so the E numbers confuse me somewhat haha.

I used to get mixed up between E Numbers, M&M's. E's and Speed. It means that the 90's are all a blur to me now.

Edited 22 August, 201411 yr by goneoffSKi

I used to get mixed up between E Numbers, M&M's. E's and Speed. It means that the 90's are all a blur to me now.

Speed has never been an issue for me. Its those blue smarties!

Ahh i understand.

I'm not a big bmw fan boy so the E numbers confuse me somewhat haha.

 

same. I read a thing once which explained them, I still don't know what's what with the various platform/chassis references

same. I read a thing once which explained them, I still don't know what's what with the various platform/chassis references

Just been to look at buying a new mini.

All the different options and packages confuse me lots with them too!

The BMW 'MINI' is just unbelievable in the choices or Models & Options that can be had, & thats from the First ones to the Newest Mk3's.

 

Buying one that someone else paid to spec up to the hilt can get you a nice one, if you buy from someplace else other than a MINI Dealership.

They seem to be happy to sit there with them at ridiculously high prices for long enough & not have residuals drop, but come time they have to get sold 

or shifted on.

Some of the options can be well over priced as the person ordered them though..

 

george

The BMW 'MINI' is just unbelievable in the choices or Models & Options that can be had, & thats from the First ones to the Newest Mk3's.

Buying one that someone else paid to spec up to the hilt can get you a nice one, if you buy from someplace else other than a MINI Dealership.

They seem to be happy to sit there with them at ridiculously high prices for long enough & not have residuals drop, but come time they have to get sold

or shifted on.

Some of the options can be well over priced as the person ordered them though..

george

I know what you mean mate. Thing is, mums after a brand new one. Shes always had ex demos n stuff in the past but fancies treating herself to a brand new one. I think we've decided on the following extras:

-cooper

-Mattalic grey (moonwalk i think its called)

- heated front windscreen

- LED headlights (£700 bloody quid)

- pepper pack

So i think itll have to be a factory order.

I had to test drive it today as i was the only one who had my licence on me (i wasnt complaining haha). The new 1.5 turbo is pretty good. You can still tell its a 3 cylinder but its smooth, responsive and reasonably pokey (136hp).

It seems well put together and everythings firm and solid.

Just a little concerned about the reverse gear on the new gearboxes. It wouldnt go in for me at all. I told dad to have a go and he couldnt suss it either. Thought it might pull up but that just pulled the gear nob and gator off. Crap i thought. Best get that put back on quick before the salesman comes out haha.

Asked the salesman about it and he said it is a pain to get in reverse. You just have to push it to the left really hard. Which is a concern

I watched about all that was available in the way of Vids on Youtube of Roadtests from the Launches in the US,

these showed the 'Gear Stick' and gaiter pulling off with a few different Video Mags testers.

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by goneoffSKi

I watched about all that was available in the way of Vids on Youtube of Roadtests from the Launches in the US,

these showed the 'Gear Stick' and gaiter pulling off with a few different Video Mags testers.

Oh. Not just us then!

same. I read a thing once which explained them, I still don't know what's what with the various platform/chassis references

 

Very simple - the E is the start of a German word that means prototype/development. So the E1 was their first ever prototype, the E60 the 60th and so on. Some are skipped (so E30 3 series, E31 8 series, E32 7 series, E36 3 series...), because the prototype got abandoned.  

 

Then they ran out of Es, and moved up the alphabet. F is nearly done, so G is next I guess?

 

I wouldn't worry about the hard to get into reverse - my 330d does it, as does a friend's 320cd, and another friend's 330cd. My E30 is a bit stiff, but has had 25 years or wear... It's just a protection against doing it by mistake.

Is that what a BMW Salesperson explains it as or a Engineer.  'It's just a protection against doing it by mistake'. ?

 

They surely never got to the end on the prototype / development and signed them off as 'E +'.

 

VORSPRUNG DURCH TECHNIK,   Not only VWG then that are full of BS.

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by goneoffSKi

Can i just make this clear then (as i never actually managed it myself with fear of further breaking something) do you just push it across really hard to get reverse?

Seems abit naff to me. Why not use another mechanism like a collar to pull up, or to push the lever down etc etc.

Maybe its okay when you're used to it. My mums 5 foot nothing and not exactly muscly, so im just hoping shes okay with it.

Mum and dad are gonna take their licence back and have a proper test drive.

On another note, Apparently on paper the cooper should do 0-60 in 7.8 seconds. Iv got to say, it didnt feel that quick for me. Obviously much more brisk than my 70hp fabia, but it didnt feel like it was that quick. Maybe its just the extra refinement and smoothness of the mini over the fabia.

The e thing makes just as much sense to me as the inconsistent vag convention.

What's the logic behind stuff like 86c, 6n2, 8b, 6y, 5l, 5j?

Assuming its the same, its just stiff, yes. That said, my sister's mini is normal and has it where 6th would be. My mum can't get my 330 into reverse - I do agree, its a bit flawed.

From my e30 manual (I love how syncros are still worth mentioning in 1989!):

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by TriggerFish

Very simple - the E is the start of a German word that means prototype/development. So the E1 was their first ever prototype, the E60 the 60th and so on. Some are skipped (so E30 3 series, E31 8 series, E32 7 series, E36 3 series...), because the prototype got abandoned.

Then they ran out of Es, and moved up the alphabet. F is nearly done, so G is next I guess?

I wouldn't worry about the hard to get into reverse - my 330d does it, as does a friend's 320cd, and another friend's 330cd. My E30 is a bit stiff, but has had 25 years or wear... It's just a protection against doing it by mistake.

Don't forget the E34 5 series what are they up to on F now?

Oh, yeah, my bad! One of the best 5s too.

F36 at least! Assuming this is up to date:

http://burgertuning.com/BMW_chassis_codes.html

Took them 40 years to do e, and about 5 to do f. Stupidly diverse and mostly pointless model range!

Edited 23 August, 201411 yr by TriggerFish

Oh, no, f82 from a better source:

http://www.bmwblog.com/2013/06/19/guide-all-bmw-f-codenames/

The e thing makes just as much sense to me as the inconsistent vag convention.

What's the logic behind stuff like 86c, 6n2, 8b, 6y, 5l, 5j?

Assuming its the same, its just stiff, yes. That said, my sister's mini is normal and has it where 6th would be. My mum can't get my 330 into reverse - I do agree, its a bit flawed.

From my e30 manual (I love how syncros are still worth mentioning in 1989!):

Thats true. I do have to google the odd VAG code to know what people are talking about occasionally hsha.

It must just be the new mini with the reverse the way it is then. Must be when they changed to the 1.5l turbo engines.

Oh, yeah, my bad! One of the best 5s too.

F36 at least! Assuming this is up to date:

http://burgertuning.com/BMW_chassis_codes.html

Took them 40 years to do e, and about 5 to do f. Stupidly diverse and mostly pointless model range!

Well yeah it's like there was the e90 91 and e92 but back when it was the e30 it was just called convertible or coupe

Gotta say. If you said to me "f36" i wouldnt know what you meant.

Id just think its a fault code off a glow worm boiler or something...