435d Door 3.0 xDrive M Sport Auto 5dr Hatchback

Elegant, brutally brisk and pleasingly rare

Picked this up last week - before the VED hike - to replace my Lexus IS300h. Spiritually it's the successor to my old Saab 9-5 Aero which fed a character-building 250bhp through the front wheels...
I was drawn to the Gran Coupe by it's practicality (the boot isn't vast but access is excellent), looks and rarity. Having previously been unable to get comfortable in BMWs due to a combination of dodgy seats and no suspension I confined my first test drive (a 435d Coupe) to the appalling road surfaces of urban Sheffield. It was surprisingly pliant. A longer drive in a 430d GC reinforced this positive view and a car was duly sourced.
I was able to secure a facelift car with plenty of kit in the (new) shade of Snapper Rocks Blue (honestly, who thinks up these names?) with pale ivory leather.
I'm now 300 miles in and rather enjoying it. I'm being gentle with it so far and obeying the running-in instructions in the manual which advise me not to exceed 93 MPH...
MPG so far is 44 - very respectable for a 300+ bhp car!
More news as the miles rack up.

UPDATE June 2019. Now has 30k miles. Still enjoying insane performance, dealer service (Sytner in Sheffield) has been good. Seat base gets a bit unforgiving on a particularly long run. Surprisingly practical - I've just moved two 6-foot tables in the car!

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