2012 BMW 330d vs 335i

jimmyt1988

jimmyt1988

jimmyt1988

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CANNOT RENAME THE TITLE BUT I MEANT 330d vs 335i *

I have been looking up on the BMW 330d and 335i... I've come to the conclusion that there is very little point in getting the petrol version of the car any more.

My points are:

downsides:
- The petrol is £1260 more
- The petrol has 57 g/kg more CO² emissions
- The petrol does 21.8 mpg LESS than the diesel
- The petrol has less torque
- The petrol servicing is the same price as the diesel

upsides:
- The petrol is 0.1 seconds faster.
- The petrol will sound better (subject to opinion)
- The petrol is 20kg lighter
- The petrol has 48 more bhp

*Stock top speeds are both the same. The diesel will get to it quicker

As you can see.. the new BMW 2012 makes the choice extremely easy.
I have also heard that the 330d is more fun to drive than the petrol.


What are your thoughts... I'm very much a petrol kind of guy but you cannot run from this outcome: 2012 BMW petrol is a bit... pointless.
 
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Very interested to see that the petrol is heavier. For years it was a good rule of thumb that the "comparable" diesel car will be substantially heavier.

I also see you've omitted power figures. What are they?

This thread interests me because I've got three diesel cars at the moment. I have nothing against diesel and it is circumstance that has pushed me into diesel cars. I do feel that my soul is dying a little bit every day I don't drive a petrol car though. ;)
 
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I just got a vw tourag sport tdi.. bloody love the internal sounds from the motor and turbo, its much better than all rhe petrol cars I've had..
 
Three of the "downsides" to the petrol you've listed are moot, quite frankly. I mean how can the servicing cost being the same be a disadvantage? Eh?

Also I can't see how the lack of torque compared to the 330d makes a difference as it hardly ruins the car at all. In fact I expect it'll pull just as well as the diesel.

And only morons care about CO2 figures, sorry. Especially as we're talking about new cars here, it just seems more and more silly.

The only reasons to get the diesel are the MPG and, to a lesser extent, the price. But then you don't have to put up with the downsides of a diesel like the engine note and less rewarding drive.
 
You cannot judge these two cars from paper figures because much of the appeal of a 335i over a 330d comes from the way it drives. I've not driven the F30 yet but comparing the previous E9x 335i and 330d the 330d felt like a capable, well performing and decent tool but the 335i was completely different - the engine changed the character of the car and it was much more enjoyable to drive as a result. I see little reason why this will have changed this time around.

You can't deny the new 330d has deeply impressive stats. Quite how they've managed to make it significantly faster than the previous model despite only what, 13bhp more, is incredible (Though it won't hit 155mph before a 335i, no idea why you think that? Its all about power at that end and the 335i has considerably more). The 330d is undoubtledly more fuel efficient and as a result will outnumber 335i's 10 to 1 but the difference will not be as great as the stats suggest - 57mpg combined sounds outrageously optimistic and it would be bucking a recent trend if it actually acheived that as a day to day to average because generally BMW diesels do not. Thats not to say the 335i figure is spot on either but it's likely to be a lot closer.

The engine note of the newr N57 3 litre diesel is actually pleasant - it sounds good. I was very impressed with the F10 530d. But the engine/exhuast combination of the 335i is simply on another level. It's the drivers choice of the two, though frankly it would be hard to be dissapointed with either as they are both amongst the very best cars on sale today.
 
Tute said:
And only morons care about CO2 figures, sorry. Especially as we're talking about new cars here, it just seems more and more silly.

The only reasons to get the diesel are the MPG and, to a lesser extent, the price. But then you don't have to put up with the downsides of a diesel like the engine note and less rewarding drive.
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Less CO2 = more MPG
 
So what? When you decide what to get the best way is to sit down and work it out using your projected annual mileage and the MPGs of the cars in question.

To base it on a charge of ~£100 a year when you're dropping £35K on a car is just utterly utterly ridiculous. VED is a moron tax i'm afraid, that was what the government was intending when they introduced it in order to prop up falling car sales and drive idiots into new ecoboxes.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
There is not a chance that a 254hp 413lb/ft 3 litre twin turbo diesel gets 53mpg, no matter what the figures say!
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it's single turbo? and i can't see why not, even my pre-efficient dynamics 335D gets high 40s. ED cars like PMkeate's 530D can easily see into the 50s and that is a 2007 car with a less efficient gearbox than the F30 has.
 
DanTheMan said:
What about the 328i? Seems like the one to go for on paper however I haven't driven one.
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4 cylinder fail :(

Re the eco stats, I don't see why the figures aren't achievable, you won't have much fun driving trying to achieve it though. I regularly get late 40s on my 200 mile motorway / A road / town run to work in a 530d
 
For people who care how a car makes you feel, a BMW petrol engine will never be pointless. This is the one thing that diesels do not, and will not deliver.
 
rG-tom said:
it's single turbo? and i can't see why not, even my pre-efficient dynamics 335D gets high 40s. ED cars like PMkeate's 530D can easily see into the 50s and that is a 2007 car with a less efficient gearbox than the F30 has.
Click to expand...

There is a difference between seeing into the 50s, which have no doubt it can do, and achieving 57mpg on the sort of usage people consider to be combined cycle
 
jimmyt1988 said:
CANNOT RENAME THE TITLE BUT I MEANT 330d vs 335i *

I have been looking up on the BMW 330d and 335i... I've come to the conclusion that there is very little point in getting the petrol version of the car any more.

My points are:

downsides:
- The petrol is £1260 more - This is because the 335i is a higher trim level.
- The petrol has 57 g/kg more CO² emissions So? I assume you've mentioned this due to tax - and unless you're paying company car tax, the difference will be about £40 a year
- The petrol does 21.8 mpg LESS than the diesel - Like others, i will be astounded if you can get near to their claimed figures
- The petrol has less torque The N55 is not lacking torque. Not one bit. It has slightly less torque, but a decent amount more total power
- The petrol servicing is the same price as the diesel

upsides:
- The petrol is 0.1 seconds faster. -to 60. IIRC, BMW now have the 8 speed gearbox in the car which means shorter gears, which means low "headline" 0-60 times. In the real world, i suspect it will be this same as the E90 LCI 330d.
- The petrol will sound better (subject to opinion) - Not subject to opinion - the petrol N55 sounds simply astonishing. Although the newer 330d doesn't sound that bad, make no mistake, it does not have a patch on the N55.
- The petrol is 20kg lighter
- The petrol has 48 more bhp

*Stock top speeds are both the same. The diesel will get to it quicker - How did you work that one out? :confused:

As you can see.. the new BMW 2012 makes the choice extremely easy.I agree, on paper, the choice is glaringly obvious. The 330d is the smart choice, the 335i is the enthusiasts choice who above all else value speed, sound and driving pleasure

I have also heard that the 330d is more fun to drive than the petrol. - Again, no idea where you heard this? I can only suggest that a 330d owner has told you this as this just isn't true either IMO? Wafty torque isn't fun - loud, linear, 300bhp, growling petrol, engines hitting 7 or 8krpm is fun.

What are your thoughts... I'm very much a petrol kind of guy but you cannot run from this outcome: 2012 BMW petrol is a bit... pointless. - Well it depends on what you value. I value having something special, having something that sounds glorious and having something fast.
Click to expand...

Out of interest, how many miles a year do you do?
 
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