323 or 328?

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Wed 6 Nov 2002 13:43
323 or 328? - jb9
I'm looking to buy a BMW 3 series and have £8500 to spend. I've been looking at R reg 323i SE's or M reg 328i SE's both with about 60K miles.

My question is - Is it better to get a newer 323 or an older 328 - Does the extra power make that much difference? Plus the insurance on a 328 is about £100 more.

I'd appreciate comments from anyone but in particular owners of 323's or 328's.

Cheers
Jamie
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Nov 2002 15:32
323 or 328? - PB
Both very good. As I remember you don't really feel the power difference but the 328 feels like it has deeper reserves. These older shape 3 series are nice but seem overpriced at the moment.
In your position/budget I would be very tempted by a 523 on an R plate with a few more miles, a rather better car that the 323.
PB.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Nov 2002 15:56
323 or 328? - Chad.R
Totally agree PB, IMO all E36 models are slightly overpriced at the moment(why?) when compared to other similar models.
A E39 523/28 may be a better bet depending on your circumstances, especially now that prices are on the move with the new E60 5 round the corner.

However, if you have to a E36, you may find that if you want a very high spec, you may have more choice among 328's. Only about 2mpg difference between the 2.5 and 2.8 6's on comb cycle but 20+bhp and probably more importantly 30+ftlbs.

Good luck.

Chad.R
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 6 Nov 2002 17:24
323 or 328? - John S
Jamie

The important point is that both have the 6 cylinder engine. There's not much of a performance difference (remember the 323 is a 2.5 litre), unless you've got your foot hard down and in one of these you can't do that for long. I run a 323 coupe and I'd agree with HJ's assesment - the 323 gives an excellent balance of power and economy - it certainly can return 35 miles/gall on a run.

I note one comment about specification. Try to avoid paying too much for a car with a lot of extras.

Regards

John S
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 7 Nov 2002 09:15
323 or 328? - Jase
Hello Jamie,

Both these cars sound lovely. However, if you are not already aware, then you should note the Nikasil bore-liner issues with BMWs of this era. Do a search on "Nikasil" on this site and also look at the car by car breakdown for more information on the models and years potentially affected (certain 6 and 8 cylinder models from the 1990s basically).

Good luck with your purchase.
CavV6 and cavWeb fan.
www.cavweb.co.uk
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.

Honest Used Car Prices