ST220,328i, 330i, 330d or T5?

[Podie]

TBH, with all these options, finding a good one is the key.

[Japveesix]

nottyash said:

ST220 will be fine for that.
have you looked at Skoda Octavia VRS? these can be had at that price if your prepared to wait and shop around.

Sounds like a great suggestion to me.

This one supposedly has 227bhp (graphs to prove) so should be pretty nippy and is certainly distinctive in all white:


Or
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

Ps. is an Impreza the wrong image? 4k gets you a lot of impreza and I don't suppose the MPG will be much worse than an ST220.

Edited by Japveesix on Sunday 15th September 18:20

[Podie]

Is the Octavia one of the WRC limited editions?

[Japveesix]

Podie said:

Is the Octavia one of the WRC limited editions?

Owner isn't sure. Seems to have (possibly) been specced originally for the police but in wrc spec:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

Looks like a good buy if you like the all white look.

[Welshbeef]

OP as dealers are offering E90 330ds M sports trade for £5-6k which is two engine generations ahead of the 184bhp unit.
Why not put a wanted advert up you may get one of those who part x'd to offer it to you.
Worth considering - it might mean a period of time more saving to increase te budget a touch but certainly worth it

[Patrick Bateman]

£4k will get you a very good 330Ci.

Just watch for rust.

[Welshbeef]

Patrick Bateman said:

£4k will get you a very good 330Ci.

Just watch for rust.

Can you not negotiate an E90 330i Msport for just over £4k?

[VinceFox]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-BMW-M3-3-2-EVO-COUP...

[Pvapour]

does the V50 have as good a stereo as the V70? big plus for a comfy cruiser imo, V70 seats are by far the comfiest seats we've sat in to, I thought our L322 was comfy but the V70 makes it feel like you're sitting on rocks.

[Patrick Bateman]

Welshbeef said:

Can you not negotiate an E90 330i Msport for just over £4k?

An SE would be a push and very few and far between, cheapest manual M Sport I can find on autotrader starts at £6k and the mileage isn't listed.

[Welshbeef]

Patrick Bateman said:

Welshbeef said:

Can you not negotiate an E90 330i Msport for just over £4k?

An SE would be a push and very few and far between, cheapest manual M Sport I can find on autotrader starts at £6k and the mileage isn't listed.

But owners are part exchanging them with BMW for much less than the listed prices you see.
Just have a wated advert someone may bite.

[Patrick Bateman]

No harm in trying it but I couldn't see it happening.

[nottyash]

Japveesix said:

nottyash said:

ST220 will be fine for that.
have you looked at Skoda Octavia VRS? these can be had at that price if your prepared to wait and shop around.

Sounds like a great suggestion to me.

This one supposedly has 227bhp (graphs to prove) so should be pretty nippy and is certainly distinctive in all white:


Or
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/s...

Ps. is an Impreza the wrong image? 4k gets you a lot of impreza and I don't suppose the MPG will be much worse than an ST220.

Edited by Japveesix on Sunday 15th September 18:20

I meant the later 2.0T shape. They can be had for around £4k with about 60-70k miles with haggling/ looking about.
The early ones are nice but I wouldn't spend £4k on one, £2k budget definatly.

Impreza Blob eye will get you similar MPG to the ST220 but with 4WD. Go for a facelift 2005 model( different air con controls tells it). Tough but the are around at that budget.

Edited by nottyash on Sunday 15th September 20:03

[Welshbeef]

nottyash said:

I meant the later 2.0T shape. They can be had for around £4k with about 60-70k miles with haggling/ looking about.
The early ones are nice but I wouldn't spend £4k on one, £2k budget definatly.

Impreza Blob eye will get you similar MPG to the ST220 but with 4WD. Go for a facelift 2005 model( different air con controls tells it). Tough but the are around at that budget.

Edited by nottyash on Sunday 15th September 20:03

How much are Passat W8's..... Lovely cars so utterly understated

How about te Audi C5 S6? Possible just for this budget.

[Rollcage]

Patrick Bateman said:

No harm in trying it but I couldn't see it happening.

Yeah, too much retail demand for them. Why trade when there is a profit in it?

[CB2152]

I'll echo another suggestion of 9-5 Aero for cruising...

[RocketScience]

OP, if you like the ST220, please also consider the Jaguar X-Type 3.0.

It has a slightly improved, more powerful version of the ST220 engine. Best of all, it has permanent AWD unlike any others on your list. This makes it unstoppable in the snow.

0-60 mph in 6.58 seconds makes it the fastest too (tied with the BMW 330i)

I loved mine.

[LancerG]

RocketScience said:

OP, if you like the ST220, please also consider the Jaguar X-Type 3.0.

It has a slightly improved, more powerful version of the ST220 engine. Best of all, it has permanent AWD unlike any others on your list. This makes it unstoppable in the snow.

0-60 mph in 6.58 seconds makes it the fastest too (tied with the BMW 330i)

I loved mine.

That would get my vote, image is way better too

[stevesuk]

m444ttb said:

Otherwise I'd say 330 all day long but find one showing no signs of rust.

In my experience, if you find one that's not showing signs of rust at the time of purchase, it doesn't mean it won't have eaten a front wing 6 months later... But they're otherwise OK cars. Had my 330 Ci for 18 months, and its now over 11 years old, and as such has had a few niggly faults (aside from the rust), but nothing show stopping yet. And I've fixed these niggly faults myself at minimal cost, despite being clueless about most things mechanical - plenty of step by step guides for replacing parts/fixes if you have a Google around various forums. Will be paying someone to give it a proper service (not BMW!) before Christmas, as its due what I think they would call an Inspection II.

For a car from the early end of the 2000s, they're pretty well equipped - mine has xenons, auto-wipers, auto-lights, rear parking sensors, stability control (DSC), climate control... and a tape player

One warning if you're thinking of running it on a budget. Sport spec cars have 18" wheels, different sizes front and rear. Decent tyres are on the expensive side.

Not sure about the Mondeo, but don't Fords from a similar era rust a fair bit too?

[Podie]

RocketScience said:

OP, if you like the ST220, please also consider the Jaguar X-Type 3.0.

It has a slightly improved, more powerful version of the ST220 engine. Best of all, it has permanent AWD unlike any others on your list. This makes it unstoppable in the snow.

0-60 mph in 6.58 seconds makes it the fastest too (tied with the BMW 330i)

I loved mine.

They are very different engines.

One has direct acting mechanical buckets, the other roller finger followers. Cylinder heads are completely different designs, with different port angles and the Jag unit has pent roof chamber angles. The pistons are different. The Jag has variable inlet VCT...