I'm painfully aware of that. I'm just hoping that my winning personality would help me get a test drive. Beside, I do have to drive lots of different cars as part of my job (I wrench and program cars for a living), including all sort of high end cars. I have yet to crash those, so I think I'll be okay.
Thing is, the closest dealer that actually has a E320 CDI in stock is about 50 miles away from me, waaay past hollywood. For anyone who knows LA, the 405/110/101 that goes through downtown LA is hell on earth. I really would rather not have to slug through hours of traffic just to be grilled with credit offers and uninterested salesmen.
Craiglist is no go either -- three CDI's for sale are so far out of reach that its not funny.
Yeah, but a ECU tune can fix that. I'm not worried about the power -- all I want to see if it comes close to the 335d. If it does, then I have no problem doing a ECU tune and other mods whatsnot to bring it up to my preferences. I want the same comfort as my W210, but with more power. Enter W211 CDI, hence my question.
I refuse to get a BMW 335d....I see more E60, E65 and E90 coming to my shop for various oil leaks, VANOS and electrical issues than MB cars....so that soured BMW vehicles to me.
What do you mean about buying a newer car if I'm daily driving it? I don't get it. I have two cars at the moment, and I have no problem getting rid of one to make space for the CDI. I just want to see if the CDI is worth the hassle of private party sale and months of hunting. I went through that with my E300TD, and I rather not go through that process if the car turned out to be a disappointment in the end.
I know, many of members here and elsewhere have nothing but high praise for the CDI, and it's true. But I have difficulty in translating that praise into real world experience, hence the request for test drive.