which one is more valuable?325 or 330?
can anyone give a good advice...
do you think it's worth it if i buy a fully loaded 325ci?pp,sp,steptronic,xenon
or is it more valuable to buy a 330ci?

thanx

im not sure about your questiong

but what does the c in ci mean?

I will answer. BMW has a premium for their horsepower as you have noticed. Drive the two with the same trans (auto or manual) and see what will be suitable for your needs. Know this though. The one that costs the most will sway you with "some" power increase. In '96 I went for the 328is (coupe was "is" then not "ic") over the 4 cyl. 318is because there were quite a few differences between the two besides cubic inches. When the 323 engine appeared BMW shot itself in the foot (briefly though) on their choice 323 vs 328. They were so close except for PRICE. They quickly played the nickel-dime game with horsepower and introduced the 325 and dropped cruise control, etc, etc, and al la carte items that once were standard. The DM dropped in value drastically against the $ but we saw no let up in price. Voila! more profit and movie coverage advertising! Now that there are two 6 cyl engines I would probably go with the lesser and get some options that are useful. After all, if your commute is anything like mine it won't make much difference anyway.

P.S. BMW may have added cruise control back on the car as standard but they did have it as an option in 2001 on the 325. Rear seat fold-down is standard on coupe and $495 on the sedan. Etc., etc a la carte!

No kidding about reducing the amount of standard equipment. One good example is the remote trunk release button. It was standard in 2000 323Ci, but it is not even available in the 325Ci! At least in Canada. What a joke... I think 323Ci was the best bang for the buck compared to 328Ci. Now that 330Ci is so much better, I would go for the 330Ci instead of 325Ci. By the way, 325Ci got ten more hp while losing about 10 lb-ft of torque comapred to 323Ci. For a 2.5L engine, I think the more torque is more useful for everyday driving.

Originally posted by lun4_sea
which one is more valuable?325 or 330?
can anyone give a good advice...
do you think it's worth it if i buy a fully loaded 325ci?pp,sp,steptronic,xenon
or is it more valuable to buy a 330ci?

thanx

I think the 330i is the way to go:D It really depends on what your looking for in a car. If you have the $ the 330i is nice. Although I'm very biased I own a 2001 ;)

Owning a 330 (sedan) and having driven both 325 and 330, here is my assesment. The 330 is what I would call a sports sedan (or coupe), while the 325 is more along the lines of a solid luxury sedan. I beleive there is about a 40-50 hp difference between the two, which makes a very noticable difference in performane. I chose the 330 because I wanted a sports car. If all you care about is luxury transportation, I would get the 325 and save $$$.

Owning a 330 (sedan) and having driven both 325 and 330, here is my assesment. The 330 is what I would call a sports sedan (or coupe), while the 325 is more along the lines of a solid luxury sedan. I beleive there is about a 40-50 hp difference between the two, which makes a very noticable difference in performane. I chose the 330 because I wanted a sports car. If all you care about is luxury transportation, I would get the 325 and save $$$.

Must say that this is a matter of what you like in a car. Several folks have posted good responses in terms of value for the money. I would say if this is what you like, you should probably take the 325 with all the features you can add, especially if you prefer to cruise from place to place rather than push the car (even so, the 325 is not a weak engine at all!)

However, if you are more interested in the driving/feel of the car and value power. I would suggest that you spend the extra cash on the 330.

Personally, I drove both when I was considering a new car and decided I preferred a more powerful and sporty engine to all the features.

Originally posted by CarBuff
I will answer. BMW has a premium for their horsepower as you have noticed. Drive the two with the same trans (auto or manual) and see what will be suitable for your needs. Know this though. The one that costs the most will sway you with "some" power increase. In '96 I went for the 328is (coupe was "is" then not "ic") over the 4 cyl. 318is because there were quite a few differences between the two besides cubic inches. When the 323 engine appeared BMW shot itself in the foot (briefly though) on their choice 323 vs 328. They were so close except for PRICE. They quickly played the nickel-dime game with horsepower and introduced the 325 and dropped cruise control, etc, etc, and al la carte items that once were standard. The DM dropped in value drastically against the $ but we saw no let up in price. Voila! more profit and movie coverage advertising! Now that there are two 6 cyl engines I would probably go with the lesser and get some options that are useful. After all, if your commute is anything like mine it won't make much difference anyway.

P.S. BMW may have added cruise control back on the car as standard but they did have it as an option in 2001 on the 325. Rear seat fold-down is standard on coupe and $495 on the sedan. Etc., etc a la carte!

A little correction... the 325 in the E36 ended in 95. In 96 a 328 was made and the 323. The 328 had a 2.8L and the 323 had the 2.5L from the previous 325. When the E46 came out it started with the 323 and 328 and then when the 330 was release the 323 was rebadged 325.

I just want to comment on the models as Brian moderated. Brian, you are correct on many points; however, in '96 the choices were E36 bodystyles of a 6 cyl 328 or a 4 cyl 318. The 323 was not made available until the '98 model year then later, as you mentioned badged as a 325 in 2001. For the new buyer though my main point is to suggest the need for careful shopping.

After evaluating, researching, and driving different 3 series bimmers for about 4 months, I ended up buying a 2001 330i. Although the 325 is a nice car, it does not have the HP of the 330 and I would always be playing second fiddle to the 330. I LOVE the power of the 330, and with a manual gearbox\sport package, this car cannot be beat.

Dont settle, get the best. You wont regret it, trust me.:D

Also, I had to decide on a coupe or sedan. Go and drive both back to back. You dont lose any performance in the sedan, it is more rigid, and personally I think that it is much more expensive looking than the coupe.

I have been looking at the BMW 3 series. Looking at the convertibles and finally ordered one that will be in in a few weeks. I drove both the 323 and the 330. I noticed a significant difference and went with the 330 cic. I am very excited. I like the extra horsepower.

I never thought the price increase from 325 to 330 was worth the differnece in the quality of the car

What i would do if i were you is get the 325 and load it.. clear out the lights and buy a tv :)

330 or 325. They are both damn good cars and engines. I will be getting delivery of mine in a week or so. Got the 330 ci convertible what a beauty.

Hey I like 325ci cuz i got one. Bought it this year and I know it has less hp but I got most of the options and I am loving the car. :cool:

I had a 99 323i and loved it .took a few test drives in the 330ci and loved it more.The 55 hp increase makes a big difference with the sport package altogether different car.altho they are both very good cars the 330ci is great.imho
good luck in what ever one you chose
you will enjoy either one they are both BMW's!!!!!!!!!!!
vern

Got my new Beemer convertible a littel over a week ago. It is awesome. I truly love driving again. I agree with you they are all great cars. Great handling and very well built. Happy motoring.

i would prefer the 330 with sport package...
the difference to the 323 (= 325) is quite big!!!

Got the car over 1,100 miles and it is now even smoother and a has a little more power it seems. Yeah Baby.

i always drool over the next treat that BMW offers out of the factory, but i could never justify spending that cash on those cars... my 96 328i has over 80 thou miles and with less than a grand in performance mods its runs to 60 in 6.12... not to mention that the car (now worth somewhere between 12 and 15 grand) can have a rebuilt new engine equipped with a performance option from bavarian engine exchange for about 7 gs (estimate)... for that reason alone i can't justify buying a new car... i love the 330, but being 20, i can hardly afford my speeding tickets
-alex

the 330ci has the E36 95 M3 engines in it, but the E36 95-99 M3 engines have 240 hp, but the E46 330i/ci have 220 hp, same 3.0 engine.

Where did the 20 hp come form in the M3? My wife has the 330i and I would love to get the 20 horses back :icon16:

The engines aren't quiet the same.
The E36 M3 had two displacements and two specification.
The E36 M3 first came out with a displacement of 3.0L, where the European models had 286 horsepower and 240 for the U.S. models.
Later (forgot the year) BMW changed the displacement from 3.0L to 3.2L, and the European models also had variable valve timing, and bumped the horsepower up to 321. The lack of variable valve timing for the U.S. models kept the horsepower rating at 240.
The current 3.0L engine used in 3 series is rated at 225 horsepower (SAE) for U.S. models and 231 (DIN) for the Europeans.