[Cozy]

Hi everyone,

I posted a while back in the Intro section with a view to buy an E92 335i and received some very helpful advice. Since then I decided to persevere with my current weekend toy/project and finish it which I now have done however I still want that 3-Series so it has to go. My main reason being that my current car right now is my only car and it doesn't set a great image turning up to meetings in it in my professional career on occasion when it's required. I also feel that I have outgrown the loud and lairy car scene and crave something with comfort, image and style.

I've been looking at many 335i's on the internet this week but none have jumped out to me so far (or rather, I am picky) which got me thinking about a 325i which ticks the boxes style and equipment wise more often within my budget (£15000). My main question is, will I be disappointed with the performance of it? I assume it's more of a cruiser than a sports coupe/cabrio? I opted for the 335i as my top choice due to the performance really but I wonder if you can tell me how the 325i drives?

Don't get me wrong, I'm no hooligan on the road and my car as it is only comes out once or twice every couple of weeks for a nice B-Road blast to keep it running well, but I like a car to feel sporty and connected with me.

My current car is a SEAT Leon Cupra R tuned to 300bhp which is pretty hairy in a light-ish hatchback. Very fun, very loud but it's not a BMW .

Thanks

[- Paul -]

Yes I think you will - big difference between the two performance wise.

[MB London]

I’ve had both mate and there is a considerable difference in performance. I don’t have time to do a war & peace write up on the two cars but in brief the 335i has buckets of torque throughout the rev range whereas 325i needs to get up to the upper end of the rev range before it comes alive. If you haven’t driven a 335i then you wont be disappointed with 325

[Falmouthboy]

I think your only option is to try and take one for an extended test drive. It's very difficult to put oneself in your place in terms of what is acceptable in terms of power. The 325i engine is a little strangled compared to the 330i engine which is a real corker and being normally aspirated to some offers enough character to compensate for being less powerful than the 335i engine.

My guess though, is that after the Leon, a 325i may be a little too slow for you.

[davyk31]

325 is a beautifully smooth engine but little torque so needs a few revs to really make it go. Quite a bit down on your Seat's power so it may feel a bit lacking but for a nice cruiser it would be great.

[Cozy]

Thanks for the replies. To be honest I've done the hard & fast cars throughout my teens and up until now in my early 20's, so a cruiser might well just suit me, hence the 325i idea. The torque could bother me, having owned turbocharged cars I guess I am used to it and being slammed in the back which is why I worry, I shall book a test drive but it's nice to hear that the car itself is very nice. I'm aware that the 335i SE came with most/all M-sport mechanical goodies, is this the same for the 325I or am I better off opting for an M-sport as I'd like to retain a little of that sporty feel through the steering and suspension?

As a friend said to me the other day, half the fun of a prestige badge is the envy of those around you and I guess to a degree I do agree, I certainly get no badge envy with the SEAT and the only party piece it has is being able to corner on rails and out run some big money cars. I do look ridiculous driving it in a suit though...thank God for train travel.

[gangzoom]

Your Cupra R looks nice...The 335i is a great car and that is nothing to do with the badge. When I was looking to replaced my 350z it was the guys on the Seat forum who convinced to test drive a 335i rather than spend £25K on a new Curpa R.

If your looking for a "grown up" sports saloon than the only other car worth mentioning is the current S4. However its still pretty pricey and certiantly no more fun than a 335i. I wouldn't bother test driving anything less than a 335i, especially if your use to 300BHP. Just take it easy the frist time you really push the 335i, 300Bhp in a RWD car is completly different to 300Bhp going through the front wheels....

oh and don't let scare stories about the engine put you off...most seem to come from people who don't even own a 335i!!

[sheps]

I ran a 325i E92 for three years.
I came into that from a lightly breathed on WRX Impreza.
I found the 325i disappointing in terms of oomf.

Don't get my wrong, if you really wring the nuts off of it (and it sounds glorious when doing so) then it does move, to a degree. But it never feels particularly quick, and there is a surprising lack of low-end grunt - a reasonable surge of acceleration from 80+ requires a downchange to 4th, there isn't enough 'there' to do anything impressive in 6th.

You never 'burst' out of corners. It all just feels a little flat.

Coming from a 300bhp hot hatch, which is likely to be an absolute sled, you're definitely going to be disappointed.

[dobbo99]

ive owned a Cupra R and Mk5 Golf Gti, and most recently a td volvo, yes the turbo punch is missing from the 325 engine, but its still a better car than all 3 Ive mentioned. in my opinion of course.

its a grown up car for sure, it doesnt feel as urgent or on the edge, but it will put a smile on your face as well. it does need revving, and doesnt really start to get going until 4k put then pulls all the way to the redline.
the auto is pretty rubbish, need manual.

in terms of VFM, there are a number of 325i m-sports on autotrader for less than £13k and thats less than I paid for mine 8 months ago. I was only interested in non-turbo engines, so it was the 325 or 330, and the 330 m-sports were a good couple of grand more.

best car Ive owned by a mile. a few miles actually.

[dxb335d]

I've owned a tuned 335d which was very fast, I recently sampled a LCi 325i and I thought i would be disappointed but I wasn't. It was quicker than I expected! It rev'd lovely and pulled quite hard. For sure it's no power house like a 335d or i but it does go pretty well

[BanziBarn]

IMO, it'll feel too slow. Don't do it.

I made the mistake of loosing performance on a change once and regretted it.

[CH79]

I came from a Leon FR (180bhp I think) to a mk 4 Golf GTi then on to a 325i lci m sport. The 325 will definitely feel slower as you don't have that turbo shove and as others have said, you can definitely tell there is not much torque low down. In my opinion, it is a lovely car to drive slowly as it is so smooth and quiet. If you do put the foot down though, there is a bit of a kick when you get near the top of the rev range so still has a bit of performance that will satisfy but will it be enough compared to your 300bhp leon - only you can decide! The rear wheel drive is an obvious improvement over your leon though.

There is also limited capacity to tune due to it being naturally aspirated so this may be a consideration when you tuned your leon.

Don't know much about them but have you looked at the 325D - obviously has much more tuning potential, or even a 320D if you want to tune it straight away.

[Cozy]

Thank again, you're al very helpful and I am sure I'll enjoy my stay on this forum .

Originally Posted by gangzoom

Your Cupra R looks nice...The 335i is a great car and that is nothing to do with the badge. When I was looking to replaced my 350z it was the guys on the Seat forum who convinced to test drive a 335i rather than spend £25K on a new Curpa R.

If your looking for a "grown up" sports saloon than the only other car worth mentioning is the current S4. However its still pretty pricey and certiantly no more fun than a 335i. I wouldn't bother test driving anything less than a 335i, especially if your use to 300BHP. Just take it easy the frist time you really push the 335i, 300Bhp in a RWD car is completly different to 300Bhp going through the front wheels....

oh and don't let scare stories about the engine put you off...most seem to come from people who don't even own a 335i!!

Good call on not choosing the new Cupra R, it really doesn't compare and the more tuned ones are starting to give trouble. My gripe with the S4 is the price and that every VAG car I have driven feels the same, I vowed that this would be the last of them that I own, I feel they lost sight a little.

Thank you for the kind words on mine and the advice, really appreciated. This is what's going, I'm sad but it is time to move on...

Originally Posted by sheps

I ran a 325i E92 for three years.
I came into that from a lightly breathed on WRX Impreza.
I found the 325i disappointing in terms of oomf.

Don't get my wrong, if you really wring the nuts off of it (and it sounds glorious when doing so) then it does move, to a degree. But it never feels particularly quick, and there is a surprising lack of low-end grunt - a reasonable surge of acceleration from 80+ requires a downchange to 4th, there isn't enough 'there' to do anything impressive in 6th.

You never 'burst' out of corners. It all just feels a little flat.

Coming from a 300bhp hot hatch, which is likely to be an absolute sled, you're definitely going to be disappointed.

Thank you, this is very helpful post as I imagine the nature of the Subaru's power is similar to what I have.

Originally Posted by dobbo99

ive owned a Cupra R and Mk5 Golf Gti, and most recently a td volvo, yes the turbo punch is missing from the 325 engine, but its still a better car than all 3 Ive mentioned. in my opinion of course.

its a grown up car for sure, it doesnt feel as urgent or on the edge, but it will put a smile on your face as well. it does need revving, and doesnt really start to get going until 4k put then pulls all the way to the redline.
the auto is pretty rubbish, need manual.

in terms of VFM, there are a number of 325i m-sports on autotrader for less than £13k and thats less than I paid for mine 8 months ago. I was only interested in non-turbo engines, so it was the 325 or 330, and the 330 m-sports were a good couple of grand more.

best car Ive owned by a mile. a few miles actually.

That's what I've seen, M-Sport 325's going for a faction of what an M-Sport 335 would cost me so the VFM is definitely there. I guess with a prestige car it's not all about power and you can't argue, the 3-series really does look very nice which more than makes up for any short comings in power.

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I've owned a tuned 335d which was very fast, I recently sampled a LCi 325i and I thought i would be disappointed but I wasn't. It was quicker than I expected! It rev'd lovely and pulled quite hard. For sure it's no power house like a 335d or i but it does go pretty well

That's nice to know coming from something with a great amount of power . Thanks.

Originally Posted by BanziBarn

IMO, it'll feel too slow. Don't do it.

I made the mistake of loosing performance on a change once and regretted it.

I hope I don't make the same mistake, whatever I get will be right for me.

Originally Posted by CH79

I came from a Leon FR (180bhp I think) to a mk 4 Golf GTi then on to a 325i lci m sport. The 325 will definitely feel slower as you don't have that turbo shove and as others have said, you can definitely tell there is not much torque low down. In my opinion, it is a lovely car to drive slowly as it is so smooth and quiet. If you do put the foot down though, there is a bit of a kick when you get near the top of the rev range so still has a bit of performance that will satisfy but will it be enough compared to your 300bhp leon - only you can decide! The rear wheel drive is an obvious improvement over your leon though.

There is also limited capacity to tune due to it being naturally aspirated so this may be a consideration when you tuned your leon.

Don't know much about them but have you looked at the 325D - obviously has much more tuning potential, or even a 320D if you want to tune it straight away.

The Leon tends to scrabble for grip in lower gears, in the wet it's scary with wheel spin in 6th on occasion but it's peaking 330lb-ft which is rather insane for a FWD. It'll be nice to have something more controllable in both circumstances. I appreciate the pro's for buying a diesel but I just don't like the sound no matter how quick they can be.

I think I need to test drive both 325 & 335 back to back and make my choice. I don't plan on tunning either but a 335 would always leave that option open. I have looked at the 330 but they seem to be few and far between at a price not much less than a 335.

[335iLondon]

I think you should go for the 335
Obviously a slightly biased option but having driven BOTH i would not recommend the 325 unless you love revving the bejeezus out of your motors.
I would never trade the massive torque right across the rev range.
Although the NA does sound a little sweeter.

ps check out classified section here, usually well looked after cars for the most part.

[rs939]

I have owned the LCR with revo in the past and loved it, however the handling compared to newer cars now shows its age a bit, Like you it was all about the torque. Before I bought my 325d I had a 300 Focus St and that did go like a rocket but had that wow factor.

Like you I wanted something more adult rather than asbo but I really wanted a turbo hence opting for the diesel. I have to say the handling of these cars is brilliant, better than I expected and will most certainly be an improvement on the LCR.

If you really want a turbo the 325d/330d/335d are cracking cars and a cheeky remap gets you the same power as what you are used to on the old car

[jonw]

I've recently bought an e93 325i.
Performance isnt too shabby but you do need to rev it a bit to get it going.
Lovely smooth engine though.
If your after performance get a 330 or a 130.
130s are cheap now and they great little hatches.

[BanziBarn]

I agree - 325d + would be a better option.

Lovely Leon BTW. I really wanted the Cupra R but couldn't find one for the price I wanted to pay so got a CTR instead.

I later owned the new shape FR TDI which was really good, but your shape Leon still looks good, especially with those 18s.

[rs939]

I have had the Leon LCR (the only car I made money on as it was limited at the time), Leon FR Mk1, Leon Mk2 Sport, all very good cars.

LCR still looks great even now.

[kaishang]

I owned a 2006 325i. There are two models of 325i: a 2.5 litre and a detuned 3.0 litre. I had the 2.5 litre.

It's a great car. The engine sounds like a turbine. It is a 2.5L engine in a relatively heavy car so you need to rev it to get the most out of it, but it loves to rev. It's also very well balanced and the thing with BMWs - they are not about maximum power, you can buy much cheaper cars with more power but in a BMW you can use 100% of that power instead of only 80% in another lesser car before it gets too noisy, the suspension can't take it or you worry bits will fall off. The 325i loves to go around corners.

There is probably not that much price difference between a 325i and a 330i, so you could consider that too.

[BIGTIME]

I had a Astra VXR before my 335i and test drove a 325i. I said to the wife the 325i is not as fun to drive as the VXR but I love it. She then went on to explain that I'd regret it like I did when I sold my impreza for a RX8. Best decision ever was to get the 335i as if I'd got the 325i I'd be looking for a replacement now.

[zltm089]

coming from a 300bhp car...

go for the 335i...

otherwise, u'll miss the turbo power delivery and the torque...

[chris_s1]

So many ex-Leon owners!!

I too had a Leon Cupra then a Leon Cupra R with Revo back in the day, absolutely loved it, but the performance was so limited by the front wheel drive.

I think the 325i would really dissapoint you, but the 'd' version might not. Actually I have no idea why people go for a 325i. I had a new 325i E92 as a loaner recently and it compared very poorly to my 325d. It was miles slower in my point to point tests and really dissapointing to me on all fronts. I could see no reason to buy one over the 'd' other than maybe the purchase price is a bit less.

I have a 325d+evolve and that goes at least as well as my old LeonR and is a lot more 'driveable' - ie you can get it off the line quickly without writing a number 11 on the road.

I have tracked all the cars I have owned and around Castle Coombe, the Leon R was about 3 seconds quicker than my current 325d. So not much and a lot of that was due to the brakes which are a bit more suited to track use on the Leon.