Shoudl I get a new BMW 325 or stick with E30 ?

Keep the 320i. Give it a good service, have the paint professionally polished, the alloys cleaned and the interior properly valeted. It'll FEEL like a new car :-) Looks better too.

I changed my E30 318iS for an E36 many years ago. We kept the E36 for nine years (my fiance had it for half of that) but now I'm back on an E30 318iS and I much prefer it. It's better built and more fun, similar reliability. Not a direct comparison to an E90 though.

Glad you added that last line. Apples and oranges.

True. But any modern three is a lot bigger and heavier than an E30. Newer threes are better motorway cars and handle better. But they're more complex and in my experience less fun to drive.

I'll have to desagree. The handling of the new E90 is supurb and it gives the best of both worlds. Increased comfort and luxury, but not at the expense of performance. Have you tried one? They are a blast to drive. The car is evoloving and IMO the G35 almost caught up unitl the new series hit it out of the park. Regardless of whether you like the new look or not, the performance is awesome. The new 325 is as fast as the old 330 with better handling and more room.

Others will argue for sure, but I say take them for a good test drive.

Well I am going to give new 325 Sports and SE a Test drives next weekend :)

Thanks

Jules

Thats sort of where I am. My current E30 Ok for suburban traffic, but I will be doing a lot more moterway driving, so have to consider more about safety.

I cannot imagine owning an E90 for a happy 12 years, but I cannot afford to run two cars !

Jules

The 2006 E90 3 Series is a fantastic car. That said, I can't imagine driving long distances, i.e., over 150 miles, with no spare! Run-flats?!@ I'll wait and see whether these become the "next TRX tires".....

Yeah thats about where I am at. My E30 is still OK (and fun) for suberban traffic. but know I will be doing more motorway driving, and so safety has to be a bigger consideration now :(

I cannot imagine having 12 happy years with an E90 somehow, but I cannot run both cars.

Jules

If you have the money for a new E90 I would recommend it for two reasons:

1) Nothing else new is going to give you the fun factor to at least match your E30 combined with class leading refinement (I've never driven any BMW other than E91 3 series touring 2) Have a 40 mile per hour head on crash in your E30 and you will be lucky to survive, have the same crash in an E90 (or any other 4/5 star crash safety modern car) and you will most likely walk away with a few scrapes and bruises

Also try an E90 320d, mid range acceleration beats 325i, almost matches

330i and you should get somewhere between 42mpg and 50 mpg once run in. The 320d is quiet and even sounds a bit sporty but lacks the 6 cylinder exhaust note (you can't have everything!) Try to test drive an E90 with at least 2500 miles on the clock, mine is "feeling" much better now that I have a few thousand on the clock. Also drive it for an hour and a half or so.

Also do some research into run-flats before you reject them, they allow you to keep control of the car if you have a blow out on the motorway and free up usefull boot space.

Cheers Adrian

If you can't afford to *run* two cars then how can you aford the =A329 for a new one?

In my opinion best value now is late model E36s with all the creature comforts.

Depends what you're after. I just paid 2100 GBP for an E38 730i V8 with FSH and 122k miles! Cost 48k new, tough to beat value like that. E34 fives are stupidly good value too in the UK, you'll get a nice one for well under 1500.

I keep my E30 318iS for the twisty roads, the 7 is the long distnace car. (and all the shopping is done by bicycle)

If you can't afford to *run* two cars then how can you aford the £29 for a new one?

In my opinion best value now is late model E36s with all the creature comforts.

*Ding*. I have just bought that very thing. 1999 E36 323iSE Sports Touring. Many many toys, good economy, much cheapness :>)

JB

I meant for a 3-series. I too recently bought an E38 - 1996 4.4l 740i with most options for

2250 but has very little history and needs a bit of work here and there. It does look like a granddads car though :-)