BMW 3 series - Petrol needed ?? which one??
Discussion
Hi All,
Mrs Ice wants to change her 2008 C class, which has been a great car.....we have mainly been a Mercedes family for the last 10-12 years and before that were BMW fans!
Mrs Ice likes the 3 series shape from 2012 on wards and I think we will go small petrol engine this time.
I had the 328i hire car, which I believe was a 2.0T in Toronto a couple of years back and it was brilliant, quick, economical and a great place to sit.
So I have started to look at the petrol engines, unfortunately 6 cylinders is, we need to tip our hat towards some-sort of economy.....so over to you....
Looking at 2012-2014 BMW 3 series with the 4 cylinder petrol engines, what are my options?
320i
328i
What are they like to own and run, are these both 2.0 T with different mapping?
Are they twin turbo? Single turbo?
Thanks in advance.
IceBoy
Mrs Ice wants to change her 2008 C class, which has been a great car.....we have mainly been a Mercedes family for the last 10-12 years and before that were BMW fans!
Mrs Ice likes the 3 series shape from 2012 on wards and I think we will go small petrol engine this time.
I had the 328i hire car, which I believe was a 2.0T in Toronto a couple of years back and it was brilliant, quick, economical and a great place to sit.
So I have started to look at the petrol engines, unfortunately 6 cylinders is, we need to tip our hat towards some-sort of economy.....so over to you....
Looking at 2012-2014 BMW 3 series with the 4 cylinder petrol engines, what are my options?
320i
328i
What are they like to own and run, are these both 2.0 T with different mapping?
Are they twin turbo? Single turbo?
Thanks in advance.
IceBoy
Edited by IceBoy on Monday 20th February 08:47
We've had our F31 328i auto for 2 1/2 years. It's a single turbo.
I drove both the 320i and 328i and the 320i felt like the handbrake was on, probably similar to a 328i and 335i.
From what I've read, the 328i has different internal engine parts, pistons, etc compared to the 320i, and will remap to 290~ BHP, whereas the 320i will remap to 245~BHP if that's your bag.
The 328i has a decent turn of speed and 40MPG is easy enough on a motorway run at over 70 mph+. Overall ours is reading 35.
If I was buying now I'd probably buy a 340i but there were very few 335i tourings available in budget when I bought mine.
Option wise, I'd look for folding mirrors, Adaptive Lights and Pro Nav.
I drove both the 320i and 328i and the 320i felt like the handbrake was on, probably similar to a 328i and 335i.
From what I've read, the 328i has different internal engine parts, pistons, etc compared to the 320i, and will remap to 290~ BHP, whereas the 320i will remap to 245~BHP if that's your bag.
The 328i has a decent turn of speed and 40MPG is easy enough on a motorway run at over 70 mph+. Overall ours is reading 35.
If I was buying now I'd probably buy a 340i but there were very few 335i tourings available in budget when I bought mine.
Option wise, I'd look for folding mirrors, Adaptive Lights and Pro Nav.
I just had the new 330i for a couple of days (same as 328i, just a new name and now 252hp) and it is a cracker.
Seriously quick imho for a 4 cyl petrol, I had to look up the figures as it felt quicker than the 5.9 seconds I thought it was.
I did Norwich to Solihull and then Greenwich and back and it returned 46mpg.
Be careful if buying used, new ones can be had for £27k through brokers and you get BMWs 4.9% apr.
Probably works out cheaper than a 4 year old car.
Seriously quick imho for a 4 cyl petrol, I had to look up the figures as it felt quicker than the 5.9 seconds I thought it was.
I did Norwich to Solihull and then Greenwich and back and it returned 46mpg.
Be careful if buying used, new ones can be had for £27k through brokers and you get BMWs 4.9% apr.
Probably works out cheaper than a 4 year old car.
There have been a disproportionate number of 328i failures reported on the Bimmerpost forum compared with any other F3x. It's hard to know if this is just bad luck or whether there is something specific to that model. In its defence, there are lots of 328i models in the US, so I would have expected any problem to be widely reported there, and it doesn't appear to be. Just worth considering though.
I guess the 328i is probably quite a good all rounder and might be quite fun with a manual box.
Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
My old 2.0T leon did manage low 30s mpg so a newer bmw unit should be quite good on fuel.
Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
My old 2.0T leon did manage low 30s mpg so a newer bmw unit should be quite good on fuel.
Mike335i said:
I guess the 328i is probably quite a good all rounder and might be quite fun with a manual box.
Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
I've always fancied one to be fair, and when I compare it to my 6 pot 330i it betters it in every way(quicker/better economy/more torque). Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
These 4 pot turbo engines really make the older bigger capacity N/A engines seem very old fashioned to me, I presume it's just a little smoothness you lose out on...but so what.
cerb4.5lee said:
Mike335i said:
I guess the 328i is probably quite a good all rounder and might be quite fun with a manual box.
Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
I've always fancied one to be fair, and when I compare it to my 6 pot 330i it betters it in every way(quicker/better economy/more torque). Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
These 4 pot turbo engines really make the older bigger capacity N/A engines seem very old fashioned to me, I presume it's just a little smoothness you lose out on...but so what.
Our 125i is good, don't get me wrong, but I'll take the N52 in my 330i any day of the week. The tractability, noise, smoothness and just general power delivery is sooooooo much nicer.
Swervin_Mervin said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Mike335i said:
I guess the 328i is probably quite a good all rounder and might be quite fun with a manual box.
Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
I've always fancied one to be fair, and when I compare it to my 6 pot 330i it betters it in every way(quicker/better economy/more torque). Not tried a turbo 4 pot 3 series yet, but I imagine the lighter front end and mid range torque is probably quite a good combination.
These 4 pot turbo engines really make the older bigger capacity N/A engines seem very old fashioned to me, I presume it's just a little smoothness you lose out on...but so what.
Our 125i is good, don't get me wrong, but I'll take the N52 in my 330i any day of the week. The tractability, noise, smoothness and just general power delivery is sooooooo much nicer.
I used to be a N/A fan through and through, but I seem to be going with the times now rightly or wrongly.
IceBoy said:
Hi All,
Mrs Ice wants to change her 2008 C class, which has been a great car.....we have mainly been a Mercedes family for the last 10-12 years and before that were BMW fans!
Mrs Ice likes the 3 series shape from 2012 on wards and I think we will go small petrol engine this time.
Despite it all, I'd be looking at a current C Class if the $$$ will stretch. A lovely thing.Mrs Ice wants to change her 2008 C class, which has been a great car.....we have mainly been a Mercedes family for the last 10-12 years and before that were BMW fans!
Mrs Ice likes the 3 series shape from 2012 on wards and I think we will go small petrol engine this time.
Edited by IceBoy on Monday 20th February 08:47
cerb4.5lee said:
It's a lovely engine for sure, but it doesn't really deliver the numbers for me when compared to the newer blown power plants.
I used to be a N/A fan through and through, but I seem to be going with the times now rightly or wrongly.
Can't say I agree with that at all - I've currently got the previous shape 125i with the detuned 3 litre N52, and the numbers I'm seeing are remarkably similar to what Merv has quoted on the current model. Sit at 70 I can easily see 40 mpg, at 80 that probably drops to around 37 - only on roads like the Toll Road and the M40 does that drop down towards 30. I used to be a N/A fan through and through, but I seem to be going with the times now rightly or wrongly.
Now I haven't driven the equivalent 2 litre turbo, but I have spent some time driving my mother's 220i. For instance 1 weekend I went up to Cheshire Oaks and Carden Park in the 125i, and averaged about 36 for the journey - did a similar trip to Liverpool airport the next weekend in the 220i, and ended up doing 34. So similar MPG, less power, less flexibility, nowhere near as smooth or nice to drive. Don't get me wrong it was still a nice powerplant, just didn't really compare to what went before.
I was looking at a 328i next, but the 220i experience has convinced me to wait until I can stretch to a 335i.
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