It was an Ecoboost with the Performance Pack and Premium Trim.
Still an early build car, as some of the rubber window/door trim was a little crooked, but the interior was GORGEOUS! Quality-wise......well, I don't get to sit in too many quality cars, but it's easily as good as the trim in my E46 BMW. Sure, that's an old car, but it was an era when BMW did their interiors well. All the switchgear feels nice and solid, the toggles feel great (they are a one way switch, you just push down on them and then they return up automatically), the top of the dash is lovely and soft, as are the door cards. The middle bit of the door, where the armrest is, is leather and soft touch plastic. The upper door card (where you'd rest your arm if the window was open) is a harder plastic, but still MUCH nicer than the S197. The steering wheel feels fantastic and chunky and the flappy paddles fall easily to the fingers. It's a lovely, low driving position. The seats (standard, not Recaros) feel easily as good as the sport seats in my BMW. And the leather felt much softer than my BM!
I did feel the A pillar seemed close to my head when getting out, and I was aware of it when sat in the car, but I couldn't lower the seat as the car's battery was disconnected. Certainly not a show stopper though. Basically, it's night and day better than the S197 in there (although as it's a premium, I can't compare it to a base S550).
The looks? I'm head over heels and it STILL looks much better in the metal than piccies.
10 outta 10 from me, and I can't wait to drive one.
The salesman was still talking £30k for an Ecoboost and £34k for a GT. That will seriously undercut the importers! No details on timescales, other than "around this time next year".
Still an early build car, as some of the rubber window/door trim was a little crooked, but the interior was GORGEOUS! Quality-wise......well, I don't get to sit in too many quality cars, but it's easily as good as the trim in my E46 BMW. Sure, that's an old car, but it was an era when BMW did their interiors well. All the switchgear feels nice and solid, the toggles feel great (they are a one way switch, you just push down on them and then they return up automatically), the top of the dash is lovely and soft, as are the door cards. The middle bit of the door, where the armrest is, is leather and soft touch plastic. The upper door card (where you'd rest your arm if the window was open) is a harder plastic, but still MUCH nicer than the S197. The steering wheel feels fantastic and chunky and the flappy paddles fall easily to the fingers. It's a lovely, low driving position. The seats (standard, not Recaros) feel easily as good as the sport seats in my BMW. And the leather felt much softer than my BM!
I did feel the A pillar seemed close to my head when getting out, and I was aware of it when sat in the car, but I couldn't lower the seat as the car's battery was disconnected. Certainly not a show stopper though. Basically, it's night and day better than the S197 in there (although as it's a premium, I can't compare it to a base S550).
The looks? I'm head over heels and it STILL looks much better in the metal than piccies.
10 outta 10 from me, and I can't wait to drive one.
The salesman was still talking £30k for an Ecoboost and £34k for a GT. That will seriously undercut the importers! No details on timescales, other than "around this time next year".
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