 | Home > General & Technical (L663) > Cross shopping Defender vs BMW M3T |
 
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| Caterham Member Since: 06 Nov 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 6300   
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very sensible head on.....
buy a transit van  
 Click image to enlarge sorry - just couldn't help it.  |
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25th Oct 2024 11:41am |
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| billy2shots Member Since: 23 Oct 2024 Location: England Posts: 33 
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Enjoyed the test drive 45 minutes on our own.
For better or worse we've decided to go ahead with the Defender. Hope we get a good one. X-Dynamic HSE D350 Pangea Black signature square Air suspension Black pack exterior HUD Detachable tow bar Clearsight mirror Caraway interior Dark grey crossbeam Classic mud flaps Gloss black wheel arch protection Managed 5.5% discount plus gloss black spare wheel cover and deep sided rubber mats |
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27th Oct 2024 5:28pm |
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| Moo Member Since: 01 Oct 2021 Location: UK Posts: 1399 
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Sounds good.
Eiger Grey MY23 D250 SE with bits. Known as Noddy. |
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27th Oct 2024 5:42pm |
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| Crazymind Member Since: 11 Jun 2024 Location: Glasgow Posts: 156
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Great choice! And great colour combo!
If you didn’t yert, add the cold climate pack and rear lsd ( not cheap but aftermarket is 4 times more expensive). Cooled seats I found them very good when travelling to Europe during the summer. The cabin of the defender gets incredibly hot during the summer. 5.5% not bad. But I got 7%. |
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27th Oct 2024 5:45pm |
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| pjm-84 Member Since: 12 Apr 2021 Location: Hampshire Posts: 662
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As long as its not a business purchase....went to do this on an ID3 but as its was a business lease there was no 14day cooling off period. If its non business you have the 14day cooling off period |
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27th Oct 2024 5:51pm |
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| billy2shots Member Since: 23 Oct 2024 Location: England Posts: 33
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Heated and cooled seats as standard. Cold climate only adds heated washer jets on this trim. Everything I read suggests the second elec diff is only needed for extreme off-roading. And unless you plan on going to paid for specially designed courses, it's probably not needed. Green landing, muddy fields etc shouldn't be an any issue with stick set-up. |
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27th Oct 2024 6:09pm |
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| billy2shots Member Since: 23 Oct 2024 Location: England Posts: 33
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Heated and cooled seats as standard. Cold climate only adds heated washer jets on this trim. Everything I read suggests the second elec diff is only needed for extreme off-roading. And unless you plan on going to paid for specially designed courses, it's probably not needed. Green laneing, muddy fields etc shouldn't be an any issue with stick set-up. Obviously you guys have first hand experience so I stand to be corrected |
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27th Oct 2024 6:11pm |
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| Crazymind Member Since: 11 Jun 2024 Location: Glasgow Posts: 156
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I’d double check for the cooled seats.
When I was building MY25 cooled wasn’t on the X-HSE. Also terrain response will give you the wade sensors which have been deleted on MY25. Cold climate pack will give you heated washers and headlights washers ( is worth for the price asked). |
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27th Oct 2024 6:25pm |
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| billy2shots Member Since: 23 Oct 2024 Location: England Posts: 33
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14 way heated and cooled seats. Not sure what else to say, it's listed nice and clearly. |
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27th Oct 2024 6:56pm |
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| Eric Caterpillar Member Since: 17 Jun 2024 Location: Scotland Posts: 50 
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Morning, saw the Defender chat on a different BMW forum.
For what's it worth, I was cross-shopping the Defender with the M3T at some point early in the process, as much as I thought driving the M3 was very close to a base 911 (if you can call these base) I had driven at Silverstone, the beemer was a bit too compromised as a family car, mainly due to hard suspension, small-ish boot, and lack of space behind myself (6"2). Mind I've had 3 BMWs before at the customer service was always excellent. The mpg didn't bother me that much as I am used to getting to low 30 on a motorway cruise in my old AMG E53 estate. The Defender won on the overall package, lots of space inside and the quality of its suspension setup is impressive. Plus in the HSE trim it gets a lot of equipment as standard. Easily gets 35 mpg without trying hard and a 90 litre tank means I should be getting some serious range on our European trip every year. Managed to negotiate good deal (twice, as the D300 order was cancelled by JLR in May), however, my car is now on hold due to a recall action. No courtesy car, no nothing, not even a firm ETA. I have started looking at other options if my dealer can't sort this recall out, mainly looking at used Cayenne S (pre facelift), BMW F90 M5 Comp LCI or even a S class diesel. I sold my Merc early October, so have been relying on wife's Toyota since. Couple of reasons why I sold the E53 was - harsh ride even in Comfort on air springs, compromised second row, transmission tunnel eating into my left leg footwell space and most important, after covering 20k miles in 18 months, 16k miles out of which in the UK, all 4 alloys were buckled due to the state of disrepair of our roads. I only found out about bent alloys in Germany when trying to close the speedo, the car was not staying straight and had to wrestle with the steering wheel. Hence why I think the Defender is a perfect car for my local roads, it's an off road course in its own right. |
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28th Oct 2024 7:40am |
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| XplusYplusZ Member Since: 16 Aug 2021 Location: UK Posts: 489 |
've had my Defender 110 for a couple of years now and after a fairly painful insurance hike this renewal I got the itch to consider switching. I went and kicked some tires of the usual suspects:
SUVs: Cayennes, Macans, X5s, X7s, Q8s, Q7s, Merc GLS & GLE.. Wagons: Taycans, Panameras, 5 estates, 3 estates, A6, A5, E-class. A few important points clarified in my mind: 1. Whilst I dearly love a bit of early summer morning heal and toeing. With the dog and my infant son almost always in tow, and living in central London, I can't remember the last time I had the opportunity to really give it the beans. So whilst I could afford something nippy, the reality is it would be 500 horses sat around getting very bored. 2. Interior space, 2nd Row comfort, and the option of a 3rd Row have become a far bigger priority than pulling off rice pudding skins. 3. I do actually use my Defender as it was intended far more than I'd expected - whether it's scrambling up a rocky private lane to a remote airbnb, or stuffing it full of suitcases, babies, dogs and family for weekends away, Winter Storm XYZ floods half of Britain or I bust out a 2000 mile trip to the south of france - I can't count the number of times my smug face has come out and the Defender has been more than up to the task. 4. I still want a cool car that I love walking up to in the morning. As such, for my particular use case: Fast wagons generally have crap rear seating and would be a huge waste of horse power in the Capital of 20mph. Of the non-JLR SUVs, I think the Defender is easily the lesser spotted and least boring of the lot. I think only a G could top it for rugged good looks. I do like the taycan but they're not getting me around rural France without a lot of range anxiety. The Range Rovers would be of interest, but they are an even more painful step up in arse gouging insurance BS. A Disco would be the next best alternative, but unfortunately, I have eyes. In my honest opinion, a really nicely specced Defender is the bees knees as a family vehicle. Unless you are regularly hurling yourself down good B-roads, or you have the FU money to insure a Range Rover. |
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28th Oct 2024 5:27pm |
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