| Initial Review
Thanks Patiencewins.
Hi guys,
Sorry for the long hiatus.Have been really busy recently and was unable to sit down and put my thoughts together for this review.
2007 September (The start of the journey.)
In 2007 I was devastated to hear that BMW did not come as our saviour but more as a catalyst to the overpriced luxury segment car market.At the time C classes and A4's were being retailed for about 20-25lakhs, "BAM" comes in Beemer and takes the price to the next level and as we can see today 30-35lakhs is what the segment rests at.
I was annoyed with BMW for not heating up the competition.Instead they offered sub standard equipment on the cars and to my horror such low powered and horrible engines.I was lol'ing my way to stupid hell seeing people buy such underspecced and overpriced cars.I dropped my buying decision as new C and A4 were due in a year'e time and I could not justify the exorbitant prices.
2008 September.(The car bug bites again)
Now I start looking at my option again and this time I am as zonged out as ever with cross platform confusions and pros/cons of various cars.
I am writing this piece of detail so that people with similar dillema can take away something from my experience and make better decisions for themselves.
Now the obvious competitors for the segment were 2008 C class,2008 A4,2008 Accord,2008 Camry.
2008 Honda Accord.
The accord I got to TD was an automatic and was a good looking car both inside and out.It was actually too big for my liking and therefore not a good fit for my personal driving needs.The car did not eel very big and the power was ample.It is a good chauffeur driven car I think as parking in Khan market and other similar places with limited parking will be a pain in these jumbos.Same reason I dropped the 520D as I felt it too big for my liking,I am a lazzzzyyyyy asss driver hehe.
Also the finish of the Accord does not come close to that of the beemer although they have imitated the burl finish of the likes of BMW.Nonetheless accord is a great value for money.
2008 C Class.
I went to T&T motors Gurgoan and was met with a sales rep who was not taking me seriously and that kind of dissed me off with MERC so I went to the Okhla showroom.There Mr Sanjeev was dealing with me and he was courteous and was showing the car in good detail.I like the black interiors a lot but it was lacking the plush feeling. The seats are leather on the front an imitation on the sides and back and that put me off.Also the idrive type screen is a joke with a very small LCD of very poor quality which kind of took away from the interior.The backl seats were comfortable and sounds insulation was also good.
Mr Sanjeev took me and my friend for a test drive and show me that the new C is a very capable handler and I came away impressed with the handling of the car.Breaking from 90-0 is very linear and he left the steering and the car just kept braking straight.It also handled curves very nicely and power in either petrol or diesel did not feel lacking.Bluetooth was nice and thats about it.Its good for someone looking for the Merc badge but beyong that it does not come close to Audi or BMW in quality.
Audi A4.
I went to the Audi showroom in Okhla and was glad to see a sales rep take so much interest and seriousness in the deal.He knew everything about the car and was treating us both like kings hehe and that was indeed a great feeling lol.The A4 is a great car with amazing interiors and slightly more legroom in the rear.Door locks were replaced by nift looking lights and the interior finish of the car felt the best among all the cars I saw including the Bimmer.I did not test drive the car but there are a few reasons I did not get the Audi.It was underspecced diesel at 153BHP.I am not a big fan of VW group and reliability of electricals of previous A4 were not very good.No extended warranty.Overpriced.
Base model was costing me about 32Lakhs.Although the base model was fully loaded with all the features.
Camry.
Didnt test drive it.Saw it from inside and it felt drabbbbbb.Toyota is starting to become like TATA and that is scary.Showrooms that look like 3rd grade call centres and and staff like government officials who dont call you back for a TD hehe.
So that's the story of the grand Camry.Although in december 2008 Camry came with a discount of 3laks.I know this since one of my cousins bought the car.
BMW 320D.
Now this is the car and brand I was initially avoiding as you can see above,I did not even think of getting this car till december 2008.Till then the above cars were my choices.Now my friend tells me to go and see the 3 series for the heck of it.I go to Deutsche Motoren showroom at Mathura Road and check out the car.I had one Mr Sanjeev Tyagi's number from 2007 and he showed me the car again.I had also been in touch with Mr Moksh from Bird Gurgoan and he also was in constant touch with me till i bought the car.The 320D just felt right.The interiors were plush, all the equipment and power was there and the deal was done.Both the dealerships were great and the repective salesreps were very helpful and very cooperative.In Delhi I would recommend you all to get in touch with either of the above people for your future needs and I assure you, you will be satisfied.
Best way to chose your car is to tes drive the car.I cannot emphasize on that much.The Camry and Accord are big cars and dont even come close to matching the like of C and 3. Also dishing out 30lakhs for a car is not a small thing.It might sound like an average amount but when the time comes to put down the sum it does give you cold feet, bar the super rich hehe.
Now finally after all the useless talk the review.
The car is just great.I have heard people say that BMW's are a pleasure to drive and I think they are wrong.I think it's the only way to drive.
I am not techically sound when it comes to cars but here is what I think of the 320D.
Engine and cabin noise.
The engine is not very silent and it does have noise though it's not disturbing or anything.Unlike most people I like the sound of the engine and the only way you change gears in manual is by hearing the engine(at least thats how i do it).Outside sound insulation is pretty good and when music is on ,even at low levels you are cut off form the outside world.
Feel of the car.(Handling)
The car does feel big and rear visibility could have been better.Eiither I have problems because I am short 5'9" or something is setup wrong since when you back up looking at the rear it feels like little more visibility could have been better.The car handles like a nut.i drive and a 100Km/H feels like 40Km/H, it's insane hehe.I got 2tickets on the 1st day as i thought i was doing 60 and the cop shows me reading of 130.......
The corners are handled very nicely at 60-80 , havent pushed it beyond that.The car does not slip or lean to one side when dooing these fast turns and fells very much in control.
There are 3 gear systems here:
Normal auto is a very controlled and obedient gear system which I normally drive in.The power is not sudden but linear and very controlled but still it feels very powerful and I haven't felt the need to drive in sports mode or manual mode yet.
Sports mode just doubles the power and shows you really what the engine can do.It thrusts you like mad and I enjoy it a lot.The power output is very good and it feels like u got kicked in da buttt.
Havent driven manual yet.although to shift to manual you go to DS mode and press the lever down.To shift up you press the gear down and to shift down you press the gear up.
The steering definitely is very heavy but it is very comfortable at high speeds.
Runflats.....Medicccccc Mediccc
Hahaha they aren't half as bad as you might have heard.I have found the ride quality very good although bumps do get transferred and unless you are travelling in a 7 or a Bentley this should not be a concern as you are not buying a super luxury machine.I have the secure so am allowed 4 tyre changes a year so fingers crossed hehe.
The interiors.
The interiors as I have mentioned are plush.Here are some pics for you to see in detail.The seats are very comfortable.With the front seats extended to seat 6feet people comfortable there is ample leg room for rear benchers. The middle seat in the read is not comfortable but is also not as horrendous as mentioned in many places.
The The placement of window buttons on driver side is a bit in front and therefore naturally when you are seated you can see(Pic4) that my hand is placed on rear window controls which is weird in beginning but you get used to it.
The rear seat pockets are useless and the glove box is tiny.Beyond this the interiors are perfect with placement of controls in the right places and within reach.Steering has standard controls like track change and volume control along with option to mute and an extra button to which you can assign a control of your choice.
Idrive ----Mommmyyyyy lolz.
No No don't worry.Idrive is not that bad.I was scared initially when I heard so much crap about Idrive and it's just Crap hehe.Idrive is very easy to use and unless you havent seen a computer you won't have a problem operating it.I can use a normal Aux cable and plug in my ipod or Mp3 player and listen to music although I have to change the tracks from the respective player , that is till i get the Ipod retrofit which will the allow me to change and see tracks throught my Idrive.Now the Idrive did hang one day randomly for a min or two and then it got back to running,now lets hope that my Idrive does not make a habit of it.
Idrive displays various information some of which I have taken the liberty to display here.Hope it helps and most of it is self explanatory.
I think an oil top up is coming at 700kms, so am keeping an eye on that.Have a oil can from BMW in my trunk.
BMW POM.
No not that POM.POM-Peace of Mind,breathe in....Breathe out......
BMW secure + BSI ultimate.
BMW secure is insurance on your car where you get this facility only through Bajaj Alliance and BMW.The car is completely secure and you dont have to pay a penny for accidental repair.
BSI ultimate includes services,labor etc + extended warranty.Will get this later this year as I thought there was no need to give them more of my money right away.
Anyways this is it.Wish me luck and please let me know if you guys have any questions or feel I have left out something.Thanks again all
Last edited by morphin1 : 11th February 2009 at 21:14.
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10th January 2009, 17:30
and cheers:
