BMW 330d M Sport advice (15/16)

paulanthony

Hi all
Thinking of buying a 330d M-Sport (2015/2016).  Living in the UK at the moment and would hope to bring it back to Ireland with me in the next couple of years (no VRT etc).  Looking at approx £17-18k - no trade in so hoping to knock a little off the asking price (for example: 2015 or 2016).  Hoping this would hold its value reasonably well as they tend to be a bit more expensive in Ireland.
Anyone have any good or bad experiences to share regarding this model?  Or any alternatives (although I'm generally a BMW fan)?
Thanks

Leonard Hofstadter

Few people on here have one. Can't think of anything bad about them (other than being powered by the devil's fuel of course ), I'd prefer a rear wheel drive one because the xDrives ride higher and have different suspension settings to the rear wheel drive cars. They'll also be heavier so will be higher on motor tax here and thus less desirable second hand here. If you have been living outside the country for more than a year and have the car for at least six months then you can bring it in VRT free, so that's a fairly substantial saving, make sure you get proof of purchase and proof the car has been used outside the country because they will check when you bring it in.

paulanthony

captainspeed wrote: »

Few people on here have one. Can't think of anything bad about them (other than being powered by the devil's fuel of course ), I'd prefer a rear wheel drive one because the xDrives ride higher and have different suspension settings to the rear wheel drive cars. They'll also be heavier so will be higher on motor tax here and thus less desirable second hand here. If you have been living outside the country for more than a year and have the car for at least six months then you can bring it in VRT free, so that's a fairly substantial saving, make sure you get proof of purchase and proof the car has been used outside the country because they will check when you bring it in.

Thanks - yes I've been two years in the UK by now and would definitely have the car for more than six months here.  Going by advertised prices they do seem a good bit more expensive in Ireland.  And agree - i would probably go for the rear wheel rather than four wheel drive x-drive.

Heres Johnny

Would you go 330e to offset any long term vilification of diesel engine that may or may not be coming down the line?

I've seen some great prices on them in UK recently.

Leonard Hofstadter

330es are only four cylinder and have a much smaller boot than the rest of the range. From what I know they'll do about 45 mpg on a motorway, same as the diesel but remember petrol is dearer. The diesel will be faster, lighter, has more boot space and has six cylinders.

If the OP was doing quite a bit of urban driving then they certainly have their appeal, though.

Heres Johnny

captainspeed wrote: »

330es are only four cylinder and have a much smaller boot than the rest of the range. From what I know they'll do about 45 mpg on a motorway, same as the diesel but remember petrol is dearer. The diesel will be faster, lighter, has more boot space and has six cylinders.

If the OP was doing quite a bit of urban driving then they certainly have their appeal, though.

Yeah just throwing it out as an option that might not have been considered.
I'm not sure if the diesel will be faster to be honest I'll check it out of interest!

Heres Johnny

Both rated 5.6 seconds 0-60 mph but 330d faster top end, it goes to 155 where the 330e only goes to 140 but that's irrelevant really.

My personal preference would be for the e but it's only my view. Would be very happy with a d also

paulanthony

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Would you go 330e to offset any long term vilification of diesel engine that may or may not be coming down the line?

I've seen some great prices on them in UK recently.

I think I will stick with a non-hybrid for now. Might be an option for the future though. Hopefully will get a chance to test drive the 330d at the weekend.

bazz26

If your going 2015 then make sure to get the LCI (facelift) model. These have improved interior quality, LCI M Sports also got LED headlights. Try and get one with the M Sport Plus pack too which includes 19" alloy wheels, blue painted brake calipers and Harmon Kardon loudspeaker sound system. Widescreen Pro Nav would be a bonus too.

Theboinkmaster

bazz26 wrote: »

If your going 2015 then make sure to get the LCI (facelift) model. These have improved interior quality, LCI M Sports also got LED headlights. Try and get one with the M Sport Plus pack too which includes 19" alloy wheels, blue painted brake calipers and Harmon Kardon loudspeaker sound system. Widescreen Pro Nav would be a bonus too.

On a 330d I'd say they're all essential and hope someone buying a 330d new would spec it well.

bazz26

You would be surprised. I've seen plenty of 330d for sale in the UK that have halogen headlights or don't have heated front seats. They sell a good few of them to fleet in the UK where the budget or BIK benefits doesn't stretch beyond the engine upgrade. An ex BMW UK car is really what you should be looking for, they tend to have a fair few extras ticked from the options list but most of these stay within the BMW dealer network.

deletthis

Had a 330e company car previously. Plenty fast, loved the silent effect round town also. Great car altogether but fuel economy isnt what it says on the tin - it's a UK BIK dodge not a true eco warrior. Would happily recommend but would be paying a massive premium over ICE equivalents especially if better specced (no idea on prevailing values in UK now).

Leonard Hofstadter

deletthis wrote: »

Had a 330e company car previously. Plenty fast, loved the silent effect round town also. Great car altogether but fuel economy isnt what it says on the tin - it's a UK BIK dodge not a true eco warrior. Would happily recommend but would be paying a massive premium over ICE equivalents especially if better specced (no idea on prevailing values in UK now).

This is the problem with plug in hybrids. Around town you can use the electric power, and even for short distance drives outside of town. But once you get beyond the 30 mile range, you're back to ICE and then you're doing the same mpg as a regular car.

They're also heavier and have a smaller boot than the diesel, and only have four cylinders rather than six.

If you're doing a lot of town driving then they make perfect sense, and if I had to have a plug in, of course I'd have one over just about anything else (save a 530e maybe).

MaceFace

captainspeed wrote: »

This is the problem with plug in hybrids. Around town you can use the electric power, and even for short distance drives outside of town. But once you get beyond the 30 mile range, you're back to ICE and then you're doing the same mpg as a regular car.

They're also heavier and have a smaller boot than the diesel, and only have four cylinders rather than six.

If you're doing a lot of town driving then they make perfect sense, and if I had to have a plug in, of course I'd have one over just about anything else (save a 530e maybe).

I do a 80km rountrip commute on a mix of N roads and motorway as well as the "typical" driving around town and what not on evenings and weekends. The battery will only be used by default on speeds below 80 km/h, so driving at 100km/h is pretty economical. Over the last 4k km, I am managing 4.6 l/100km. That's incredibly respectable as my last ICE on the same trip would allow me to squeeze out about 7.2 l/100km.

Realistically, the range of the battery is 25km, so only if you are doing 25km under 80 km/h and not driving aggressively will the car stay on battery, but I would argue that would be a very uncommon scenario unless you were stuck in traffic every day, but even with that, the use of the 25km range would be far superior in terms of economy than an ICE.

If I am doing a lot of cruising, I can easily put the car into Eco-mode and maybe just battery only as I get closer to home or another charging point.

What you can't measure though is the quietness of the engine of electric vehicles. I still get a kick out of silent driving at low speeds and when I get back in to a diesel car, it just seems "unrefined".

It's not all rosey though of course. The boot is smaller which is a problem when going to the airport. When there is no battery left, driving doesn't feel right - slower to react, but I don't know if that is a feature of the 330e or just being too used to the responsiveness of electric.

Leonard Hofstadter

MaceFace wrote: »

It's not all rosey though of course. The boot is smaller which is a problem when going to the airport. When there is no battery left, driving doesn't feel right - slower to react, but I don't know if that is a feature of the 330e or just being too used to the responsiveness of electric.

Probably because you've lost the electric motor, so then you're back to the same amount of power as you'll find in a 320i, but it will be even slower than one of those because it's heavier due to the batteries.

But thanks for all the other very useful info, these things are definitely the future until full electric comes along (I would also be more easily persuaded onto their merits if BMW equipped them with six cylinder engines).

paulanthony

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to look at this car on Saturday with a view to buying. It is well priced, I'm just wondering about the mileage? I won't be putting up big miles as I use public transport for work so thinking it will balance out over the next few years?

Would you be worried about the mileage? It is an ex-fleet car.

https://www.carshop.co.uk/used-car/BMW/3+SERIES/YA65WJK

PGE1970

I bought in a 3 series from the UK. The mileage wouldn't bother me as it may be a lot of motorway miles and the back seat doesn't look like it has been sat on.

For that money, I would certainly advise you to get an AA or RAC inspection done before you go. The Inspector rings you afterwards. Mine was on for about 30 minutes and then issued a very good report. It's about €300 but worth it for peace of mind. If the garage don't allow access to the vehicle for the inspection to take place, I would walk away to a garage who will.



I would also ask to have the service history emailed to you so that you can contact the garage to verify.



My only point to you would be that you say that you use public transport to go to work and don't so big mileage? Whilst it is a lovely car, do you really want to buy a 330D (or any diesel) to use as a weekend car?


Good luck however you proceed!

paulanthony

PGE1970 wrote: »

My only point to you would be that you say that you use public transport to go to work and don't so big mileage? Whilst it is a lovely car, do you really want to buy a 330D (or any diesel) to use as a weekend car?

Thanks for this - out of interest what would you recommend - for someone who was considering a 330D M-Sport...?

bazz26

Shame it doesn't have LED/xenon headlights and the Harman Kardon loudspeaker system. BMW halogen headlights are almost useless in the dark and the stock BMW stereo system is terrible. They would be show stoppers for me but might not bother yourself.

I'd be looking at one of these too even though it's a pre LCI Xdrive, it's better speced and in Northampton also:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807228687657?advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=nn11aj&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&minimum-badge-engine-size=3.0&sort=price-asc&body-type=Saloon&year-from=2015&model=3%20SERIES&year-to=2016&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&make=BMW&radius=1500&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807308965568?year-from=2015&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&advertising-location=at_cars&minimum-badge-engine-size=3.0&year-to=2016&radius=1500&model=3%20SERIES&body-type=Saloon&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&sort=price-asc&make=BMW&postcode=nn11aj&page=5

Wailin

paulanthony wrote: »

Thanks for this - out of interest what would you recommend - for someone who was considering a 330D M-Sport...?

430i/330i M Sport. Similar power to 330/430d but only 4 cylinder instead of 6. Not as refined but still a very good engine and ideal for low mileage driving.

PGE1970

paulanthony wrote: »

Thanks for this - out of interest what would you recommend - for someone who was considering a 330D M-Sport...?

Hard for me to say.


It depends on your needs - kids, pets, hobbies etc.


If you want a 3 series (and I've had a few!), would you consider a petrol if your mileage is lower. Still get a M Sport spec and try for highest spec as advised above.



If you are asking me what I would get (in that price range), the best fun that I had was when I owned a Golf GTI.


Others on this forum would have better knowledge of specs, technology etc!

Theboinkmaster

bazz26 wrote: »

Shame it doesn't have LED/xenon headlights and the Harman Kardon loudspeaker system. BMW halogen headlights are almost useless in the dark and the stock BMW stereo system is terrible. They would be show stoppers for me but might not bother yourself.

I'd be looking at one of these too even though it's a pre LCI Xdrive, it's better speced and in Northampton also:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807228687657?advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=nn11aj&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&minimum-badge-engine-size=3.0&sort=price-asc&body-type=Saloon&year-from=2015&model=3%20SERIES&year-to=2016&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&make=BMW&radius=1500&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201807308965568?year-from=2015&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&advertising-location=at_cars&minimum-badge-engine-size=3.0&year-to=2016&radius=1500&model=3%20SERIES&body-type=Saloon&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&sort=price-asc&make=BMW&postcode=nn11aj&page=5

Yeah id be going for one of those 2 for sure.

bazz26

If your mileage is low then a 328i/330i M Sport would be a super car to buy, holding their values in the UK though as the trend there is to move back from diesel.