E92 330i or Alpina D3 Biturbo

[carbon83]

Hi all,

I currently have a E92 LCI 330i M Sport and I have been given the opportunity to swap it for a E90 LCI Alpina D3 Biturbo as the extra rear doors will help (it has some extras such as bluetooth, auto wipers but no idrive).

Both are very different cars but I am struggling to decide what to do.

I love the smooth 6 cylinder petrol engine and the spec of mine but E92's are everywhere.
I love the Alpina's rarity and looks (I know the looks are marmite but I like it). Its a 4 cylinder diesel engine of course...

My annual mileage is about 5000 miles per year with a long motorway journey once a month so DPF wise should be OK for the Alpina.

So just wondering what you good folk think I should do as I am really stuck!

Thanks

[smashy]

As an Alpina fan I had a b3s 2004 im sadly saying leave it alone that has the N47 engine which had all the timing chain issues. Failing that evo reviewed it over several pages and loved it when it came out they really enthused with the way Alpina had redone the torque curve..also revved to 5000 and turn in etc was brilliant it seems...you may be able to find that review online

[Mike335i]

Whilst Alpina make some great cars, I would never suggest going from a lovely petrol 6 pot to a 4 cylinder diesel, unless you really need the mpg. At only 5 k miles you really wouldn't need the diesel.

Keep the 330i.

[A4 cabrio]

Mike335i said:

Whilst Alpina make some great cars, I would never suggest going from a lovely petrol 6 pot to a 4 cylinder diesel, unless you really need the mpg. At only 5 k miles you really wouldn't need the diesel.

Keep the 330i.

This 100%

I can't comment on the Alpina but I sold my E93 330i & bought a brand new Golf GTD & every day I regret it, I miss the 6 cylinder engine so much, so from my point of view, once the novelty of having the Alpina wore off, the 4 pot diesel would really start to grate on you.

[AAD44H]

Keep petrol

[Mr Whippy]

Alpina good.

4 pot diesel bad (good in appropriate cars, but a luxury/sports/premium car then no)

[Triumph Man]

Did Alpina ever do a 6 cylinder diesel E9x?

[smashy]

Triumph Man said:

Did Alpina ever do a 6 cylinder diesel E9x?

No Triumph Man

[Mr Tidy]

My first 2 BMWs were 4 cylinder turbo-diesels.

Then I saw the light and the last 3 have been straight 6 N/A petrols, 2 of them with the 3 litre N52 engine.

No way will I ever be going back to a diesel 4 - I hope that answers your question OP!

[cerb4.5lee]

I wouldn't change from that silky smooth petrol to a 4 pot diesel...I made that mistake a few years ago when I swapped my X5 4.8iS for a 520d!!

I would however swap from a 6 pot 330i to a 6 pot diesel though...because I prefer a more torquey power delivery, and the N52 was a little limp in that regard for me.

[wax lyrical]

You really should be going for something like an E93 335i . I agree E92's look a bit 'ordinary'.

My E93 335i is on 140k miles at the mo and still running sweetly and pulling like a train. Lovely sound too.

[Mike335i]

wax lyrical said:

You really should be going for something like an E93 335i . I agree E92's look a bit 'ordinary'.

My E93 335i is on 140k miles at the mo and still running sweetly and pulling like a train. Lovely sound too.

Bodes well for the future of mine then.

[wax lyrical]

Well I have to admit, although I've had the car for about 7 years and since 50k miles on the clock, it's had the turbos replaced twice under warranty.

Mike335i said:

wax lyrical said:

You really should be going for something like an E93 335i . I agree E92's look a bit 'ordinary'.

My E93 335i is on 140k miles at the mo and still running sweetly and pulling like a train. Lovely sound too.

Bodes well for the future of mine then.

[gizlaroc]

A good mate just swapped his first 'proper' car, 3.0i Z4 for a more practical E92.
He 'had' to have the 335d as all the reviews said how wonderful it is, how it can be remapped for even more power if needed and how much better it was.

It has gone after 8 weeks.

He now appreciates what I was saying about rev range and sound, and soon realised that also having power on tap can get a bit boring.
He said it would make a great commuter car, but his car is a play thing, and for that the diesel was just dull as fk.

[Mike335i]

gizlaroc said:

A good mate just swapped his first 'proper' car, 3.0i Z4 for a more practical E92.
He 'had' to have the 335d as all the reviews said how wonderful it is, how it can be remapped for even more power if needed and how much better it was.

It has gone after 8 weeks.

He now appreciates what I was saying about rev range and sound, and soon realised that also having power on tap can get a bit boring.
He said it would make a great commuter car, but his car is a play thing, and for that the diesel was just dull as fk.

Sounds about right.

[smashy]

Mike335i said:

gizlaroc said:

A good mate just swapped his first 'proper' car, 3.0i Z4 for a more practical E92.
He 'had' to have the 335d as all the reviews said how wonderful it is, how it can be remapped for even more power if needed and how much better it was.

It has gone after 8 weeks.

He now appreciates what I was saying about rev range and sound, and soon realised that also having power on tap can get a bit boring.
He said it would make a great commuter car, but his car is a play thing, and for that the diesel was just dull as fk.

Sounds about right.

Please tell me where in the SE you can do this "Play Thing" thingy stuff?

[LocoBlade]

A quick Google of "N47 timing chain" as mentioned above should make the decision a whole lot easier, although 5k a year and diesel are not a good combo anyway as the savings in fuel will be negligible and DPF could still be an issue even with the odd motorway drive.