Modern budget cars are good nowadays

[sapphireblack]

I'm living in Greece at the moment and have hired a Hyundai Bayon, an unremarkable little car to look at.

That said, the tech in it is impressive, and not surprisingly i suppose, more up to date than my E71. I am told its a standard car which makes some of the features impressive. Sat-nav is pretty common these days, but there a steering wheel controlled menu thats better than the E71s idrive. It has Android Auto, voice dialling, various menus for MPG etc, auto headlights with high beam assist as BMW call it and a wealth of other features that confirm how old my cars tech is now.. I'd add a picture but its rather wet outside currently.

Would i swap it for my E71? Never, but i'm impressed by the inclusive built in features.

[X5Sport]

The bit that frustrates me is that so much of this tech in cars from the far East is included whereas us Europeans have to pay an absolute fortune for it to be added.

It may of course be the only way that they can get us to buy Far Eastern built motors, but even so.

[sapphireblack]

I suppose i am something of a brand snob? If so i apologise, but I like what i like.

This Hyundai is not a luxury spec vehicle. The plastics are cheap and it shows. Its not a poor vehicle by any means, but despite its comprehensive features its not a vehicle i aspire to owning. The sat-nav is intuitive and very fast, the screen in a sensible size. The phone integration is also excellent, i am envious of those two features.

I've seen two E71s on the Island this past week, most unusual. One was an all black 40d but which had the earlier centralised front foglights my 35d has. The second car was an X6m in Space Grey sporting the usual 'm' accoutrements. I still faintly lust after those bumper differences. I am a little bit car sick

[X5Sport]

If you’re a brand snob, then so are many of us I think. I used to drive Vauxhalls and Škodas but once I had the X5 and the wife her 330 convertible we were spoilt. I’ve had one Škoda since and didn’t gel at all. I’ve loved every Bimmer, even the rabbit wagon 2-series we had. There’s just something ‘comfortable’ about driving one.

My outlaws have a Lexus hybrid. It’s perfectly fine, but that just it, it’s fine (or good enough) but won’t set the world alight. Far Eastern cars are very good, but those I’ve driven are just soulless. You can throw in oodles of tech, and it’s just tech. Sure it makes things a bit easier perhaps, but I spend 99% of my time actually driving rather than ‘computing’.

Just remember…..you’ll need to own a fuel company to cover the petrol costs of an X6M!! They’re fun as long as you can hand them back