[rogerxp]

My God I'm even boring myself with this so many apologies guys...

Does anyone know the performance difference between the E46 325i & 330i - is it that massive or not (from what I've found there's not much in it)??

My mind is now considering saving a load of cash and buying a pre face-life 330i or blowing the lot on a face-lift 325i.

Here are the two cars in question -:

51 plate 330i (immaculate & 2 miles away from my house!!). 5 speed gearbox seems a bit dated (but think the next car is also 5 speed??). He wants £5,900 for it (I'd offered £5,500) but reckon he might bulk and accept £5,700 if I pushed...
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1530607.htm
OR
04 plate 325i. Not spoken to the guy but have the full asking price in cash (but would go lower of course)...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi.../325?logcode=p

I think the time has come to buy one of these two, and this weekend, make your vote count - which one???

[TMP]

So its 40bhp and about 1sec difference for 0-60 from memory.

Yup 5 speed box is a bit dated - is the 04 325i a facelift, if so will have a 6 speed...

The 330i does look mint and the price is fab! (could access the autotrader link for the 325i)

[rogerxp]

The link works for me so not sure whats happening. Yes the 325 is a facelift car but think it still only has 5 speed (the 330 progressed to a 6 speed post facelift).

At the end of the day it could be between £1000-1500 price difference depending how negotiating goes but not sure which would be the better purchase (the 325 currently advertised at £7250)

[pjs]

Very little in it. Wheels easier to clean in the 04 car means that would be my choice. By the time you decide the E92's will be under £10k.!

[rogerxp]

Ha Ha. Dont worry this is driving me mad too! The problem is I want the same age & mileage car as the 325 car but will happily pay the extra for the 330 engine. Problem is that that actual car has failed to materialise and as time goes by Im getting impatient and in a practical sense Im not sure I can hold out much longer.

This 325 has got me thinking that for a relatively small extra outlay I could have a car 3 year younger with the trade off being the engine.

What will annoy me more. Having the older pre face-lift car or the smaller engine. Obviously only I can answer that. Just with a manual face-lift 330 would come along asap!

[jjbirch]

my father had 2 E46 325i 04,coupe and vert, both were great and engines sounded nice, MPG was 28tops on the vert maybe 32 on the motorway

[NFS]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

What will annoy me more. Having the older pre face-lift car or the smaller engine. Obviously only I can answer that. Just with a manual face-lift 330 would come along asap!

As I've said before the facelift is pretty much irrelevant in my view. But it does look as if you are struggling to get a decent facelifted 330i. The 325i is a lovely car. It's slightly down on power, but an absolute hoot to drive.

The best car I have ever owned was a silver V reg 323ci with the 2.5 litre engine. I did 90K miles in that car and was sorry to see it go.

0-60 in 7.2 secs and a lovely smooth engine. I easily got 35 mpg

[lolololol]

Not worried about the high miles pal ? BMW parts and servicing aint cheap. Both cars look quite good value but if something went wrong with either then value is out of the window mate !