Hey guys.

My name's Sean and I currently own a 2008 123D.

I'm looking to trade up to something a bit bigger in size and power, so have been looking at the 330D & 335D, budget of maybe 15k.

My main concern is, I have absolutely no idea about those cars, reliability, power gains, common faults, servicing costs etc.

Any help and tips for me please?

Kind regards.

welcome to the forum Sean - :)

there good cars & if you had a 123d then your already in the driving seat -

the LCI version of an E90 you cant go wrong. as long as its been serviced on schedule there should not be many, if any problems.

one thing to look out is the exhaust DPF which tends to clog up.

welcome to the forum Sean - :)

there good cars & if you had a 123d then your already in the driving seat -

the LCI version of an E90 you cant go wrong. as long as its been serviced on schedule there should not be many, if any problems.

one thing to look out is the exhaust DPF which tends to clog up.

Cheers for the reply.

Sorry, what year(s) is the E90, and what does LCI mean?

Welcome aboard Sean, I had a 120d M Sport and thought it was outstanding but the M3 is something very special.

This might help.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/3-series-e90-2005/?section=history

Welcome aboard Sean, I had a 120d M Sport and thought it was outstanding but the M3 is something very special.

This might help.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/3-series-e90-2005/?section=history

Thank you for the link.

It looks like a 2009 onwards would be ideal for less problems and the newer engine.

Besides those listed, are there any niggles that drive people up the wall?

And what is servicing costs like on the 3.0 diesels?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201406114935012/sort/default/usedcars/keywords/330d/transmission/manual/model/3_series/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l/maximum-mileage/up_to_70000_miles/page/2/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/radius/1500/make/bmw/postcode/sy30qd/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old?logcode=p

What do you guys think of this one? Looks like the right sort of spec for me, bar full leathers, but I can live without.

It's a starting point and sounds fine, now start looking and comparing, don't rush there are plenty about ;-)

Weird thing about the 330D and 335D, is that they are both about 100 cheaper to insure than my 123D..

I will keep on looking, but can't decide between the 2.

Suggestions?

Don't really see any benefit to you changing to a 330 as your driving a car with virtually the same bhp but far lighter, the 123 is a hard act to follow, great fun to drive with one of the best chassis in the business, the 330 you sent the link of is cheap but lacks spec and being an SE model just isn't as desirable as an M Sport and you will get a kicking come PX time, find an M Sport 335 with a manual gearbox as the paddles shift on 335 diesels is rotten and riddled with problems and mega expensive to sort, BMW dumped that version of the gearbox, redesigned it with different software.

Stephen

Don't really see any benefit to you changing to a 330 as your driving a car with virtually the same bhp but far lighter, the 123 is a hard act to follow, great fun to drive with one of the best chassis in the business, the 330 you sent the link of is cheap but lacks spec and being an SE model just isn't as desirable as an M Sport and you will get a kicking come PX time, find an M Sport 335 with a manual gearbox as the paddles shift on 335 diesels is rotten and riddled with problems and mega expensive to sort, BMW dumped that version of the gearbox, redesigned it with different software.

Stephen

I'm mainly looking into something a bit bigger, with at least the same power, if not more.

M Sport only pretty much, I can live with that.

I didn't realise the 335D did manuals?