E92 325i Coupe SE - thoughts and experience
Discussion
Hell yes, get a 325!!! six cylinders are great.
Here's one to wet your appetite. It doesn't say here, but when Autocar ran it I'm 99.999% sure they said 325i
http://youtu.be/VX6UOxXivA0
Here's one to wet your appetite. It doesn't say here, but when Autocar ran it I'm 99.999% sure they said 325i
http://youtu.be/VX6UOxXivA0
JFReturns said:
That's encouraging. I'm test driving an auto so will expect slightly lower but that's fine.
Test driving a 325 [2.5] tomorrow and will report back! I'm not convinced the 320i is the engine for me...
There are also horror stories about ongoing reliability issues with the 4 cylinder 320i engine all over most of the BMW forums. After doing a lot of research along similar lines to you (but I was after a touring, not a coupe), I ended up settling on looking for a pre-LCI 325i with the 2.5 litre N52 engine.Test driving a 325 [2.5] tomorrow and will report back! I'm not convinced the 320i is the engine for me...
Smuler, that video is great! I'm so excited about viewing the car, MUST BE OBJECTIVE, MUST BE OBJECTIVE 
It sounds like a good engine, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs tomorrow. Certainly will be faster than my Ka, and not too far away from my recently sold Chimaera.
It will be my first auto as well; always said I'd never get one but I think it will suit the character of the car. That and my left knee is starting to seize up
This is it:
timbob said:
JFReturns said:
That's encouraging. I'm test driving an auto so will expect slightly lower but that's fine.
Test driving a 325 [2.5] tomorrow and will report back! I'm not convinced the 320i is the engine for me...
There are also horror stories about ongoing reliability issues with the 4 cylinder 320i engine all over most of the BMW forums. After doing a lot of research along similar lines to you (but I was after a touring, not a coupe), I ended up settling on looking for a pre-LCI 325i with the 2.5 litre N52 engine.Test driving a 325 [2.5] tomorrow and will report back! I'm not convinced the 320i is the engine for me...
It will be my first auto as well; always said I'd never get one but I think it will suit the character of the car. That and my left knee is starting to seize up
This is it:
Good idea with auto for knee. I looked up the VIN and the data sheet and car has decent spec, in my opinion, with heated and electric seats. My biggest issue with a SE would be lack of sports seats, which are excellent. If you didn't find it comfortable for back etc, then certainly consider M Sport version.
Enjoy test drive.
Enjoy test drive.
I have a 325i saloon with the N52 engine and it is a lovely motor; smooth, refined and sounds gorgeous at the top end. I've averaged approx 30.5 MPG over the last 2 years. One thing the engine does lack is torque for a car as big and heavy as a 3 series, so it lacks in gear flexibility meaning that you have to drop down a couple of gears to keep the revs up above 4.5K rpm to make any decent progress. Can be a bit of a pain if it is just a daily driver like mine but if it is also being used as a fun car then maybe it won't be so bad.
Aaaand shes mine
I knew within 30 seconds of the test drive she was the one. Such nice condition - everything felt tight, no rattles, knocks just refined comfortable wafting. A revelation compared to my previous cars, the only one that came close in terms of beautifully judged damping was my Subaru WRX.
The service history is perfect - 9 service stamps (main dealer except the last) with receipts for everything, and overall, the condition is spot on. A few minor paint issues which I may or may not sort, but everything works. I've never known such gadgetry! The car hands you the seatbelt
So far I'm loving the automatic transmission. Stuck in traffic in my Ka was pretty tedious, but a pleasure on the way back. The engine is a peach too; I've often heard it being described as "silky" or "smooth" and I now understand why. Not a huge amount of low down torque as Mutton says, but once above four or five thousand RPM it does fly. Very happy so far!
Thanks for all your help chaps
I knew within 30 seconds of the test drive she was the one. Such nice condition - everything felt tight, no rattles, knocks just refined comfortable wafting. A revelation compared to my previous cars, the only one that came close in terms of beautifully judged damping was my Subaru WRX.
The service history is perfect - 9 service stamps (main dealer except the last) with receipts for everything, and overall, the condition is spot on. A few minor paint issues which I may or may not sort, but everything works. I've never known such gadgetry! The car hands you the seatbelt
So far I'm loving the automatic transmission. Stuck in traffic in my Ka was pretty tedious, but a pleasure on the way back. The engine is a peach too; I've often heard it being described as "silky" or "smooth" and I now understand why. Not a huge amount of low down torque as Mutton says, but once above four or five thousand RPM it does fly. Very happy so far!
Thanks for all your help chaps
To the OP,
Enjoy the new toy.
Im about 2 months into the ownership of a 2008 E91 with the 2.5l six and six speed auto box. Still learning how to use it, some of the time it is infuriating as it just won’t change or deliver response, other times its great. There is good economy to be had if you can lift of and get the box to change up a gear below 2500 rpm. On my city commute this seems to make around 20% difference to the economy. You can still mash the throttle down and get a good surge of torque once the box has engaged the required gear, seems fine for most traffic situations during a commute. In my 45 minute trip I probably go above 2500rpm only 3 or 4 times in order to make a gap in traffic.
As for getting the box to change down, I find that a quick aggressive full throttle tap and lift gets the box to change down, and then once its selected its gear you can feed in the throttle as required. it may sound weird by these cars have an electronic throttle that appears to be linked to the engine management computer as well as the gear box. It doesn’t seem to open the throttle until a gear has been selected. If it decides that it has selected the wrong gear you have to wait even longer, seams even worse if you manually select a gear and mash the throttle at the same time. I still don’t think I have worked out how to get it to work as quick as a manual box, however I’m getting better. There are electronic boxes that you can get that sit between the throttle pedal and the computer and adjust the settings that the computer sees. Apparently the output of the throttle pedal is non-linear.
http://burgertuning.com/BMS_Power_Box.html
I’m unsure if I want to install one of these or not. Might be worth a try.
The stability control seems to work great in conjunction with cruse. I find that I can barrel into a corner, where you would normally drop the speed by 10mph, without tapping the breaks and the car will sort it all out and then accelerate back up to the previously set speed. Don’t have to touch a thing. You might want to try this first where you have some runoff room. Some simple aggressive turn in will be enough to work out if it’s going to work. Makes for effortless crusing.
Mine certainly piles on speed once you get it up in the rev range, is very smooth and makes a soulful noise that no 4 cylinder can.
Let us know it you work out any tricks of your own.
Regards Ryan
Enjoy the new toy.
Im about 2 months into the ownership of a 2008 E91 with the 2.5l six and six speed auto box. Still learning how to use it, some of the time it is infuriating as it just won’t change or deliver response, other times its great. There is good economy to be had if you can lift of and get the box to change up a gear below 2500 rpm. On my city commute this seems to make around 20% difference to the economy. You can still mash the throttle down and get a good surge of torque once the box has engaged the required gear, seems fine for most traffic situations during a commute. In my 45 minute trip I probably go above 2500rpm only 3 or 4 times in order to make a gap in traffic.
As for getting the box to change down, I find that a quick aggressive full throttle tap and lift gets the box to change down, and then once its selected its gear you can feed in the throttle as required. it may sound weird by these cars have an electronic throttle that appears to be linked to the engine management computer as well as the gear box. It doesn’t seem to open the throttle until a gear has been selected. If it decides that it has selected the wrong gear you have to wait even longer, seams even worse if you manually select a gear and mash the throttle at the same time. I still don’t think I have worked out how to get it to work as quick as a manual box, however I’m getting better. There are electronic boxes that you can get that sit between the throttle pedal and the computer and adjust the settings that the computer sees. Apparently the output of the throttle pedal is non-linear.
http://burgertuning.com/BMS_Power_Box.html
I’m unsure if I want to install one of these or not. Might be worth a try.
The stability control seems to work great in conjunction with cruse. I find that I can barrel into a corner, where you would normally drop the speed by 10mph, without tapping the breaks and the car will sort it all out and then accelerate back up to the previously set speed. Don’t have to touch a thing. You might want to try this first where you have some runoff room. Some simple aggressive turn in will be enough to work out if it’s going to work. Makes for effortless crusing.
Mine certainly piles on speed once you get it up in the rev range, is very smooth and makes a soulful noise that no 4 cylinder can.
Let us know it you work out any tricks of your own.
Regards Ryan
Thanks chaps, and thank you Ryan for the informative post - I'll digest it fully but I'm getting used to the box more and more. Sliding into sport mode is useful for overtakes as it sits around 3,500rpm instead of shuffling up.
Still loving it so far - a 'warning' light has binged on but having checked the manual its just the run flat indicator so I'll check the tyres tomorrow.
Still loving it so far - a 'warning' light has binged on but having checked the manual its just the run flat indicator so I'll check the tyres tomorrow.
You may need to set the pressures and then re-calibrate the tyre pressure monitor once driving. It works by monitoring the abs wheel sensors and not the pressure in the tires. If the abs sensors suddenly see one of the wheel speed sensors showing a higher speed over a couple of hundred meters then it will set of the alarm.
Ryan.
Ryan.
ezakimak said:
As for getting the box to change down, I find that a quick aggressive full throttle tap and lift gets the box to change down, and then once its selected its gear you can feed in the throttle as required. it may sound weird by these cars have an electronic throttle that appears to be linked to the engine management computer as well as the gear box. It doesn’t seem to open the throttle until a gear has been selected. If it decides that it has selected the wrong gear you have to wait even longer, seams even worse if you manually select a gear and mash the throttle at the same time. I still don’t think I have worked out how to get it to work as quick as a manual box, however I’m getting better.
Fab advice - I've only had my 325i (my first Auto - was actually looking for a manual) for a few weeks and my one 'disappointment' has been in struggling to get it 'drop a cog' before a bend on moderately swift drives which don't really warrant switching to Steptronic (or even just sport mode). Simply putting my foot down was getting it to change, but also putting down more power than I wanted through the bend once the drivetrain had caught up - it was a similar story for overtaking where I just wanted to get in the power-band before moving out, taking a final look and then accelerating...Having read the above I've found that a gentle (not even full throttle for most purposes) stab of the loud peddle is sorting everything out and giving me that extra control/ confidence in the bends that I was struggling with before (and helped perform a lovely smooth over-take earlier when the opportunity arose) so thank you - my enjoyment of the car really has increased and so has my confidence with it!
ezakimak said:
You may need to set the pressures and then re-calibrate the tyre pressure monitor once driving. It works by monitoring the abs wheel sensors and not the pressure in the tires. If the abs sensors suddenly see one of the wheel speed sensors showing a higher speed over a couple of hundred meters then it will set of the alarm.
Ryan.
Done, thanks again for the advice. Still loving the 325, spent 30mins reading the manual learning it. For example, dropping and raising the windows from the remote - how cool is that?! Might be old hat to those who have owned BMWs for ages but this luxury is all new to me Ryan.
I have an automatic E91 325i, with the 3 litre engine. With regards to changing down I have the luxury of having flappy paddles so it's quite instantaneous, however changing down with the accelerator is a bit slow. The engine and gearbox itself is excellent and a wonderful cruising machine, it’s not the quickest but fast enough. I would love a new 335i though, one day!
I've got the earlier 2.5 unit in my E90. I only get about 23mpg but then most of my driving is around the doors. It will probably be closer to high 20's under most peoples daily driving. Easily get 30+ on a run.
As for kit, mine is not that well specced but I went for the MSport. It has nicer seats and handles that bit better although the coupe's have the same suspention as the MSport i believe if you fancied the E92.
The professional stereo isn't up to much and I'm not sure what the best option is but it wasn't a deal breaker.
Edited to add, just realised you are talking about the coupe. Doh.
As for kit, mine is not that well specced but I went for the MSport. It has nicer seats and handles that bit better although the coupe's have the same suspention as the MSport i believe if you fancied the E92.
The professional stereo isn't up to much and I'm not sure what the best option is but it wasn't a deal breaker.
Edited to add, just realised you are talking about the coupe. Doh.
JFReturns said:
Yeah sorry, when I created this thread I didn't know he difference between each E9x...
I'm loving the stereo, but up until very recently my daily driver was a Ka!
I only just got the hang of the E9x range of numbers and then they brought the new model out I'm loving the stereo, but up until very recently my daily driver was a Ka!
The car looks sweet. I'm sure in terms of quality, it's a bit of a step up from a Ka.
Small update - really enjoying the E92. Such a lovely place to be and makes me feel relaxed at the end of a hard day at work.
Averaging 25.5mpg so far. Not too bad, basically means £75 of fuel gives 310 miles or thereabouts. That's with high octane.
Engine is a peach, and manual mode is great for the rare occasions I fancy some involvement and hanging onto the gears. Country lanes aren't really this cars forte but it copes well enough. Cruising on the motorway it excels.
Averaging 25.5mpg so far. Not too bad, basically means £75 of fuel gives 310 miles or thereabouts. That's with high octane.
Engine is a peach, and manual mode is great for the rare occasions I fancy some involvement and hanging onto the gears. Country lanes aren't really this cars forte but it copes well enough. Cruising on the motorway it excels.
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