BMW 330ci
04 August 2006, 06:22 PM
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BMW 330ci
I'm at last getting my house into shape after selling my 6 Type R back in January. Now that the extension is finished I'll be saving hard for the rest of the year.
I've thought about all sorts of potential cars I'd like to own next including S2000, Golf TDi but now I've gone all BMW!
Looking at 2-3yr old examples around th £18k mark. The only thing is that I'm so fussy about spec that there arn't many about.
Eg. Has to be a manual, have a decent internal/external colour combo, sat-nav and upgraded hifi preferred...
Anyway, I waffle on. Anyone have experience of these? I've driven an E46 M3 for a day which I quite liked but have not tried a 330. I guess these are different animals without LSD and less power etc.
Your thoughts please.
Nick
I've thought about all sorts of potential cars I'd like to own next including S2000, Golf TDi but now I've gone all BMW!
Looking at 2-3yr old examples around th £18k mark. The only thing is that I'm so fussy about spec that there arn't many about.
Eg. Has to be a manual, have a decent internal/external colour combo, sat-nav and upgraded hifi preferred...
Anyway, I waffle on. Anyone have experience of these? I've driven an E46 M3 for a day which I quite liked but have not tried a 330. I guess these are different animals without LSD and less power etc.
Your thoughts please.
Nick
04 August 2006, 06:57 PM
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Don't do it mate!!!! I had a 330i, nice car! quiet, smooth, quickish...............BORING AS ****!!!!!!! And when you're used to 4wd the rears never stop spinning...
dave
dave
04 August 2006, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by misty
Don't do it mate!!!! I had a 330i, nice car! quiet, smooth, quickish...............BORING AS ****!!!!!!! And when you're used to 4wd the rears never stop spinning...
dave
dave
Chris
05 August 2006, 09:51 AM
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But then to be fair you dont like any of the cars youve "had"
Chris
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dave
05 August 2006, 10:07 AM
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330 is a VERY different animal to the E46 M3....
Imo the 330 is a very capable car, but you won't get much speed frills out of it, much more of a cruiser.
The engine is lovely, but it always left me wanting more, hence why I bought a M3, which is much much better.
For 18k you could easily afford a M3 now, given the choice, the M3 would win over the 330 every day.
For sedate driving, then you want the 330.
Imo the 330 is a very capable car, but you won't get much speed frills out of it, much more of a cruiser.
The engine is lovely, but it always left me wanting more, hence why I bought a M3, which is much much better.
For 18k you could easily afford a M3 now, given the choice, the M3 would win over the 330 every day.
For sedate driving, then you want the 330.
05 August 2006, 10:35 AM
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Can the M3 also do sedate? Or does it just bait you into going for it most of the time?
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
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05 August 2006, 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by HankScorpio
Can the M3 also do sedate? Or does it just bait you into going for it most of the time?
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
06 August 2006, 12:31 AM
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Location: Surrey Somewhere, From 341 bhp '99 STI V to '98 Merc CLK & '00 Peugeot 306 XSI to '01 E46 M3 :)
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Originally Posted by HankScorpio
Can the M3 also do sedate? Or does it just bait you into going for it most of the time?
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
06 August 2006, 02:09 PM
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Now a CSL would be nice! There's two near to where I live. Can't afford one yet but maybe one day...
I need to drive a 330 so I can judge for myself. If I'm not impressed then I guess I'll be re-thinking elsewhere. Plenty to choose from for the money I'm looking to spend.
Nick
I need to drive a 330 so I can judge for myself. If I'm not impressed then I guess I'll be re-thinking elsewhere. Plenty to choose from for the money I'm looking to spend.
Nick
06 August 2006, 02:45 PM
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Re the "must have upgraded hifi"
scratch that off the list. When I bought my E46 M3 I plumped for the Harmon Kardon upgrade. When I got it I thought "Jeez, if thats what the upgrade sounds like, hell knows what the standard is"
I swapped it in for an E60 M5 a while back. The audio in this (logic 7) is much better. I've recently had it upgraded by prestigeaudio.co.uk (addition of 12" sub and filter off the low stuff on the 8") and the guys there said BMW were amongst the poorest when it came to audio.
So, my recommendation is not to bother with the audio and simply get a decent system fitted by a specialist. For a head unit, components and sub it needn't cost the earth.
You could cruise the M3 along nicely and then sportmode-dsc-off-smg6 it becomes very different. However the M5 carries even more of a marked difference between cruise and nailing it.
Good cars but I miss the scooby days.
scratch that off the list. When I bought my E46 M3 I plumped for the Harmon Kardon upgrade. When I got it I thought "Jeez, if thats what the upgrade sounds like, hell knows what the standard is"
I swapped it in for an E60 M5 a while back. The audio in this (logic 7) is much better. I've recently had it upgraded by prestigeaudio.co.uk (addition of 12" sub and filter off the low stuff on the 8") and the guys there said BMW were amongst the poorest when it came to audio.
So, my recommendation is not to bother with the audio and simply get a decent system fitted by a specialist. For a head unit, components and sub it needn't cost the earth.
You could cruise the M3 along nicely and then sportmode-dsc-off-smg6 it becomes very different. However the M5 carries even more of a marked difference between cruise and nailing it.
Good cars but I miss the scooby days.
07 August 2006, 08:17 PM
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i had a 330ci and had to sell it to buy my first house, then replaced it with a scoob, i miss it like ****, i'm now selling my scoob to get back into a bmw but sadly it wont be another 330ci as i cant afford it, going back to the timeless e30 m3 me thinks! 330ci is the best car i ever had, had it 2 years an never spent a penny on wear and tear only the dreaded petrol!!! go for it, u can get a lovely one for that money.
07 August 2006, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by HankScorpio
Can the M3 also do sedate? Or does it just bait you into going for it most of the time?
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
Most of my driving is cruising so a 330 would do nicely but I'd like to unleash it now and again so I'm guessing no good for that.
If the M3 doesn't do sedate, that would rule that out too.
So... for the M3 bods, can you get in, hit the mway and "trundle" along at 70ish for 300 miles happily enough?
I used to have a Fiat Coupe 20v turbo and that was great as it could do both with equal success.
The M3 can indeed cruise well. Just put the SMG into auto mode, set the cruise control and it'll "trundle" along very nicely. I would say the only downside is the road noise coming inside... probably more than you'd expect when cruising along. On the upside to that, the engine note when you let it rip to 8k rpm is sweeeet!
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