i was working on my friends L322 the other day and while i was sitting in the car i thought what would i like in my p38 that is in the car other than a cup holder . as my p38 is a base model and doesn't even have the cup holder in the center consul or electric seats or a sunroof . the only thing i could come up with was the center screen in the dash . is there any other options that you would like in your p38 that you don't you don't already have.
PS i do know that i could install a screen in the dash and i will do that one day, but is their any other options even from other makes or models that you would like to have.

My P38 is a 2001 Vogue so has all the options although I could do without some of them. The Etch-A-Sketch satnav is useless & the unrepairable & unobtainable Harmon Kardon DSP amplifier has failed so I currently have no sound from the radio.

+1 on the screen I have seen the HEVAC and radio swapped over to give a double din slot. It then allows a radio to be mounted higher up with a pop out screen along with sat nav. Reversing camera. My Volvo has one and it is really useful.
More power out of the engine (I have the diesel).. I have a larger piston for the FIP and a variable vane turbo in a box. One day I might get round to fitting them. Air con that works Ha Ha.
All doable, otherwise I am happy the way the car is.

A nice in-dash screen with Android Auto is on my list, i find it invaluable in my daily and feels like the thing i miss the most driving both my older cars.

I would also like the sunroof to disappear...

Working aircon would be nice too.

Brown leather seats have been on my wanted for some time, as well as ditching all the grey plastics for black ones.

The biggest thing? Time. I have endless lists of things that need done and no time to actually do them. Work on cars seems to revolve around firefighting whatever has broken and never actually getting round to the "nice-to-have" bits.

Having been driving a few modern cars just recently, I considered starting a similar thread. In the last few weeks I've driven a Hyundai i10 (hire car), a Mercedes E350 Cabrio and currently have an Audi S6 (standard Audi A6 body but with a 439bhp Lamborghini 5.2 litre V10 under the bonnet) parked outside. All have lots of modern driver aids, many of which will become compulsory in a couple of years and it set me thinking which would I like. Obviously all have a screen in the dash dealing with navigation, radio, media, audio settings and various other things that can be controlled by the driver but even at under 10 years old, the nav on both the Merc and Audi are getting a bit dated.

Reversing camera, yup, but that can easily be added to any car as can reversing sensors.

Then there are the driver aids, things like adaptive cruise control, brake assist, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, etc. I never use cruise control, preferring to to control my cruise speed with my right foot and on both that have it, it had been turned off anyway, as had the brake assist. The owner of the Merc told me that adaptive cruise was a pain as it would slow down if it saw a car in front of you travelling slower. Fine unless you intended to overtake that slower car because it expected you to indicate to pull out to overtake but if you were already in the overtaking lane, it had to be overridden.

The lane departure warning on the Merc and Hyundai would cause the steering wheel to shudder (and reduce the power assistance on the Hyundai so it felt like your wheels were in a rut) if it detected that you were drifting out of your lane. The only way to stop it is to indicate to pull out to overtake but you still had to indicate when you wanted to pull back in. However, if you indicated to pull in while the car you had overtaken was still in view of the blind spot detection in the rear view mirrors it got grossly offended and caused the steering wheel to shudder and it would beep loudly at you too!

I thought the blind spot warning would be useful and it is to a degree but I found it makes you lazy. As a big red triangle appears in the mirror if there is someone in your blind spot, I found I was relying on that rather than looking over my shoulder (what is known in motorcycle circles as the lifesaver), so while useful, not something I would consider an essential. At the end of the day there is no substitute for the Mk1 eyeball.

The Merc also had automatic dip beam which I must admit I really liked. Put the lights on main beam and if it detected another light coming towards you, they automatically dipped. Initially I thought the system may not dip when coming up behind another vehicle so I would blind them with the lights in their mirrors, but no, it detected them and dipped the lights. The only time it was fooled was on a section of road with Armco on the central reservation which obscured the other vehicles lights but not their windscreen so it didn't dip the lights but the oncoming driver got the full benefit of a pair of HID lights in his face. However, I did drive that car back from the south of France where there is hardly any traffic at night so I doubt it would be that useful in the UK when the roads are so crowded, even at night, you rarely get chance to use main beam anyway.

Although I've got my stereo as good as I can expect without spending a fortune (Kenwood DAB head unit with Bluetooth, JBL speakers in place of the originals and a powered sub under my seat), the Harmon Kardon system in the Merc and the Bose system in the Audi are absolutely amazing, so that would definitely be on my shopping list if it could be fitted without taking up any more space.

As Dave says, more power but having got out of the Audi yesterday and straight into mine, it still didn't feel underpowered, although I wasn't trying to break any records (which the Audi probably can do and sounds glorious when given some welly!).

So the bottom line is that while these modern driver aids may be useful, there isn't really any of them I would insist on having, except maybe the blind spot monitoring in the mirrors.

Aragorn wrote:

A nice in-dash screen with Android Auto is on my list, i find it invaluable in my daily and feels like the thing i miss the most driving both my older cars.

I'm not too fussed about a big screen. My Kenwood head unit deals with sounds, Bluetooth hands free and audio streaming, while a Garmin sat nav stuck to the windscreen tells me where to go (and as it links though an app on my phone gives me live traffic too).

However, two things that I would definitely like so much that I stopped noticing them, rain sensing intermittent wipers and automatic headlights. The former worked perfectly when you get that light rain that you can never get the intermittent delay right by only wiping when a certain amount of wet was on the screen. The automatic lights are great when you go into a tunnel, not only for switching them on but switching them off afterwards. There's been numerous times I've driven miles with the lights on after forgetting to turn them off when I come out of a tunnel.

I much prefer Android Auto to standalone nav having had both options over the years. The traffic-aware routing etc on google maps is fantastic, and it being fully integrated with your phone is also super useful. Being able to seamlessly play music or pull in podcasts etc is also handy.

Rain sensing wipers are nice for sure, but i've also had cars where your constantly adjusting the sensitivity of the sensor, just as youd end up having to adjust the intermit settings. I have noticed on a few occasions with the Skoda, that i've left them on auto and they fire up with a few drops of rain (or perhaps a car in front has washed its windscreen) and they just smear everything because the screens dusty and there isnt enough water... Overall i'm neutral on those.

A lot of these aids have pros and cons. Lane assist can be annoying, but if it gets people to actually use their indicators to stop the car annoying them then great...

Lights i just leave them on all the time if possible. On the P38 i set the BECM to run the lights all the time (the only nuisance is it doesnt illuminate the instrument cluster). Anything to make the car more noticeable to other drivers is a must. Modern cars have DRLs for exactly this purpose, although those have their own flaws, including not lighting up the rear of the car.

I didnt order adaptive cruise on the Skoda, and at first was kinda annoyed with myself. But having driven another Skoda with it, i found it was too eager to back off in traffic. You'd be catching a lorry on cruise at 70mph, put the indicator on to overtake and by the time youve switched lanes its already slowed to 60 or 65, and then has to accellerate again when it realises the road is clear. If your in denser traffic where your just staying in lane and not really worried about changing lanes it works okay. In effect it encourages lazy lane-hogging driving, because trying to keep left just becomes irritating.

Automatic emergency brake is a no brainer ofcourse. I've never actually needed it, but had the pre-warning a few times and its sorta comforting to know the car was on it.

I honestly don't want all that "assistance" mumbo-jumbo in my drive. Are nice features, but they make you lazy, cumbersome and bother. Yeah I know, you can turn them off, but why bother having them at all then?
When I drive, I want to drive - and considering a (near?) future in which "driving" will be a luxury reserved for a racetrack or offroad (illegally, or course!).
I love cruise control though, I despise autowipers, I don't mind autolights (they leave me indifferent), here in Bulgaria DRLs or equivalent are compulsory so is lights on, or lights on, that is why I set them up in the BeCM.
I longed for years to have a nice big display, now I appreciate the clean dash design without distractions. When I am in a hurry I use the phone, when on a trip a Garmin sat-nav like Richard, which has the plus it's movable around vehicles and easily upgradeable.
HeVAC in spite of its faults it has a simple layout and a good graphic interface, I would not say it needs a 'screen'.

There are only a couple things I really miss on my P38:

• at least 100 more HP to shove on the way
• at least 1, if not 2, gear on the auto. A 1:1 high ratio or something that makes the car more relaxed on a long journey
• folding mirrors (weird they were never even an option, and they existed on the W140 when the P38 came on the market)
• a seat that goes back a lil longer (I got long legs. The P38 is a comfy position, but a bit more stretched would be nice)
• parking aids are a welcome addition. I am generally careful when manouvering, but some help ... does help
• a rearview camera to help with coupling the trailer when I am alone (and this might be the only thing I will be able to upgrade 😄

I can see the attraction of Android Auto but think I still prefer my separate units. The Kenwood gives me DAB and Bluetooth so I can use it for hands free phone calls as well as streaming audio. The later Garmin sat nav units link to an app that runs in the background on the phone so gives live traffic and is two way so if anyone using it is delayed it updates the sat nav. I've got it mounted low down but central on the screen so it is more in my eyeline than having to look down or to one side at a built in screen. I suppose that depends on where the built in screen is mounted though, I had use of an Audi RS7 where it rose up out of the dash so was better than a fixed one in the dash, although I still had to look to one side to see it rather than just drop my eyes downwards as I do now. The advantage I can see with a combined unit is that everything is in one place. For example, if I use the Autogas app on my phone to find the nearest LPG filling station, I need to stop to transfer the postcode to the sat nav to get me there but assume with an integrated unit I can simply tell it to give me directions?

Folding mirrors, yes, a definite want for me too.

I've already got a reversing camera (that is Bluetooth linked to the Garmin sat nav) which I installed to help me when hitching up a trailer when on my own. It's currently mounted on the lower part of the rear bumper which makes judging the distance from something difficult. I've got a spare tailgate number plate light panel with the intention of mounting it in that so it looks downwards more but haven't got around to trying it yet (running the cable through from the upper tailgate down to one of the rear light clusters has stopped me).

well there is some interesting comments in their , especially the ones that want the things they already have , they just don't work. one thing that really pisses me off is this stop start rubbish when you stop at intersections and lights the car turns it's self off and then starts , i think it's dangerous as it can stall the car just as you take off creating a delay when you forget to turn it off . the savings on fuel is minimal but the cost of new starters and smart alternators and battery's is not . also all the other things like lane departure and the rest are also distracting and make drivers lazy. the thing i like about the screens is they incorporate reverse cameras ,google maps, music etc all in one spot without all the charging cables and crap in the car . anyway im of to the shack for the weekend , no tv their so a quiet weekend without the media pushing this stupid referendum down everyone's throat .

Agree with you totally on that. I drove a brand new Mercedes GLA last year that had stop start and it really annoyed me. Sitting at a junction waiting for a gap in the traffic and rather than being able to pull out quickly, had to wait for the engine to start before it started to move. Until I found out how to switch it off, I discovered if I twitched the steering wheel it would restart so would go when I told it to and not a second or so later.

The start-stop is a very very annoying feature. For old school ppl like us, gets really hard to get used to.
I put it in the category of those things manufacturers "had" to do just to appease idiotic "greenish" guidelines.
No really a significant contribution in fighting emissions, especially if you count the increased cost and complexity of the starter-alternator systems (and batteries as well).
On my sister's 208, she specifically asked the dealer to disable it, thing that they did by software.
On my dad's 2008 you got to remember it do set it off every time ....

These ideas are like these so-called "mild hybrids", a palliative ...

My wife's Smart FourTwo has the stop/start system. She doesn't mind it so much as her driving instructor's car also had it so she didn't know any better & thought it normal for all cars.😀 I find it incredibly dangerous to sit at a junction or roundabout & not be certain when you put your foot on the accelerator whether the car is going to pull away cleanly or hesitate. If you remember you can press a button to switch it off every time you power on the car but happily there is some nifty software called DDT4All that allows you to reprogram all sorts of parameters on the car including permanently switching off the stop/start system.

A friends son gave me a lift in his brand new Volvo XC40 mild hybrid and that actually isn't too bad. You stop at a junction and the engine stops but as soon as you want to go the electric motor makes it pull away immediately allowing time for the engine to fire up and carry on with moving it. It's a fudge to keep the emissions down when being tested but does seem to work quite well (or it does in the XC40 anyway).

I have got a Volvo V60 plug in diesel hybrid. They don't make them any more. I agree the stop start is no longer a problem because the electric motor kicks in immediately when you pull away. It also compensates for any turbo lag when going at low speed and you put your foot down. The power curves compensate each other perfectly.

I dont really get the stop start hate. I suspect its just the usual humans-dont-like-change thing that applies to so many things... As the chap above points out, if it was always there you wouldnt think twice about it.

End of the day, you visit any major city and you'll find thousands of vehicles sitting stationary at lights and junctions, spewing out emissions for no reason. Its much better for everyone that isnt in a vehicle to just shut it off.

There might be the odd situation where it adds a little inconvenience to the driver but personally i think thats fine. Perhaps some implementations are worse than others. Most manuals will restart as soon as you depress the clutch to select a gear for instance. Hybridisation will as mentioned help fill the gap too.

Should we prioritise the people in the metal box spewing out toxins, or should we prioritise the health of everyone else? Most drivers in this country seem to default to the former, but there really needs to be more balance.

I just said it is annoying. The reactions of the engine starting, or stopping, are not always when you need, or expect to.
The hybrid does it as well (my woman's CT200h is a good example), but less bothering as the electric motor does something in the meantime ...
I appreciate any effort to improve our condition on this little rock, but so far over the last years ideas seem to have been not the keenest ... for example, I've seen little effort to improve "traffic flow" (smart traffic lights for example, under/over passes for pedestrians instead of crossings, and so on) instead of forcing manufactures to come up with ideas to reduce its impact.

Folding mirrors, yes, a definite want for me too.

Let's talk this ... was the D2 produced with folding mirrors? Any option to "borrow" that from another car?
From experience, it needs a wing mirror with the same - or adaptable - base, that attaches to the car door ...

Aragorn wrote:

I dont really get the stop start hate. I suspect its just the usual humans-dont-like-change thing that applies to so many things... As the chap above points out, if it was always there you wouldnt think twice about it.

I don't have a problem with it and the reasoning behind it, what I have a problem with is the way it actually slows traffic flow. When sitting at a roundabout or a junction with no traffic lights, you look for a gap in the traffic to pull out into. In a manual you floor the throttle and dump the clutch, in an auto you just floor the throttle and in both cases the acceleration is instant. When I first drove a car with stop start, I expected the same instant getaway and it didn't happen so by the time it started to move, the gap was too small to slot into. So the queue of traffic building up behind me had to wait even longer and the queue just gets bigger. Hence discovering that I could cause the engine to restart by twitching the steering wheel in advance so it would go when I told it to and not when it decided it was going to.

The only manual I have driven with stop start was easy, just don't take it out of gear and the engine doesn't stop so it is ready to go when you want it to.