F31 potential purchase, what to choose?

[84Reasons]

Looking at potentially getting an f31 in the coming year or so due to starting a family, keeping my e93 won't work I don't think ... Haha
I'm a big petrol fan love the sound and being able to rev high however I've been tempted by a 330d as compared to the 330i it seems to beat it in every field: economy, performance, tunability & purchase price and I don't think I'd get that good a sound out of the 4 cylinder 330i anyway. 340i isn't an option as it's out of budget and I think the 335i isn't LCI which I'd want.
My question is what are people's experience with both the 330d and 330i and which is best to go for? I'm mainly sad about it not sounding as good as well revving low, but logically it makes sense to go for the 330d.

[s70rmp]

what about the 335d - excellent engine and with a lot of power

[84Reasons]

Indeed, I was tempted. It comes down to price again really, the 330d is just within my budget where as the 335d is not and I could easily tune the 330d to achieve similar power

[s70rmp]

the 335d is coming down and the engine has the twin turbo instead of the single turbo in the 330d

[dasbimmerowner]

Lots of reasons to go 330d here if you ask me!

330d is far easier to find as a Touring than a 330i, so your pool of cars is much bigger to begin with.
330d is quicker / more economical etc as you say, it even sounds reasonable too.
330d can be had in both rwd & 4wd with plenty around, if my memory is correct the 330i didn't come with xdrive in the UK?

330i is cheaper to insure though (petrol F series cars are cheaper to insure than diesel equivalents in the 330/335/340 range)

[Smuler]

I ran a 340i for 16 months. What made it a great car was how it was optioned. Without what I consider key options, it would've been (much) less of a car.

Therefore the above point regarding the greater pool of 330d's I think is spot on. If you agree with the need for options, the bigger the pool the better your chances.

My key options included. Pano Sunroof. Adaptive Suspension. M Sport Plus Pack , in particular the upgraded brakes.

[curvature]

I did 72k miles in 3 years in my F31 330d and it was brilliant.

Averaged 42mpg in that time with a best of nearly 60mpg on a long 50mph run.

Mine had the factory tow bar, TV, pan roof, adaptive dampers, heated seats all round, heated steering wheel, head up display, adaptive lights, HK sound, Pro nav, lane departure and more!

It was a pre-production model that I bought direct from BMW on a 12 plate.

Swapped it for a 640d GC which is a lovely car but I do miss the touring and it’s handling.

[84Reasons]

s70rmp said:

the 335d is coming down and the engine has the twin turbo instead of the single turbo in the 330d

True, depending on when I get way I make take another look but at the moment it's out of my budget

[84Reasons]

dasbimmerowner said:

Lots of reasons to go 330d here if you ask me!

330d is far easier to find as a Touring than a 330i, so your pool of cars is much bigger to begin with.
330d is quicker / more economical etc as you say, it even sounds reasonable too.
330d can be had in both rwd & 4wd with plenty around, if my memory is correct the 330i didn't come with xdrive in the UK?

330i is cheaper to insure though (petrol F series cars are cheaper to insure than diesel equivalents in the 330/335/340 range)

I agree with you as well, they don't sound terrible for a diesel and I doubt the 2 litre 330i would sound much better anyway (I'm coming from an N53 which sounds great IMO)
In terms of X drive as you said I don't think they did a 330i one, it doesn't have to be Xdrive but it seems they are quicker Xdrive which does interest me however I'd worry about fun factor slightly.
That's interesting regarding insurance, I should be okay however as I have 5 years NCD (6 by the time I buy it most likely)

[84Reasons]

Smuler said:

I ran a 340i for 16 months. What made it a great car was how it was optioned. Without what I consider key options, it would've been (much) less of a car.

Therefore the above point regarding the greater pool of 330d's I think is spot on. If you agree with the need for options, the bigger the pool the better your chances.

My key options included. Pano Sunroof. Adaptive Suspension. M Sport Plus Pack , in particular the upgraded brakes.

That's a good list of key options, I definitely agree. I would ideally go for a 340i to be honest but if I had that money I'd maybe look for an m3, the 340is are still quite expensive!

[84Reasons]

curvature said:

I did 72k miles in 3 years in my F31 330d and it was brilliant.

Averaged 42mpg in that time with a best of nearly 60mpg on a long 50mph run.

Mine had the factory tow bar, TV, pan roof, adaptive dampers, heated seats all round, heated steering wheel, head up display, adaptive lights, HK sound, Pro nav, lane departure and more!

It was a pre-production model that I bought direct from BMW on a 12 plate.

Swapped it for a 640d GC which is a lovely car but I do miss the touring and it’s handling.

That's great to hear, such a good spec too! I want to pick up at least a 2016 model as they have the LCI lights which I prefer!

[gizlaroc]

84Reasons said:

That's great to hear, such a good spec too! I want to pick up at least a 2016 model as they have the LCI lights which I prefer!

From September 2015 build I think.

Should be ULEZ compliant then as well then.

[84Reasons]

gizlaroc said:

84Reasons said:

That's great to hear, such a good spec too! I want to pick up at least a 2016 model as they have the LCI lights which I prefer!

From September 2015 build I think.

Should be ULEZ compliant then as well then.

I might check the tail end of 2015 as well then, good to know they are ulez compliant.

[dasbimmerowner]

84Reasons said:

In terms of X drive as you said I don't think they did a 330i one, it doesn't have to be Xdrive but it seems they are quicker Xdrive which does interest me however I'd worry about fun factor slightly.

Quicker off the line yes, but the Xdrive cars have the SE springs, whilst the Sdrive (aka rwd) cars in MSport trim got the lower/firmer Msport suspension. So you'll note the Xdrive cars have a higher ride height than the Sdrive cars. There's a good chunk of Xdrive owners who end up switching to aftermarket ACS springs to lower the ride height back down and have less wallow in the cars handling. Stock vs Stock the sdrive drives better, but on a cold wet day the Xdrive version would be off from the lights sooner.

HTH.

[JWH]

84Reasons said:

I might check the tail end of 2015 as well then, good to know they are ulez compliant.

Beware if LEDs are important to you - there was a brief period up to somewhere in late 2015 when LCI M sport cars still had halogen headlights, the LEDs were added to the standard M Sport spec a little while after the LCI cars started.

[84Reasons]

dasbimmerowner said:

84Reasons said:

In terms of X drive as you said I don't think they did a 330i one, it doesn't have to be Xdrive but it seems they are quicker Xdrive which does interest me however I'd worry about fun factor slightly.

Quicker off the line yes, but the Xdrive cars have the SE springs, whilst the Sdrive (aka rwd) cars in MSport trim got the lower/firmer Msport suspension. So you'll note the Xdrive cars have a higher ride height than the Sdrive cars. There's a good chunk of Xdrive owners who end up switching to aftermarket ACS springs to lower the ride height back down and have less wallow in the cars handling. Stock vs Stock the sdrive drives better, but on a cold wet day the Xdrive version would be off from the lights sooner.

HTH.

Ah I certainly didn't realise that, that might be the decider then as I would want msport height/handling definitely
I don't think there's much in it anyway 0-60 wise

[84Reasons]

JWH said:

84Reasons said:

I might check the tail end of 2015 as well then, good to know they are ulez compliant.

Beware if LEDs are important to you - there was a brief period up to somewhere in late 2015 when LCI M sport cars still had halogen headlights, the LEDs were added to the standard M Sport spec a little while after the LCI cars started.

Yeah I've noticed that, I basically want the angel eyes offered on the headlights which I think from what I've seen is actually 2016 that it's offered.

[mmm-five]

Mine's a June 2016 (i.e. non-LCI) F31, and has xenons rather than halogen or LED.

According to the brochure, the LCI F31 came with LED headlight/foglights/rear lights as standard - and Icon adaptive LEDs were an optional extra.

I don't think it matters what the base spec is, as long as you check the spec/build sheet before you buy (on pre-LCI models option codes for standard xenons are 522A, adaptive xenons are 524A).

2014 pre-LCI F31 option codes:

[84Reasons]

mmm-five said:

Mine's a June 2016 (i.e. non-LCI) F31, and has xenons rather than halogen or LED.

According to the brochure, the LCI F31 came with LED headlight/foglights/rear lights as standard - and Icon adaptive LEDs were an optional extra.

I don't think it matters what the base spec is, as long as you check the spec/build sheet before you buy (on pre-LCI models option codes for standard xenons are 522A, adaptive xenons are 524A).

2014 pre-LCI F31 option codes:

Hmm okay, that's interesting to know, thanks for the information.
I don't believe many people specced the LED headlights as I haven't found one as of yet, it could be that I find one eventually now I know they exist and could get it cheaper as it's older too!

[Hifly130]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I’m also looking at either F31 330i vs 330d x drive in the UK. I’m not too fussed about straightline performance over the two and I do probably do 8000miles per year. I value handling over having xdrive as will probably put winter tyres on if I go for the 330i.

I’m currently running a 2006 130i and the single thing I love most is the straight 6 petrol noise. Does a 330d straight 6 sound anything close to my 130i? If the 330d doesn’t sound that great in comparison then I may as well go for the 330i and possibly keep my old 130i ( might sell if anyone is interested)

I’m asking as these times of lockdown is making it tricky to view cars in the flesh.