Thanks for all the compliments and well wishes!
The spec is: 125i
M-sport + 18"s + xenons (as you can see)
Cloth/alcantara
HK
Bus Nav
Extended bluetooth
PDC front and rear
Light pack
Climate control
Auto dimming interior mirror
sunroof
Sports auto box
Initial thoughts:
(Beware my mom took delivery of a new 5 series a month ago which I've been driving more than her, so the bar is set pretty high!)
The car is full of little touches and attention to detail. The blue stitching on the seats, matches the blue strip on the dash, matches my exterior colour! The quality cannot be faulted, not a rattle or a surface that to the touch feels like cost cutting. Yes in a 5 series the area around the gearlever is in wood/chosen finish which is great but ok it is a 1 series. The lights package and additional lights that come with the M pack is sheer class.
It does some fairly pointless stuff, the reading light on the side that you open the door lights up brighter when you do open the door. The on/off/radio/keyless start is more complicated than beneficial.
Ipod and bluetooth phone, I picked up a cradle for my iphone 4S works like a charm. Album art shows and interestingly my sales lady recommended setting the treble to very high and the bass to mid high, turns out it really gets the best out of the H/K system. Worth the price tag no doubt. Except I feel obligated to pump it up high whenever I drive!
Power, well I haven't got my numberplates on yet so I may have gone over the speed limit slightly once or twice *cough*, it pulls nicely. The wind noise and general solidness of the car at higher speeds really are impressive! I think the mechanical ability and grip exceeds the power which is good, I've driven cars with the opposite and found myself either backing off or having the odd heart stopping moment when I've caught the traction control out. Sure it could probably do with just a touch more power, but I guess it's more fun to be able to floor it than to always be backing off.
The suspension is hard and doesn't enjoy rough roads, but interestingly my mom, a connoisseur of comfort, who will drive nothing less than a 5 series with comfort seats thinks my sports seats are more comfortable and soft than her comfort seats.
I love the driving position, seat down low, thick steering wheel, 3 door, I feel like I'm in a proper sports car. The leg pad on the centre console is just perfect if you have an auto and are resting your leg against it all the time.
In terms of negatives, storage space is quite limited in the car. Especially if you have a cradle for your phone and an ipod plugged in which takes up the armrest storage.
The styling from the side and back isn't perfect, the rear wiper doesn't do a full 180 degree swipe and the rear window is narrow at the top, wider at the bottom which the rear mirror is wider at the top, narrower at the bottom. Very much pedantic stuff.
What I do hate is the stop/start. I find myself trying to keep the car crawling forward when I'm only going to be stopped briefly, the stereo dips in sound when the engine restarts and admittedly given how I've been driving the car and that it's brand new, the fuel consumption still isn't great (14.5l/100km) I don't believe stop/start can make so much of a difference to be worth the hassle.
It also goes against everything my limited mechanical knowledge knows. It has to be wearing out parts quicker and most people recommend idling a turbocharged car after a hard run before turning it off. For what it's worth my GTI, also a 2.0T used 1.1l an hour when idling with the aircon switched on according to the OBC. Seems like a feature that cuts down emissions for the purposes of tax, but isn't really worth living with in real world usage. Thinking I should just turn it off, would be interesting to hear others thoughts on Stop/Start?
But the negatives hardly matter, I LOVE this car and it has exceeded all of my expectations! As much as I thought I knew it, from short test drives and lots of research and the forums, actually driving it properly, the sound system, the interior, its fantastic!
