3 Series Coupe MPG (Please help me choose)

[KurtB]

Hello All,

I'm strongly considering buying my first BMW after years of hatchbacks and have a S1 Exige in the garage as a fun car. I need to know what MPG I can expect from the petrol engined versions of the 3 coupe (2006-2013 shape), when my week looks like this:

Driving 13 miles twice a day (4 days a week) on rural mixed speed roads.
Driving 20 miles twice a day (2 days a week) on rural mixed speed roads.
Driving 40 miles twice a day (1 day a week) on A roads.

As you can see, there's no point considering the diesel as the journey distances are too short. Naturally being a petrol head I fancy the 335i but have to consider real time mpg. I'd consider the 4 cylinder 2 litre, but it wouldn't be my preferred choice.

Is there anything to watch out for with these models? What's the model code for these cars? (e9???)

Many thanks for your help and guidance

Regards,

Kurt

[JNW1]

KurtB said:

Hello All,

I'm strongly considering buying my first BMW after years of hatchbacks and have a S1 Exige in the garage as a fun car. I need to know what MPG I can expect from the petrol engined versions of the 3 coupe (2006-2013 shape), when my week looks like this:

Driving 13 miles twice a day (4 days a week) on rural mixed speed roads.
Driving 20 miles twice a day (2 days a week) on rural mixed speed roads.
Driving 40 miles twice a day (1 day a week) on A roads.

As you can see, there's no point considering the diesel as the journey distances are too short. Naturally being a petrol head I fancy the 335i but have to consider real time mpg. I'd consider the 4 cylinder 2 litre, but it wouldn't be my preferred choice.

Is there anything to watch out for with these models? What's the model code for these cars? (e9???)

Many thanks for your help and guidance

Regards,

Kurt

The code for the model you're talking about is the E92. I've been running a 335i with the later N55 engine and manual gearbox for coming-up to two years now and in almost 30k miles of mixed driving over that time it's averaged just over 30mpg. The computer shows a figure that's slightly better but I measure the fuel consumption the old fashioned way (quite a few rows in the spreadsheet now!) and the true figure is 30.1mpg. On a long motorway run that improves to mid-30's but conversely short runs around town obviously have an adverse affect; however, I don't do much of that sort of driving and the worst figure I've seen for an individual tank is 28mpg.

I think the 335i offers pretty decent economy for the performance on offer; my annual mileage is probably slightly higher than yours (I do about 15k/annum) and personally I wouldn't give a 4-cylinder 2 litre petrol a second look over the 335i. The only thing I'd say is that the chassis isn't the greatest if you want to push hard over a twisty rural road (it's more GT than sports car) but as you've got an Exige for fun that presumably won't matter too much? Anyway, good luck with the search!

[Jon1967x]

You're doing maybe 250 miles a week. 9 gallons of fuel in a 335i, maybe 7 in a 320, £12 a week difference £600 a year. Drive a 320 hard and it will be worse than that (there was a top gear clip years ago when someone thrashed a Prius around the track with an M3 following although easily in its comfort mode and the M3 returned better mpg)

I'd have thought that higher road tax, servicing, insurance, tyres (both using them more quickly and if on bigger rims, cost of replacement), purchase price/cost of money and depreciation would all add up to more than that.

[gizlaroc]

12 miles a year, the difference between the best diesel and worst petrol will be no more than £10 a week in fuel.

By the car you enjoy the most, otherwise boredom sets in and you will change after a year and any saving are wiped out tenfold.

[Smuler]

Get a six cylinder car, get a warranty (from BMW) and don't worry about issues.

I enjoyed driving a 335i, the other day, so a good choice. There is also 330i and given your type of road, in a manual which suits the n/a engine best in my humble opinion, that would be great too.

You didn't mention your budget, but there are 16 Approved Used 335i's knocking about, for example. If that's what you're looking for try and negotiate an extra year's warranty.

[JNW1]

Jon1967x said:

I'd have thought that higher road tax, servicing, insurance, tyres (both using them more quickly and if on bigger rims, cost of replacement), purchase price/cost of money and depreciation would all add up to more than that.

I understand where you're coming from but personally I've not found the 335i to be expensive to run. Unless you go for an early pre-LCI car the road tax isn't too bad, fully comprehensive insurance is under £400 and the rear tyres on my car have done roughly 20k miles and still have around 3mm of tread left. My car has the service pack so I don't actually know how much a service costs; however, it's only needed only one since I've had it and is still showing several thousand miles to the next so I can't imagine servicing being hugely expensive. Depreciation is potentially an issue but that obviously depends on how old the car is and how much you pay for it!

There are some horror stories about expensive repair bills with the earlier N54 engine but if that's a concern I guess you either buy a car with a warranty or pay for a warranty via BMW or another provider. Overall, though, I reckon the 335i is pretty reasonable to run given the type of car and the performance on offer and I'd certainly recommend one as a daily driver.

[Jon1967x]

JNW1 said:

Jon1967x said:

I'd have thought that higher road tax, servicing, insurance, tyres (both using them more quickly and if on bigger rims, cost of replacement), purchase price/cost of money and depreciation would all add up to more than that.

I understand where you're coming from but personally I've not found the 335i to be expensive to run. Unless you go for an early pre-LCI car the road tax isn't too bad, fully comprehensive insurance is under £400 and the rear tyres on my car have done roughly 20k miles and still have around 3mm of tread left. My car has the service pack so I don't actually know how much a service costs; however, it's only needed only one since I've had it and is still showing several thousand miles to the next so I can't imagine servicing being hugely expensive. Depreciation is potentially an issue but that obviously depends on how old the car is and how much you pay for it!

There are some horror stories about expensive repair bills with the earlier N54 engine but if that's a concern I guess you either buy a car with a warranty or pay for a warranty via BMW or another provider. Overall, though, I reckon the 335i is pretty reasonable to run given the type of car and the performance on offer and I'd certainly recommend one as a daily driver.

I agree - the wife runs a z4 35i. I guess my point was only that a 335i would be more than a 320 not that a 335i was expensive. I was having new tyres put on my car last week and a guy was quotes 110 each for 2x 18" tyres on his 3, I know they're almost double that for similar make on 19" based on my wife's car and more likely to be on a 335i. Insurance 50 more, brakes are bigger so maybe another 50, road fax 50 etc.. Nothing massive but it would add up to as much as the difference in fuel.

[cerb4.5lee]

I get around 25 to 30 mpg with a bit of town work out of my E90 330i and easily over 30 mpg on a long run its a lovely sweet revving smooth engine too I really like it but I would also recommend the 335i as by all accounts they deliver similar economy to the 330i but the 335i is a fair bit quicker and quicker is always better!

[KurtB]

OK, some useful info so far. The satisfy a couple of requests, I'd be looking at a £10K budget and sub 100,000 miles and in really clean tidy car. I'd not rule out any model, but would prefer a 335. The interior needs to have the seats that are bolstered on the base, not those really flat looking ones. It needs to be leather (black preferred as it'll have to accommodate a baby girl and a medium size dog, so be able to be wiped down) and have decent looking manufacturers alloy wheels.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the engine specs mentioned above? I've not a clue what they mean, being new to the brand.

Regards,

Kurt

[JNW1]

Jon1967x said:

I agree - the wife runs a z4 35i. I guess my point was only that a 335i would be more than a 320 not that a 335i was expensive. I was having new tyres put on my car last week and a guy was quotes 110 each for 2x 18" tyres on his 3, I know they're almost double that for similar make on 19" based on my wife's car and more likely to be on a 335i. Insurance 50 more, brakes are bigger so maybe another 50, road fax 50 etc.. Nothing massive but it would add up to as much as the difference in fuel.

I take your point; a 335i will obviously cost more to run than a 320i but if you can afford the extra it's worth every penny IMHO! Sadly I think my E92 may have to go soon as I need more flexibility for carrying both people and dogs; however, an F31 335i will be very high on the short list as a replacement with the S4 Avant probably the only other realistic contender. The 335i is no M3 but, as per my previous post, it's a damned good daily driver!

[gangzoom]

My 335 is the best car i've owned interms of practicality/performance/running cost. It drives/handle much better than my old 350Z, and with a few suspension mods nearly on par with my old DC2 ITR interms driving fun....

BUT its not a cheap car to run, bits will break (A quick look on google will show you the rather long list of known 'issues' associated with the 335), though servicing costs are very reasonable for the performance. I've just paid £520 for uprated EBC pads+discs all round, which I think is quite cheap. It's no M car but my mate recently sold his M3 partly due to running cost, where as repairs aside my 335 has cost hardly anything to run/service given the performance on offer!!

[JNW1]

KurtB said:

OK, some useful info so far. The satisfy a couple of requests, I'd be looking at a £10K budget and sub 100,000 miles and in really clean tidy car. I'd not rule out any model, but would prefer a 335. The interior needs to have the seats that are bolstered on the base, not those really flat looking ones. It needs to be leather (black preferred as it'll have to accommodate a baby girl and a medium size dog, so be able to be wiped down) and have decent looking manufacturers alloy wheels.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the engine specs mentioned above? I've not a clue what they mean, being new to the brand.

Regards,

Kurt

Given your budget I'd say you'll be looking at a relatively old 335i. When first introduced the car had the N54 twin-turbo engine but in late 2009 that was replaced by the twin-power, single turbo, N55 engine; however, I doubt you'd get one of those within your budget. The N55 is less tuneable than the N54 but in standard form is rated at the same power and torque and also has lower emissions/road tax and better fuel economy. When people talk about problems with the engine on the 335i it's usually linked to things like turbo and High Pressure Fuel Pump failures on the N54 engine; as I say, I think you'd be looking at a car with that engine and therefore I'd check the history to see what work has been carried out already. If little or nothing has been done and the potential size of any repair bill is a worry just make sure you get a car with a decent warranty!

In terms of seats, all 335i's have sports seats as standard regardless of whether they're SE's or M-Sports; similarly all 335i's come with sports suspension although I think there was a no-cost option to delete that in favour of softer settings if desired.

In terms of wheels, I think the 335i SE came with 17" alloys as standard although in practice I suspect few cars were actually supplied with them as most will have been upgraded to either 18" or 19" wheels instead; they look nicer but beware problems with cracking, especially with the 19's. The Sport models came with 18" wheels as standard with an option to upgrade to 19's; again, cracking is a potential problem with the larger wheels and being honest the car probably drives better on a smaller wheel size anyway.

Hope all that helps!