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Old 13th January 2010, 10:19   #211
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Originally Posted by flyingspur View Post
Indeed !! I'm a big fan of beige+wood, but somehow this black finish looks awesome. Overseas, it's part of the extra-charge BMW Individual options list. Here, it's part of the equipment for the base version, with the wood trim at extra charge How does that work?
Dont think there would be any cost delta btwn the black and wood finish, BMW is just addressing our market perception (premium for wood).
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Old 13th January 2010, 11:28   #212
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i read the article in the Jan issue of one of the car magazines
Priced very attractively this is a brilliant move on the part of BMW to introduce an entry level teutonic monster to the mass market!
fantastic - with Beemer quality and badge value, it will seriously eat into market shares of the C Class Merc, VW Passat, Superb and I guess there will be a larger number of people migrating upwards from the current "entry luxe" executive sedans.
there is also likely to be a certain amount of migration from the upper-mid level SUV buyers as well - if one can get a BMW at the kind of prices mentioned, then why not?
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Old 13th January 2010, 11:44   #213
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Dont think there would be any cost delta btwn the black and wood finish, BMW is just addressing our market perception (premium for wood).
On the Highline, it's standard, while on the Corporate it's an optional extra.
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Old 13th January 2010, 18:02   #214
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flyingspur, The Piano black you speak of in BMW Individual options is high quality polished veneer done by hand. The black trim on the 3 in India is basically a plastic trim and very different from the Piano black option in EU / Rest of the world
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Old 13th January 2010, 19:06   #215
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Went to make payment of my 320d. Here is a pic. More pics tomorrow
Attached Thumbnails
Coming soon: BMW 320 D for passat price. EDIT: Launched as the Corporate Edition-img_0191.jpg  

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Old 13th January 2010, 19:59   #216
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Went to make payment of my 320d. Here is a pic. More pics tomorrow
Congrats Indra.

That was a quick booking of the 320d corp ed. It'll be interesting to see BMW sales figures after a few months of this variant being in the market.

@flyingspur: Yup, I'd noticed the changed central console too. Honestly, while driving, i'd prefer pushing a button/turning a dial than a touchscreen.
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Old 13th January 2010, 21:01   #217
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Went to make payment of my 320d. Here is a pic. More pics tomorrow
Lookin' good !! Congratulations. Did you pick up the white with black interiors? I was told there were a few in stock, alongwith black+beige, and anything else will take a couple of months.

Sad to see that old Merc lying under a layer of dust, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by S350L-E240 View Post
flyingspur, The Piano black you speak of in BMW Individual options is high quality polished veneer done by hand. The black trim on the 3 in India is basically a plastic trim and very different from the Piano black option in EU / Rest of the world
Oh, thanks for clearing that up. The configurator does indeed show two options for black, one normal and the other, a high-gloss piano-black under Individual options.

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@flyingspur: Yup, I'd noticed the changed central console too. Honestly, while driving, i'd prefer pushing a button/turning a dial than a touchscreen.
The iDrive isn't a touchscreen. And the latest iteration is pretty awesome to use !!

Last edited by FlyingSpur : 13th January 2010 at 21:08.
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Old 14th January 2010, 18:38   #218
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Meanwhile, BMW raises prices again !! My Dec '09 pricelist quoted 36.47L for the 320d Highline with individual registration in Mumbai, and the updated sheet I received today demands 37.07 !! Do they raise prices by 60,000 rupees every six months ? That would explain why the prices of this segment have gone up from 25L a few years ago to almost 38L now. Absolutely ridiculous.

What's more, the new pricelist doesn't contain any info about the 320d corporate at all. "We're not promoting it Sir" is what some sales guy old me over the phone (by mistake, I assume).

Last edited by FlyingSpur : 14th January 2010 at 18:39.
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Old 14th January 2010, 22:37   #219
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Originally Posted by flyingspur View Post
Lookin' good !! Congratulations. Did you pick up the white with black interiors? I was told there were a few in stock, alongwith black+beige, and anything else will take a couple of months.
Where are these corporate editions with complete black interiors available? Do let me know.

In Delhi the sales consultant outright said no availability for the Corp. edition itself, only when my friend who has an M3 bought from the same dealer walk in did they admit the availability and took us to the showrooms terrace where there were atleast 2 dozen of the corp. editions parked. I opened a few and all were with beige interiors. No black interiors none coming in the near future was the advise.

Absolutely dislike the beige, saddle brown would have been great but a black interior is equally nice.

Last edited by khoj : 14th January 2010 at 22:39.
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Old 14th January 2010, 23:54   #220
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Where are these corporate editions with complete black interiors available? Do let me know.
Mumbai Navnit dealer told me he was holding stock of 3 black cars with beige interiors, and three silver cars with black interiors, for ready delivery. This was last week December.

Quote:
In Delhi the sales consultant outright said no availability for the Corp. edition itself, only when my friend who has an M3 bought from the same dealer walk in did they admit the availability and took us to the showrooms terrace where there were atleast 2 dozen of the corp. editions parked. I opened a few and all were with beige interiors. No black interiors none coming in the near future was the advise.
I think all dealers are not promoting this model. The official pricelist doesn't have a mention of the model at all !! WTH. Anyway because I pushed him and he knew he wasn't dealing with a dodo, he admitted that they're not promoting it.

Interior, black and beige available.

Last edited by FlyingSpur : 15th January 2010 at 00:04.
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Old 15th January 2010, 00:14   #221
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Originally Posted by flyingspur View Post
Mumbai Navnit dealer told me he was holding stock of 3 black cars with beige interiors, and three silver cars with black interiors, for ready delivery. This was last week December.

I think all dealers are not promoting this model. The official pricelist doesn't have a mention of the model at all !! WTH. Anyway because I pushed him and he knew he wasn't dealing with a dodo, he admitted that they're not promoting it.

Interior, black and beige available.
Silver+Black sounds good, could you pm the name and no. of the contact person at Navneet.
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Old 15th January 2010, 00:38   #222
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I dont understand why they arnt promoting it. Doesnt more sales in any sense mean more money?
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Old 15th January 2010, 01:03   #223
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I dont understand why they arnt promoting it. Doesnt more sales in any sense mean more money?
It also means a majority of people looking for the Highline will settle for the Corp. Think about it. If the differential was ~4 lacs, sales would not have been dented I think, but with a flat 8 lacs off, suddenly the sunroof and iDrive and electric seats dont seem so necessary, expecially when the C220 CDI doesn't have any of this stuff at 38 lacs OTR.

I think though, that they would also get a lot of Passat + Superb aspirants' business. Wonder how they're balancing it out and deciding to not promote the Corp.
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Old 16th January 2010, 12:33   #224
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The one major gripe that I had with the car was that you simply cannot fit a USB connection to the stereo system....even if you want to pay more for it! Switching out the music system for an aftermarket one will mean losing the steering wheel audio controls...which is something i do not want to do! Anyone have further insight into this particular issue?
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Old 16th January 2010, 15:01   #225
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@ thegman - no usb? damn it.

@ khoj - update. beige interiors only.

@ indra - got your car, buddy? lets see some pictures.
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