Car decision - BMW 316 or VW Passat?

Diamondmaker

gotta be the Passat, The BM is no good without the Power to Match. It willonly frustrate

Manic Moran

Between the two, Passat, hands down.

Despite all the other advantages of size, power, whatever, people see you driving a 316 they'll think "What a poser. He can't afford a real BMW, he bought the cheapest thing they have"

NTM

Diamondmaker

Agreed, I drive 99 E36 316 coupe............it is a much lighter car than the newer variants and is a great drive. It is a pleasure to drive but I know that I need more power to experience " the ultimate driving experience".
And yes it was the most I was willing to spend. 320 ci at end of summer though....bring it on!

Scubadevils

Car not ordered yet but I gather from what I hear in work that I can actually get the 318, in which case I'll be getting the BMW. Had a good look the other day at the Passat and it is a lovely car but I think I still prefer the BMW.

Diamondmaker

Hey House Cat...nice collection of tunes. Shame you are selling them. It always good to keep vinyl for nostalgia at least if you dont get toplay them!

Good luck with The 318 that shouldtick all the boxes but....risk of whole new thread starting here....

Is the new 3 seies just ugly? The 5 carries it off with a big mean, aggresive and imposing presence but the 3 has not got me convinced.
Please do not damage the upcoming coupe Mr Bayern!

Lex Luthor

Felixdhc wrote:

The SE has a nice few extras such as a bit of chrome,

I think the chrome makes it look naff....and bad and all as the E90 looks, it'll probably look worse with "bits of chrome"
Then again, it's not my money

Hagar

Hagar wrote:

I've had both as company cars in the past and there is no contest. Take the BMW. Yes, it's a badge but change the badge on a Passat and you have a Skoda.

Apparently the new passat doesn't compare to the old, it is actually worthy of it's class now, most importantly the handling has improved dramatically.

Scubadevils

Diamondmaker wrote:

Hey House Cat...nice collection of tunes. Shame you are selling them. It always good to keep vinyl for nostalgia at least if you dont get toplay them!

Good luck with The 318 that shouldtick all the boxes but....risk of whole new thread starting here....

Is the new 3 seies just ugly? The 5 carries it off with a big mean, aggresive and imposing presence but the 3 has not got me convinced.
Please do not damage the upcoming coupe Mr Bayern!

thats true re the tunes, actually planned to take that off! Wanted to get cash to buy other tunes but did that before and regret it still so best not do it again


Yeah, I'm actually still unsure of the looks of the 3 series, still convincing myself that I like it. But thats happened before when a model is replaced then they have grown on me...just waiting for that to happen with the 3! I feel the same about the Passat though.

Diamondmaker

Nope, the 5 grew........ Other cars I have been less "intimately" interested in have grown on me too............ but the 3 just has not changed...... makes me sad everytime I see one....." why goddamit, why..."

The New IS250 is now as good a drive better extras and build/reliability and now loks way better!
BM could bein for trouble on this one. Still one last chance to save the coupe.
Even the dealers ( Joe Duffy sales man was telling me ) have not seen anything other than grainy spy shots.
They will pull it off Im confident!

Scubadevils

Brought this back to life rather than starting a new thread

Finally ordered a car this week which I will have next week. Ended up going for the Audi A4 1.8T. The BMW had too long a wait for a 318se and I think this may be the better choice anyway...seems the engine is quite powerfull. Anyone have any views? Too late now as its ordered but interested to hear peoples comments anyway. thanks.

Squirrel

I like them, but I work with them so am biased. What extras/spec did you order?

Scubadevils

It was a model that I think was cancelled so no choice in spec. Its black with standard spec but was told that its a new model so has I think either 15 or 16 spoke alloys. Also arm rest interior/exterior silver trim but that may be standard on the 1.8T?

I didnt end up taking a test drive due to lack of time - is it a fast car? Coming from an '03 316 so I assume should be faster?

bazz26

Felixdhc wrote:

It was a model that I think was cancelled so no choice in spec. Its black with standard spec but was told that its a new model so has I think either 15 or 16 spoke alloys. Also arm rest interior/exterior silver trim but that may be standard on the 1.8T?

I didnt end up taking a test drive due to lack of time - is it a fast car? Coming from an '03 316 so I assume should be faster?

The 1.8T engine is a 20 valve turbo unit. It has 150bhp and is the same engine that was used through out the VAG car range including the Audi TT and VW Golf Mk IV GTi. I didn't know VW still made this engine to be honest. The 2.0 FSi seems to have replaced the 1.8T in the other VAG cars these days.

Scubadevils

I take it then it should be fast Its actually 163bhp so maybe a bit more power even?

http://www.audi.ie/audi/ie/en1/new_cars/a4/saloon/technical_specifications/A4_1_8_T.html

bazz26

Felixdhc wrote:

I take it then it should be fast Its actually 163bhp so maybe a bit more power even?

http://www.audi.ie/audi/ie/en1/new_cars/a4/saloon/technical_specifications/A4_1_8_T.html

163bhp, even better.