2012 BMW 330d vs 335i

Tute said:
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.
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The downside of the petrol servicing cost is that usually petrol servicing is cheaper as less parts are required to be replaced.

Torque can be fun.. and more is always better if car handling and driveability remains.

CO2 emissions are directly linked to car tax costs.

The "drive" is suppose to be "better than the 335i"... Evidently everyone is referring to previous iterations of the bmw... but... these are the new versions we are talking about... It would be very good to hear from a selection of people who have driven these 2 cars (2012).
 
[TW]Fox;22896558 said:
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
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The mpg quotes are controlled environments... All cars are judged on the same basis...

If one car is achieving 20mpg and one is achieving 40mpg... The figures may go up and down depending on your "version of combined" but the outcome will still be the same. the diesel will drive roughly double the amount of miles the petrol does regardless of the actual figures.

Hope you can appreciate that.
 
Lucero said:
You'll just lose the glorious sound of the engine in the 328i though :(

Fortunately, there are quite a few used 528i F10s around that are still 6 cylinder :)
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That is a fair point, and the F10 is a nice car.

Sticking with the F30 though, although its a shame the 328i isnt a 6 cylinder, you cant ignore the initial cost, performance (on paper at least), mpg and road tax cost all make it a very appealing option.. especially for a tight bas***d like me :D
 
I think you'll all appreciate that if someone was buying a bmw 335i or a 330d they are reasonably concerned about the overall yearly costs of the car.. Otherwise they'd simply get the M cars.

Keeping this in mind, I am still very much of the view that the petrol seems pointless this year (2012).

Please remember i understand what it means to have a petrol car... I love petrol cars... But i also don't mind being wrong and in this case, the figures and "reviews" are telling me the diesel is the one to go for even if you are a petrol head.
 
As a few others have mentioned, the 328i makes the most sense to me. It's usefully cheaper to buy than the other 2 and has a good balance of speed and economy while still being a petrol.
 
jimmyt1988 said:
I think you'll all appreciate that if someone was buying a bmw 335i or a 330d they are reasonably concerned about the overall yearly costs of the car.. Otherwise they'd simply get the M cars.
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There are no M cars in the F30 range. The 335i is the fastest and most powerful F30 you can buy.
 
jimmyt1988 said:
The mpg quotes are controlled environments... All cars are judged on the same basis...

If one car is achieving 20mpg and one is achieving 40mpg... The figures may go up and down depending on your "version of combined" but the outcome will still be the same. the diesel will drive roughly double the amount of miles the petrol does regardless of the actual figures.

Hope you can appreciate that.
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No, I cannot appreciate that.

I have driven many BMW diesels and not since the E39 530d have I driven one that I've been able to comfortably get near the quoted figures with. A useful benchmark is the fact I often drive from Devon to Hampshire - a mixed route of dual carriageways, A roads, etc.

In every petrol BMW I've driven the route on, and the E39 530d, I've managed to acheive the combined consumption figure (And in these cars, I've managed to acheive the extra urban figure on mostly Motorway trips).

In every diesel BMW I've driven the route on - excluding the 530d - I've not really managed to do much more than slightly better the urban figure. I don't drive them different, I don't thrash them to within an inch of their lives. I just don't tend to get the comedy-high claimed combined figures with them. For reference I've done the trip in 318d, 320d, 118d and 120d. The experience was largely the same with all - I tried extra specially hard with the 118d and just managed to coax a 50mpg average out of it.

By contrast the 530d did 40 and my 530i usually does about 32-33mpg on the same route.

I appreciate this is not scientific but it's a useful thumb in the air.

For this reason I dispute that you'll get 57mpg 'combined' on average use. You might see it long trips, but thats not an average, is it? It's like me saying my 530i does 38mpg everywhere when in reality it does it only on the Motorway and the overall average is noticeably less.

So, I still beleive you'll be further from 57mpg in a 330d than you'd be from 33mpg or whatever it is in a 335i.

I couldn't get 57mpg from an EfficientDynamics 318d on a 200 mile Motorway trip along the same stretch of road at the same speed as I managed 37mpg from a 335i. It did 'about 50'. And that was on a Motorway trip, where the 330d is claimed to do what, 70+?

Housey drives an F10 530d with this same engine in it - he doesnt get 60mpg. He doesn't get 50mpg either, it's more like 40mpg average unless he's on a long trip.

The new 330d is an astonishing package and I'm not sure I wouldnt pick it myself, but you are judging both cars entirely from paper figures which IMHO is grossly unfair.
 
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jimmyt1988 said:
Torque can be fun.. and more is always better if car handling and driveability remains.
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Torque really isn't that fun. Torque is meant for when you want to be boring, have had a long day at work and want to effortlessly get home. The 335i can do this as well as the 330d, but also can do the revving to the redline while you grin like a 5 year old thing too.

jimmyt1988 said:
CO2 emissions are directly linked to car tax costs.
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335i with autobox costs £45 more a year to tax. Big. deal.

jimmyt1988 said:
The "drive" is suppose to be "better than the 335i"... Evidently everyone is referring to previous iterations of the bmw... but... these are the new versions we are talking about...
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??

What do you mean by "the drive"? :confused:

Because i've never heard anyone praise a 330d over a 335i in terms of drive. In terms of running costs, fair enough, but in terms of excitement and fun, no way. And since the only difference between the 330d and 335i is the engine(and the fact that the 330d is auto only, whereas you can get a 335i in manual), are you saying that the 330d's engine (with compulsory auto box) is better than the 335i's?
 
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[TW]Fox;22898120 said:
The engine from the activehybrid3 is the 335i engine :)
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How do these compare in terms of cost? Surely once this is available there is no good reason to opt for the 330d or even 335i other than purchase price?
 
Helios1234 said:
Because it means, they can use the electric motor around town when doing under 30 but can still use the smooth V6/8 when cruising on the motorway.
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Having driven the new GS450h smooth v6 is not how i'd describe it, even at cruising, its noisier than the 3.0 v6 diesel in my XF and returns worse fuel economy...
 
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