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Post by racingteatray on Dec 5, 2017 12:33:55 GMT
Interesting experience at the weekend. We went to Paris and were driven around by some friends who have a very oddly-specced company 4-series Gran Coupe. Basically it was a manual 418d in some sort of basic-trim level but dollied up to look the part externally in dark metallic blue with smart 18" turbine alloys, cream leather, a sunroof and rather smart satin-chrome exterior trim.
You do read in reviews of the 3/4-series that the interior feels a bit cheap and Spartan, and I've always found that rather surprising, since my 440i doesn't. But blow me down if this particular 418d didn't feel much cheaper inside than my 440i. It started with some exceptionally cheap-looking silvered plastic dash trim (of which there is a lot and which looks a country mile less upscale than the contrasting dark wood and metal trim inserts in my car) and continued with the base nav system which looks lost in the housing, fiddly-looking aircon instead of climate, switches and blanks that just looked cheaper (perhaps lacking trim rings or something), no black panel dash (a sort of semi-digital dash that mine has) and just a general sense of "basic-ness" that no amount of BMW's basic cream elephant-hide leather could disguise.
Then the following day, they swapped the GC for their other car, which turned out to be a Lexus NX300h. In the metal, in a sober smoke grey, I didn't hate the exterior styling as much as I thought I would. It might be fugly but it is also quite sharp and modern. But the revelation was inside, where swathes of buttery soft black leather with contrasting stitching adorned every surface, the satin metallic trim felt like metal and the dark wood was tasteful and minimally applied. Everything looked and felt decent quality. Only some distinctly cheap-looking electric window switches jarred.
Either way, I don't think the NX has an intrinsically better interior design or necessarily quality than the 4-series. But what both cars did demonstrate is what a long way the right choices of soft leather, a leather-topped dash and the right choice of trim materials can go towards transforming the perceived quality of the interior of a car.
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Post by michael on Dec 5, 2017 13:56:46 GMT
As I'm sure you're aware the difference in spec of a Fiat 500 can make a whole world of difference from basic shed to something that looks a lot more than its price tag. The details count, the D3 was a basic 3 series underneath but the specification was 'just so' and the Alpina details made it feel a touch special. Rare and missed.
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Post by Ben on Dec 5, 2017 16:24:38 GMT
Quite the same with Mercs too. A basic entry level C180 feels a world away from a C300.
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Post by johnc on Dec 6, 2017 8:39:44 GMT
I reckon that with congested roads and limited time and space to exploit performance to any great degree, the little luxuries, extra equipment and nice touches are starting to play a bigger part in the enjoyment of motoring for me. That's not to say I don't exploit or enjoy the performance whenever I can, it's just I get less opportunities now than I did, say 10 or 15 years ago.
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Post by Big Blue on Dec 6, 2017 12:15:14 GMT
You're sitting in the car and in London or Paris you're not really pushing the car to the limits, so as John says: the luxury inside is far more important than the hoon-ability of the drivetrain and chassis.
BMWs are VERY spec dependent inside. That silver trim looks like something off a fisher-price toy no matter what you do to it and you need to up-spec the nav as none at all is better than the equivalent of a 1980s LCD watch face in the middle of a sea of cheap plastic. I can't talk on Mercs: the exterior of almost every current one discounts it immediately. They're just eyesores.
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Post by Martin on Dec 6, 2017 12:52:27 GMT
We do get a higher level of standard spec in the UK.
I agree, how you spec an interior can make a big difference. The Boxster is a good example. Porsche don’t do plastic dashboards very well and their standard leather isn’t any better than the BMW Dakota leather, upgrading to full (smooth finish) leather makes a huge difference and contrast stitching lifts it again.
Interior quality (perceived and real) has got more and more important to me over the years. I wish I’d gone for Nappa leather in the 535d, but it meant opting for comfort seats which reduced rear legroom a bit too much, but I think I’d have been able to live with that. If I buy a BMW again, it will Nappa leather seats and dashboard as a minimum, probably along with ceramic controls and alcantara headlining, as they also make a big difference to the quality look and feel.
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Post by racingteatray on Dec 6, 2017 13:09:22 GMT
True, the M5 which had the full nine yards in terms of acres of walnut, merino leather dash and alcantara headlining, was a lovely place to be and smelt of proper leather, rather than plastic.
But to add merino leather and dash to a 4GC is about £2,300 and adds naff-all to the GFV meaning it would have upped my monthly payments by more than 10% just on its own. It also greatly lengthened delivery times, so I decided I could live without it.
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Post by racingteatray on Dec 6, 2017 13:14:39 GMT
We do get a higher level of standard spec in the UK. Cars are also much cheaper. My Parisian friend turned quite green when he discovered I'd paid under £40k for my 440i with all trimmings. In France, a boggo 418d manual is EUR40k and a 440i MSport with metallic paint and leather (both standard in UK) is EUR68k!
In fact specced to match my car, in France you need to spend EUR71.5k vs about £50k in the UK.
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Post by johnc on Dec 6, 2017 13:21:12 GMT
I was aware of the price differences between the UK and Europe and that was one of the things that made me wonder about changing my car soon, in case prices rocket when Brexit hits.
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Post by Martin on Dec 6, 2017 13:35:52 GMT
I configured an M550d Estate on the German website and got to 110k Euros, so around £97k and also did a like for like comparison on a 740d and the list price was 30% higher.
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Post by Big Blue on Dec 6, 2017 14:41:42 GMT
Yes: when I put the order together for mother's DS4 I was horrified what a home-market car cost compared to the UK price. Not only the price but the deals available in the UK are phenomenal compared to Europe, too.
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Post by Alex on Dec 7, 2017 18:00:05 GMT
But maybe it’s because of our buying process being led by lease agreements with very few people actually paying the list price in full as a one off before driving away. On that basis the higher the initial list price, the more the car will depreciate in order to get to its second hand value.
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