Discussion
Hi folks, new member here!
I'm very keen on getting a 5-or-so year old 330Ci with the M sport package. I've been looking at one today but due to various circumstances didn't get a chance to test-drive it.
Before I go and do something silly, I wanted to know what the drawbacks to this car are - things to watch out for, any recalls, niggles, problems, etc.
Also, what alloys would a 330Ci Sport have come with originally? The car I'm looking at is in superb cosmetic order (not had a chance to look at the mechanicals) but for some bizarre reason the previous owner has added 18" after-market alloys, which don't look too bad but I think they do slightly detract from the look of the car.
Would also be interested in hearing what the consensus is about the car and how it is to live with on a daily basis...
Thanks,
john
I'm very keen on getting a 5-or-so year old 330Ci with the M sport package. I've been looking at one today but due to various circumstances didn't get a chance to test-drive it.
Before I go and do something silly, I wanted to know what the drawbacks to this car are - things to watch out for, any recalls, niggles, problems, etc.
Also, what alloys would a 330Ci Sport have come with originally? The car I'm looking at is in superb cosmetic order (not had a chance to look at the mechanicals) but for some bizarre reason the previous owner has added 18" after-market alloys, which don't look too bad but I think they do slightly detract from the look of the car.
Would also be interested in hearing what the consensus is about the car and how it is to live with on a daily basis...
Thanks,
john
Oh, another question. Most of my previous cars have had smaller, revvy engines. I had a Cooper S from new and it was fun but one thing that I've grown tired of is the need to rev hard to make it shift. So, now that I'm in the cheap insurance bracket I was hoping that whatever I get is quite torquey and pulls well from low revs (as I can be a bit lazy ;-)
While I'm at it - the one I'm looking at is a '53 reg with 80k, FSH, lots of toys. They're asking £8k, won't listen to my pleas of poverty, though will probably offer me £1k trade for the old clunker I've been using as a run-around. Does that seem fair? Condition is, as I said before, absolutely top-notch, and if I popped the personal plate on it it'll look basically as new...
While I'm at it - the one I'm looking at is a '53 reg with 80k, FSH, lots of toys. They're asking £8k, won't listen to my pleas of poverty, though will probably offer me £1k trade for the old clunker I've been using as a run-around. Does that seem fair? Condition is, as I said before, absolutely top-notch, and if I popped the personal plate on it it'll look basically as new...
I'm not too worried about the mileage, given that it's been serviced regularly and that a 3.0 6-cylinder should be good for another 100k on top of that. Yeah, I'd prefer to pay a grand less but it is an exceptionally tidy car (tidier than most 1-2 year old cars).
Not sure about the alloys though...
Any comments about the other questions, seeing as you're the only person to be responding :-)
Not sure about the alloys though...
Any comments about the other questions, seeing as you're the only person to be responding :-)
Assuming it's a 53 plate then it should have the LED rear lights and either projecter style (look like the photo below) or Xenon headlights.
It would have had the wheels below on from the factory (click to enlarge.
My mate bought a 53 plate 325Ci with 90k, FSH, 'leccy sport memory leather seats, BT etc for a little less than £7k just before Christmas.
Edit: Wanted to say that having driven a couple of 325s, they are excellent cars and really well built. Servicing can be expensive if you want to keep up the full BMW history though.
It would have had the wheels below on from the factory (click to enlarge.
My mate bought a 53 plate 325Ci with 90k, FSH, 'leccy sport memory leather seats, BT etc for a little less than £7k just before Christmas.
Edit: Wanted to say that having driven a couple of 325s, they are excellent cars and really well built. Servicing can be expensive if you want to keep up the full BMW history though.
Edited by rfn on Sunday 8th March 22:14
Thanks. It's an LED & Facelift model. The original alloys are gone - replaced with 18" MV alloys which I'm not so keen on.
At £8k, I had hoped to get it for £7k cash. Looks like they're not willing to budge right now, but to be honest £7k plus the old Puma runabout would be okay. My mileage will be no more than 10k/year so though it might be sitting at 80k, in a year or two it'll be back to 'typical' mileage for its age.
At £8k, I had hoped to get it for £7k cash. Looks like they're not willing to budge right now, but to be honest £7k plus the old Puma runabout would be okay. My mileage will be no more than 10k/year so though it might be sitting at 80k, in a year or two it'll be back to 'typical' mileage for its age.
If you do manage to agree a price and buy the car you won't regret it. The 330Ci Sport is a great car and is not likely to cost you the earth to run unless anything major goes pop - which I'm led to believe is rare. They do eat front wishbone bushes and at that mileage they should have been done, or budget to have them replaced soon.
I bought mine last September with 62k on the clock. I'm going to go the independent specialist route rather than main dealer for servicing. We have a good one locally that I know and trust. This will be a cheaper alternative to main dealer, but it depends how much importance you put on dealer stamps in the book.
The 18" MV2 alloys shown above are the original fitment on the facelift cars and suit the styling very well. I personally wouldn't consider changing mine to aftermarket.
I use mine on a daily basis and it is very refined and comfortable. I'm averaging 28-30 mpg doing a 15 mile each way commute of mixed town and dual-carriageway.
The 330 is no rocketship, but it has plenty of ompf for most needs. It comes in very linear, but the best gains are definately to be had in the mid to high rev range, matched with a lovely soundtrack too!
Get yourself over to bmwland forums for much more information, but don't expect anyone there to try and put you off. They are all slightly biased!
I bought mine last September with 62k on the clock. I'm going to go the independent specialist route rather than main dealer for servicing. We have a good one locally that I know and trust. This will be a cheaper alternative to main dealer, but it depends how much importance you put on dealer stamps in the book.
The 18" MV2 alloys shown above are the original fitment on the facelift cars and suit the styling very well. I personally wouldn't consider changing mine to aftermarket.
I use mine on a daily basis and it is very refined and comfortable. I'm averaging 28-30 mpg doing a 15 mile each way commute of mixed town and dual-carriageway.
The 330 is no rocketship, but it has plenty of ompf for most needs. It comes in very linear, but the best gains are definately to be had in the mid to high rev range, matched with a lovely soundtrack too!
Get yourself over to bmwland forums for much more information, but don't expect anyone there to try and put you off. They are all slightly biased!
Edited by pstruck on Monday 9th March 12:11
oktapod said:
Thanks. It's an LED & Facelift model. The original alloys are gone - replaced with 18" MV alloys which I'm not so keen on.
At £8k, I had hoped to get it for £7k cash. Looks like they're not willing to budge right now, but to be honest £7k plus the old Puma runabout would be okay. My mileage will be no more than 10k/year so though it might be sitting at 80k, in a year or two it'll be back to 'typical' mileage for its age.
18inch MV's are the pre-face lift alloys, I had them on mine which was a 51 plate.At £8k, I had hoped to get it for £7k cash. Looks like they're not willing to budge right now, but to be honest £7k plus the old Puma runabout would be okay. My mileage will be no more than 10k/year so though it might be sitting at 80k, in a year or two it'll be back to 'typical' mileage for its age.
I loved the car, it would eat the miles. It was was quick, but not lighting. I had an AC Schnizter exhaust fitted to mine which gave a nice roar.
Also mine ate a few sets of rear tyres, but I did a lot of miles in it.
oktapod said:
Smaller, revvy engines. I had a Cooper S from new and it was fun but one thing that I've grown tired of is the need to rev hard to make it shift. I was hoping that whatever I get is quite torquey and pulls well from low revs (as I can be a bit lazy ;-)
Drive one. I suspect you will soon get bored with the lack of low down oomph and the need to get it up the rev band before it does it's best and moves. Jumping into a 2.0 4 cylinder turbo feels massively invigorating and lively after a 6 cyl BMW. They are flat at low revs and you need to drop at least 2 gears in most cases to get it to move. Even on an autobox with instant kickdown this can become monotinous, especially when you want some overtaking punch without kicking back through gears and making it sound like you trying hard.
Don't get me wrong, utterly brilliant and characterful engine that is largely bulletproof, but the power delivery lacks punch and urgency low down. On song though, thoroughly awesome.
8k does sound very cheap depending on location.
Down here (south) they are more like 10k (that age/miles) for a tidy one with all the toys.
They did loss some value latter part of last year but due to the lack of tidy ones for sale now the prices seem to have raised slightly.
I love mine but like bazking69 says after a turbo'd lump (Mapped LCR) the power does seem to take forever to kick in but that is the nature of the straight 6, awesome sound too
Down here (south) they are more like 10k (that age/miles) for a tidy one with all the toys.
They did loss some value latter part of last year but due to the lack of tidy ones for sale now the prices seem to have raised slightly.
I love mine but like bazking69 says after a turbo'd lump (Mapped LCR) the power does seem to take forever to kick in but that is the nature of the straight 6, awesome sound too
Thanks for the replies, guys.
Our other car right now is a Skoda Octavia vRS, which I really like. It's nippy and reliable, but I wanted the other car to have a contrasting character and engine type - nothing zippy turbo, that is. So, the 330 appeals.
I did consider a 2000-ish era M5 but they're too big and the potential service/running costs would keep me up worrying at night... The 330 just seems (to me) to balance good performance, build quality and relative affordability - insurance is cheap (best quote £260ish), 30mpg if you're careful, very comfy, stylish, etc. etc. Much prettier than a 5-series I reckon.
Now, disclaimer time: still haven't driven one, so I might hate it - but I am planning to drive the car I'm interested in tomorrow, and might be in a position to make an offer then. Price-wise, Parker's lists it quite a bit higher than they're asking at this age/mileage, so I don't think I have much wiggle room with the dealer. It will all depend on what they are prepared to give me for the old Puma...
Our other car right now is a Skoda Octavia vRS, which I really like. It's nippy and reliable, but I wanted the other car to have a contrasting character and engine type - nothing zippy turbo, that is. So, the 330 appeals.
I did consider a 2000-ish era M5 but they're too big and the potential service/running costs would keep me up worrying at night... The 330 just seems (to me) to balance good performance, build quality and relative affordability - insurance is cheap (best quote £260ish), 30mpg if you're careful, very comfy, stylish, etc. etc. Much prettier than a 5-series I reckon.
Now, disclaimer time: still haven't driven one, so I might hate it - but I am planning to drive the car I'm interested in tomorrow, and might be in a position to make an offer then. Price-wise, Parker's lists it quite a bit higher than they're asking at this age/mileage, so I don't think I have much wiggle room with the dealer. It will all depend on what they are prepared to give me for the old Puma...
Puma is 99V, 1.7, black, 88k, probably FSH if I can find a couple of missing bills.
Condition is fair, but it needs a bit of TLC and I know it will probably need new heels and a new exhaust in the next six to twelve months, not to mention that the OS mirror needs attention (someone kicked it and it's very loose now - needs to be re-attached from inside, but for lazy reasons I haven't bothered).
So, yeah, £6.5k+the Puma would be grand but I'm being realistic and knowing that they'll probably pass if I expected £1500 for it in trade.
Condition is fair, but it needs a bit of TLC and I know it will probably need new heels and a new exhaust in the next six to twelve months, not to mention that the OS mirror needs attention (someone kicked it and it's very loose now - needs to be re-attached from inside, but for lazy reasons I haven't bothered).
So, yeah, £6.5k+the Puma would be grand but I'm being realistic and knowing that they'll probably pass if I expected £1500 for it in trade.
Fantastic cars, very little goes wrong on them generally, just little things like thermostats, and camshaft sensors are quite common faults. Both cheap to replace when required.
Doesn't seem a bad price to be honest from a dealer, which I assume means warrenty. Private will obviously get you more for your money, I'm selling mine soon, '01 with 86k for £5750 to give you a comparison.
As for the wheels, the earlier models have 18" mv alloys on the later facelift models they were called mv2's, again in 18" and are as pictured on the white car above.
Doesn't seem a bad price to be honest from a dealer, which I assume means warrenty. Private will obviously get you more for your money, I'm selling mine soon, '01 with 86k for £5750 to give you a comparison.
As for the wheels, the earlier models have 18" mv alloys on the later facelift models they were called mv2's, again in 18" and are as pictured on the white car above.
Edited by sjj84 on Monday 9th March 19:05
Someone appears to have put a deposit down on the car I was interested in - their first finance attempt has fallen through, apparently, so I'm waiting to see if I'm going to get a shot at it or not...
All this said, I'm now pretty keen to get a 3 coupe of some description, probably the 330 Ci M Sport style, so if this does fall through I can certainly keep an eye open...
So much for it being a buyer's market :-)
All this said, I'm now pretty keen to get a 3 coupe of some description, probably the 330 Ci M Sport style, so if this does fall through I can certainly keep an eye open...
So much for it being a buyer's market :-)
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