dest
Active Member
I picked up this last Saturday after countless hours of searching for new cars.
It wasn't even on my short list, that contained things like C350 diesel, 330d, 335d, Audi S4 (B8), 335i, 530d, 535d. All the usual suspects.
I was trawling through pages and pages of diesel C350's looking for that elusive one with massive spec (tons of time spent decoding VIN's!) and suddenly one caught my eye, a 3.5 litre amongst the sea of 3.0's. I didn't realise they did a 3.5 diesel I thought.... then I realised it was petrol and suddenly I had a new search on my hands!
I started researching the engine and quickly found it's a very rare thing, mainly due to everyone buying diesels when it was released, and the high petrol cost too I would guess.
A 268bhp V6 started to really appeal, but the £500 tax didn't.
I kind of gave up then because the only one I could find in saloon or estate was over priced (a red estate, still for sale now at £12k).
Then a grey one appeared (still for sale), but noticed it was listed as 306bhp. Turned out to be a facelift, 30 odd more bhp, and £310 less tax! Perfect! Now to find one with big spec, with the amount for sale it seemed it was going to be as hard as trying to find an LCI 335i with manual box, which I gave up on.
Especially as I wanted very rare options like Distronic (active cruise control) and various others.
Then this one appeared. A white facelift 306bhp Sport saloon. Perfect. I hurridly decoded the VIN to get its full factory spec, and to my shock I found it had a huge spec, with every option I had wanted and tons more I didn't know existed!
I rang them straight away and put a holding deposit it, cue a long week at work....
I was originally planning to sell my Mk6 Golf GTI privately as I refuse to give away cars, but I knew I couldn't miss this one as the chances of ever finding another are very slim to say the least. A decent deal was sorted and that was that.
The first drive from Wembley to Peterborough and then 20 mins home from there showed it the average to be 35.3mpg!
Very impressed. The Golf was getting 35, so was very pleased with that.
Obviously it will drop somewhat on local driving, but thankfully I rarily do town or city roads, so hopefully it won't drop too much.
Spec wise it is rediculous, I spent hours last night going through the manual, and am still finding new things out still.
The full datacard for anyone interested:
It's the first auto I've ever owned, and for the last 15 or so years I've not owned a car without at least 1 turbo, so my concern was power delivery, would I not like it?
All I can say is, I LOVE it!
If I had to list any bad bits, it would be one; it's too quiet.
That can obviously be easily solved, and will be asap!
I have always loved the sound of a V6, much more so than a V8, so I'm over the moon at how it will sound after watching youtube clips.
It wasn't even on my short list, that contained things like C350 diesel, 330d, 335d, Audi S4 (B8), 335i, 530d, 535d. All the usual suspects.
I was trawling through pages and pages of diesel C350's looking for that elusive one with massive spec (tons of time spent decoding VIN's!) and suddenly one caught my eye, a 3.5 litre amongst the sea of 3.0's. I didn't realise they did a 3.5 diesel I thought.... then I realised it was petrol and suddenly I had a new search on my hands!
I started researching the engine and quickly found it's a very rare thing, mainly due to everyone buying diesels when it was released, and the high petrol cost too I would guess.
A 268bhp V6 started to really appeal, but the £500 tax didn't.
I kind of gave up then because the only one I could find in saloon or estate was over priced (a red estate, still for sale now at £12k).
Then a grey one appeared (still for sale), but noticed it was listed as 306bhp. Turned out to be a facelift, 30 odd more bhp, and £310 less tax! Perfect! Now to find one with big spec, with the amount for sale it seemed it was going to be as hard as trying to find an LCI 335i with manual box, which I gave up on.
Especially as I wanted very rare options like Distronic (active cruise control) and various others.
Then this one appeared. A white facelift 306bhp Sport saloon. Perfect. I hurridly decoded the VIN to get its full factory spec, and to my shock I found it had a huge spec, with every option I had wanted and tons more I didn't know existed!
I rang them straight away and put a holding deposit it, cue a long week at work....
I was originally planning to sell my Mk6 Golf GTI privately as I refuse to give away cars, but I knew I couldn't miss this one as the chances of ever finding another are very slim to say the least. A decent deal was sorted and that was that.
The first drive from Wembley to Peterborough and then 20 mins home from there showed it the average to be 35.3mpg!
Very impressed. The Golf was getting 35, so was very pleased with that.
Obviously it will drop somewhat on local driving, but thankfully I rarily do town or city roads, so hopefully it won't drop too much.
Spec wise it is rediculous, I spent hours last night going through the manual, and am still finding new things out still.
The full datacard for anyone interested:
Code:
205B OWNERS MANUAL AND SERVICE RECORD - ENGLISH
213 SPEED-SENSITIVE POWER STEERING/VARIO STEERING
220A LEATHER
221A LEATHER - BLACK/ANTHRACITE
230 PARKING GUIDANCE
233 AUTONOMOUS INT. CRUISE CONT. PLUS (DISTRONIC PLUS)
237 ACTIVE BLIND SPOT ASSIST
238 ACTIVE LANE KEEPING ASSIST (FAP)
23P DRIVING PACKAGE
240 LED DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS
241 ELECTRICALLY ADJUSTABLE LEFT DRIVER SEAT W MEMORY
244 SPORTS SEATS, FRONT
249 INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR MIRROR,AUTOMATICALLY DIMMING
255B MB MOBILO WITH DSB AND GGD
265 LINES-NO.PLATE DISCONTINUED
275 MEMORY PACKAGE (DRIVER SEAT, STRG. COL., MIRROR)
280 LEATHER STEERING WHEEL AND LEATHER GEAR SHIFT KNOB
283B AIRBAGLABLE - ENGLISH
294 KNEE AIRBAG
299 PRESAFE
2U1 RADIATOR SHUTTER
305B HEAD UNIT LANGUAGE - BRITISH ENGLISH
30P COMPARTMENT PACKAGE
310 DUAL CUP HOLDER
335B INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/HU LANGUAGE - ENGLISH
345 RAIN SENSOR
427 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 7-SPEED
428 STEER.WHEEL GEARSHIFT BUTTONS/SHIFT PADDLE PAINTED
440 TEMPOMAT (CRUISE CONTROL)
442 MULTIFUNCTION STEERING WHEEL (12 BUTTONS)
461 INSTRUMENT WITH MILES IND. AND ENGLISH LEGEND
477 TIRE PRESSURE LOSS WARNER
486 SPORTS SUSPENSION
4U4 RADIATOR GRILLE WITH CENTER STAR
500 ELECTRIC FOLDING OUTSIDE MIRROR
509 NAVIBOX
510 AUDIO 20 RADIO WITH CD CHANGER
518 UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATIONS INTERFACE (UCI)
51U BLACK FABRIC ROOF INTERIOR TRIM
537 DIGITAL RADIO STANDARD DAB (DIGI. AUDIO BROADC.)
537L GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND
551 ANTI-THEFT/ANTI-BREAK-IN WARNING SYSTEM
580 AIR CONDITIONER
584 ELECTRIC WINDOW REGULATOR
5XXL EUROPE
600 HEADLAMPS - CLEANING EQUIPMENT
608 AUTOMATIC HIGH BEAM SWITCH (IHC)
621 HEADLAMP WITH ILS, LEFT-HAND TRAFFIC
650U CALCITE WHITE - STANDARD FINISH
666 PRODUCT PROT.F.TRANSPORT VEH. W/O TIE-DOWN HOOKS
690 EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE (MINI SPARE)
739 TRIM PIECES - ALUMINUM
74V SPEED- + LOADINDEX 92Y XL+94Y XL
772 AMG STYLING PACKAGE-FRONT SPOILER, SIDE SKIRT
776 WHEEL ARCH ENLARGEMENT
786 AMG DOUBLE-SPOKE WHEELS 18" WITH MIXED TIRES
802 CHANGE OF MODEL YEAR, THE LAST FIGURE SHOWING THE NEW MODEL YEAR
817 SIREN BRACKET FOR INCREASED THEFT PROTECTION
873 SEAT HEATER FOR LEFT AND RIGHT FRONT SEATS
882 INTERIOR SAFEGUARD
885 HIGHTEN THEFT PROTECTION
909 ALTERNATOR MANAGEMENT
916 FUEL TANK WITH LARGE VOLUME - VOLUME 1
920 GASOLINE DIRECT INJ. W/ STRATIFIED CHARGE (DES)
928 EXHAUST GAS CLEANING WITH EURO 5 TECHNOLOGY
932 TANK AT DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER SEAT
950 AMG SPORTS PACKAGE
954 EQUIPMENT PACKAGE FOR AVANTGARDE VEHICLES
966 COC PAPER EURO 5 TECH. W/O REGIST. CERT. PART 2
989 IDENTIFICATION LABEL UNDER WINDSHIELD
99N STEUERCODE WERK SINDELFINGEN/GRAZ
A20 STARTER GENERATOR
A31 SOFTWARE (INDIVIDUAL)
A63 FE TORQUE CONVERTER HOUSING-0
A64 FE CONVERTER 0 MM
A87 U VALVE BODY ASSEMBLY WITH VGS 3
A89 REDUCED-FRICTION
B03 DIRECT START / ECO START/STOP FUNCTION
B09 REFRIGERANT COMPRESSOR WITH MAGNETIC COUPLING
B12 WHEEL REPLACEMENT TOOL
F204 MODEL SERIES 204
FW LIMOUSINE
G906 TRANSMISSION CODE VERSION 06
GA AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
HA REAR AXLE
J82 SEPTEMBER RELEASE
K11 ADAPTIVE STOP LIGHT FLASHING
K13 CONTROL CODE FOR SERVICE INTERVAL 25000 KM
M276 V6-GASOLINE ENGINE M276
M35 DISPLACEMENT 3.5 LITER
N3A STEUERCODE W50 FUER PPS-INT. VERWENDUNG
P47 PARKING PACKAGE HIGH
P49 MIRRORS PACKAGE
P54 THEFT PROTECTION PACKAGE
P64 FRONT MEMORY PACKAGE
R RIGHT-HAND STEERING
R01 SUMMER TIRES
U01 REAR BELT STATUS INDICATION
U18 AUTOMATIC CHILD SEAT RECOGNITATION (AKSE)
U22 LUMBAR SUPPORT ADJUSTMENT
U26 FLOOR MATS - AMG
VL FRONT AXLE HALF, LEFT
VR FRONT AXLE HALF, RIGHTIt's the first auto I've ever owned, and for the last 15 or so years I've not owned a car without at least 1 turbo, so my concern was power delivery, would I not like it?
All I can say is, I LOVE it!
If I had to list any bad bits, it would be one; it's too quiet.
That can obviously be easily solved, and will be asap!
I have always loved the sound of a V6, much more so than a V8, so I'm over the moon at how it will sound after watching youtube clips.
