BlackrazorNZ

Will post some on pickup - the photos in this thread aren't my specific car, just one from Aus of identical spec

19 'sleeps' to go. Boing Boing Boing.

All of the EV's I've ever driven have an engine sound you can toggle on and off. Having said that, they don't seem to want to imitate an IC engine sound - most of them sound like some sort of alien hovercraft...

There is significant concern long term in some sectors of the automotive maintenance and repair sector, over the fact that EV's require so much less maintenance and therefore will potentially have a significant impact on the viability and requirement for professional automotive maintenance. One of the stats I read a while back was that the average IC engined car has 2100-ish moving parts. The average EV has 83.

Sounds like there could be a profitable business venture in the offing Take deposits from potential purchasers, allowing them to apply various upgrades before causing minor damage and paying for all of it, then returning the car in exchange for the balance of the deposit. Perhaps hand them a wish list? ? 'If you're going to apply some unauthorised upgrades while you're testing it, an Eventuri air intake would be my preference. Failing that, some cross bracing? Thanks mate!'

I'm sure some will see this as the deathknell, but I, for one, welcome our new electric overlords. Hopefully they have one out within 4 years or so, because if so I know what'll be next after the 1-er I'd take some convincing on a pure electric, they are quick as hell (having driven a number of Tesla's) but a little soulless - but I could really see a performance-focused hybrid being a thing of beauty and not necessarily losing the sound, which is what I find i miss most in an electric.

Before I settled on the M140i I test drove the i30 with that same drive train. Was plenty of fun - almost as good as a Golf GTI and lots cheaper. I think if the i30N was available with that same 7-speed DCT gearbox, I'd have bought it. My days of wanting to drive manuals in Auckland traffic are over.

I guess on the plus side, give it 5-10 years and the internal combustion engine itself will have gone the way of the dodo, so we can all look forward to separate 'engines' on each wheel, all controlled by a central computer. ... in the driverless cars. ... that we all share instead of own.

D-Day is June 25th! Well, a little more than that since it's getting driven straight from the dealer to the detailer to get ceramic coated, so I probably won't actually drive it in earnest until the following weekend...

To be fair, I don't think those who are fans of these existing BMW lines are suggesting that the new ranges will be 'bad cars', at all. I think that what they are lamenting is that BMW is giving up its uniqueness in an effort to appeal to the homogenous mass-market which is already exceedingly well served. If you want a 1.5-2.0L, turbocharged, transverse mounted engine driving either a front axle or a front/rear via a non-fulltime AWD setup, there are literally dozens of those on the market, often from brands who have them down to a fine art. But there was only one rear-wheel-drive, longitudinally mounted option in the entire small car market, and it's being killed off. Which kinda leaves those who liked it feeling like they're watching their favourite food joint being bowled to build yet another fast food burger chainstore.

What a change from their marketing of only a few years back!

I've been following with interest the upcoming platform developments for the 1 and 2 series. In particular, it seems that BMW is determined to completely migrate away from the RWD platform for its entry level vehicles (the 1, 2, X1 and X2) series, in most cases by migrating the the FAAR platform that it shares with Mini and other sub brands. The 2 Gran Tourer is already on the FAAR platform, but it appears that moving forward all 1/2/X1/X2 series cars will be either FWD or AWD, with transverse mounted engines, and front bias AWD (max 50% torque to the rear). Logic being it allows them to have a lower transmission tunnel which means more cabin and boot space, which apparently most drivers care about more than RWD driving dynamics. I already knew that the 1 series was moving to FAAR, but of interest it seems that the 2 series will move to FAAR almost in entirety as well, with the exception of the M2. For example, the upcoming 2 Gran Coupe will be FWD or AWD, not RWD, despite being the size of a 3 series from a few years ago. Obviously BMW think this is the future, but I'll be sad to see the end of RWD driving dynamics at the entry price point. 3's and above will retain it, but as someone who prefers smaller cars, looks like BMW will be joining Audi, Merc, VW and others in producing transverse, AWD, small engined hatches and compact sedans

Zoom zoom! Yes I figured as much, I've never heard of anyone getting an MPE fitted to a 1-er as factory so I figured it was an efficiency limitation rather than anyone being difficult.

Good luck. We can't even get the government to implement and enforce mandatory 3rd party insurance as part of the vehicle licensing scheme...

Yep, there wasn't the option to fit it as factory for some reason, so it's dealer prices including fitting. Plan was to keep the exhaust in case I ever wanted to re-fit it down the track (pre-sale?), but if someone here would benefit from it i'm happy to put it up for sale.

I really need to come to an Auckland gtg but i'm too ashamed to bring my crummy Hyundai company car before the Beemer arrives... ... which all going to plan should be late June early July

Nah I read it, was was agreeing with you, I just didn't include that part in the quote for some reason

Have decided to replace the factory exhaust system on arrival, with the uprated M Performance Exhaust. Not particularly cheap, but it makes the car sound infinitely better (lets that lovely straight-6 B58 sound out) without making it sound too loud, droney or chavvy. Also the M140i is famous for the stock exhaust flap making an annoying vibrating/buzzing noise on cold start, which the MPE completely avoids as it doesn't have anything like the same actuator flap.

The popularity of utes for business is in my view significantly down to the way Fringe Benefit Tax works in NZ. By default, a signwritten Ute is classed as a 'commercial vehicle' for FBT purposes. What that means, is that you only pay FBT on days that you used the vehicle solely for personal usage without any work usage at all. Given there's lots of ways to completely eliminate 'personal use' legally (e.g. making a customer visit), this means that entire fleets of utes are running with almost no FBT payment despite extensive use as a personal vehicle either side of work hours. Contrast that with a Station Wagon, which is only classed as commercial when the seated are physically bolted down, or a sedan, which is never classed as commercial no matter how much it is signwritten, and you can see why Utes provide such a tax benefit. Given FBT annually is either 22% of the purchase price, or 40-something-% of the residual depreciated value, it's a huge difference. For example, our company buys cars outright and holds onto them for 7 years before replacing - and over that 7 year period, if it's a full-FBT-due vehicle type, you'll pay 1.54x the original purchase price of the vehicle in FBT. If we bought utes, and were clever, that might be lucky to be 0.2x It's the reason we as a business haven't pursued electric vehicles for managerial use, despite our desire to - all current electric passenger vehicles incur full FBT, and since FBT is based solely off purchase price and not operating cost, paying $70k for an electric vehicle and then paying another $108k in tax over the life of the vehicle, is a pretty shite financial comparison to just buying a diesel-fume-spewing Ranger for $45k, paying for some fuel over the life of it, and paying practically no FBT at all.

Great price for a nice car - What's next?

I lost track. Who won the debate? ?

It’s getting a few bits added on arrival so I’m determined not to see it until the day I pick it up. Like an old fashioned wedding. Didn’t even know this was a thing til I just googled it! Might have to consider it next time ?

Something like that. Should arrive late May early June, I probably still won’t pick up til July.

Update - car's been made, VIN number is accessible and the car is on the boat. I'm the worst person in the world at waiting patiently

Surprised no comments yet about the last episode - a full hour of BMW M850i vs Bentley Continental vs Aston Martin DB-S Not 100% convinced on the 850 looks but it held its own well - blitzed the others in a standing drag, the DB-S couldn't even put the power down and just spun out.