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Here's a summary of the options I have or had:
Mandatory options
- Rain and Light sensor. The rain sensor isn't perfect though so you might sometimes have to control the wipers manually.
- The console display. My first F20 came without it and the empty space in the center just gave the car an unfinished feel. The E87 had a nice storage compartment instead, I guess this is one of BMW's tricks to encourage you to get either the radio upgrade or one of the navigation systems.
- Cruisecontrol is definitely a no brainer if you spend a lot of time on the highway.
- Rear parking sensor. It shows fairly accurate radar image on the console screen of how much space you have left.
- Fog Lights. I don't care about the Fog Lights but they are the minimum requirement for heated rear view mirrors. Condensed rear view mirrors are just a big safety hazard when going up the highway :/
- Sport Seats. Comfortable and better support.
Nice to have
- Sensatec aka leatherette seats. Fairly low cost option and makes the car a nicer place to be in. Might not be the best thing in SA climate as it can get very warm.
- Servotronic steering feels more precise and more consistent in how much assistance it provides.
- Variable sport steering : actually a combination of 2 options : the variable part increases the effect of the steering wheel beyond 90 degrees, the sport part increases the resistance in sport mode. Very odd combination as you'll find most use of the variable part when parking or making slow sharp turns. Those are times where you don't want heavy steering.
- Business Navigation : poor interface compared to Google Maps, but it's nicely integrated
- Professional Navigation : bigger screen and shows a direction arrow and distance next to the map. With business you can only have either one but not the 2 at the same time.
Conditional options
- Harman Kardon if you have your own collection of mp3s. You'll hear every imperfection very clearly so low quality mp3s will be unsatisfying and radio noise just plain annoying. The radio reception in the F20 is the poorest of any car I've ever been in by the way.
- Auto aircon is dual zone and has 2 temperature knobs. If you find yourself changing the temperature often (like me), having to change 2 knobs is actually more annoying than the single knob on the manual aircon.
- Sport steering wheel if you spec variable sport steering. The increased steering weight in sport mode makes you want to grab the steering wheel more firmly, the basic steering wheel is too thin to do this.
Unnecessary
- Rear view camera. I don't have it but I don't see it giving any benefit over the radar image on the display.
- Leather seats. The leather is heavily processed to make it more durable, but this also gives it a more synthetic feel. It isn't much different from Sensatec and the increased cost isn't worth it. Only necessary if you want seats in a color other than black as Sensatec only comes in that color. The oyster seats don't get as hot as the darker colors so it might be a good option in a warm environment if you want leather.
Nice, but beware:
- Sport Line. Although it includes useful options such as sport seats and a sport steering wheel, you're probably cheaper off if you spec those individually. If you really want the red stitching on the steering wheel and the chrome on the console then go for it. The sport line or the M Sport pack gives you the torque/BHP screen on the display though.
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