Move over 325i, Here comes the 330i.

[Cyrus43]

Even though the 325i Badge is LEGENDARY in the BMW stable, BMW fan boys, me being one of them always want more power. The 325i is fantastic, No doubt, but it's big brother is coming to India!! the 330i.

BMW India is looking to spice up its 3-series range with the launch of the 330i, which will eventually replace the 325i as the range-topper in India. The 3-series flagship will come with a larger three-litre, in-line six-cylinder engine that develops a potent 258bhp, which should propel the sporty saloon to 100kph in under seven seconds before hitting a top speed of 250kph. In fact, the 330i is powered by the same engine as the 530i that's currently on sale in India.

Scoop! BMW 330i launch in March | Autocar India


Looks Like Speedy will have to change his car now!!

[Sahil]

Nice ! This was much expected since the C250 is coming our way.
Only downside is, the only way that thing is going to hit it's true potential 100km/hr in under 7 seconds is with the brutally expensive higher octane fuel

[Speeding@160mph]

The C250CGI is the same old C230 (2.5V6) and already at par with the 325i - MB will need to bring in the C300 (3.0) to hang with the bimmer!

[speedy]

The down side is the 330i is gonna be in limited numbers for market response. I already got a call a few days ago from a friend at Infinity motors stateing that they are getting only 5 cars. The upside is it is gonna be priced in the same range of the 325i.

No cyrus i am not changeing my car. I would just remap it and turbo it to the 330i specs. Cheaper option without looseing money brother . This considering my car is just gonna go in for her first service. If it were the 335i i definately would have changed the car.

[nitrous]

Please tell me atleast the 330i is a manual and not a slush box.

[theragingbull]

Nice move by BMW here especially when Merc is launching the C250. Seems like the Germans are now realizing that there's also a market in India that wants only performance and F.E is the last thing on mind. Would have loved to see a M/T here.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

330i coming, which means people would now have a real dilemma choosing between the Audi 3.2 tfsi & the BMW 330i. wow! envy the guy who would have to make a choice between these 2 !!
But as they say, "some people are just never satisfied" , recently read a report from Arizona ,USA where the Audi 3.2 PETROL was taking on the Beemer 335D ..YES D !..they had a petrol vs diesel showdown and boy !!! the way that Diesel made the petrol eat its dust...left me shellshocked. I mean i had never seen the 3.2 being left behind because of lack of enough power !!! ( Christ's sake !! lol )
That makes me want to wish ( though i know it wont ever happen :( ) that someday the higher end diesel 3 series arrives here as Audi already has a real stonker with the 3 L tdi.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by Speeding@160mph

The C250CGI is the same old C230 (2.5V6) ...

Nope.

You are confusing the C250 with the C250 CGI.

Yes, the plain C250 is the "same-ol" C230.

However the C250 CGI (Charged Gasoline Injection) is an entirely different fuel injection setup - where fuel is directly injected into the cylinder.

cya
R

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo

330i coming, which means people would now have a real dilemma choosing between the Audi 3.2 tfsi & the BMW 330i. wow! envy the guy who would have to make a choice between these 2 !!
But as they say, "some people are just never satisfied" , recently read a report from Arizona ,USA where the Audi 3.2 PETROL was taking on the Beemer 335D ..YES D !..they had a petrol vs diesel showdown and boy !!! the way that Diesel made the petrol eat its dust...left me shellshocked. I mean i had never seen the 3.2 being left behind because of lack of enough power !!! ( Christ's sake !! lol )
That makes me want to wish ( though i know it wont ever happen :( ) that someday the higher end diesel 3 series arrives here as Audi already has a real stonker with the 3 L tdi.

The 335d is a masterpiece of an engine, its a twin turbo belting out 580nM of torque below 2000rpm and 285HP ! It defiantly will chew almost all petrols in that segment. Besides diesels, especially in India are proven to perform much better than their petrol brother. Example: 530d blows the light out of the 530i, E350CDi beats the E350 and C220CDi murders the C200K.

[indra_slk]

Originally Posted by Sahil

The 335d is a masterpiece of an engine, its a twin turbo belting out 580nM of torque below 2000rpm and 285HP ! It defiantly will chew almost all petrols in that segment. Besides diesels, especially in India are proven to perform much better than their petrol brother. Example: 530d blows the light out of the 530i, E350CDi beats the E350 and C220CDi murders the C200K.

I think you have your facts wrong Sahil. The C200K is marginally faster than then the C220 CDI. I have been able to pull slightly ahead while racing with a C220 CDI(Closed road and no traffic).From 0-100 we were neck and neck but after 100 the 200K pulled ahead to almost a car length.

I have the C Class catalogue with me right now.

C220 CDI: 0-100 km/h 8.5 (almost same)
Top speed:229
C200K: 0-100 km/h 8.6
Top speed:235

[rxpaul]

Originally Posted by Sahil

The 335d is a masterpiece of an engine, its a twin turbo belting out 580nM of torque below 2000rpm and 285HP ! It defiantly will chew almost all petrols in that segment. Besides diesels, especially in India are proven to perform much better than their petrol brother. Example: 530d blows the light out of the 530i, E350CDi beats the E350 and C220CDi murders the C200K.

Sahil, Is the 530d really faster than the 530i ? Do you mean the top speed or the acceleration ? What are the bhp figures of both.

[BikerSG]

maybe i bought my 320d too soon!

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by Sahil

The 335d is a masterpiece of an engine, its a twin turbo belting out 580nM of torque below 2000rpm and 285HP ! It defiantly will chew almost all petrols in that segment. Besides diesels, especially in India are proven to perform much better than their petrol brother. Example: 530d blows the light out of the 530i, E350CDi beats the E350 and C220CDi murders the C200K.

well , the guys who tested the vehicles in arizona claimed the 335D has 265hp...& not 285. maybe its a test from a year ago or so. But am quite sure that 335d had 265hp. By the way, since you own a 5er yourself id like to ask you, as u said, its proven that in India the diesel counterparts are better performers than their petrol siblings.The 530D outperforms the "i" and this fact has always confused me since the BMW India page claims otherwise. What i mean is, the 0-100 times of the i are marginally better than the 'd' according to them. Is that true then ??? As in the past i used to feel the 530i is the ultimate performer in the 5 line up but most here claim otherwise...saying its the 530d. So if you know about it , does the D clearly make the I eat its dust ???? & besides this , i am genuinely interested in the f10 535i & 530d. Am aware there is a bit of time to go for its release in India but we are actually restricting ourselves to our current Civic so that we could take that big leap and go for 1 of those 2 when it finally does release. So considering that the D outperforms the i , would the 530D would be the better choice ???? It wouldv been quite a simple decision had it been a 530i , but this 1 is a 535i and that is keeping me further confused & very interested. Let me also specify that mine is a family of power crazy driving enthusiasts and though there is not much scope to use all that power, its the short and powerful bursts that we seldom get and the highway sprints, that give us real joy. So, whats your opinion with the prospective f10 buy ??? 535i or 530d ???? the 535i would have a humongous 302hp where as the 530d would have an increased 540NM torque with same power as current 530d viz 245hp (sorry for such an elongated post )

[Nikhilb2008]

I dont think the 530d will "eat the 530i". Remember the Top Gear episode where they had a diesel on the track for the first time?

The Stig drove the petrol and JC drove the diesel and the diesel, while very very fast, just wasnt as good as the petrol.

This was the video where JC tried to explain about the small and big tubochargers on the 530d with cute puppies on one side of the screen as he said he couldnt make the explanation interesting enough! :

Edit: Season 6 episode 10. It's the 535d.

Edit 2: I was wrong. They tested it against the 4.5 litre V8. And the V8 won. Unsurprisingly.

So, maybe the 530d IS faster than the i.

However, according to BMW's website, the i is faster to 100kmph by 0.1 sec, it has a top speed fo 250 compared to 248 for the diesel. The diesel is also slower to the standing kilometre.

http://www.bmw.in/in/en/newvehicles/...gine_data.html

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

So, maybe the 530d IS faster than the i.

However, according to BMW's website, the i is faster to 100kmph by 0.1 sec, it has a top speed fo 250 compared to 248 for the diesel. The diesel is also slower to the standing kilometre.

BMW India : 5 Series Sedan : All the facts : Technical data

Well the 250kph to 248kph difference hardly matters because as far as i remember 155mph with limiter is 248kph and not 250kph so if atall, both would be restricted to 248 kph as all beemer sedans are restricted to 155mph. But yes, the 0-100 km/h and 1 kilometer coverage of the 530i is faster than the 530d according to the website as i stated earlier. So i suppose it remains an unsloved mystery...lol :P (sorta) ,whether 530d is clearly faster and if it is, then by how much ?