330i vs 335i

[BERGS2]

Knowledgable beemer chaps,

can someone enlighten me as to the diff between the above on the E90 3 series?

From what i can glean the 335i is a Twin turbo, 3 litre (?) lump that is very highly praised.

when did this make it into the model line up?

There seems to be a big price disparity between, say a 2006 330i and a 2007 335i. Is the 330i old hat engine technology?

just to add further confusion, there seem also to be 3 litre 325 models

would really appreciate it if someone could clear up the timelines and nomenclatura....

cheers!

BERGS

(lining up a 335i estate - do they exist???)

[dxb335d]

Yes there are 335i Tourings.


The 335i engine debuted in Setember 2006. What a cracking engine. Because the way this forums seems to be, you will now get a million people telling you the 330i is sportier and better and more involving. I cant agree at all. The 335i is superb and much faster.

Go test them both and make your own decision.

[Deano_BMW]

the 325 with the 3 litre lump is primarily the same engine as the 330 with different mapping and a couple of other differences.

[NoelWatson]

dxb335d said:

. The 335i is superb and much faster.

How much faster was it when you tested them side by side?

[dxb335d]

NoelWatson said:

dxb335d said:

. The 335i is superb and much faster.

How much faster was it when you tested them side by side?

I have not tested side by side. On track though Pulled away considerably on the Straights.

335i 0-100 in 13's although press cars have done 12's. 330i 0-100 in 15-16 secs.

[grahamm]

NoelWatson said:

dxb335d said:

. The 335i is superb and much faster.

How much faster was it when you tested them side by side?

He has made a sensible comment of his opinion without mentioning the diesel. He has obviously learnt from previous threads. Leave him alone

[NoelWatson]

dxb335d said:

NoelWatson said:

dxb335d said:

. The 335i is superb and much faster.

How much faster was it when you tested them side by side?

I have not tested side by side. On track though Pulled away considerably on the Straights.

335i 0-100 in 13's although press cars have done 12's. 330i 0-100 in 15-16 secs.

Was it definitely the 330 with the 272bhp engine that you tested against?

[JNW1]

NoelWatson said:

dxb335d said:

NoelWatson said:

dxb335d said:

. The 335i is superb and much faster.

How much faster was it when you tested them side by side?

I have not tested side by side. On track though Pulled away considerably on the Straights.

335i 0-100 in 13's although press cars have done 12's. 330i 0-100 in 15-16 secs.

Was it definitely the 330 with the 272bhp engine that you tested against?

In terms of straight line performance I can't see it makes any difference which version of the 330i you're talking about, the 335i will be faster! As DXB rightly points out, standard 335i's are in the low 12's for 0-100mph and a 330i won't get close to that (272bhp engine or not). Whether that makes the 335i the better car is of course another matter entirely. I do agree that it's not all about the numbers but by the same token I don't think the throttle response in the 335i is as bad as some would have you believe and for me it's a very accomplished everyday machine.

To the OP I would give the usual advice - drive both and buy the one you prefer, you won't go far wrong with either!

[dibbly_dobbler]

BERGS2 said:

Knowledgable beemer chaps,

on here ? you'll be lucky !!

BERGS2 said:

can someone enlighten me as to the diff between the above on the E90 3 series?

From what i can glean the 335i is a Twin turbo, 3 litre (?) lump that is very highly praised.

correct

BERGS2 said:

when did this make it into the model line up?

2006 I think

BERGS2 said:

There seems to be a big price disparity between, say a 2006 330i and a 2007 335i. Is the 330i old hat engine technology?

No ! The 330i engine was upgraded in Sept 2007 (ish) and now has 272 bhp with 173 emmissions which is rather impressive

BERGS2 said:

just to add further confusion, there seem also to be 3 litre 325 models

Correct - the 325/330 bit is just a bit of confusing naming they're both 3 litre

BERGS2 said:

would really appreciate it if someone could clear up the timelines and nomenclatura....

cheers!

BERGS

(lining up a 335i estate - do they exist???)

Yes - see the BMW approved used site eg this

If you want a manual take the 330i if you want an auto take the 335

[matt uk]

If your decision is between the 330i and 335i, you can't go wrong either way. They are different in character, try them both to see which suits you best.

[merlin5]

BERGS2 said:

(lining up a 335i estate - do they exist???)

Hi Bergs. I currently own a 335i Tourer and it is a fantastic piece of kit, especially when knocked into Sport mode. It is a good all rounder that can take the kids and the shopping but yet can still leave quite an array of motors at the lights. Economy is not as bad as the Audi S4.

I am currently and sadly in the process of putting mine for sale - need cash to escape from in-laws home... If you are interested then let me know. It is pretty much fully loaded including the Logic 7 HiFi and panoramic sunroof as well as the extras you would expect.

Edited by merlin5 on Tuesday 3rd February 01:18

[NoelWatson]

JNW1 said:

standard 335i's are in the low 12's for 0-100mph

Why are BMW only rating them at ~300bhp? Low 12's is Cayman quick which would imply more like 350bhp

[raharley]

Don't BMW always undershoot by a factor of 2 or 3% in their bhp ratings?

[gizlaroc]

There seems to be massive differences in 335i's when it comes to power, my stock one would get to 60mph on 5.1 seconds just about everytime as long as you could get the traction but others seemed to be nearer 5.5 seconds.

The new 330i would be my choice, if you are looking at the older, heavier, 258bhp 330i vs the 335i then probably the 335i, but the new 272bhp 330i would win it for me over the 335i.
Don't get caught up on the bhp figures, it is the fact it is lighter and therefore a lot quicker and is so much more economical than the old car that really impresses.
I would say it is between 20-25% more economical than the outgoing 330i and alomost 30% more economical than the 335i.

[NoelWatson]

raharley said:

Don't BMW always undershoot by a factor of 2 or 3% in their bhp ratings?

The E46 M3 was slightly under (according to SRR)

[ITP]

Is the 258bhp E90 330i much 'heavier' than the late 07 272bhp version though? Isn't it the same engine with some efficient dynamics gubbins added? The older, 'heavier' engine is surely the E46 330i engine with 231bhp. It does seem the ED gubbins has added about 5mpg though by all accounts, my 258bhp 330i auto does 26 urban and 35 on a run by the way.

[NoelWatson]

ITP said:

Is the 258bhp E90 330i much 'heavier' than the late 07 272bhp version though? Isn't it the same engine with some efficient dynamics gubbins added? The older, 'heavier' engine is surely the E46 330i engine with 231bhp. It does seem the ED gubbins has added about 5mpg though by all accounts, my 258bhp 330i auto does 26 urban and 35 on a run by the way.

272bhp is the new DI engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N53

[ITP]

NoelWatson said:

ITP said:

Is the 258bhp E90 330i much 'heavier' than the late 07 272bhp version though? Isn't it the same engine with some efficient dynamics gubbins added? The older, 'heavier' engine is surely the E46 330i engine with 231bhp. It does seem the ED gubbins has added about 5mpg though by all accounts, my 258bhp 330i auto does 26 urban and 35 on a run by the way.

272bhp is the new DI engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N53

Interesting stuff. As i thought though, the 258bhp N52 engine is very light (magnesium/aluminium), with the 335i engine being based on the older, heavier block. The N53 it seems is a development of the N52, as you say with direct injection but i presume using the same lightweight block.

[NoelWatson]

ITP said:

NoelWatson said:

ITP said:

Is the 258bhp E90 330i much 'heavier' than the late 07 272bhp version though? Isn't it the same engine with some efficient dynamics gubbins added? The older, 'heavier' engine is surely the E46 330i engine with 231bhp. It does seem the ED gubbins has added about 5mpg though by all accounts, my 258bhp 330i auto does 26 urban and 35 on a run by the way.

272bhp is the new DI engine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N53

Interesting stuff. As i thought though, the 258bhp N52 engine is very light (magnesium/aluminium), with the 335i engine being based on the older, heavier block. The N53 it seems is a development of the N52, as you say with direct injection but i presume using the same lightweight block.

I'm not sure on weight difference TBH. I'm also not sure on how accurate Wikipedia is, as I thought only the four cylinders had Valvetronic. Is this correct?

[JNW1]

NoelWatson said:

JNW1 said:

standard 335i's are in the low 12's for 0-100mph

Why are BMW only rating them at ~300bhp? Low 12's is Cayman quick which would imply more like 350bhp

Good question! From odd reports I've read 335i's if anything tend to make a bit more than the quoted figure so perhaps just over 300bhp is a bit conservative on BMW's part? The most recent road test I've seen was in the February 2009 issue of Evo and they got a manual to 100mph in 12.2 seconds; BMW Car achieved 12.5 seconds with a standard car and that dropped to 11.7 seconds for a car remapped by Evolve (which was giving around 360bhp). A cynic may say that BMW is deliberately making sure its press cars are "good examples" and therefore potentially unrepresentative of what an owner would buy but to be honest I don't think they'd do that.

Must have a try in one of these new 330i's though! The performance/economy combination looks pretty impressive and in touring form (which was what the OP was talking about) it's 85kg lighter than the 335i - not insignificant and presumably due mainly to the different engines?