So, just bought a BMW....sorry!

[gIzzE]

But keep it where?

I have no drive, and I have to pay £1500 a year for my garage.
But I may try and swing it.

 

[Dee James]

Haha, they are pretty short, I am a 30/31" inside leg. But I like the front of my seat raised as much as possible, which means my seat needs to be closer than when it is flat. If that makes sense? My point above was, I have spend around £7k over the last 18 months on buying and sorting the ML and I will get half that back probably. It now has 118k miles on it, so it will get £3500 at best. If I put the standard wheels back on and put the standard stereo back in it it would be £2300 at best, all the work that has been done means sweet FA to the value.

It's got to be worth more than that surely? I looked at a few priced between 2 and 4k before I got mine and would have been all over yours at that kind of price.

 

[gIzzE]

Just a quick update after a fortnight with the X3.

Love it!

Have to say, the comfort is the most impressive thing, forget everything you think you know about BMWs, they are currently class leaders in German comfort imho.

OK, so saw the odometer was showing 506 miles since I filled up, so thought I would fill it up even though it was showing 140 miles remaining, and amazingly I only managed to to get £59 worth in!
Going from a car where 420-460 range is the norm for £100 worth, that is pretty pleasing.

And I am pretty impressed with its pace too, which was the one area I thought was going to be a compromise, it feels quicker than it should, being 4WD and only a 2 litre diesel.
Got my old AP22 Racetech timing meter out and tested the 0-60 and it was showing 8.2 seconds, the 2010 ML350 is showing 7.9 as a comparison, which never feels slow, so not surprising the X3 seems more than adequate.
Oh, and they have now cracked the ecu and a remap is showing it knocking over .5 of a second off, so something to consider I guess.

Stereo better than I was expecting, but still think and amp and maybe speakers will go in at some point.

Only real negatives are the fact it is a diesel, but I had decided if going diesel it had to be 4cyl and excellent MPG, so I knew what to expect in terms of aural pleasure.

But so far a big thumbs up.

 

[Rory]

I will miss it terribly, but can't really keep it, not got anywhere to put it for a start.

I think you should sell me the X3 and keep the ML to get some value out of it.

Your X3 is beyond my ideal spec, especially with a light coloured interior. Everyone comments very positively about the light grey in my current car - although newer cars (or any marque) don't do it in such a complete way these days. But having had black paintwork on another car I vowed I'd never do that again.

I'm in quandry - I really must change my car but feel the same as you that £40Kish on a 2litre SUV feels mad. Perhaps the GLK (or whatever it's going to be called) and the Disco Sport will shake things up once they get into the market.

 

[gIzzE]

I do think the Disco Sport will be brilliant, however, initial reports are saying 29-35mpg again, just like the Freelander, however, with the new engine end of 2015 we should see that increase.
I was surprised as the Evoque with the 9 speed auto seems to be getting 38mpg from owners, up a good 5-7mpg from pre 9 speed versions, so thought the Disco Sport would be closer.


But the Disco Sport is also expensive.
The SE Tech which is the lowest spec I would go for is £37,500 with metallic and xenons, before adding any other 'essentials'.
However, I am sure residuals will be among the best out there, so overall ownership cost will be pretty good.

I really like the GLK, proper family car in regard load space, a really usable boot due to it being square. I would definitely look at the new one when it arrives.

 

[Rory]

I do think the Disco Sport will be brilliant, however, initial reports are saying 29-35mpg again, just like the Freelander, however, with the new engine end of 2015 we should see that increase.
I was surprised as the Evoque with the 9 speed auto seems to be getting 38mpg from owners, up a good 5-7mpg from pre 9 speed versions, so thought the Disco Sport would be closer.

I haven't followed it in great detail, but I've seen comments from former RR and Discovery owners who have down-sized to Evoque that they're barely any better off MPG wise.

But the Disco Sport is also expensive.
The SE Tech which is the lowest spec I would go for is £37,500 with metallic and xenons, before adding any other 'essentials'.
However, I am sure residuals will be among the best out there, so overall ownership cost will be pretty good.

I know it happens on other marques, but, perhaps because I live near the factory, it's annoying the heck out of me how much cheaper DS is in the US (even after adding in VAT). And the spec is better - nearly 2 grand for auto here, of course standard in the US.

One thing of concern to me on DS is that it's very wide - over 2 metres even with mirrors folded. That will really out my wife off from using it.

I really like the GLK, proper family car in regard load space, a really usable boot due to it being square. I would definitely look at the new one when it arrives.

It's not just the boot that's square! The car's looks will certainly take some getting used to on UK roads.