e90 330i SE vs 325i SE - is there much difference?

[pilot72]

Ok, looking to buy a new car and ideally I would like a 330i SE on a 2005 plate (e90). Thing is, I haven't seen that many coming up for sale over the last month and none in the spec that I would like.

So I'm thinking to start looking for a 325i SE also, just to improve the chances of finding the right car. What differences are there between the 330 and 325? Am I right in saying that it's basically the same engine with a few tweeks to the 330(including air intake and mapping)?? Any other differences apart from this?

I haven't had the opportunity to drive them both as I haven't come across any in my area. I would be interested to hear from those who have driven both and whether the difference is very noticeable. I just have this feeling that if I end up with a 325 that I'm going to wonder if I made the wrong choice and if I should have held out for a 330.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Cheers.

[pilot72]

I just read somewhere that the early e90 325's seem to only have a 2.5l and not 3.0l as I thought. Is this correct?

[Fox-]

Yes, this is correct.

[pilot72]

Thanks for the replies.

Pretty much what I was thinking. Guess I'll just have to be patient and wait for the right car to come up.

What's the likelihood that there'll be more cars around next month when the '09 plate comes out?

[ITP]

My 2005 E90 330iSE(auto) will be up for grabs soon. Has v.high spec. What spec/colour are you after?

[pilot72]

ITP said:

My 2005 E90 330iSE(auto) will be up for grabs soon. Has v.high spec. What spec/colour are you after?

Hi ITP, unfortunately I'm after one with a manual gearbox and they seem to be rarer than the autos (I prefer a manual from a driving enjoyment point of view). I'm looking for a saloon with around 50 to 65K on the clock (to bring the price down to an affordable point), FBMWSH, together with leather interior (black, grey, lemon or beige - depending on how this looks with exterior colour. Don't like the 'Tera' red brown colour). Don't really want the Burr Walnut interior trim either. My ideal would also have front sport seats and ellipsoid alloys, but can't have everything. Exterior colours - would consider Titanium Silver, Black Sapphire, Sparkling Graphite, Orient Blue, Monaco Blue. Maybe I'm being too fussy!! I've seen one or two cars come up on the BMW approved search, but these were lower mileage and this together with the dealer premium put them out of my price range.

The sports suspension was also an option I was looking for, but not so sure now as there have been comments in another thread that this is the worst suspension out of the three options for the 330i (i.e. normal SE, SE with factory fitted sport suspension or M-sport trim). Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to sample the difference for myself as yet as all the cars I have seen have been the wrong spec and the other side of the country from me (I would travel if it was the right spec). M-sport trim is probably out anyway as these didn't seem to start until '55 plate and the book price is about £1.5k more than an '05 SE.

[ITP]

No problem, i prefer manual aswell (i bought the car mainly for the mrs who prefers auto), although the auto in the E90 is a good one, much better than the E46 autobox.
As you are after an 05 car and are probably not buying from a main dealer, it may be worth checking if buying privatley, if the BMW warranty has been extended. Not that there have been any problems with mine at all but with all the electronics (satnav, elec seats/roof, traction control stuff etc etc) it sometimes make me wonder how much they would cost to fix if they did go wrong. More than the extended warranty cost of about £425 i'm sure. You do have to have the car serviced at BMW though with the extended warranty.
Also, go for the 330 rather than the 325, the engine is outstanding. Only problems for me are the runflats which are useless at everything, ride, handling and cost (i'm putting non-runflats on mine this week) and i personally find the brakes too over-servoed.

[pilot72]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks. I don't really want to go down the aftermarket route if I can help it. I think I would want to change to non-runflats first and see how this improves the ride/handling. I wonder how much BMW would charge to retro-fit the M-sport suspension (Bilstein dampers with Eibach springs)? - is this something they would do?

[pilot72]

ITP said:

No problem, i prefer manual aswell (i bought the car mainly for the mrs who prefers auto), although the auto in the E90 is a good one, much better than the E46 autobox.
As you are after an 05 car and are probably not buying from a main dealer, it may be worth checking if buying privatley, if the BMW warranty has been extended. Not that there have been any problems with mine at all but with all the electronics (satnav, elec seats/roof, traction control stuff etc etc) it sometimes make me wonder how much they would cost to fix if they did go wrong. More than the extended warranty cost of about £425 i'm sure. You do have to have the car serviced at BMW though with the extended warranty.
Also, go for the 330 rather than the 325, the engine is outstanding. Only problems for me are the runflats which are useless at everything, ride, handling and cost (i'm putting non-runflats on mine this week) and i personally find the brakes too over-servoed.

At the moment I am looking at buying privately or independent dealer. Would be looking for a car that has been looked after, but the cost to fix anything that might go wrong is always a concern. I think I would be looking to keep up with BMW main dealer servicing and consider going to an independant BMW specialist for replacing any bits outside the normal servicing.

I'm definitely going to hold out for the 330 now after finding that the 325 is a different engine altogether on the early e90's.

As above, I would be looking to change to non-runflats when the time comes. From what I've read, Falken 452's seem to be a popular option and can be had for about £70 per corner + fitting.

[pilot72]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks caboosemoose. I was worried what effect aftermarket parts would have come resale time (but as I would be looking to keep the car for 4 or 5 years I can't see this being a problem). I just thought that getting the set-up right with aftermarket bits could be a bit of a lottery, when the manufacturers have presumably already done hundreds/thousands of hours testing to get the best ride/handling compromise. Having said that, BMW certainly seem to have got this compromise wrong with the runflats by all accounts!

I've just had another look at the cost of tyres, and the price I had seen was for the fronts (225/40R18?), which were £65 each, whereas from what I can see the rears (255/35R18?) would be around £100 each. The 17s were £70 fronts and £86 rears I think (so a slight saving on the 17s). Depends where you go for them, but I suppose the cost also depends on how popular the particular size of tyre is.

[stupot32]

Hi Pilot72,

1st time poster, here.

See you are after a 330i SE Saloon, Manual, metallic paint, 18" Ellipsoid rims, electric sports seats and optional sport suspension, etc. I have an Aug '05 spec E90 car with all above and runs on Michellin Pilot Sport 2's RFTs all round. As Caboosemoose points out, Rfts are a compromise, which in my opinion is an expensive one. Of the two options most widely available (Bridgestones -other), I feel that from what I have heard on other owner reports, that the michellins offer the best compromise on wear, grip and handling balance, but are around 5-10% more on cost depending on where you go.

If you can find an E90 to match your desired spec and fit non-rfts, please post your experiences of differences it makes to handling etc. I need to stick to rfts due to wife and kids, and business mileage issues, as would struggle to get a replacement tyre if punctured in the sticks of Aberdeenshire, in the required fitment without being of the road for a few days waiting for the tyre(s) to be sent-up.

I think the set-up for ride comfort vis-a-vis handling is still better with sport suspension compared to m-sport spec. I took out an E90 m-sport spec 330d to compare, when I bought my car last august, and I disliked the inert feeling steering wheel (too thick!) and wooden ride around town at low speeds!