[clivem2]

My leased 2011 30D went back 4 days ago, this was Black Sapphire / Oyster MSport (this was a UK MSport with stiffer sports supsension).


Any clean car feels better to drive so a new one feels really good but now the initial excitement is wearing off how do I find the car has developed?

- Wind noise and the noise of passing cars is much improved.

- Road noise isolation is improved and now I don't hear water sloshing around the tyres on wet roads.

- The doors feel more robust, my 2011 felt quite "value engineered", ie lightly built. My LCI feels much better, this will be purely feel rather than thicker metal but whatever they've done with seals or inner coatings has worked.

- The central console on the dash is MUCH higher quality, it gives a far superior feel. The switchgear, indicators and wiper stalks are higher quality.

- I've moved from sport suspension to VDC (DHP). I find the Comfort setting quite good but ultimately it's under-damped for my taste, it's a little floaty, much as I found with 2011 cars featuring standard suspension . In the sport setting the car set up is just right for me. The float goes away, it's a little stiffer but not by much. It seems every bit as good as my old sport suspension but without much of a jiggly nature of my old suspension.

- Setting off after start/stop has engaged now happens smoothly, on my 2011 it I would experience quite a jerk so I usually tweaked the steering wheel to start the engine before pressing the accelerator.

- Gear changes are smoother.

- Steering feels a little more positive.

- I'm sure my 35D engine is a peach but I've not done enough miles yet to let rip.

Overall I'm really pleased with how much more refined the LCI is, it feels like a more expensive car. The niggles I had with my 2011 seem to have been resolved.

Here's the the new LCI

[Bimar]

Congrats, the small touches on the LCI Make the interior nice, miss Space Gray though

[Max Well]

Looks great, Clive - Thanks for posting the pictures. We have such an international forum, it is also really interesting to see the local landscape and buildings with our shared photographs!

[Andy_o]

Very interesting Clive .. And that interior is very nice ... Unusual but def growing on me

Did you have nab in your last one ? If so which one and how are you finding the business nav in the new one

My current car has the previous gen pro nav .. So would be interested in your opinion

[clivem2]

Hi Andy, no Nav in my last one, being a lease it's dead money as an option. Vital if you buy the car not lease. Nav though is better than I expected. I normally use Route66 on android or my wife's Tomtom. I miss touch screen for instant access. The only function I can't find so far is the ability to show my GPS measured speed. The bigger screen would have been nicer but it's not needed. I'm pretty impressed actually.

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by Max Well

Looks great, Clive - Thanks for posting the pictures. We have such an international forum, it is also really interesting to see the local landscape and buildings with our shared photographs!

It's an Edwardian housing estate! Circa 1904.

[Northandy]

Nice to see what my car will look like from the outside I just went plain black inside

[Andy_o]

Originally Posted by clivem2

Hi Andy, no Nav in my last one, being a lease it's dead money as an option. Vital if you buy the car not lease. Nav though is better than I expected. I normally use Route66 on android or my wife's Tomtom. I miss touch screen for instant access. The only function I can't find so far is the ability to show my GPS measured speed. The bigger screen would have been nicer but it's not needed. I'm pretty impressed actually.

Thanks Clive .. I am not too impressed with the nav in my 2011 even though it's the pro nav .. Tend to rely on waze on my iPhone as it is quicker to update with problems than the bmw system

I'd really like the updated display and the new rtti but can't justify £900 for snazzy dash ..so spent my money on the viz pack which I'm hoping will be awesome..,have previous gen adaptive zenons on my X1.

On my predominantly unlit drive off the fells and down into Manchester they are superb. Even the motorways are unlit around here and if anyone has driven up the M66 through the rossendale valley in the dark depths of winter it's like driving up a black hole !

[clivem2]

All I kmow is the nav recalculates quickly but I've only tried it on short trips.

The xenons are good on dipped but on main they need an extra set of lamps but we know that. Yes it gets dark north Manc!

Btw it's 5 days since I got the car....I can't count. I am very impressed with how much more sophisticated LCI is.

[TuffLittleUnit]

What a great summary. As another 2011 to LCI migrant I found this really useful. If I recall, there was a lot of chatter on the forum about the 3.0d units being slightly erratic with start/stop - something I've not had a problem with on the old 2.0d lump.

Mine's a company car (really a subsidised lease with servicing, repairs, insurance, tyres, road tax etc all thrown in) and I've previously avoided paying for built in nav for the same reasons as clivem2. However, the premium for professional nav seems to be slashed now - I think it's costing me about £10 a month in PUCs which given all the other features it adds feels like money well spent (my ageing TomTom is pretty much useless now).

It'll also clear some space for a dash cam. Over the last couple of months I've had an unusually high number of incidents with numpties. Just having the satisfaction of being able to review the footage and be confident I was in the right is worth it alone.

[jonw]

I thought the LCI cars had the newer idrive controller with the touch pad is this not the case ?

[plymjack]

A useful review and some nice pics.

Really interesting small details - since our X3 is our first BMW with have little to compare it too.
With some of your points it could just be "new" car syndrome - will be interested to hear how it is in a few months. I never hear water sloshing round the wheels so now Im going to have to listen harder. lol..
Thanks

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by jonw

I thought the LCI cars had the newer idrive controller with the touch pad is this not the case ?

Maybe only with the pro-nav?

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by plymjack

A useful review and some nice pics.

Really interesting small details - since our X3 is our first BMW with have little to compare it too.
With some of your points it could just be "new" car syndrome - will be interested to hear how it is in a few months. I never hear water sloshing round the wheels so now Im going to have to listen harder. lol..
Thanks

Water sloshing was a real bugbear of mine along with traffic and wind noise. Some car pre-LCIs suffered and some seemed to not (there's a big thread on this). If my new car is representative then BMW may have got to grips with the issue.

[Smithy2014]

The pro-nav in my pre-LC1 is amazing. I had to go from staffordshire to basildon in essex last week. I left at 6.30am and whilst travelling along the M6 it told me to exit at Coventry which I thought was odd as I would expect to go all the way to the bottom of the M6 onto the M1 however as I turned off for Coventry a radio traffic update advised that the M1 was closed southbound where the M6 joins it. My satnav guided me through Coventry to the A45, M45 and onto the M1 past the closure - happy days!

As I headed down the M1 the overhead gantrys were saying that the M25 was closed for four junctions (due to a fatal accident in the early hours I found out later) - my satnav took me off at Luton and towards Hitchin, Stevenage amongst other places and back onto the M25 where it was open - I still hit some heavy traffic near to the M25 which was expected but finally got there at 11.30am.

Getting back was equally as fun as the M25 was still closed - this time my satnav guided me onto the north circular to pick up the M1.

Cracking system and at no point did I think it was sending me in the wrong direction - love it!

[plymjack]

I think GPS Nav systems are much more stable - My mate has a 10 year old Jag with Nav and it looks really old MSDOS like.!! Which has always been my concern about having GPS inbuilt.

[The X Men]

The LCI nav has a much faster processor, it loads up in half of the time as the pre-LCI and detours and recalculations are within a second or two.

[philtrick123]

One problem/issue/feature with my pre-LCI is the boot(trunk) door sounding a bit cheap when closing, because of the hard plastics used on it.
I presume with electric lift as standard in the UK, that sensation will have gone away somewhat. Is it still hard plastic?

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by philtrick123

One problem/issue/feature with my pre-LCI is the boot(trunk) door sounding a bit cheap when closing, because of the hard plastics used on it.
I presume with electric lift as standard in the UK, that sensation will have gone away somewhat. Is it still hard plastic?

It's still hard plastic but I can't tell you how it sounds as I don't now stand behind the car when it shuts. Maybe that's the solution to the problem! I'll listen tomorrow when I use the BOOT.

[clivem2]

It sounds fine. Possibly because it shuts more gently with the power close.

[clivem2]

I've just done my first long trip in the LCI. 300 miles Cheshire to St Andrews. This car is so much quieter than my pre-LCI. There's a trace of wind noise from the mirrors but overall it's very acceptable. 39 imperial mpg, I've only just now reached 500 miles.

[clivem2]

The gearshifts in full Sport are really punchy and tight. This is a huge improvement vs my 30D pre-LCI. Power is is totally fabulous and it's really smooth when revved. Loving it!