It looks wider, but it isn’t and according to Roadfly there is more candy and redesigned. The ultimate driving machine is the words used, but of course this is an American review and it also mentions (although briefly) the excellent CO2 emissions that allows it to be sold in all 50 states, but to us in the UK means less road tax and less personal tax, should you opt to use for this car as a business expensed company car.
The BMW 3 Series has been criticised as being a bit expensive here in the UK, especially with the competition and lower residual values are brining lease payments down, allowing some to upgrade their vehicles. But as always it is not just the purchase price of the vehicle but the running costs and depreciation that can change a cheap car into an expensive one. Well BMW seem to have thought this through and now have bulk package servicing costs, like what they offered with the Mini when it came out, this is probably more prevalent with the BMW 3 Series, where you do not want 5 series running costs. The excellent diesel fuel economy could mean saving substantial money over the year against other makes and of course BMW’s are excellent at holding their value, making them an ideal car to lease.
Once again another review from “The Driver’s Seat” from America where they seem to do far more video reviews than here in the UK. This review is for the 2008 BMW 5 series, and is pretty much all about how this is the best car in the class and worth effort. The main moan is the idrive which o one seems to like as you can change 2 things at once, say the air conditioning and radio station. The BMW 5 series is a driver’s car and their publicity is all about emotion. If there is a weakness, it could be that everyone either wants one or has had one and sometime the busy business executive wants something different. Anyway these cars still dominate the mid size executive market and now there are servicing packages you can buy to help control those costs a bit more.
It is one thing owning an executive car like a BMW, but another to afford to run it, using the approved dealerships for servicing and maintenance. We all know that BMW servicing can be extremely expensive, so BMW offer a pay up front servicing deal called BMW Service Inclusive that lasts for 5 years designed to remove those service bills going forward.
An example is for the BMW 5 series 4 cylinder model, this will cost you £795 for 5 years, which works out around £160 a year and will cover most servicing things. There is also a BMW Service Inclusive Plus which costs around £1645 and covers extra such as brake pads and wipers according to the BMW website. This plus package seems a bit expensive for what the extras seem to be.
A consideration when taking out a BMW Lease deal is whether you consider maintenance or not within your contract. A consideration could be using BMW’s own service programme which may mean you pay monthly for the service package, but as the agreement needs to be paid up front, it is likely the full amount for 5 years servicing will need to be covered within a 3 year lease contract. But it amy take away the worries of high servicing costst.
Very quiet and economical (although not as economical as he would have liked, surprising as many green car sites has the 3 Series right at the top) , faster than the petrol version and even a belief it is quieter than the 5 series. This is an older review dated back to 2006 when the new BMW 3 Series was released by the Fifth Gear team in a drive over from Madrid to Blighty. Jason Plato decided the best way to test the new BMW 3 series was to put a month’s driving into 49 hours, in better words 1000 miles in 2 days on this road trip.
The final result was good but a bit expensive compared to the competition, this model accounts for 50% of BMWs sale worldwide and 1 million Brits own one in some version.
It is also one of the most popular lease models as the entry level executive car, that will hold its value well. Watch the Fifth Gear Video
If you considering BMW 3 Series Lease use the Leasebam system to get the right price.
