E91 Straight Six Bearding

E91 Straight Six Bearding

Author
Discussion

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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redcard

tongue out


ferrisbueller

29,260 posts

226 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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I'd rather st in my hands and clap.

6cylGolf

700 posts

189 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.
paperbag

JakeT

5,406 posts

119 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.

cerb4.5lee

30,185 posts

179 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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6cylGolf said:
Im going to say something thats probably not going to be popular here.

I sold my manual n52 touring for a diesel.

Yep, a 330d manual e91.

I liked the smoothness and the noise was great.

But, although the power delivery would be exactly how I wanted it 20 years ago, screaming power at high revs, I am a different person now.

I know i could have tried a 3.0, but really thats an improvement of the same theme.

I admire the purists with the petrol 6’s but I just couldnt gell with it.

It helps that its an m sport with idrive, maybe that muddy’s the perceived improvement. But hey, its done now.
I've had both a E90 330d and 330i and I also much preferred the 330d. thumbup

The 330i always felt limp wristed for me in comparison to the 330d. The 330d is the better all round car overall imo. I liked the smoothness of the N52 engine and the noise(although too muted for me) for sure, but nothing actually happened performance wise unless you absolutely kicked its arse for me.

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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rofl

(clap)

6cylGolf

700 posts

189 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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i enjoy a bit of gentle ribbing either way but if we are entering trumpesque my way is the only way im out.

ShampooEfficient

4,266 posts

210 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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I've now started looking for a E91 330 in either flavour, must be a Touring, preferably manual.

I've fallen out with my vRS Octavia, had it for a bit but I don't have the emotional attachment I have with the other cars in the fleet, I think because its FWD.

Ive sent a few messages out this evening, but I'm going to keep checking AT... So I'll be checking in here too.

I genuinely don't care about if its petrol or diesel, I can swing the man maths either way to suit. Equally I have no strong feelings in MSport vs SE, I'll simply avoid driving the opposite spec to whatever I end up with. I suffer greatly from green grass syndrome at the best of times.

So if anyone is wanting rid...

6cylGolf

700 posts

189 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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ShampooEfficient said:
I've now started looking for a E91 330 in either flavour, must be a Touring, preferably manual.

I've fallen out with my vRS Octavia, had it for a bit but I don't have the emotional attachment I have with the other cars in the fleet, I think because its FWD.

Ive sent a few messages out this evening, but I'm going to keep checking AT... So I'll be checking in here too.

I genuinely don't care about if its petrol or diesel, I can swing the man maths either way to suit. Equally I have no strong feelings in MSport vs SE, I'll simply avoid driving the opposite spec to whatever I end up with. I suffer greatly from green grass syndrome at the best of times.

So if anyone is wanting rid...
SE’s can be well spec’d. Have decent suspension and all the tricks but they will always have ugly bumpers. Fitting m sport bumpers to an se is a bit sad. best you can hope for is a hartge or alpina front lip but unless its a genuine again, its a bit sad. I dont mind the e91 se rear bumper tho. better than the saloon.

ShampooEfficient

4,266 posts

210 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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Duly noted. I spend enough time fiddling with old cars that I'm intending on finding one thats nice enough to keep nice but not do anything too.

Unless it has "wood" dash bits in which case I'll be ripping them out for something a bit more me. biggrin

Swervin_Mervin

4,429 posts

237 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.
laugh

6cylGolf

700 posts

189 months

Friday 6th November 2020
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Swervin_Mervin said:
ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.
laugh
Opinions from any other back to back owners?
Currently 2-0 from that experience.

clap your ste if you please, doesn’t mean much really.




to3m

1,226 posts

169 months

Saturday 7th November 2020
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This is not 100% E9x content, but regarding diesel vs petrol, I went from an E46 330d (135 KW M57) to an E90 330i (200 KW N53), and I liked both.

I think I prefer the 330i overall, as I've found it better to drive a bit hard. It's lighter, particularly under the bonnet, which helps with the handling, and it feels like the combination of engine torque curve and gear ratios means the actual power output at the wheels (and how quickly that power output can climb up and down) occupies a better spot on the boring/fun/alarming continuum. The acceleration is also a bit sharper, and it sounds better when revved all the way to the limiter.

The 330d certainly wasn't bad to drive or anything, though, and if anything I did rather enjoy what are probably its flaws. It was obviously a big fat bloater of a car, with a lot of obviously very heavy engine bits under the bonnet, but it was a big fat bloater that you could still drive like it was a little hatchback anyway. The engine was a bit rough, but that made it easier to feel that it was about as rough at the redline as it was while trundling around at 1200 rpm or whatever. The torque curve and gear ratios meant it felt like actual wheel power output was a bit less controllable, but on the flip side I could floor it in 5th at 30 mph, not an ideal combination of speed and gearing, and it would still manage a nice, fat, steady insistent surge of power, like a slow version of an aeroplane taking off.

There was a 2 month gap between one and the other for me, though, so I didn't drive them quite back to back. Who knows what I'd actually think now if I went back. Can't see a later M57 E9x 330d being worse than the the first draft E46 330d I had, though, so if I had to buy a new car tomorrow, I certainly wouldn't automatically dismiss it...

Might be worth avoiding the reportedly less reliable N57.

Swervin_Mervin

4,429 posts

237 months

Saturday 7th November 2020
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6cylGolf said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.
laugh
Opinions from any other back to back owners?
Currently 2-0 from that experience.

clap your ste if you please, doesn’t mean much really.
Don't be so precious wink

Different strokes for different folks. As long as you're happy that's all that matters. Always going to be hard to compare 325i to 330d as most of us wouldn't choose to have a 325i either. And Cerb has always moaned about the 330i. Some people just don't like engines that require more revs.

Personally I think the 330i has more than enough for what it is but it will feel gutless next to anything with a turbo for obvious reasons

cerb4.5lee

30,185 posts

179 months

Saturday 7th November 2020
quotequote all
Swervin_Mervin said:
6cylGolf said:
Swervin_Mervin said:
ferrisbueller said:
I'd rather st in my hands and clap.
laugh
Opinions from any other back to back owners?
Currently 2-0 from that experience.

clap your ste if you please, doesn’t mean much really.
Don't be so precious wink

Different strokes for different folks. As long as you're happy that's all that matters. Always going to be hard to compare 325i to 330d as most of us wouldn't choose to have a 325i either. And Cerb has always moaned about the 330i. Some people just don't like engines that require more revs.

Personally I think the 330i has more than enough for what it is but it will feel gutless next to anything with a turbo for obvious reasons
Yes and I do remember saying when I had the 330d that I'd much prefer a petrol any day of the week. However when I actually got a 330i a few years later I did end up preferring the 330d overall. I loved how smooth the 330i engine was and its willingness to rev right out to the redline, but I think that in the 330i you feel the weight of the car far more. Whereas the 330d hides the weight much better and it just feels a much more gutsy engine for me.

Both are cracking all round cars I reckon though, and I'm pleased that I got to experience both of them. In terms of moaning(which I do-do a lot of! biggrin)...I definitely moaned far more about my E92 M3 than I ever did my E90 330i! hehe

thumbup

JakeT

5,406 posts

119 months

Saturday 7th November 2020
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6cylGolf said:
Opinions from any other back to back owners?
Currently 2-0 from that experience.

clap your ste if you please, doesn’t mean much really.
Now, now. Just a bit of ribbing.

I went immediately from an E46 330d into my E91 330i. Before that I've had a variety of 4 and 6 cylinder BMWs. I couldn't get on with the 330d.

As mentioned above, it felt nose heavy, and like there was a bit too much engine weight for the rest of the car. Compared to a 6 cylinder petrol, it wasn't as smooth, didn't sound as good, and felt one dimensional. It absolutely monstered outside lane motorway driving, leaving it in sixth and booting it made it easy to piss people off when they tried to give you stick. However around town and on the country roads near where I live it felt out of touch compared to the petrol engines which are happy running from 800-6000 revs. The roughness compared to the petrol engine was quite evident to me, too. At startup, shutdown, and at low engine speeds it was most evident. The diesel background never really goes away, either. I prefer the petrol as a regular daily, winding it out is never a chore, and makes it easier to manage the power. When in Germany, and at illegal speeds here, the 330i felt much more at home. 120+ in the 330i feels like it's really getting into it's stride.

All that said, the 330d is as good as diesels get. I've had two '30d' engines, now. An E39 530d with a 5 speed manual and a late E46 330d with the 6 speed manual. The M57 feels like it will go on very well, and in the 5 series seemed much more at home, with the whole car feeling better able to accommodate it. Even at over 220,000 miles.


Enjoy your 330d, I don't blame you for swapping into one. Would I? Nah. But I don't blame those that do. Besides, we've got a group here that are in the minority of preferring the petrol models. wink

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Saturday 7th November 2020
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Some interesting comparisons!

I bought an E91 325i in 2018 but like others found it felt a bit gutless especially when trying to pick speed back up on motorways. Although I don't think the very high gearing helped it.

I ended up replacing it with an E90 330i last year and that feels just so much better.

Diesel was never going to be a sensible option for me - I was only doing about 6,000 miles a year before lockdown!

toast boy

1,242 posts

225 months

Sunday 8th November 2020
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Just thinking about comments of the petrol engines not feeling quite as punchy as the diesels - has anyone on here changed the final drive ratio?

The gearing is pretty long and top speed isn't a priority for me. Am I right in thinking that it's just a case of changing the diff or is it more involved than that?

ATM

18,092 posts

218 months

Sunday 8th November 2020
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toast boy said:
Just thinking about comments of the petrol engines not feeling quite as punchy as the diesels - has anyone on here changed the final drive ratio?

The gearing is pretty long and top speed isn't a priority for me. Am I right in thinking that it's just a case of changing the diff or is it more involved than that?
Bit of deja vu here as I mentioned the same thing a few weeks back. If you have a manual then switching to the auto diff which is usually a bit shorter might be simple. You need a diff expert otherwise. It could just be the final drive that's different or there could be other part differences. I found out the hard way that the drive shafts are different on a 2.7 981 compared to a 3.4 981. Along with the half shafts and cv joints and whatever else.

6cylGolf

700 posts

189 months

Sunday 8th November 2020
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you can swap the rear diffs lots of options its fairly simple and no coding to worry about.

I was considering it but in the end couldnt be bothered