BMW 320d or 325i

Owenw

Lads,

I am thinking of trading in my antique '99 318is coupe which is starting to give trouble (ABS module, steering rack & central locking, among other minor things).

I like the look of the E92 3-series coupe but would like a bit more power.

Would I be better looking at the 320d oil burner or a 325i petrol? 330i/d is probably out of reach at the moment.

I've heard common problems include failing turbos on diesels and injector failure on 320i. Have these been sorted or are they easily spotted during an inspection?

Most round trips are 30 miles or more, but I don't do massive annual mileage (10-15k)

What would you recommend? I am open to alternatives but would like to get a rear wheel drive car, not too old and with some style and a few nice toys.

166man

At least you ain't looking at E46's.....:pac:



325i all the way...;)

daRobot

Manual petrol all the way

bazz26

If you are considering a 6 cylinder petrol then why do you think you need a clattering diesel as an alternative to it?

If you do enough miles convert the petrol to LPG , but yeah I too would go for the petrol.

Owenw

bazz26 wrote: »

If you are considering a 6 cylinder petrol then why do you think you need a clattering diesel as an alternative to it?

I've heard the 325 petrol is a little underpowered for a 3 litre whereas the diesel despite its clunky engine noise and clouds of black smoke has plenty of torque, cheap to run and plenty to choose from here and in the UK. Haven't seen to many 325i's for sale here or the UK.

Definitely manual all the way. Would prefer the M Sport over the SE version.

Forgot to add my budget is around 20 -24k

Heroditas

Owenw wrote: »

whereas the diesel despite its clunky engine noise and clouds of black smoke has plenty of torque, cheap to run

Plenty of torque? Are you planning on hitching a trailer to it?
As for cheaper to run, you won't be doing to miles to see the benefit of a diesel.

Petrol all the way

Owenw

Deleted User wrote: »

If you do enough miles convert the petrol to LPG , but yeah I too would go for the petrol.

What sort of mileage would make LPG a viable option? There's a crowd nearby who do the conversion for about a grand or so.

For the next 6 months I'll be commuting ~1000 miles a month.
After that maybe 250 miles a month on average.

Owenw

Heroditas wrote: »

Plenty of torque? Are you planning on hitching a trailer to it?
As for cheaper to run, you won't be doing to miles to see the benefit of a diesel.

Petrol all the way

LOL no trailer hitch going near my car, ever!
Never owned a diesel and only considered one after taking a 320d saloon for a quick spin.

Next question: would i be better off sourcing from the UK?
The few models I've seen for sale here seem to be fairly basic spec.

copacetic

Owenw wrote: »

I've heard the 325 petrol is a little underpowered for a 3 litre whereas the diesel despite its clunky engine noise and clouds of black smoke has plenty of torque, cheap to run and plenty to choose from here and in the UK. Haven't seen to many 325i's for sale here or the UK.

Definitely manual all the way. Would prefer the M Sport over the SE version.

Forgot to add my budget is around 20 -24k

Coming from a 318, I'd doubt you will find the 325i underpowered @218bhp and 7s 0-62. It's much smoother power delivery and great noise compared to slap in the back for a couple of seconds after turbo lag in diesel can fool some people. I'd personally advise against manual, the 3.0 325i auto from late 2007 on comes as standard with paddles. In sport manual mode with paddles, you will move along quicker and with more steering feel than a manual. You will quickly get used to how to avoid any lag by shifting driving modes rather than using kick down and in sport manual it will let you rev all the way to 7000 in each gear and blip the throttle for you when shifting.

If you can find a 2008, it should hit 170g rather than the 171g it hit after a slight engine change and retest later that year. This will keep you a band lower for vrt.

With the msport you get the looks, but with the 225Ms on run flats you will feel every bump in the road and wince over bad ones. You will need to check the wheels carefully for cracks also, it's a known issue with them with a lot of complaints on all the forums, they even made BBC watchdog. The wheels are horribly expensive and BMW are little help on it. Apart from that there was a high pressure fuel pump recall, make sure that's done and all should be all good.

Owenw

Owenw wrote: »

What sort of mileage would make LPG a viable option? There's a crowd nearby who do the conversion for about a grand or so.

For the next 6 months I'll be commuting ~1000 miles a month.
After that maybe 250 miles a month on average.

Ok, some calculations required.

around 1 k conversion.

80C -1.00 per litre of LPG around the Island.

if you get 30 mpg in the petrol that's almost the same as a 60 mpg diesel, to run. I calculated it out before in one of the LPG threads, that's including the 10% or so inefficiency over petrol.

It may be more or less depending how you drive.

So say you get 30 mpg over 6000 miles =907 litres needed costing €1405

LPG over 30 mpg -10% 0ver 6000 miles needs 1007 litres costing @80C/l €805

so 1405-805 = 600 Euro's over the 6 months so that doesn't pay back in 6 months at that mileage.

over 250 miles a month would mean 200 euro's for the other 6 months in lpg

So 850 Euro's saved in the year is pretty close, my guess is it would take 1.5 years if after the 6 months you only do 250 miles a month.

That's at 0.80C/L though.

Owenw

copacetic wrote: »

Coming from a 318, I'd doubt you will find the 325i underpowered @218bhp and 7s 0-62. It's much smoother power delivery and great noise compared to slap in the back for a couple of seconds after turbo lag in diesel can fool some people. I'd personally advise against manual, the 3.0 325i auto from late 2007 on comes as standard with paddles. In sport manual mode with paddles, you will move along quicker and with more steering feel than a manual. You will quickly get used to how to avoid any lag by shifting driving modes rather than using kick down and in sport manual it will let you rev all the way to 7000 in each gear and blip the throttle for you when shifting.

If you can find a 2008, it should hit 170g rather than the 171g it hit after a slight engine change and retest later that year. This will keep you a band lower for vrt.

With the msport you get the looks, but with the 225Ms on run flats you will feel every bump in the road and wince over bad ones. You will need to check the wheels carefully for cracks also, it's a known issue with them with a lot of complaints on all the forums, they even made BBC watchdog. The wheels are horribly expensive and BMW are little help on it. Apart from that there was a high pressure fuel pump recall, make sure that's done and all should be all good.

Some great info copacetic, exactly what I'm looking for. 200 bhp would be a serious jump from my current 140bhp (or less considering its 13 years old) engine.

I heard about alloy wheel cracks and injector failure being a common problem - is that problem limited to the 2.0 litre petrol engine?

I would probably ditch the run flats at some stage and throw a space saver in the boot.

Owenw

Deleted User wrote: »

Ok, some calculations required.

around 1 k conversion.

80C -1.00 per litre of LPG around the Island.

if you get 30 mpg in the petrol that's almost the same as a 60 mpg diesel, to run. I calculated it out before in one of the LPG threads, that's including the 10% or so inefficiency over petrol.

It may be more or less depending how you drive.

So say you get 30 mpg over 6000 miles =907 litres needed costing €1405

LPG over 30 mpg -10% 0ver 6000 miles needs 1007 litres costing @80C/l €805

so 1405-805 = 600 Euro's over the 6 months so that doesn't pay back in 6 months at that mileage.

over 250 miles a month would mean 200 euro's for the other 6 months in lpg

So 850 Euro's saved in the year is pretty close, my guess is it would take 1.5 years if after the 6 months you only do 250 miles a month.

That's at 0.80C/L though.

Nice bit of calculation there Mad Lad.
How I drive: I think the technical term is 'spirited driving style'

Worth considering, 18 months isn't too long. I didn't factor in occasional trips to the UK, the North etc etc.

Owenw

Owenw wrote: »

Nice bit of calculation there Mad Lad.
How I drive: I think the technical term is 'spirited driving style'

Worth considering, 18 months isn't too long. I didn't factor in occasional trips to the UK, the North etc etc.

Well the more LPG you use the more you save even quicker.

Owenw

Deleted User wrote: »

Well the more LPG you use the more you save even quicker.

Would you notice any major loss in performance using LPG instead of petrol?

Owenw

Owenw wrote: »

Would you notice any major loss in performance using LPG instead of petrol?

I've not driven on LPG but others say there is no noticeable loss in performance.

Gumbo

Any more details on your IS?

Owenw

kceire wrote: »

Any more details on your IS?

Its a UK import which I got in Dec '04 with FBMWSH. Build date is Apr '99 so it's one of the last models to be built before the E46 came out.

It's got 131k miles on the clock. Serviced annually by my local garage.

its arctic silver with anthracite cloth interior (driver seat is a little worn), black dash.

Standard colour coded front, rear bumpers and side skirts. I added OEM clear front and side repeaters / tail lights w/ clear indicator lenses and Mtec side trim. Replaced the head unit with an Alpine model with iPod connection. Installed my own wiring and new speakers but left the original wiring in place so everything can be restored to factory condition.

I still have the original amber repeaters, side trim and BMW business stereo. CD changer still in the boot - I never used it.

Getting intermittent ABS and brake disc warning lights on the dash. Got the garage to clear the faults and check the speed sensors - all working fine so it might be the ABS module acting up?
There's an occasional split-second loss of feedback from the steering wheel.

Gumbo

Owenw wrote: »

Its a UK import which I got in Dec '04 with FBMWSH. Build date is Apr '99 so it's one of the last models to be built before the E46 came out.

It's got 131k miles on the clock. Serviced annually by my local garage.

its arctic silver with anthracite cloth interior (driver seat is a little worn), black dash.

Standard colour coded front, rear bumpers and side skirts. I added OEM clear front and side repeaters / tail lights w/ clear indicator lenses and Mtec side trim. Replaced the head unit with an Alpine model with iPod connection. Installed my own wiring and new speakers but left the original wiring in place so everything can be restored to factory condition.

I still have the original amber repeaters, side trim and BMW business stereo. CD changer still in the boot - I never used it.

Getting intermittent ABS and brake disc warning lights on the dash. Got the garage to clear the faults and check the speed sensors - all working fine so it might be the ABS module acting up?
There's an occasional split-second loss of feedback from the steering wheel.

You still should be able to sell it handy enough. You'd get feck all on trade in.
Has it got electric rear fly windows? Or any other nice extras that would make it worthwhile breaking?

Any pics?

Owenw

kceire wrote: »

You still should be able to sell it handy enough. You'd get feck all on trade in.
Has it got electric rear fly windows? Or any other nice extras that would make it worthwhile breaking?

Any pics?

Pretty basic spec AFAIK. It has dual climate controls and an auto-dim rear view mirror.

I'll see if I can find some photos and put therm up.