BMW and M Power Owners

My money would always go on a BMW diesel. Exception is the 35i and 50i engines. Basically, I like having a turbo (or two). Even if for no other reason than a simple remap makes huge differences to them.

I have had a few 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder big displacement, Naturally aspirated motors. And always come back to turbos.

If you can't stretch to the 35i engine, then go TDI. Many 325d e9x's had a due tuned 3.0 in there. Wee remap and you getting close to 300 bhp, with 40+ mpg to boot.

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than a 335i if looking at petrols. And wouldn't personally look at M3's either tbh.
 
xs2man said:
My money would always go on a BMW diesel. Exception is the 35i and 50i engines. Basically, I like having a turbo (or two). Even if for no other reason than a simple remap makes huge differences to them.

I have had a few 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder big displacement, Naturally aspirated motors. And always come back to turbos.

If you can't stretch to the 35i engine, then go TDI. Many 325d e9x's had a due tuned 3.0 in there. Wee remap and you getting close to 300 bhp, with 40+ mpg to boot.

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything less than a 335i if looking at petrols. And wouldn't personally look at M3's either tbh.
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For someone with a 7k budget this strikes me as fairly terrible and inaccurate advice.

Plus you won't be getting 300bhp from a 325d with a simple remap.
 
[TW]Fox;25976534 said:
For someone with a 7k budget this strikes me as fairly terrible and inaccurate advice.

Plus you won't be getting 300bhp from a 325d with a simple remap.
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My budget has gone higher now and I'm more than willing to keep saving for the right budget.

I just know i definitely want a bmw.
 
Clov!s said:
I don't know if the miles i do would justify getting a diesel? I do around 12k a year.

What's a good budget for a 3 series? I have just shy of 9k atm, but for the right budget, id keep saving.

Is there any main problems i should look out for?

atm this is out of my budget, but a nice car with low miles.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...76nw/onesearchad/used,nearlynew,new?logcode=p
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It sounds like you don't really have performance as any sort of priority, so I'd personally forget all about the 335i. I'd also forget the particularly poor advice about the diesels (on what planet are a 325d and 335i comparable cars?). at 12k pa it's just a waste of time, not to mention the 320d's in particular have many failure points.

I would have thought £9k would get you a lovely 318i (though I would question why you'd want one) or a nice enough 325i. If bodystyle isn't restricting you then you will at least have a decent amount of choice - I looked at tourings (325 and 330) and couldn't find any nice examples under £10k, was looking at close to £12k for a nice looking example with the right spec - at which point I really questioned why I'd want to pay that much money for a 7-8 year old car and crossed them off the list.

If you pretty much just want a bmw and don't need rear space why not look at the 1 series too? should be plenty of 118i or the likes around to chose from and it'll likely be a newer car than the e90
 
A 318 is unlikely to feel like much of an improvement tbh, you're forgetting that the slight increase in power is lugging around a heavier car.

What I meant is, you aren't looking for a quick car by the sounds of things, just a reasonably powered small family car? At which point I would personally recommend something else - but if you're sure that a bmw is what you want.....
 
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Now that looks cracking.

I get where your coming from re doing the miles to justify diesel. But your extra outlay to purchase initially, will mostly be got back when selling.

I basically prefer the drive of a diesel now. I'm getting old and lazy. I like torque too much. Plus, if you compare a 330i with a power of what? 250BHP, and mpg of circa 25 on average, compared to 290 BHP and 40 mpg average in a mapped 330d, it's a no brainier for me. Maybe not for you though.

Of course, a bit of fiddling with a 335i and you're getting close to 400BHP, I can't think of much else around that price range that offers a similar level of performance and refinement.

Of course, your into 335d territory with that last motor, and they can hit 360BHP with just a remap, AND give 40 mpg average. Win win.
 
xs2man said:
I basically prefer the drive of a diesel now. I'm getting old and lazy. I like torque too much. Plus, if you compare a 330i with a power of what? 250BHP, and mpg of circa 25 on average, compared to 290 BHP and 40 mpg average in a mapped 330d, it's a no brainier for me.
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It would be a no brainer if it were true, but it's not - if you are averaging just 25mpg in a 330i then you won't be averaging 40mpg from a 'mapped' 330d over the same driving profile.

You are also ignoring non-fuel running costs. A £9k 330i has a reliable indirect injection N52 engine. A £9k 330d has a commonrail direct injection turbocharged engine with DPF.
 
The 2.0 petrol is fine for what it is, a lightweight rev happy engine. *in the manual gearbox version* It provides comfortable and smooth driving for day to day use but the powerband is high in the rev range so unless you actually enjoy applying the revs and staying in lower gears then I don't see the point in that kind of engine?

Do you mean FUN instead of FAST? There is a difference between the two and you don't need to be going fast to have fun.

What other cars have you driven?
 
rodenal said:
What makes you think that?

Define fast
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Fast to me, is being able to put your foot down in 5th @ say 50 and then having it pull right up and have the power kick in straight away, like a turbo.

Now i know the speed limits, but no one can say they don't use the power if its there.

Im not going to be driving everywhere at 130mph, but id like the car to be able to reach that fairly quickly.

Even my 1.6 astra got close to 125mph out of it...
 
mrk said:
The 2.0 petrol is fine for what it is, a lightweight rev happy engine. It provides comfortable and smooth driving for day to day use but the powerband is high in the rev range so unless you actually enjoy applying the revs and staying in lower gears then I don't see the point in that kind of engine?

Do you mean FUN instead of FAST? There is a difference between the two and you don't need to be going fast to have fun.

What other cars have you driven?
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I drove my mates new 135i M sport on thursday and the power is insane, obviously i don't think I'm going to match that for £9k sadly. :(
 
Sounds to me like it's a bit too early in your driving experience to be considering the kind of power you're "wanting" - Going by the post above about speed anyway dude. More than likely it will lead to some kind of disaster that nobody wants to see or read about for a fellow member :/
 
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