1999 323is or 1997 328ci???? Hurry! tomorrow!!

I don't know if this will help, but here goes...When I was BMW shopping for a commuter car (I am a Porsche guy, but very impractical up through Renton and Newcastle on any weekday) I asked my former Porsche guy in San Diego, what to look for. He said...hands down look for a 325i from the mid to late

90's, and if you can afford it, get the 323...avoid the 318i's (The car is too heavy for it to be fun) and the 328's (the car was just not good as the 325i's)

There is really NO difference at all between the 323 and 328 except the displacement of the engine. Same engine - just bigger (2.8 vs 2.5). Same transmission, suspension. Might be some more bells and whistles on the

328 (power seats vs manual, convertibles were generally power top vs manual) - but the basics are identical.

And Darrin - you're absolutely correct - the 323 should really be labeled a 325 since it does have the 2.5L engine in it - and performance isn't a lot different between the two. Contemporary reports at the time gave fractions of a second different for 0-60.. You might loose some top end - but do you care if you can't go 135mph instead of 130mph? I don't think so..

You're probably wise in not getting an M3 - they are priced higher (I've owned a few - own a current model now) - and tend to be driven harder. Lots of young people buy them and thrash the stuffing out of them - which leads to some rather expensive repairs down the road. They're great cars - but you have to go into them with open eyes - they are a performance car and the maintenance is likely to be higher than a more standard BMW.

The 323 is a great car - and given the mileage difference - sounds like that's the one you would do best with..

HTH

It's not. I never cease to be amazed by people who delude themselves into thinking that going from 2.5L to 2.8L is some huge difference. In fact it's barely noticeable.

Wow see i can sense maturity on this blog. I posted this same thing on

and i'll tell ya its a bunch of kids, i know i know, im only 24 (i consider myself mature for my age)... But most likely people from 16-25 and they were both like go for the 328 more power, blah blah, well guys!..... I followed your direction!?!!!

Turns out the 323is was black on black leather, and had M badges on the steeringwheel, shift knob and seats! It was seriously like new. I'm probably going to offend someone, but i'm telling you it had just a DINAN intake and DINAN stage two ECU on it, and boom, its faster than the 328 i drove by far! I couldn't be happier, with a car only costing

14G's and it only has 48K on it, i cant tell you how happy i am. I probably will put the small one inch lip spoiler on it, M3 mirrors (cause i like them better) and this is going to be my first car i dont lower. it was so nice coming into downtown seattle in a completely silent car! A dream come true! any suggestions, thank you all for your very helpful compliments.

If you are curious, you can go to the bottom of the thread, my name is "Revhard" and if you see i posted four pictures if you are curious what it looks like guys!

On an E39, there's a noticeable difference in the bottom end punch with the 2.8. Not so much at the top end, though. And the 2.5 is a slightly sweeter engine.

Depending on the 323 build date, I'd go with that - unless you are 100% sure the 328 block has been replaced.

Nikasil blocks were put in both the 323 and 328 up until March 1998 - and Nikasil is not something I'd be willing to gamble.

Inlet manifold, rebored throttle body and an ECU remap will see the 323 exceed standard 328 performance anyway.

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Not in the US, IIRC. Only V-8s, not sixes. They retained an iron block after Europe went to ally. Then later used liners before finally Alusil.

oh yeah...somewhow missed the "I live in Seattle" line! DOH!

I thought that the intake, exhaust and final drive ratios were different?

The 323 is a detuned version of the older 325 in that it has less maximum power but for most people they'll say that it drives better. The 328 has the same max power as the old 325i but the extra 300cc or so help with the low down power. if you can't tell or don't want the

20 or so hp difference between the two then you're better off buying the 323.

The argument of "tune up a 323 and it'll be faster than a 328" is a bit silly as you also have the argument of "tune up a 328 and it'll be faster than an M3". Also if you want to tune up a 323 you may as well buy the older 325.

Sounds nice. Maybe I should do that to my 323. 8)

328i is faster than 325i, difference is 1 HP, some torque and 300cc. 328i is more comfortable for daily driving because his torque is down low instead of 325 which is more high end engine (when comparing with M52 2,8 of course). 325's have 3:15 diff, and 328's have 2:98 what gives them few km more in top speed. Of course, I'm talking about Euro spec cars. 328i can also be well tuned; with M50 intake, CAI, chip gain is more than 20hp. That is the best bang for the buck, and if you have more money M3 is easly beaten.

-- It's a good idea to drive a little Japanese/Ford/whatever shopping machine once a year to remind yourself why you're in a BMW for the rest of the year. by John Burns. '98 328i coupe t.

It's not a huge difference, but it itsn't also "barely noticable". I have a stock 328 that noticeably pulls away from stock 325's during hard core driving. Also, in daily driving 328's is more comfortable because it has more torque and engine bytes from 2000 rpm. But 328's have down sides; nikasil issue, 99% of them doesn't have LSD...

-- It's a good idea to drive a little Japanese/Ford/whatever shopping machine once a year to remind yourself why you're in a BMW for the rest of the year. by John Burns. '98 328i coupe t.

My point exactly. It's "only" 300cc more but that's a 12% increase in capacity and as the saying goes there aint no replacement for displacement.