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Switched from BMW 320d to 330Li M Sport Pro: Ownership review

7th February 2025, 12:40 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

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We also checked out the Toyota Camry, Lexus NX350h, BMW X3 20d M Sport AWD, BMW iX1 and BMW 320Ld M Sport.

BHPian Kelly66 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Hello Friends,

We bid adieu to our 320d and welcomed Grey Hulk - BMW 330Li M Sport Pro on 30/9/24 to our family.

Preface

Why the switch from BMW 320d to 330Li?

Some of you may have read my F30 320d review. Even though I had a 7 year itch to switch, once I got a clean chit after my 7th year service I thought I will retain my 320d for a few more years.

But the decision to upgrade happened real quick and quite unexpectedly within a week. Glad that the 320d is in the safe hands of a fellow bhpian, whose gentle nudge on Sep 16th re-kindled my 7 year itch and on Sep 23rd we struck a Win-Win deal. This was quite similar to the speed with which I switched from Chevy Cruze to the 320d in 2017.

On Sep 22nd, I got a mouth-watering deal from KUN BMW on the 330Li M Sport Pro, which couldn’t be turned down. From Sep 23rd, all BMW dealers would come to an agreement not to undercut each other on discounts. They would have a uniform discount policy like Merc. So the lowest price they could go to for the M Sport Pro is Rs.74L, is what I had been told. OTR price was Rs.81.33 L before discounts.

We were initially considering the Portimao Blue colour but when we saw the Skyscraper Grey in flesh there was no looking back.

Shortlisting & Buying experience:

My first objective was to get a good buyback offer for my 320d since we have only 1 parking slot in our apartment. So, these test drives were taken starting Sep 18th and the buyback evaluation was done in parallel.

Toyota Camry

I was seriously considering a hybrid car as my next daily driver. Took the Camry for a short drive and found it smooth to drive and the seating in the front and rear were comfortable. It gave a mileage of 11.9 kmpl in city traffic. The car has reached EOL and the next-gen was expected in 2025 in India. So it was a No Go. Best offer was 53L OTR. Buyback offer was not acceptable and was nowhere near my sale price.

Lexus NX350h Overtrail

Continuing with hybrids I decided to try the Lexus SUV. Again took the same route as the Camry. Even though the car had all the gizmos like 360 camera, electrical tilt/telescopic steering wheel with memory function, ADAS, etc. the suspension was stiff. The interior 14" display had an asymmetric shape. The hybrid car was starting in petrol mode because the battery was not charged enough, which was a bit hard to believe. It gave a mileage of 11.1 kmpl for the same route. It was 86L OTR after a minuscule 2L discount. Also, the buyback offer was nowhere near my sale price.

BMW X3 20d M Sport AWD

On Sep 21st we went to the KUN used car mela to get a good offer for our 320d. Initially, I was considering a pre-owned car but my wife & son were against it. That’s when the sales guy told me about the discount standardisation from Sep 23rd and that they can give good discounts till 22nd.

Since it was EOL for X3, only a demo car was available for sale with around 3500 kms on the ODO. Took a test drive, but since the engine was the same 188 bhp diesel, we were not very serious about it but wanted to get the feel of it. The drive was much better than the Lexus NX and the SUV stance was appealing. The X3 had the HUD and 360 camera but no ADAS & no connected drive. And the discount offered on the demo car was only 5.5L making the OTR price Rs.80.5L. When I checked in a Team BHP thread the advice I got was not to go for the demo car considering that the discount was also nothing great. Dropped it!

BMW X1 Electric

X1 EV was incredibly silent and smooth to drive. It is priced at around 80L OTR after the recent road tax increase. I remember it was around 73L in Nov 23. Anyway, this was just a filler since we were waiting for the buyback price for the 320d.

BMW 320Ld M Sport

Diesel Pro was not available since it was launched only in Sep'24 and was priced at Rs.83.25L OTR. I test drove the non-Pro. It was the same 320d engine but was more refined and smoother. We were not keen on diesel anyway. Still waiting for the buyback offer.

Enter, BMW 330Li M Sport Pro

It was love at first drive. The black colour demo car didn't do justice to the black accents. Interiors were awesome, drive was super smooth, dash was sexy and the Pro had all the gizmos, except HUD, making it future-proof. Although I would be taking a hit on the mileage front (coming from a frugal 320d), it was a conscious decision to go for a Petrol as my next daily driver. You never know when a diesel ban like Delhi would be imposed in Bangalore.

When I got back from the test drive, I was shocked to hear the buyback offer. It was much better than other offers but still way off from my sale price and we almost dropped our purchase plans and walked out because the discount on the 330Li was not great either. Late in the evening, the sales guy said they would give a better offer on Sep 22nd. Since we liked 330Li very much I asked him to come with a better discount and for another test drive the next day. I also touched base with the VP at DM for 330Li pricing and he agreed to give a good deal on 22nd, since I have known him since 2017.

On Sep 22nd, I took a long test drive to Airport facility of KUN (same route that I took for my 320d in 2017 when it was Navnit) and found that the 330 Li M Sport Pro model was absolutely smooth sailing like an electric car, took the bumps with ease and the seating was also very comfortable in front and rear. Got a thumbs up from my wife too. Clocked an up/down mileage of 11.8 kmpl (64 km) since the return journey was chock-a-block. The same route delivered 16.8 kmpl on the 320d test drive car with lesser traffic on the return leg. We were a little unsure about the colour - Portimao Blue or Skyscraper Grey. He said they have a Skyscraper Grey on display and can talk to his VP and give a good discount if we go to the showroom. After this long test drive, we went straight to KUN and finalised the deal as detailed in my 320d thread. They agreed to get a new car from the Chennai plant and deliver before Sep 30th.

@sunikkat was kind enough to send me the PDF version of the owner's manual even before delivery and I managed to go through some key chapters since I was planning a long drive to CBE on Oct 2nd.

PDI and Delivery Experience:

PDI at stockyard: (28/9/24)

When I reached, the car had just arrived from Chennai and the battery (80 Ah AGM) was being charged. The car had some rainwater marks on the roof and bonnet but I was told it would be cleaned and polished the next day after their internal PDI.

Marks visible on the bonnet and roof

ODO reading showed 7 km and the production date was 23/7/24

Glad it came with Michelin RFTs but with a staggered set-up:

Front: 225/45 R18; Mfg dates: FL:09/24 & FR:09/24

Rear: 255/40 R18; Mfg dates: RL:08/24 & RR:12/24

Tread thickness was FL:6.49mm; FR:6.49mm; RL:6.53mm; RR:6.50mm. New tyres generally have 7mm depth?

And these treads are not symmetric (left end and right end are different)!

New brake pad thickness was FL:12mm; FR:12mm; RL:11mm; RR:11mm. New brake pad thickness is usually 13mm? More on this later…

Only front seats had covers:

Rear diffuser should have been deep black colour like the front grill. This one is greyish black.

Got hold of BMW's 85-page PDI report. Here's a summary:

Delivery day (30/9/24):

When we came to take delivery at KUN BMW Lavelle Road, those water drop kind of marks on the bonnet were still visible from angles and noticed some swirl marks on the boot lid and roof area. When I showed it to the senior sales guy he accepted they had not done a thorough polishing and can get the same done again on Oct 1st at the showroom.

Since 30th was a good day for delivery, we got the showroom pooja done and took delivery on paper but left the car for the polishing job. Anyway, the number plate was also expected only on Oct 1st.

On Oct 1st evening, we found the car was neatly polished and ready.

All smiles…

Showroom ODO reading was 35 Km and car had around 13.36 Lit of petrol showing a range of 211 km.

Drove to the nearest IOC pump and filled RON 91 since KUN guys said normal petrol is fine. Did a tank full by filling 45.64 litres. First tank full (59 Lit) showed a range of 776 km => 13.15 kmpl. From next tank fill I have switched to XP95 after reading some Team BHP threads.