BMW 3-Series E92 Coupe (2006 - ) - 320d or 325i

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 23 Dec 2008 13:25
320d or 325i - JasonV
I'm going to buy a 2006 3-series and after reading lots of reviews I was all ready to go for the 320d SE. However, 2 things have started to sway me towards a 325i SE:

1. I'll only do 10-12k mile per year and therefore given the higher cost of diesel the difference in running costs will be fairly small and will probably all balance out when taking into account the higher cost of servicing a diesel.

2. The credit crunch seems to have hit the price of larger petrol engine cars more than diesels and there are some 325's available at pretty keen prices at the moment. I intend to keep the car for 3 years so even after depreciation I'm guessing that I wont be any more out of pocket for buying a petrol rather than diesel car.

Just wondering what your thoughts are on this - do you agree/disagree with my thinking?
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Tue 23 Dec 2008 21:04
320d or 325i - CJay{P}
At this sort of mileage, without a question go for the 325i. If you can afford an additional 10% or so in funds, I would go for a 330i. There is no significant difference in consumption between the 330i and the 325i (in fact the latest engines the 330i is more economical in automatic form).

The Sport fetches a good 10-15% more than the SE, like for like.
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Tue 23 Dec 2008 21:15
320d or 325i - Humpy
My wife and I were faced with exactly that choice and went for the 325i. Having had an E46 320d I reckoned that I knew what a 320d would be like but the 325i is awesome. No regrets there at all.

Having had diesels for a while before I have to say that the fuel consumption is a bit eye-watering but we haven;t done any long journeys yet...
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Wed 24 Dec 2008 13:42
320d or 325i - JasonV
It's reassuring to find you both in agreement over the 325i although I'm going to look into the 330i as well now that CJay mentions it. I'd planned to stay away from the Sport model as most opinion (on the internet at least) seems to be that the ride is too firm for anything but motorway driving. Any opinion on this? Also what's the auto like in the BMW? Cheers.
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