Prompted by OzzyTheBlackCat acquiring a 428i thought it might be time to offer some info about my three years with one. I bought my manual M Sport in Sep 2017, car was registered Jun 2015, had 27k miles and was straight from Arval Leasing sold at a Supermarket with nearly 10 months BMW Warranty left. Traded in a 2009 E92 325i M Sport that had been great for the six years I owned it. I was aiming for a 335i but after changing careers and not sure about how I would get on I limited myself to a cash purchase and couldn’t stretch to get the bigger engine. The car has been pretty good overall. Love the Estoril blue and tech gained moving to the 4 Series with Pro Nav. I find the Nav good, graphics are clear and the pop up below the speedo is very useful. I mostly use the music library but have found phone connection and Google music play to be easy to use. Car is comfortable up front and not too bad in the back once you are in; fairly practical as well, with folding rear seats it’s surprising how much it can carry, my pushbike fits in with the front wheel removed. Performance wise, it is plenty for me, clearly quicker than the 325i it replaced with much more torque. I tend to drive in Comfort mode, I tried Sport / Sport+ on occasion but find the sharp throttle response a bit too harsh, can’t say I notice too much change in the steering. The ride is much better, less crashy and deals with potholes much better, one of the reasons I bought this car was its 18” wheels, the tyres for which have a bit more sidewall. Economy is good for the performance on offer, over three years it has averaged 33.2mpg, I mostly use it for days out and airport runs, very little in town use really, having bought a 125 motorcycle to get to and from work. Have just done Plymouth to Gatwick airport and back (two people and luggage) on one tank and the low fuel pinged on just as I got home, so 472 miles and used 54 litres approx. 39 mpg. Car now has 43k miles on it, I had it serviced at Ocean BMW until recently: Jun 18, 30376 miles it required oil & filter, pollen filter, brake fluid, spark plugs and an MOT, cost all in was £736. Oct 18 32020 miles, four new tyres, local independent, stuck with Conti Sport Contact 5 runflats as I think the ride and handling are pretty good. Fronts (225/45) were £243 rears (255/40) were £337. These are wearing well again so far. Jan 20 39900 miles, front discs and pads, again done at Ocean BMW, £443. The discs were measured as too far worn to last out another pad set so they recommended I change them. Realistically the discs would have lasted at least a couple of years but as I have no intention of changing the car I went ahead with new discs. Jun 20 41721 miles, oil and filter, pollen filter, rear pads, brake fluid and MOT done at my local garage who I have used for years and trust £303 (BMW quote £69. The only issue I have had is with aircon. I have aircon and refrigeration knowledge and experience but no access to gear to do the work and found that this still remains an area of poor knowledge in the motor trade. I never turn off my climate so dried out seals shouldn’t be the problem. System lost its gas so booked a check at Kwik Fit just to prove no gas and a leak. They wouldn’t connect the machine to the car because they weren’t sure which gas was in the system despite the R134a sticker under the bonnet. So ensued a visit to a garage with a charging machine, a visit to a recommended local expert and eventually Ocean BMW none of whom managed to fix it. On each occasion I asked for the condenser to be checked and all stated the condenser was fine, no leaks. Best part of two years with intermittent air con, system was clearly leaking, rang a local mobile and asked him to come out and please check the condenser, within five minutes of his arrival and using no more than a torch he found oily fluff at the bottom of each condenser end chamber. New condenser £330 fitted, was quite a job removing lots of the front end to gain workable access to release the pipes, been fine since. Paintwork is holding up well with few stone chips, the M Sport door cill strips have started to corrode, looks like plastic delamination. One wheel has a spot of corrosion probably from a stone chip. I’m keeping it a while yet, does pretty much everything I need in comfort and has plenty of performance. I don’t get hung up on the 4 or 6 cylinder thing, this suits my needs and after some extraordinarily long trips due to traffic lately I’m not sure I’ll ever get anything quicker than this, seems a little pointless these days.
Great write up Hodge interesting reading. Going to local BMW dealer end of month to start a service plan. Think off top of my head its 900£ over 3 years. Including mots. Use comfort mode most of time and getting bout 38/39 mpg tried ecoplus mode one night from ys work and clocked 48mpg !!! Sport mode does whst it says on the tin lots of poke and nice growl wen you floor it. All in all great engine and car is spotless no real marks on bodywork alloys brand new tyres also mint falcons front and rear rfs but there fine. All good atm
Excellent write up. The aircon condenser went on mine earlier this year after stone impact. Unfortunately i was well and truly rinsed by the stealer Invoice below includes 10% discount on the condenser itself...
Glad you're enjoying the car, rarley see positive comments about the 428i on other forums, which is a shame, 'cause I think it's genuinely a good car. That bill for a condenser, wow, my fears realised. Mine wasn't stone damage but seam failure where the side tanks were attached. I tried eco pro when I first got the car; I had just driven 160 miles in my 325i to trade in, jumped in this one and thought long journey, try eco pro, accelerated up a slip road on the M27 thought something was wrong so selected comfort and carried on!
