Considering an E46...
Discussion
22/23?
Car sales exec for Vauxhall.
Im going to go out on a limb and say a CSL probably isnt within budget, but obviously i may be wrong.
I had a 318Ci Sport - did what it was intended to do just fine. Looked great, but didnt have the go to back up the looks unfortunately.
Id go for a nice 325Ci if you could? There are a few about at decent prices. It really depends what you want to spend?
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/807115.ht...
Prices really are dropping. I havent got a lot of time to search for you and mine wasnt really that well spec'd but if it is an M Sport I know you will get parking sensors, climate, cruise as well as the usual stuff. Look at insurance too.
Leather is a good option, xenons if you can find them?
IME they are fairly bulletproof -
Car sales exec for Vauxhall.
Im going to go out on a limb and say a CSL probably isnt within budget, but obviously i may be wrong.
I had a 318Ci Sport - did what it was intended to do just fine. Looked great, but didnt have the go to back up the looks unfortunately.
Id go for a nice 325Ci if you could? There are a few about at decent prices. It really depends what you want to spend?
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/807115.ht...
Prices really are dropping. I havent got a lot of time to search for you and mine wasnt really that well spec'd but if it is an M Sport I know you will get parking sensors, climate, cruise as well as the usual stuff. Look at insurance too.
Leather is a good option, xenons if you can find them?
IME they are fairly bulletproof -
I have two 330d's - an 02' Sport and an 04' SE Touring. Both have leather - I personally wouldn't consider one without - the main differences are:
Sport - Excellent bucket seats, firmer suspension, black headlining (doesn't sound much I know but IMO really adds to the feel when in the car), standard 18" alloys, auto dimming mirror and a chunky 'M' steering wheel with controls (stereo, cruise).
SE - basically above less bucket seats (still leather though), sofer suspension, standard roof lining and a slimmer steering wheel.
ES - don't go there.
I prefer the Sports suspension when on a/b roads but it can become tiresome on motorways.
Engines... How many miles do you do? I do about 400 miles a week so the 330d is ideal - packs a punch and quite economical (average 36MPG). My brother in law has an '03 330 Ci - he doesn't do many miles but averages about 28MPG.
Sport - Excellent bucket seats, firmer suspension, black headlining (doesn't sound much I know but IMO really adds to the feel when in the car), standard 18" alloys, auto dimming mirror and a chunky 'M' steering wheel with controls (stereo, cruise).
SE - basically above less bucket seats (still leather though), sofer suspension, standard roof lining and a slimmer steering wheel.
ES - don't go there.
I prefer the Sports suspension when on a/b roads but it can become tiresome on motorways.
Engines... How many miles do you do? I do about 400 miles a week so the 330d is ideal - packs a punch and quite economical (average 36MPG). My brother in law has an '03 330 Ci - he doesn't do many miles but averages about 28MPG.
It's a good point. Doing a quick calculation... I save about £35 per month on actual fuel costs based on 36mpg diesel vs 28MPG petrol although I'd be interested to see if 28MPG is a readily achievable on the 3.0 petrol.
Are diesel cars that much more than the petrols? Presuming they are... isn't it relative anyway as, when you come to sell it, you'd get more than the petrol equivalent?
Are diesel cars that much more than the petrols? Presuming they are... isn't it relative anyway as, when you come to sell it, you'd get more than the petrol equivalent?
I think the last two posts show how much the MPG can vary between driving styles/circumstances. My daily cummute is roughly 20% A roads, 60% motorway and 20% crawling in town. I'm sure if I drove mine a little more carefully I'd manage 40MPG but then again I'm sure I would die of boredom!
Going back to the diesel vs petrol though, with the new petrol engines BMW have now I'm sure it's much tighter than it used to be. But I think my argument still stands that you may pay a premium for a diesel car in the first place but you would also see that returned when you sell it so it really is down to the difference in actual fuel costs? Unless diesels are that much more to maintain?
Going back to the diesel vs petrol though, with the new petrol engines BMW have now I'm sure it's much tighter than it used to be. But I think my argument still stands that you may pay a premium for a diesel car in the first place but you would also see that returned when you sell it so it really is down to the difference in actual fuel costs? Unless diesels are that much more to maintain?
pstruck said:
mikey-r said:
I'd be interested to see if 28MPG is a readily achievable on the 3.0 petrol.
Mine is showing 29MPG average over the last 3000 miles. Driving consists mostly of my commute of dual carriageway and a bit of town work, plus also a fair bit of country B roads.
Now it's gets used for shorter journeys it's down to 26.
It does like a litre of oil every 1500 miles or so but it has done 107k now.
That M3 does look a peach even if a little pricey but I suppose it does have very low miles.
Very rewarding cars to drive but too high cost/maintenance for me. My neighbour has an '03 M3 with late 30k on the clock. His last service was over £1000 (I'm guessing it was an inspec 2) and he struggle to get better than 18MPG. My Subaru WRX (with PPP) averaged better MPG than that with very comparable performance and much cheap servicing.
All that said... if they had made an M3 Touring I might have been sorely tempted!
Very rewarding cars to drive but too high cost/maintenance for me. My neighbour has an '03 M3 with late 30k on the clock. His last service was over £1000 (I'm guessing it was an inspec 2) and he struggle to get better than 18MPG. My Subaru WRX (with PPP) averaged better MPG than that with very comparable performance and much cheap servicing.
All that said... if they had made an M3 Touring I might have been sorely tempted!
I've got a 330ci sport, manual averaging around 28mpg ish on a mixture of roads but no motorways.
Personnally I'd go for the 330 over any of the other models, in either petrol or diesel as both are very capable. The choice between the two I guess would be down to the milage you intend to do.
The running costs between the 325 and 330 are virtually the same, so really, it's not worth getting the smaller engine. As for the 4-pot models, I've driven a few and certainly wouldn't rate them.
Definately look for a sport, the extras are more than worth the slight premium in price, ie seats, bodykit, wheels etc. If you aren't particularly bothered about that, I'd certainly advise you to look for an SE with sports seats as the standard ones over long distance really aren't very comfy.
Whatever you decide, there's plenty to choose from and they are pretty reliable so it seems. Good luck with the hunt and purchase.
Personnally I'd go for the 330 over any of the other models, in either petrol or diesel as both are very capable. The choice between the two I guess would be down to the milage you intend to do.
The running costs between the 325 and 330 are virtually the same, so really, it's not worth getting the smaller engine. As for the 4-pot models, I've driven a few and certainly wouldn't rate them.
Definately look for a sport, the extras are more than worth the slight premium in price, ie seats, bodykit, wheels etc. If you aren't particularly bothered about that, I'd certainly advise you to look for an SE with sports seats as the standard ones over long distance really aren't very comfy.
Whatever you decide, there's plenty to choose from and they are pretty reliable so it seems. Good luck with the hunt and purchase.
mpm1987 said:
Im averaging 30mpg in my 330d sport auto, with mixed driving, however, if I'm doing a motorway journey, I would normally see about 36mpg.
Similar figures for me, maybe 35 in summer average.I found the SE too soft and seats not supportive enough. Otherwise, thoroughly loved it.
i can average around low 20's of sensible local driving
wind that down to 17/18 when abit of enthusiasm is in the mix! ;-)
I own a 325ci sport with the SMG gearbox
the 'box is abit of a marmite thing, you either love it or hate it, i sometimes feel both, especially crawling in traffic up a hill is the worst! but empty country roads.....hmmmm......lovely!
anyway back to the original question, from my experiences the sports suspension is quite hard, especially if you have bumpy roads in your area, and as for the 6 pot 2.5, its great! its moderatly fast, sounds pretty good aswell, but i would prefer a 330!
wind that down to 17/18 when abit of enthusiasm is in the mix! ;-)
I own a 325ci sport with the SMG gearbox
the 'box is abit of a marmite thing, you either love it or hate it, i sometimes feel both, especially crawling in traffic up a hill is the worst! but empty country roads.....hmmmm......lovely!
anyway back to the original question, from my experiences the sports suspension is quite hard, especially if you have bumpy roads in your area, and as for the 6 pot 2.5, its great! its moderatly fast, sounds pretty good aswell, but i would prefer a 330!
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