I can understand your frustration @glos-guy ! However, as you said back when, the petrol model suits your usage better than the 40d diesel would. Just don’t be tempted when you see the 40d in the flesh today, unless you are absolutely certain it is right for you. It is a princely sum to be spending on something you might regret later. Re storing the vehicle, they were/are happy to do this on the proviso that it didn’t span either their quarterly sales period (which coincidentally runs to the same quarterly dates as the Motability scheme) or a registration plate change. I presume this is for accountancy reasons.
Wise words @BigDave. Having seen the 40d this morning we are now very happy with our colour combination choice of Manhattan exterior and Silverstone interior. The paintwork really sparkled with lots of colour flecks in the sunshine and looked very upmarket and distinctive. The 40d actually sounded really nice when the salesperson drove it around to us and, if we hadn’t been too late to add the Comfort Pack (with heated steering wheel) to the car, I might have been tempted to say “sod it, I’ll have this one”!
None the less, in spite of the delay, we are sticking with the M60i. Aside from the very noticeable performance difference and the exclusivity factor, if I’d gone for the 40d X5 it would have irked me that for the exact same cost I could have got the X7 40d, which would have come with about £6k extra kit as standard. However, I dislike the look of the X7 and it’s just way too big for our needs. The price gap between the X5 M60i and X7 M60i is vast though, so that issue now doesn’t arise!
We’ve resolved the registration issue. If the car arrives no later than mid July I’m taking delivery immediately. If it’s the back end of July or August we are delaying registration until 1st September. Although the vehicle will have my private ‘X5’ number plate, so won’t have a 26 or 76 plate physically displayed on it, the later reg will probably add a couple of grand to the value at resale, so worth holding out for.
Here’s a couple of shots of the 40d today. Our M60i will look slightly different in that it will have gloss black M mirrors, quad exhaust, a different front grill and the all important M60i badges 🤣 . The biggest difference though is obviously under the bonnet!
