Dul

I guess this topics has been discussed a couple of time however, as the search engine does not work anymore I would be glad if some of you could give me some inputs about that car.

After being more than totally pleased since the first second I’ve bought my Scooby I’m now thinking of a BMW 330i.

What is your experience as an Impreza owner with that car? Does it worth it (performance, handling, comfort…)? Or will I be really disappointed after owning a Subaru?

Thanks a lot!

Dul.

MY98 green 4dr.

Tiggs

testdrove one before buying a wrx and now a mate has one- far better car than the scoob as an all round package and the auto was very clever..in fact thats why i didnt buy it- i got out of it and thought thats clever.. i got out the wrx and thought that was fun!

Tiggs

330 if i was 40

Dul

Thanks Tiggs for your feedback!

I agree, a Scooby may produce more daily fun however, I guess you might also enjoy the rear wheel drive reaction of the 330 (even if it comes from a more refined environment) …

What about the real performances of a 330 vs a WRX?

Cheers!

Dul

Tiggs

std MY01 felt pretty similar in terms of performance, now with PPP my MY01 is quicker and feels it in all cases except motorway where the BM feels quicker when already shifting.

but... the bm encouraged a very relaxed drive on my test drive and i didnt really give it any stick because i was happy to wallow in the comfort and luxury it offered.... however, i know from having similar cars in the past that you soon get used to sitting on leather and having an arm rest- i am now 1 yr into my wrx and i am still not use to nailing out of bends wet or dry!!!

Tiggs

Tiggs

ps- my bosses 330 sits next to other 3's (318,316,320,325,328, etc,etc,etc) and it is not a lot different. In fact i normally get in the office without even realising if i walked past it or not- WR Blue WRX is a tad more obvious and for £20k+++ i didnt want bland.

Dul

Some good and honest thoughts….

Thanks Tiggs

skiddusmarkus

An alternative to the 330ci is the 330d-don't laugh as standard there's about 270lb/ft and I've seen a chipped one in CCC with 360ishlb/ft-far more than any of the M classes.They raced a 330ci and a 330d on top gear and there was nothing in it.

FreeT

Not to mention that a new 330d is coming out soon too, 184bhp shift to 220ish, and 288lb/ft goes to about 330 as standard model. Different price vracket really though isn't it. By the time you add in BMW luxuries it ads about 6k onto £30k car.

GaryC

You would stuggle to add £6k of extra to a 330i/d without going REALLY stupid (or petty ).

Comes with climate control, 17" (18" for sport) alloys, trip computer, auto w/screen wipers, pdc, dsc and a whole world of other smaller 'bits' as standard.

Add in c£1000 for leather, £200 for upgraded CD player - what else do you want?

My 330d is just about fully loaded - sunroof as well as CC, auto, full electrics, wood trim, Xenon lights etc and still only came in just over £3k over base list!

GaryC

..back on topic..

Dul - it depends what you want out of a car. A 330i will give you the same straight line performance as a new WRX - better in some areas though not as good 'off the line'. The MY02 330i (esp. sport model) is also a comparable drive with revised steering, although obviously not as good grip with 'only' RWD.

However, it is a refined, luxury car compared to the WRX, which despite its softening, is still raw-er, less cossetting and gives more of a fun drive (but only just now ). The old scoob was a ***** out, raw sport saloon that gave twice the fun that the 330i could. BUT the 330i has got better, whilst the scoob as got softer in the WRX so the gap had significantly closed.

Buying with the head, going for the quality/ownership experiance - the 330i has it.
Buying with the heart, going for the driving experiance - the WRX's case is stronger.

I went from a 290hp (old shape) impreza to a 330d auto touring, and haven't regretted it for one minute (especially the part when the cost savings paid for a 330bhp/tonne weekend 'toy' ) - but everyone has different priorities. Mine were a fast, comfortable, good looking, quality car to do 30,000 miles per year in. The 330d fitted the bill perfectly.
If I only did 20,000 per year, I would have gone for a 330i/ci.
If I only did 10,000 per year, I would have gone for a 911

Feel free to email me off list if you have further questions

Marc W

I'd agree pretty much with everything Gary has just said.

I changed from a MY98 in January to a 1 year old 330ci. Manual, 18" MV alloys in black. My annual mileage had just gone up and I wanted a more relaxing and comfortable car to do it in.

I've had the BM for 3 months now and I am absolutely delighted with it.
Now the roads are drying up the stupid traction control system doesn't kick in every time you pull away in the wet and on the whole its a very swift and very pleasant car to drive. it won't give the ***** out fun a Scoob can on the right road but for 99% of my driving its a significantly better car.

Just got back from a trip to France over Easter and french roads suited the BM wonderfully - long, fast, sweeping roads. I put off test driving one for ages as I didn't want to do the 'obvious' think and buy a BMW but although the masses like them in smaller engined guises I do think the 330ci is a good enthusiasts choice
as well. (Like Gary as well though I have got a Caterham toy to play around with when I want to hoon on track!!!)

One problem that carries over from the Scoob though - had my number plates nicked last wednesday and on thursday they were used on a stolen BMW in a robbery.....

Marc

Dul

Thanks a lot guys.
I really appreciated your comments!

Fast, quality, comfortable, sporty and good looking is what I’m starting to look for. Well, I guess now it’s time to spend money with head. Endless modification, and track events should definitely... be reduced. I think there is a time for all...

The 330d is a fantastic car but I would miss from time to time the feeling when revving... So a 330i would be more suitable for me... as soon as it’s quick enough...

Cheers!

Dul

George Sayers

FreeT,

I have just ordered a 330D and would like to know when BMW plans to release the revised engine. Can you shed any light on the source of information please?

Mountbatten

I have to admit I am considering a similar exchange.

Have loved every minute of ownership of my MY00. However the events of last weekend got me thinking. Went out for an early morning ride on the Sunday with 2 guys from work (one with Kawasaki ZX6R bike and other had BMW 330Ci Sport). Roads around Finchingfield, Maldon, Bradwell etc were the route (practice for the Nurburgring this coming weekend ). We were not hanging around and the real eye-opener was just how quick the 330Ci Sport is, even cornering. I was working hard to keep up and on the longer straights I seemed to drop back as speeds rose beyond 90.

For the first time ever I lost the back end of the Scoob (carrying too much speed into a corner, then the Cardinal sin of braking mid-corner followed by trying to drop a cog since I realised I was now in the too high a gear to apply more throttle. Car refused to co-operate (sulking due to driver incompetence I think) and tail went. I later realised that my rear tyres were down to 2mm, but still. The 330Ci with those humungous rear tyres and traction control was very impressive.

I suppose that after seeing the cabin of the Beemer, and comparing this to the ever increasing number of rattles in the Scoob, along with paintwork which seems to have all the robust qualities of tracing paper, I am looking for something different.

330 is the way to go from what I can tell, though crucially I have not had a test-drive yet. The other alternative is the STi7, but I am not convinced about the "Toyota Corolla" looks of the current shape.

Cheers

LG John

I was very impressed with the 330 over the 328 (not that I've driven them) but I've raced them both in the Saxo. The 328 pulled away very very slowly but the 330 left me for dead! Obviously I knew it would be faster but not that much faster, it's defo standard scooby quick in a straight line in the dry.

I agree though, they are for when your prioritising comforts and toys over thrills and spills!

spider

iTrader: (1)

Dul, just one thing to be aware of if you buy a second-hand early 330 - check to see if it's had any history of overheating/changed radiator etc.

It's supposed to be fixed on this model now but my mate had one of the early cars which overheated four times in the first six months he had it. In fact the car was off the road more times in a year than his TVR!

The BMW garage he got it from were extremely good, and the rest of the car was fantastic. He got a really good deal on his replacement - a brand new M3 convertible (some folk have all the luck! )

Cheers,
Steve

Dul

Thanks once more!

Actually, I’ve just made my choice! I’m going for a “demo” car (350km on the speedo and 2 months old).

Due to some raisons (mainly because of my wife), we finally went for a 330i Touring (combi) with the kit sport M II and some 18” rims.

I’ll give you more feedback after few 1000 miles.

Cheers!

P.S. I guess the worst thing will be to get soon separated from the Impreza however it’s life...