BMW 330i discontinued?
Discussion
Anyone else noticed that BMW have stopped offering the 330i as a Saloon or a Touring? It's now only available in the Coupe.
What have they done this for? The 330i was a fantastic engine - brilliant economy, nearly 280bhp - now all we have left other than the 335i is the 325i, a car delivering the SAME economy as the 330i yet only 214bhp?
What are they playing at?
What have they done this for? The 330i was a fantastic engine - brilliant economy, nearly 280bhp - now all we have left other than the 335i is the 325i, a car delivering the SAME economy as the 330i yet only 214bhp?
What are they playing at?
Fox- said:
Anyone else noticed that BMW have stopped offering the 330i as a Saloon or a Touring? It's now only available in the Coupe.
What have they done this for? The 330i was a fantastic engine - brilliant economy, nearly 280bhp - now all we have left other than the 335i is the 325i, a car delivering the SAME economy as the 330i yet only 214bhp?
What are they playing at?
I raised this a few months ago http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...What have they done this for? The 330i was a fantastic engine - brilliant economy, nearly 280bhp - now all we have left other than the 335i is the 325i, a car delivering the SAME economy as the 330i yet only 214bhp?
What are they playing at?
Then proceeded to bag myself an E90 330i M Sport manual.
I guess they weren't selling many of these in saloon or touring guise.
Yeah definitely a shame that they dropped these, it's a great car. There aren't many around, when I bought mine it was one of the only E90 330i's listed in auto trader, and the only facelifted one, manual or auto.
Fuel consumption isn't bad, I'm seeing average 33-34mpg on my daily station commute (32 miles, A roads, both rural and in town) which doesn't sound exceptional compared to the previous 330i units, the difference is that on a motorway run 40mpg is realistic even when 'making progress'
These figures are more or less identical to the E39 530dA I had before it, less waftability but it's definitely more 'chuckable' and the soundtrack is great when on the move
Fuel consumption isn't bad, I'm seeing average 33-34mpg on my daily station commute (32 miles, A roads, both rural and in town) which doesn't sound exceptional compared to the previous 330i units, the difference is that on a motorway run 40mpg is realistic even when 'making progress'
These figures are more or less identical to the E39 530dA I had before it, less waftability but it's definitely more 'chuckable' and the soundtrack is great when on the move
Going from the used car perspective, we struggled to find a 325i manual E91 when we were looking last year, let alone a 330i.
So I'm guessing that they didn't sell many new ones.
On the BMW AUC market place, our fully loaded 325i (the original owner put over £10k of options on it!) was priced about the same as a base spec 320d with similar mileage, and we managed to haggle the price down because I think they'd had it a while.
I guess very few people want larger petrol engined cars. A shame, because providing you don't go mad, 40mpg is possible on a run. And its not that bad round town. We used to run a 120d, and the 6 cylinder petrol engine is so much smoother and nicer to drive.
So I'm guessing that they didn't sell many new ones.
On the BMW AUC market place, our fully loaded 325i (the original owner put over £10k of options on it!) was priced about the same as a base spec 320d with similar mileage, and we managed to haggle the price down because I think they'd had it a while.
I guess very few people want larger petrol engined cars. A shame, because providing you don't go mad, 40mpg is possible on a run. And its not that bad round town. We used to run a 120d, and the 6 cylinder petrol engine is so much smoother and nicer to drive.
Isn't the 25i a 3.0 engine the same as the 30i anyway?
I wonder if it's just software changes to the valvetronic, or significant hardware changes too. Iirc, the cams were different part numbers but much of the rest is the same. Considering throttle is by valve lift it makes you wonder if the 25i is just software throttled back (quite likely considering the width/plateaue of it's torque band)
Hmmmmm
Dave
I wonder if it's just software changes to the valvetronic, or significant hardware changes too. Iirc, the cams were different part numbers but much of the rest is the same. Considering throttle is by valve lift it makes you wonder if the 25i is just software throttled back (quite likely considering the width/plateaue of it's torque band)
Hmmmmm
Dave
Phunk said:
I have been working in a large BMW dealership for almost a year now. We have only ever had one BMW 330i Saloon, we normally have 1 or 2 325i's and about 20 318d/320d/318i/320d's.
Yea, it's a real, real shame. What BMW does best is not what the market is that bothered about 
Fox- said:
Mr Whippy said:
Isn't the 25i a 3.0 engine the same as the 30i anyway?
Yes - so it doesnt even save them a load of money not offering the 330i saloon! You just get... a whole bundle less power but fundamentally the same car.It is upsetting to see BMW pursue things like the X5/6 M though, because clearly they know they have a market here, despite them, like the 1.8i/d, being not BMW at their best by a long chalk
At least someone who really cared can easily pick up an older 3.0i and then laugh at BMW for losing out on a sale...hehe...
Dave
ncbbmw said:
I expect they withdrew it due to low sales, when I worked for BMW I had a number of both 330i and 330d tourings, they were both great cars and TBH I always thought 330d was just as quick for day to day use and a lot better on fuel, the 330d outsold the 330i 10 times over.
It would have been nicer if they got rid of the 3 litre 325i instead. Now we have the curious situation where you can no longer buy a 330i saloon but you can buy a 325i Saloon with a 3 litre petrol engine.
Why not simply replace both 325i and 330i with a new 330i? Perhaps with power half way between the two or something.
Fox- said:
ncbbmw said:
I expect they withdrew it due to low sales, when I worked for BMW I had a number of both 330i and 330d tourings, they were both great cars and TBH I always thought 330d was just as quick for day to day use and a lot better on fuel, the 330d outsold the 330i 10 times over.
It would have been nicer if they got rid of the 3 litre 325i instead. Now we have the curious situation where you can no longer buy a 330i saloon but you can buy a 325i Saloon with a 3 litre petrol engine.
Why not simply replace both 325i and 330i with a new 330i? Perhaps with power half way between the two or something.
The 3.0i is a fantastic engine in that car. The diesel is good too, but surely a big gap has been left now.
Not that I care massively, I'd get the car I want, not the car BMW forces me to choose, so I'd get an older one or one from another manufacturer that didn't only make powerful models with turbo only. (ie, Merc 6.3 V8)
Dave
Mwah-ha-ha-haaa etc etcFox- said:
Your bio sums it all up.
'272 ps and 173g co2/km - find a flaw !'
Exactly! Madness to get rid of it, such a magical engine.
What is your real world fuel economy like?
The worst tankfull I've ever had was around 24mpg, my average is probably around 28-29 (which sadly is mainly town work for me) and my best is 36ish. You can get 40+ if you're really going for it but how sad would that be '272 ps and 173g co2/km - find a flaw !'
Exactly! Madness to get rid of it, such a magical engine.
What is your real world fuel economy like?
My one complaint would be that aurally it is a disappointment but that's a pretty minor fault I suppose ...
I'm wondering how accurate the BMW figures for it are. My 530i is 29.7mpg combined and I get 20mpg around town, 35mpg on the Motorway and 30mpg in mixed driving.
I've had a number of E90/91 loan cars all with the 2.0 diesel engine and driven in the same way they get nowhere near even the combined figure, definately some figure massaging going on.
The 330i has a combined consumption figure some 30% better than my 530i. Could I therefore expect 27mpg around town and over 40 on the Motorway?
I've had a number of E90/91 loan cars all with the 2.0 diesel engine and driven in the same way they get nowhere near even the combined figure, definately some figure massaging going on.
The 330i has a combined consumption figure some 30% better than my 530i. Could I therefore expect 27mpg around town and over 40 on the Motorway?
Fox- said:
I'm wondering how accurate the BMW figures for it are. My 530i is 29.7mpg combined and I get 20mpg around town, 35mpg on the Motorway and 30mpg in mixed driving.
I've had a number of E90/91 loan cars all with the 2.0 diesel engine and driven in the same way they get nowhere near even the combined figure, definately some figure massaging going on.
The 330i has a combined consumption figure some 30% better than my 530i. Could I therefore expect 27mpg around town and over 40 on the Motorway?
27 around town is achievable but 40+ on the motorway is unlikely unless you're sitting at 60mph. At 75-80 it's more like 36ish. I reckon you might do 10-20% better but not 30...I've had a number of E90/91 loan cars all with the 2.0 diesel engine and driven in the same way they get nowhere near even the combined figure, definately some figure massaging going on.
The 330i has a combined consumption figure some 30% better than my 530i. Could I therefore expect 27mpg around town and over 40 on the Motorway?
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