[Nick the Greek]

Just joined the forum and finding my way round.

Just in the process of ordering a replacement for my 2 year old E90 330d. I'm torn between the 328i and 330d. Borrowed a 328i in 'modern' spec over the weekend and was impressed.

My current car is my first diesel and I have good and bad days with it. Sometimes the torque and poke win me over, sometimes the weight, inertia and inability of a diesel to rev bugs me.

Having said that I understand the new 8 speed sport auto works great with the 3.0 litre diesel.

Anyone had any experience of it?

[DavS1]

Welcome to the forum

where in the UK are you?

[Nick the Greek]

Thanks. I live in Cheshire.

[Danny.B.]

welcome!

[dxb335d]

Where in Cheshire mate?

Welcome by the way!! Any pics of the current steed?

[Nick the Greek]

I'm not far from Macclesfield.

No pictures to post at this time but it's an SE in bluewater with upgraded alloys (can't remember which ones they are), but has the 8.5 inch rears with the 255 section tyres (needed to get all the torque down!). A few other extras such as xenons (never be without them), sports steering wheel, electric rear blind.

[DavS1]

'moan the bluewater!

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Nick the Greek

I'm torn between the 328i and 330d.

Welcome to the forum.
Performance wise, how did the 328i compare with your 330d? The 328i has similar acceleration figures but is lighter.

[Nick the Greek]

Not as quick. My 330d seems to be particularly strong. On the M6 last week a new 535d could not pull away. He eventually gave up and let me pass. I would have thought the 535d should have put some clear air between us.

The 328i was very young though and the auto box was good at masking how quickly you are travelling. My preference at this time is 328i with a manual box (I'm thinking the short shift version in the MSport car, or330d with the auto.

[dxb335d]

I used to live in Knutsford as a kid!! So Not to far from where you are. Nice up there!

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Nick the Greek

Not as quick. My 330d seems to be particularly strong. On the M6 last week a new 535d could not pull away. He eventually gave up and let me pass. I would have thought the 535d should have put some clear air between us.

You say a "new" 535d, meaning an F10 I guess. However how new was it? The early F10 535d's still had the same 286bhp power unit as the E9X/E60 and with the extra weight of the F10, you'd have had him for sure. But the current 313bhp power unit in the 535d - it should be quicker.

I had a drive in a E60 535d a few years back and compared to the car I had at the time (Vectra V6 3.0 CDTi) it didnt feel that much quicker. Well certainly not 100bhp quicker - which was the power difference between the 2 cars.

[Nick the Greek]

The 535d was on a 61 plate so not sure what spec engine he was running. Even if it was the 286 it must have been disappointing for him that he could not pull away from a mere 330d. Guess if that was the case the newer 313bhp should have been able to crawl away from me.

Even so I was either not impressed with the 535d or very impressed with my 330d

[dopper99]

A 61 plate would be 313bhp.

[Nick the Greek]

On that basis the performance of the 535d is disappointing. Or, the performance of a 330d very impressive, depending on your point of view.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by dopper99

You say a "new" 535d, meaning an F10 I guess. However how new was it? The early F10 535d's still had the same 286bhp power unit as the E9X/E60 and with the extra weight of the F10, you'd have had him for sure. But the current 313bhp power unit in the 535d - it should be quicker.

I had a drive in a E60 535d a few years back and compared to the car I had at the time (Vectra V6 3.0 CDTi) it didnt feel that much quicker. Well certainly not 100bhp quicker - which was the power difference between the 2 cars.

But it definitely was quicker!! An early 272HP 535d is a 0-100mph in 15secs car compared To the Vectra's 20+

The twin turbos power delivery is smoother.

[dxb335d]

Was the 535d even trying LOL

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

But it definitely was quicker!! An early 272HP 535d is a 0-100mph in 15secs car compared To the Vectra's 20+

The twin turbos power delivery is smoother.

Yes for sure the 535d was quicker. But it didnt "feel" that much quicker - prob due to the smooth power delivery of the twin turbo engine. Maybe I was expecting more at the time - this was quite a while ago now.
I think I was naively expecting to be pinned back into the seat.

[dxb335d]

My M3 does not feel quick to me. Certainly is though.

My mate had a 170HP Vectra V6 petrol thing. Claimed it was ballistic. Blew it into the weeds in the 335d when it was standard. Like the thing was standing still.

[SO8]

The new 535d is unlikely to have many miles on it.

In my experience from my 330d LCI at 5K when I bought it compared to the 16K now it is now considerably quicker. It got better from about 10K.

I was distinctly underwhelmed when I test drove my car performance wise ... OK but not like a 14K miles one I tried. I guessed with a few thousand more miles it would loosen up - and it has .... it goes now exactly like the one with 14K I test drove ...

Just my view FWIW

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Nick the Greek

Just joined the forum and finding my way round.

Just in the process of ordering a replacement for my 2 year old E90 330d. I'm torn between the 328i and 330d. Borrowed a 328i in 'modern' spec over the weekend and was impressed.

My current car is my first diesel and I have good and bad days with it. Sometimes the torque and poke win me over, sometimes the weight, inertia and inability of a diesel to rev bugs me.

Having said that I understand the new 8 speed sport auto works great with the 3.0 litre diesel.

Anyone had any experience of it?

I have a 535d with the 8 speed sport auto and the mid-range thrust is awesome, but as someone else said, the smoothness of delivery detracts from the experience of speed. Having said that, it's a very impressive all-rounder; on one hand extremely comfortable to drive on long trips and on the other, very capable at handling a series of fast bends, cornering with almost no body roll with the adaptive suspension in sport mode.
Overall, I've been very happy with the car and hadn't considered changing from a big diesel until I recently drove the new 328i. On paper it's not as fast as my F10, but it feels quicker due to the free revving engine which shifts gears at somewhere between 6 and 6.5k RPM. BMW have also sorted the lacklustre electric steering in the new 3'er and I'm eagerly awaiting next year's launch of the coupé and convertible.

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

My M3 does not feel quick to me. Certainly is though.

My mate had a 170HP Vectra V6 petrol thing. Claimed it was ballistic. Blew it into the weeds in the 335d when it was standard. Like the thing was standing still.

They are quicker than your average 2.0 diesel - but no-where near up to performance of 6 cylinder diesels. I put a tuning box on mine for a bit (till the fuel pump blew up - buts thats another story) and it did help. But, according to my own official performance tests, both my pre-LCI and LCI 330d was quicker than the 'boxed Vectra in all tests I did.
If fact these days a 320d is quicker - and far more economical.


Back on topic...

Seems there a lot of conflicting reports on these cars, Nicks says the 330d seems quicker than the 328i (but 328i prob no run in yet in all fairness) but Jon D says the 328i he tried (but prob still not run in yet) seems quicker than his 535d lol!
And Nick says the 61 plate 535d couldnt pull away from him.

Conclusion: 330d wins?

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by SO8

In my experience from my 330d LCI at 5K when I bought it compared to the 16K now it is now considerably quicker. It got better from about 10K.

I was distinctly underwhelmed when I test drove my car performance wise ... OK but not like a 14K miles one I tried. I guessed with a few thousand more miles it would loosen up - and it has .... it goes now exactly like the one with 14K I test drove ...

Just my view FWIW

My car still only has 5800 miles on it and I think its not bad on performance although I do think the BP Ultimate helps a lot. I clearly need to do more miles lol. So the best it yet to happen..........