£5-8k. E46 330Ci vs E46 M3?
Discussion
mboon said:
I run a E46 330i Sport 2002 and a E36 M3 Evo Convertible 1998
Fuel will be your big problem. The 330i will take unleaded where as the M3 will only take 99Ron. This straight away puts you out of pocket.
Mixed use, my Sport gets 300 miles to the tank and that was trying to make it last as well.
The M3 on the same kind of driving etc maybe 250... but costs me around £10 to £15 more to fill the tank.
My M3 on a run in 6th with cruise control on at 70MPH did get me 36 MPG which was nice, but around town your looking at 19 and under. They are terrible when cold so short jorneys will kill the fuel.
As for everything else, the M3 is light years ahead. Thats comparing the older model to the newer model. My M3 runs circles around the Sport, as my M3 is a convertible I wouldnt say it out handles the Sport but then the Sport is tight as a drum.
If I was you, I would be looking at a mapped 330d M Sport or even a Mapped 320D M sport.
The guy who owned mine from new until I had it put 40,000 miles on her in 6 months! This was 4 services and I dread to think of the other things it had.
I had a Oil service from BMW two days ago and it cost £147 which was good. I asked about a I1 and he told me it was over £600!!! I nearly fainted. My Specialist can do it for around £350.
The sport is a great car but I do wish I got a high spec diesel now as its just not quick enough to sale the M3 and does not do that many if any more MPG than the M3.
I think after owning a E46 M3 you will start modding and end up selling the Evo and tracking the M3. They are very, very good cars and love to be driven.
Cheers for the input. I do pretty long journeys, and tends to be mostly motorway when driving for work - so if I can get about 30mpg under those circumstances I'll be happy. I know it will be lower when in town or driving fast, but that's the price you pay I guess.Fuel will be your big problem. The 330i will take unleaded where as the M3 will only take 99Ron. This straight away puts you out of pocket.
Mixed use, my Sport gets 300 miles to the tank and that was trying to make it last as well.
The M3 on the same kind of driving etc maybe 250... but costs me around £10 to £15 more to fill the tank.
My M3 on a run in 6th with cruise control on at 70MPH did get me 36 MPG which was nice, but around town your looking at 19 and under. They are terrible when cold so short jorneys will kill the fuel.
As for everything else, the M3 is light years ahead. Thats comparing the older model to the newer model. My M3 runs circles around the Sport, as my M3 is a convertible I wouldnt say it out handles the Sport but then the Sport is tight as a drum.
If I was you, I would be looking at a mapped 330d M Sport or even a Mapped 320D M sport.
The guy who owned mine from new until I had it put 40,000 miles on her in 6 months! This was 4 services and I dread to think of the other things it had.
I had a Oil service from BMW two days ago and it cost £147 which was good. I asked about a I1 and he told me it was over £600!!! I nearly fainted. My Specialist can do it for around £350.
The sport is a great car but I do wish I got a high spec diesel now as its just not quick enough to sale the M3 and does not do that many if any more MPG than the M3.
I think after owning a E46 M3 you will start modding and end up selling the Evo and tracking the M3. They are very, very good cars and love to be driven.
I did used to have an E46 330d, and if it hadn't been written off then I wouldn't have changed it. However I got stung with a big bill for a new turbo after only 6m of ownership. Still sore from that, so no desire to get another one - despite it perhaps being a pretty "sensible" option!
I'm now looking exclusively for M3's and will update with pics when I find the right one!
mboon said:
I had a Oil service from BMW two days ago and it cost £147 which was good. I asked about a I1 and he told me it was over £600!!! I nearly fainted. My Specialist can do it for around £350.
He was totally wrong - an I1 from BMW themselves, as widely advertised, is about £250 on a menu price that applies across the UK dealer network. No idea why you'd take it to a specialist charging 350 quid!?Blair357ci said:
This is a lovely car & a bargain http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3577350.htm I know the owner thro www.e46zone.co.uk & he's looked after her.
I saw this when he first listed it. Looks awesome but the gearbox put me off. Had it been a manual I would've bought it. Here's the car that I mentioned in my first post. After endless amount of phone calls & emails I now officially give up with this guy, he clearly doesn't want to sell it to me or anyone else!!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3682113.htm
Like I've said, I'm not after a Clubsport, I just want a 330ci with low miles. The above looked a better prospect than other similar priced cars with much more miles. My thinking was (after increasing my budget from £5k to £6k), why pay that kind of money for a car with 50-60k miles when I could buy the above? Well, that's gone out the window... If anyone can get through to that guy and buy that car, I will be amazed!
VinceFox said:
Baz Tench said:
mboon, the e46 M3 will happily run on 95RON according to the handbook.
Perhaps the confusion is the e36 m3 then. Mine has to run on high octane, i put the crappy stuff in a couple of times when caught short but it ran like s
t.I was idly reading through the handbook the other week and happened to notice the 95 figure for the e46. I always try to use the higher grade stuff though, not that I've noticed any difference really....
I have a sticker over my fuel gauge stating 98 ron only. I put 95 in my old 3.0 once and it ran like st. Felt like it was missing and holding back. Really killed the performance so that was the last time I put that in.
E36 and E46 will adjust to the fuel but its not good practice to run them on anothing under 98 ron.
Just for reference. I have just got back from a 310 mile trip on the motorways. I averaged 50 mph and the computer showed 35.8 MPG until the last couple miles where I hooned it home it dropped to 34.5 MPG.
I had just a shade over quater of a tank left and it was full on 95 ron from tesco before I left.
I used cruise control most of the way and most of the way up and back never went above 75 mph.
My M3 on the few times I have taken it out that far I have managed 36 MPG on the computer at 70 MPH with the roof down in 6th with cruise control.
You have to put 98 ron or 99 ron in the M3 though so it still works out cheaper on the sport. The sport badly needs a 6th speed. Mine being a 2002 does not have one.
If I was to buy again, I would get a 320d M Sport as the 330i is not quick enough to push my buttons and no economical enough to feel happy putting lots of miles on her.
t. Felt like it was missing and holding back. Really killed the performance so that was the last time I put that in.E36 and E46 will adjust to the fuel but its not good practice to run them on anothing under 98 ron.
Just for reference. I have just got back from a 310 mile trip on the motorways. I averaged 50 mph and the computer showed 35.8 MPG until the last couple miles where I hooned it home it dropped to 34.5 MPG.
I had just a shade over quater of a tank left and it was full on 95 ron from tesco before I left.
I used cruise control most of the way and most of the way up and back never went above 75 mph.
My M3 on the few times I have taken it out that far I have managed 36 MPG on the computer at 70 MPH with the roof down in 6th with cruise control.
You have to put 98 ron or 99 ron in the M3 though so it still works out cheaper on the sport. The sport badly needs a 6th speed. Mine being a 2002 does not have one.
If I was to buy again, I would get a 320d M Sport as the 330i is not quick enough to push my buttons and no economical enough to feel happy putting lots of miles on her.
[quote=$chuey]
I saw this when he first listed it. Looks awesome but the gearbox put me off. Had it been a manual I would've bought it.
Here's the car that I mentioned in my first post. After endless amount of phone calls & emails I now officially give up with this guy, he clearly doesn't want to sell it to me or anyone else!!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3682113.htm
Like I've said, I'm not after a Clubsport, I just want a 330ci with low miles. The above looked a better prospect than other similar priced cars with much more miles. My thinking was (after increasing my budget from 5k to 6k), why pay that kind of money for a car with 50-60k miles when I could buy the above? Well, that's gone out the window... If anyone can get through to that guy and buy that car, I will be amazed!
[/quote]
does the clubsport always have M3 style mirrors? it just seems strange that car does, and the CSL style alloy wheels and neither are mentioned in the advert...well the mirrors are, but just their foldability..
I saw this when he first listed it. Looks awesome but the gearbox put me off. Had it been a manual I would've bought it.
Here's the car that I mentioned in my first post. After endless amount of phone calls & emails I now officially give up with this guy, he clearly doesn't want to sell it to me or anyone else!!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3682113.htm
Like I've said, I'm not after a Clubsport, I just want a 330ci with low miles. The above looked a better prospect than other similar priced cars with much more miles. My thinking was (after increasing my budget from 5k to 6k), why pay that kind of money for a car with 50-60k miles when I could buy the above? Well, that's gone out the window... If anyone can get through to that guy and buy that car, I will be amazed!
[/quote]
does the clubsport always have M3 style mirrors? it just seems strange that car does, and the CSL style alloy wheels and neither are mentioned in the advert...well the mirrors are, but just their foldability..
nsi said:
Well yeah, but so's a vectra! Doesn't make it the right choice.
I think I'm going to go for an M3 (timing TBC) and just try to cut down my business miles a bit.
I've not been keeping abreast of his thread but well done you I think I'm going to go for an M3 (timing TBC) and just try to cut down my business miles a bit.
It was kinda on the cards from your first post so I'm really pleased you're going this way.
Not trying to patronise but for gods sake spend a little bit extra to get a mint one - it'll save you in the long run, looking forward to the pics !
And just another reference. I did the sameish 300 mile round trip in my M3 Evo yesterday as the above 330i Sport and managed 36.2 combined over a total of 290 miles... That was 70 mph in 6th with cruise control. The Sport went long parts of the jorney around 55 mph.
If you could put 95 in the M3 it would be more fuel efficient.
If you could put 95 in the M3 it would be more fuel efficient.
mboon said:
And just another reference. I did the sameish 300 mile round trip in my M3 Evo yesterday as the above 330i Sport and managed 36.2 combined over a total of 290 miles... That was 70 mph in 6th with cruise control. The Sport went long parts of the jorney around 55 mph.
But the original E36 M3 has a combined consumption figure of 30mpg anyway - which as well as being remarkably good for a car of its type is also pretty much the same as that of the 330i. Therefore it's entirely beleivable you are noticing little difference in economy between the two.The E46, though, has a much lower combined consumption figure than both your E36 M3 and the E46 330i Sport so I think it's pretty misleading to imply that an E46 M3 is about as economical as a 330i. It's not. If it was then BMW would have been able to publish consumption figures that made the car far more attractive to everyone.
mboon said:
This is why I stated, E36 and not E46. But.... I really cannot see why the E46 would be way down compared to the older E36 and the E46 330i... I have seen plenty of E46 M3 owners on M3Cutters hitting 35 mpg on a run...
Why would BMW release deliberately high CO2 emissions figures and deliberately low combined fuel consumption figures if in reality the engine was just as economical as the regular non M power 6 cylinder? Bit of an own goal, no? mboon said:
This is why I stated, E36 and not E46. But.... I really cannot see why the E46 would be way down compared to the older E36 and the E46 330i... I have seen plenty of E46 M3 owners on M3Cutters hitting 35 mpg on a run...
It's got about 110bhp more, it can't be just a couple of mpg difference, plus, what Fox said.mboon said:
This is why I stated, E36 and not E46. But.... I really cannot see why the E46 would be way down compared to the older E36 and the E46 330i... I have seen plenty of E46 M3 owners on M3Cutters hitting 35 mpg on a run...
I think most get about 28mpg. I could only get about 35mpg sat doing a steady 50-60mph in traffic.Around town around 23 is the norm.
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