330 CI Sport, circa 02/03

merlin

merlin

merlin

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Tentatively looking at these in case I'm unfortunate enough to have to buy something sensible to cruise up and down our beautiful motorways for a living. :rolleyes:

Generally pretty good cars?
Handle nicely?
Any reliability issues?
Any "must have" options or "must avoid" colours?

Would be looking at a hard top, manual, maybe £16k budget.

Some ads say 5 speed and some say 6. What year did the change occur? Is the 6 speed faster?

Last question - why are these cars so god damn lardy? It's a small 2 door coupe that weighs in at 1500 kilos. Like W T F.
 
You guys serious? I can't buy a diesel. I've been on this forum since it was all fields slagging off chip fat burners, it's the height of hypocrisy. :o

Ok - what sort of power with a remap? Can you still get the sports pack on the oil burner?
 
NickXX said:
For that money though, you could just about stretch to an early high mileage e46 M3,
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Nope. Economy is poor and the upkeep for the performance you get is just not worth it imo. Imagine the running costs M3 & 30k miles a year. lol, it'd be insane.

Helpful info all - might pop down to BMW lunchtime and have a nose around.

Still rather my Integra over any of these though :(
 
County said:
IMHO though i dont know how you can compare a tuned Integra to an M3?

If all "your" interested in though is 0-60 and not the complete package then a chipped/ Integra (or whatever other car you may have) is ideal from what it sounds.

Cheers :)
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I didn't compare them, YOU did!

I'm clearly not interested in 0-60 either. Dude, what are you going on about?

Someone make him stop please. :(
 
Firestar_3x said:
Just hit him with a stick!


Can't you keep the Teg and get an older not as fun to drive oil burner something like a volvo?
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I need something tidy looking because I go to see clients - take em out for lunch etc. I can't really turn up to a client who owns a fleet of cars, a string of properties and a helicopter in a complete bucket of ****. It's got to look nice. :(
 
If I run up loads of miles onto the Integra it'll be worth about £3.50 in two years. That's the main worry. It's just not that sort of car you could shift with massive mileage on it whereas people dont worry about 100,000 on a 3.0 BMW. Funny thing is the Honda engine doesn't need any significant attention untill 125,000 miles yet it'd be difficult trying to convince someone the engine will do 200k if looked after well, despite the fact it's the truth.

Also, whilst it's very comfy to sit in - it's a bit noisy for doing regular motorway miles. I've been on lots of motorway treks in it and it's fine, but I couldnt take it up and down the motorway all week long - it'd drive me nuts. Motorway use is ok - but in moderation. Zero sound proofing.

530 I'd not be keen on really. Lovely car but I'd like something i could have fun with on the weekend, it's just not nimble enough for my liking, & there's the question of yet more lard with the 5 over the 3.

Not overly keen on a Diesel tbh, will definately give it some thought, but I just dont like them.
 
Want a manual, not really into auto/semi auto etc.

Looks pretty certain I'm going to have to change now. Teg is worth £15k easily as it stands, but I'll probably get nailed to £14,500 or so leaving me to find £1500 to keep the kity up to £16k. No big deal.

Still keen on the 330 ci. Been nosing around forums and people complain about the fbw throttle delay. Is it really that bad? 31 mpg per parkers - is that realistic? And how much will servicing cost? £400 every 13,000/14,000 miles about right?
 
Simon said:
You'll definately notice it after your razor sharp throttle response
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I know I'm going to have to compromise, drove courtesy Civic 2 weeks ago and it felt like the throttle beamed a signal to a satelite then back to the engine. Really mushy, flat and unresponsive and I think that's got a cable lol :)
 
Can't say I'm happy about selling it myself but slapping big mileage on this car just aint the done thing. It'll depreciate faster than an Alpha Romeo.

BMW's on the other hand - people just dont seem to give two hoots about mileage. This is the main reason why I'm thinking it's got to be BMW. Other than German cars - what else is there that will still sell with big mileage?

I actually plan to buy one with low mileage to soak up the miles I'll be doing in it.

I can't keep it AND buy a newish barge for work - as said - the work car has got to be presentable because of turning up to see clients etc. Some of my clients would literally wet themselves laughing if I turned up in a £4,000 barge. :/

What's really irritating me is the lack of straight line speed on the 330's. I know they handle beautifully, and they're screwed together nicely, but they aint exactly rockets between 60mph and 100mph & that's the fun zone afaic.

Ben - you've seen Ade's 530i sport - it goes ok and does like the corners. I'm thinking a 330 Ci is going to be a bit quicker on the straights and probably a bit better to throw around the corners. Shouldn't be that much of a step down, I hope.

Looks like the Toda cams are sold already. Stand to make £100 profit on those because I bought them off a guy who clearly had no idea what they were worth :D
 
 
Old man. :o :p

Still keen on a 330ci sport, but I'll give it some proper thought once the Integra goes. No point actively looking around untill present car has turned into hard cash. Waiting game, but I've got plenty of time so no panic.
 
hilly said:
Precisely !! I'm gutted Merlin... you definately are getting old !! :(
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Probably. I was 35 last month. Maybe the barstids put something in my birthday cake?

And now I'm looking at BMW's. :eek: It's gotta be drugs I tell ya. :D
 
DreXeL said:
9000 rpm+ > Germanic 'quality'

:(
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Yes I put performance ahead of so called quality too. Up untill the point where I need to travel from Birmingham to South East London twice a week.

:(

I put the car on autotrader now, can't link to it because of forum rules but if you boys can find it (£14-£15k) - check out my message to canvassers and agents :D
 
Autotrader doesn't list the 2.0 DC5, so they go in as a 1.8 and you have to highlight the correct engine size.

Or get them to do it manually, which I can't be bothered with tbh.
 
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