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325i

320d vs 330d refinement?

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I'm thinking of replacing my current E46 with a newer E46 in the near future, it will either be a 320d or 330d.

I have driven a friends 320d but just found the engine refinement a big downgrade from my current 325i.

So my question is, what is the 330d like? Is it more refined or is the NVH same as as a 320d?

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Any 6-cylinder is always going to be far more refined than any 4-cylinder. Just ask someone local to you to take you for a run in their 330d, you will soon be forgetting all about 320d - unless you rarely get out of town.

IMO, the only reason anyone would buy a 320d is if all their driving consists of sub-10mile journeys. That's where the 4-cylinder gains, on start-stop economy. Anything other than that and it's 330d FTW! :)

I was stopped alongside a 320d at some traffic lights the other day, with the window down, and I couldn't hear my engine because the tractor-like 320d drowned it out! :o

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as, all above,drives like a petrol, even more so with a remap,as you get a better throttle response,revs tight straight away,no blipping the throttle when pulling away,i will say that the 330d does require the correct gear with it having six to drive smoothly in town.ie got to be in third for 30mph , i seem to be changing gear more than when i had a 5sp mgzt with the 320 d engine

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also,there are 2 versions of the 330d, 184 bhp v 204 bhp,ive never driven the 184 so dont know,and as the 184 was a 5sp i think the town driving might be a bit better and dont have to keep changing from 3rd to 4th and vice versa,i have my car at around 260 bhp and have got to say its great,but on motorway doing 70 it is a bit between gears,6th feels to sluggy and 5th a little bit low a gear,a 5 and a half would be perfect ha ha

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Performance wise it is but everything is not just about performance is it. There are other aspects too.

The 330d is powerful, torquey, fast, smooth, refined, good on fuel, etc... they don't really sound or drive like a diesel either...

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also,there are 2 versions of the 330d, 184 bhp v 204 bhp,ive never driven the 184 so dont know,and as the 184 was a 5sp i think the town driving might be a bit better and dont have to keep changing from 3rd to 4th and vice versa,i have my car at around 260 bhp and have got to say its great,but on motorway doing 70 it is a bit between gears,6th feels to sluggy and 5th a little bit low a gear,a 5 and a half would be perfect ha ha

I've owned both, the 184 (2.9) is a more torquey engine at low revs, it has better mid range IMO, but power tails off at higher revs, whereas the 204 (3.0) likes to be revved and will pull hard all the way to the 5k redline, more like a petrol engine.

If you look at the dyno plots, the power & torque delivery concur with my thoughts, look at the torque delivery in the 2.9 vs the 3.0

2.9 >>> http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/330d.pdf

3.0 >>> http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/330d204.pdf

They are both superb engines though, the 2.9 sounds little beefier IMO, the 3.0 is a little quieter and even more refined though, plus responds much better to tuning, so if you are chasing power then the 3.0 is the one to go for.

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Make sure you check the history properly whichever you buy .... for diesels you may need to get the swirl flaps removed depending on which age/gear style you choose, you may need to clean/replace/remove the EGR etc etc etc

Otherwise, I do love my 330d, its a great engine and heck of an improvement on my 1998 328 petrol, just wish I wasn't spending so much money on getting it back in order .......

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