Quote:
Originally Posted by tony20009
Choose the car that's a better car, regardless of what options it has or what colors it comes in. If two used cars truly are equal in quality (service, repair and accident history, mileage, structural condition, mechanical condition, physical condition, interior condition, CPO vs. non CPO, etc.) then pick the one having options and colors you desire most.
You'll have to do your own prioritization regarding options and colors, but I can offer what I would find most important to me and why. Others will feel differently, agreeing for different reasons and disagreeing for different reasons.
- Nav -- I like having nav on my F10. I wish I had it on my E92. The pre-LCI nav isn't as easy to operate as the next generation nav that was offered on the E9x cars, but if you get nav, you also get iDrive and that means you get a much easier to operate tool for setting the car's settings and for operating the radio. Also, iDrive cars seem able to access HD2 and HD3 stations. In contrast, I have yet to find a way to do access those stations without iDrive.
- Interior color -- I went with red. Primarily because I wanted red and that wasn't negotiable for me. Secondarily, because it was sold only on the 3er coupe at the time. Outside that, get a color that you at least don't mind, but otherwise don't sweat it too much. Personally, I don't care for the lighter colors for the obvious reason -- ease of keeping them clean -- but also because when one gets grey or beige, the whole interior is that color rather than, say, if one gets brown or red whereby the interior is two colors brown/black or red black. Black, for me is the color I don't want, per se, but that I could live with. And, truth be told, if I were seeking a used car and the best one available to me at the time had a beige or grey interior, I'd still buy that car before I bought a lesser quality car.
- Transmission -- I'm not going down this road again. More than enough has been said about the pros and cons of manuals vs. automatics on this forum. Search. If you have no preference, buy the better car regardless of the transmission. The only thing worth noting was that on most E9x cars, the automatic was an extra cost option, so among equivalent cars that differ only by the transmission, the manual should cost about $500 less.
- Other options: I don't know if such a car exists, but you'll definitely want to have Bluetooth if you should go with a pre-LCI car. And if you have an iPod/iPhone, you'll want the car to have the iPod connection.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier:
Radio: The pre-LCI 335i came standard with the Logic7 radio and the 328i did not. (That doesn't mean you have to buy a 335i.) IMO the Logic7 radio is worth having because that thing seriously thumps. IMO, the Logic7 radio is quite acceptable to most non-audiophile/-audio nerds and I have my doubts about how well integrated an aftermarket stereo will looking in the E9x center control panel. The standard stereo system in the 328i is probably fine too for quite a lot of folks. If volume is your thing, it's worth noting that you get more volume with the thing connected to your iPod than you do over the radio. I don't know why that is, but it's an observation I've made several times in my daughter's E91 (LCI). If you are picky about car stereo systems, it won't matter which stereo the car comes with for you'll likely replace a variety of the components, and if you do want to do that, start with the tweeters, they are the weakest element in the Logic7 system. Your ears will tell you what do.
All the best |
Pre-LCI and LCI nav are misleading. the change from CCC to CIC occurred for 2009 model year. So I have a pre-LCI car with the later navigation system. (I believe that was the break for LCI on E90 and E91 though which is why people think of it that way.)
Also, Logic 7 was NOT standard on 335i, mine has "Hi-Fi" (one level down.)
There are also differences between Euro options and US options, esp WRT suspension, some well meaning Europeans may respond with info that is not pertinent to you.
Definitely get a VIN of any car you're considering and decode the options list. There's a lot of stuff that was optional on these cars that you'll probably want, but a not well equipped car may not have.