335d

LeoN88

LeoN88

LeoN88

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29 Jan 2007
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680
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So the 335d is starting to get within my price range and the more i look at them the more appealing they seem to be with the fuel economy, luxurious interior and performance figures very similar to that of the 335i. So with an example such as:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2038720.htm

Would you expect there to be any issues what is there to look out for? Or are there alternatives to this car with regards to performance, tech, interior economy etc. Also is the i drive a necessary piece of equipment to have or just a gimmic as they seem to be a considerable lot more than ones without? I'm assuming as a diesel they would be far more reliable than the petrol version?
 
First peice of advice is always buy one with reasonably low mileage and then purchase the comprehensive BMW warranty with zero excess - this is about £470 or £550 with the Emergency Service. There are a myriad of potential issues with these but then there are also a myriad of potential issues with the 335i and the 330i and the 330d so buy a warranty and phone BMW when it breaks. So, reliability aside..

Long gone are the days when diesel is more reliable than petrol!

The 335d offers performance which is roughly between a 330i and a 335i whilst offering fuel economy close to that of the 330i. So, the plus points are that you get more mid-range shove than a 330i, but you don't get the fuel economy hit of the 335i. However the downsides are that, well, its a diesel, and secondly they are only available with an automatic gearbox.

So, it's no 50mpg machine thats for sure. It's worth doing the numbers because the petrol ones are hardly hugely more uneconomical.

The biggest thing against the 335d - and why I've pretty much written it off my shortlist - is that car for car (ie comparing two identically specified same age/mileage cars) the 335d is considerably more expensive - 4 figures more than a 335i, which itself is circa £2k more than a 330i. So you pay quite a price to get it. Your advert highlights this - thats a 2006 SE without navigaiton for similar money to what you'd pay for a 330i M Sport *with* navigation.

The iDrive system is fantastic and well worth it, but it tends to add £2k to the price of the car.

My personal opinion is that if you do big miles get a 330d, if you do very few miles get a 335i, and if you do medium miles get a 330i. The N53 engined petrol 3 Series (ie, the 57 plate onwards Coupes) are ridiculous economical - something I at least managed to prove to myself last night by acheiving staggering fuel economy from a 525i with the same engine, without driving it like a nun. I think you can actually now beleive the figures BMW publish for the petrol engines and the 330i has an amazing combined figure of 39mpg!
 
I don't have i drive in mine and couldn't care less about it but generally the market firmly disagrees with this outlook - i drive props up rediduals big time - it's highly desireable.

Decent warranty absolutely essential.

Check out the petrol economy figures before going Derv - petrol mpg is astonishingly good all things considered. You need to be doing big miles to make the Derv pay, remember to factor in the nozzle price differential too.
 
Can't add a lot more than Fox has already mentioned. You need to be sure that this car is really the only viable option (personally, if I was doing the mileage, I'd settle for the x30d as it's a slightly less complex engine), or the x30i
 
Check insurance prices too as your profile says you're 22 yrs old.

Also, forgive the "Dad" speak but these are bloody quick cars so bear that in mind.
 
the only reason i'm contemplating going down the derv route is mainly down to the fact that i probably wouldnt have to spend a penny on fuel whereas petrol i would. But if its the cost effective due to the extra money required then i shan't look any further and instead look at the 335i on average i expect i would do approx 8000miles as during the week i would use vans to get to and from work and to use during the day.
 
To be honest if you've not had properly quick cars before I'd be tempted to recommend a 330i over a 335i. It's still very fast - 0-60 in 5.9 seconds and 272bhp - but its usefully cheaper than a 335i and you'll still find it to be very quick indeed.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2512451.htm

No nav which is a nuisance but you'd get that for £14k. And it's an Approved Used car from a main dealer with a year of fantastic warranty included in the price.

Or the same place has this M Sport one:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2512450.htm

Has the slighty older engine though I think - so the performance is still there but it's a bit more thirsty. But still, look at the value compared with the x35's?

Or the 325i, again, even better value these - this is an 08 plate M Sport!

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2473120.htm

218bhp so 0-60 in 6.7 seconds but depending on your previous experience you might find that quick enough - it's far from slow.
 
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So my 2p worth as I own one

Economy for what it is very very good. I averaging over 45 mpg on the motorway and typically get high 30s/low 40s for a tank, depending how often my wife nabs it to take the kids to preschool The auto box suits the car perfectly and is a very very good box, with well stacked gears.

Ride is decent even with the "dreaded" run flats, which having lived with them for nearly 2 years, I'll be replacing with the same tyres.

Reliability has been good apart from a faulty turbo actuator which was covered by warranty

Drive is great, I have the iPod integration and also the alpine oem upgrade on mine which makes the stereo listenable rather than the pre upgrade which is crap.

Performance wise it is quite different from the x30i or d and is very noticale when you drive them back to back. It's power delivery is very linear and the auto box helps deliver very usable power at any (vaguely) legal speed.

Given the choice would I buy it again...yes without a doubt
 
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I have always thought that people buy diesels to save money as I cannot think of another reason to not choose petrol. It seems that many people dont do their sums and assume it will save money.

Unless you drive very slowly (and if you do why much a performance diesel) then you will find that the economy figures real world on the bmw diesels are much worse than you expect. I have also heard a lot of horror stories about the 335d in particular.
 
dilated said:
Unless you drive very slowly (and if you do why much a performance diesel) then you will find that the economy figures real world on the bmw diesels are much worse than you expect. I have also heard a lot of horror stories about the 335d in particular.
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I get 38mpg out of my 325d with city driving and I can pull in 60mpg on the motorway with ease.

Probably better than if not spot on than the quoted figures.
 
dilated said:
as I said, if you drive so slowly - why buy a 'performance diesel' ? :p
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Driving quick in traffic is tricky and people coming in the opposite direction get offended when you "borrow" their road.

Motorway is much the same - it's a procession 90% of the time.

Backroads sure - there's some fun to be had there.
 
[TW]Fox;18523483 said:
The iDrive system is fantastic and well worth it, but it tends to add £2k to the price of the car.
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So i've done a bit of research on this i drive this evening but the only info i can find is of the latest one now i'm guessing as it puts £2k on the value of the car the software would be the same as that in a brand new one due to the internet downloads possible?

Lucero said:
Can't add a lot more than Fox has already mentioned. You need to be sure that this car is really the only viable option (personally, if I was doing the mileage, I'd settle for the x30d as it's a slightly less complex engine), or the x30i
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I'm guessing that is the 330i? and 330d?

[TW]Fox;18523635 said:
To be honest if you've not had properly quick cars before I'd be tempted to recommend a 330i over a 335i. It's still very fast - 0-60 in 5.9 seconds and 272bhp - but its usefully cheaper than a 335i and you'll still find it to be very quick indeed.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2512451.htm

No nav which is a nuisance but you'd get that for £14k. And it's an Approved Used car from a main dealer with a year of fantastic warranty included in the price.

Or the same place has this M Sport one:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2512450.htm

Has the slighty older engine though I think - so the performance is still there but it's a bit more thirsty. But still, look at the value compared with the x35's?

Or the 325i, again, even better value these - this is an 08 plate M Sport!

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2473120.htm

218bhp so 0-60 in 6.7 seconds but depending on your previous experience you might find that quick enough - it's far from slow.
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Due to the rarity of the 330i (scrolling through pistonheads very few) and it sharing the same engine as the 325i would the cost of remapping or tuning the engine to the same as the 330i be not worth while?

Also the only coupes to have this i drive are the 335d and 335i guessing the rest are all company cars and werent given the choice!!
 
[TW]Fox;18523483 said:
The iDrive system is fantastic and well worth it, but it tends to add £2k to the price of the car.
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Have to agree with this, in fact Id go as far as to say that Id avoid a car without one...its that good.
 
LeoN88 said:
So i've done a bit of research on this i drive this evening but the only info i can find is of the latest one now i'm guessing as it puts £2k on the value of the car the software would be the same as that in a brand new one due to the internet downloads possible?
Click to expand...

No, only cars produced after 58 plate have the current version of iDrive.

Due to the rarity of the 330i (scrolling through pistonheads very few) and it sharing the same engine as the 325i would the cost of remapping or tuning the engine to the same as the 330i be not worth while?
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No, there are hardware differences as well - a 325i wont remap to 330i.

Also the only coupes to have this i drive are the 335d and 335i guessing the rest are all company cars and werent given the choice!!
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No, there are just as many 330i's with iDrive as there are 335's. Pistonheads probably isnt the best place to find these - look on Autotrader.

I'm waiting until the Summer when all the 08 plate stuff begins to flood the market, increasing supply and further reducing price. Then hopefully pick up an 08 or 58 plate 330i or 335i M Sport for £20k with low enough miles that I can just renew the warranty every year for 5 years.
 
Unfortunately, the market dictats what cars are available to you. I checked this morning on BMW AUC national search for a 535i M Sport, and there were none :(. None. I have to hope this changes within the next year or I'll be back to a diesel not through choice.

In other news, Fox (or anyone else), do you know why there is no F11 550i Touring
 
Lucero said:
Unfortunately, the market dictats what cars are available to you. I checked this morning on BMW AUC national search for a 535i M Sport, and there were none :(. None. I have to hope this changes within the next year or I'll be back to a diesel not through choice.
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Yes, this completely sucks and for this reason I'm glad I am in no hurry at all. I've been trying to line up some test drives for next month but not a single dealer within 200 miles has a 330i manual or a 335i manual right now. Grrr.

Some useful figures for this thread.

2006/56-2010/59 E92 registrations:

330i M Sport Manual: 235
330i M Sport Auto: 561
330i SE Manual: 237
330i SE Auto: 562
335i M Sport Manual: 438
335i M Sport Auto: 781
335i M Sport DCT: 43
335i SE Manual: 705
335i SE Auto: 1374
335i SE DCT: 10
335d M Sport Auto: 1349
335d SE Auto: 1343

So, observations here:

Manual models are indeed needles in haystacks. A whole 235 of them in 330i M Sport form!

DCT isn't as popular as you might think.

There are more SE models than M Sport models - even allowing for the fact there are 6 months more production of SE's, I'm still suprised, I thought everyone bought M Sport these days - clearly not.

In other news, Fox (or anyone else), do you know why there is no F11 550i Touring
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Nope. Wonder if its related to the fact there is no US Market F11 at all?
 
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