330 versus 530

The 530 is a bigger car and although it can handle well due to size and weight it wont be better in standard form handling with than the 330...there are lots of pros and cons

i mean is it likely to cost a lot more for a student to run?

I have an E39 540 with M tec suspension and its great but still a big car and you have to drive it knowing you will get some wallow and a degree of understeer....what are you after if its handling then great though the 5 is and I have racing E46 M3's but I cant beat them in the bends...

If you are going to run the car on a student loan/grant, forget about fancy adjustable dampers etc - they will need replacement on any used 5 series you can almost afford!

Likewise - if you really think your driving needs aids such as DSC - more money to repair, like £1200 for the lateral accelerometer, which does not exactly last for ever -  perhaps you should try an advanced driving course first.

All these toys can do is to put off the day of judgement, but if your driving is bad enough to need them, they simply put off the day of judgement, which will then arrive with even greater speed and finality . . . .

Buy something simple, with basic good handling, which will be cheap to run and repair, and avoid old and complex cars until you can afford them!  I'm not biased, you understand, but a nice 316 Ti Compact, or a 2.8 litre Z3 would be ideal!

Daughter's E36 318Ti was an outstanding car in the handling department, with Bilstein suspension and 17X7 inch rims.  It was a real drivers car - tremendous grip, and predictable with it!  She can also drive very well.

She still sometimes misses it when compared to her current E46 325 coupe, which has more ultimate grip, and comfort, but lacks the sharp handling of the 318Ti.  Pity BMW GB didn't know how to market it, or import the six-cylinder 2.3 litre model available everywhere else.  It was really the son of the 20002 Touring.

Your friend probably thought he was on a track day!  A 335 is not a tail-happy car, or the Americans would be suing BMW for every dollar they could get out of them.  If you apply a great gob of torque on a corner then things will happen, and you cannot rely on DSC to save the day. 

Anyway, whether you want DSC or not, the 330 is fitted with it anyway - it just depends on your attitude towards it.

As I mentioned earlier, if your driving style depends on DSC to save the day, you will be in trouble sooner or later.  Like ABS, drive as if it were not there, and it has a better chance of helping you compensate for mistakes.

A good RWD car is no different from a good FWD car in normal driving, no matter what the BMW fans tell you - they are just repeating what they have been told by BMW! 

If you overdo things with our Golf TDI it is the rear end which breaks away first - and that's with more torque than an E36 M3 going through the front wheels.  My old Golf GTI which was used for sprint events handled in exactly the same manner, except that its limits were lower. 

My 2.8 Z3 handles in exactly the same manner, with lots of warning of impending doom, and a nice gentle breakaway which can be easily corrected - but I know I'm not a racing driver, and I'm not on a race track.

So don't worry about oversteer - it's the potential for expensive problems you need to be concerned about.  You may be able to run a 330 for nothing but oil changes, but that cannot be guaranteed.  Yes, DSC accelerometers are known to fail after a few years, but if you don't want to spend £1200 or so, the system could be disabled.

Some people claim that  they tend to get through turbochargers from time to time, but I  have heard that the problem is not the blower, but a crass piece of design in positioning the crankcase breather mesh strainer above it, which can break up and drop into the blower inlet.  I could be wrong, though.

Ooops - sorry!  I was thiking about a 330d!

Timmy Apaceller wrote: U two talk about expensive repairs. Surely 1000 pounds would cover 10000 miles worth of driving?

Tim, You seem to be a man after my own heart.  When I first bought my 330i at 24 the insurance was some where near £900 a year with no accidents no penalty points and 6 years driving experience.

Thanx for your replies guys. So Knighty, are you saying that a 330 is more likely to need repairing? I would have thought a 323 would cost same to repair? Is there any way I can tell if the car has been thrashed? I was told that they are very strong engines and that if they are maintained properly will take abuse?

I wouldn't discount a 325CI. Unfortunately I bought mine new so couldn't really comment on running one in later years but it makes the same sound as a 330 and should be more economical at the same time. You'll just have to see what turns up in your search but I'd prefer a lower mileage 325 against a leggy 330 any day.

100,000 miles is not a high mileage these days, it's also how the car has been treated along the way. My E30 325 has currently has 186,000+ on the clock and with regular maintainence it will contiue to be fine, but not everybody's idea of maintainence and car care are the same.