A 6Cyl/8Cyl What car.

[R2T2]

With fuel the way it is, I can't help but think about swapping my Grande in for something with a little more oomph and a better noise as a daily.

I need something with a decent size 4/5 seats with a decent boot.
Decent pace when pushed
Comfortable, able to do long monotonous journeys with ease
Prefer Bluetooth, but happy to retrofit headunit.
Not look tired/Need loads of work.
Auto/Manual, not remote fussed.
Petrol, an absolute must.


Cost: Looking at about 3k, may be able to push to 4.

Insurance: Being 20, with 2 years no claims this is unfortunately a major factor, so insurance is a factor to bear in mind.
What would you recommend?

I've so far thought of

530/540i Sport
330i/325i
Mk4 R32


Anything else I may have overseen?

[Dannbodge]

330i would be my choice.

[DonkeyApple]

I agree. The 3L S6 from BMW is a great engine and the power deliver definitely suits English roads. A very engaging power plant.

[kambites]

The 3-series is pretty pokey in the back. Fine if you aren't going to use the rear seats much or will only use them for children, but not a car you'd want to regularly carry four, let alone 5, adults in.

[LittleEnus]

Fuel will increase again soon you know that right?!

[sunnydude959]

Fuel prices are going to go up again. It seems too good to be true that fuel prices have fallen so much, and when something seems too good to be true - it usually is.

[R2T2]

I know it's only going to go 1 way, but I can't realistically see it being cheaper again, and with the relentless war on the motorist, especially in Bristol I can see 6/8cyl lumps being phased out for 3pot turbos. I want to do it whilst there are still options out there.

I only ever use the back seats for carrying work stuff (think printers and such) and taking my nieces/nephew out (all teens, and that's very rarely indeed!)

I was thinking about a 330i estate, to make it easier again, but there aren't many that I can find that haven't been abused, in my budget and not the other side of the country.

[BritishRacinGrin]

R2T2 said:

I was thinking about a 330i estate, to make it easier again, but there aren't many that I can find that haven't been abused, in my budget and not the other side of the country.

Sounds ideal... you only need to find one, right?

[RobM77]

kambites said:

The 3-series is pretty pokey in the back. Fine if you aren't going to use the rear seats much or will only use them for children, but not a car you'd want to regularly carry four, let alone 5, adults in.

Mine does 2 adults and 3 children now and then without an issue, but adults don't have much room, which is where a 5 series would be better. That's the price you pay for having a front engined rear drive layout - it sacrifices quite a bit of interior space.

[DonkeyApple]

R2T2 said:

I know it's only going to go 1 way, but I can't realistically see it being cheaper again, and with the relentless war on the motorist, especially in Bristol I can see 6/8cyl lumps being phased out for 3pot turbos. I want to do it whilst there are still options out there.

I only ever use the back seats for carrying work stuff (think printers and such) and taking my nieces/nephew out (all teens, and that's very rarely indeed!)

I was thinking about a 330i estate, to make it easier again, but there aren't many that I can find that haven't been abused, in my budget and not the other side of the country.

I agree with your sentiments. We are genuinely living in a very short window of time where we can own modest cars with over sized engines. All the new FI units may well be more powerful but have a totally different character to big displacement units.

The BMW 6 is a cracking engine. With regards to V8s it really depends what you want. You can't really get true V8 any longer in this space as all the pushrod engines have been replaced with DOHC units with VVC. The character is just very different, whereas modern I6 units still have the original essence of how all those infamous I6 engines of the past drove.

Personally, I'd hold out for a 330 but swerve the auto unit bits great in the diesels but they never got it spot on with the I6 engine.

[R2T2]

BritishRacinGrin said:

Sounds ideal... you only need to find one, right?

Yeah. All the ones by me either look tired, 150k+ or out of my budget.

[R2T2]

DonkeyApple said:

I agree with your sentiments. We are genuinely living in a very short window of time where we can own modest cars with over sized engines. All the new FI units may well be more powerful but have a totally different character to big displacement units.

The BMW 6 is a cracking engine. With regards to V8s it really depends what you want. You can't really get true V8 any longer in this space as all the pushrod engines have been replaced with DOHC units with VVC. The character is just very different, whereas modern I6 units still have the original essence of how all those infamous I6 engines of the past drove.

Personally, I'd hold out for a 330 but swerve the auto unit bits great in the diesels but they never got it spot on with the I6 engine.

I was looking at a 130i, but I'd need more space really. I want something the realistically achieves 25+ mpg(although not essential) and something with a sonorous engine note. I know that FI is going to be forced upon us which is why I want something a bit old school with a big NA I6. In 10 years it'll either be all electric/driverless or small capacity FI units, and I for one, am not looking forward to it.

[Smiley198700]

Another vote for the 330, the BMW straight 6s are lovely, can do the refined wafting thing very well but are at their best over 4k rpm, not a huge amount of torque (35i excluded obv) low down. I don't have any experience of the lump in the E46 but any BMW straight 6 gets the thumbs up from me

Could the budget be stretched to an E90, I know a lot of people on here disagree with this but I think the E46 looks very dated now...

[R2T2]

Smiley198700 said:

Another vote for the 330, the BMW straight 6s are lovely, can do the refined wafting thing very well but are at their best over 4k rpm, not a huge amount of torque (35i excluded obv) low down. I don't have any experience of the lump in the E46 but any BMW straight 6 gets the thumbs up from me

Could the budget be stretched to an E90, I know a lot of people on here disagree with this but I think the E46 looks very dated now...

Not unless I finance it, which I'm not keen on, and if I were to finance it, I would get a 335i, but then have to cope with the crippling insurances.
After a 330 maybe, but it's not feasible yet.

[longblackcoat]

I'd go for an E39 530i.

They're lovely to own, and you'll get a really good one for £2kish. I paid a slightly laughable £1500 a year or so back for an immaculate (other than a dent on the wing) SE model with FSH and under 90k genuine miles. Absolutely zero rust. What I miss over modern cars is Bluetooth/xenons and, er, that's about it. The (auto) gearbox is excellent, the stereo kicks, the cruise control is as easy to use as anything other than a Mercedes, and it's even reasonably economical at 28-29mpg. I've done a 1000-mile day in it and it was fine.

Only slight downside is that it doesn't have a massive amount of rear legroom, and realistically I'd call it a 4 seater rather than a 5 seater.

[andburg]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

[RobM77]

Smiley198700 said:

Another vote for the 330, the BMW straight 6s are lovely, can do the refined wafting thing very well but are at their best over 4k rpm, not a huge amount of torque (35i excluded obv) low down. I don't have any experience of the lump in the E46 but any BMW straight 6 gets the thumbs up from me

Could the budget be stretched to an E90, I know a lot of people on here disagree with this but I think the E46 looks very dated now...

It's a gorgeous engine, but ruined by the drive by wire throttle in my opinion. I've owned two generations of the engine, in a 2000 330ci and a 2007 Z4 3.0Si and generally speaking the engine got better with age (more powerful and more economical), but the DBW issues still plagued it and both cars got sold sooner than expected - my 330ci after a few months (it was that bad!) and my Z4C after a couple of years (much better, but still damm annoying). My personal favourite 6 cyl BMW is the E36 328i, which was the last six cylinder BMW made with a cable throttle; I owned a 328i sport coupé and loved it, although they are getting on a bit now (1999 were the last pure E36s made before the E46 crossover model came in). I've not driven an E36 M3, but I suspect I'd love it; I have tried an E46 M3 and the same old DBW issues plague it, although to a much lesser extent than the 330ci.

[edo]

Looks nice value.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

BMW 3 SERIES 3.0i 330i SE 4dr "LOW MILEAGE"
54000 miles
BLUE, FULL LEATHER INTERIOR, LAST OWNER SINCE 2007, REAR PARKING SENSORS, MULTIFUNCTION STEERING, FULL SERVICE HISTORY, Adjustable Steering Column/Wheel, Air Bag Driver, Air Bag Passenger, Air Bag Side, Air-Conditioning, Alarm, Alloy Wheels, Central Door Locking, Computer, Cruise Control, Deadlocks, Electric Windows, Electronic Stability Programme, Head Air Bags, Head Restraints, Immobiliser, In Car Entertainment, Mirrors External, Mirrors Internal, Parking Aid, Power-Assisted Steering, Seat Height Adjustment, Spare Wheel, Speakers, Traction Control System, Upholstery Leather. MOT JUNE 2015, HPI CLEAR, FULL SERVICE HISTORY, SPARE KEY. LOCATION: 1152 LONDON ROAD, NORBURY SW16 4DS, Website: www.m-r-autos.co.uk Tel: [phone] :::VIEWINGS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY:::, £3,749 p/x welcome

[LordGrover]

Fill yer boots: V8s & 6 cylinders.

[R2T2]

andburg said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...

That 530 looks preferable, although higher mileage, it's not been played with and has FSH, so with that in mind, 130k isn't such a worry is it?