help 320i or 320d

[kazman]

I am new on this platform, so could not find the right place to pose my question on. Never-the-less my question is as follows. I am thinking of buying a second hand bmw e90. However I am a bit confused about whether I should buy a 320d or 320i. At the moment I found one nice 320d 2007 model with a mileage of 130k and going for R90k. Now I need help with knowing what are the pros and cons of buying a diesel one as compared to a 320i. Your help is really appreciated.

 

[Philip Foglar]

The 320d is nice, the 320i is a dog, especially if it has the automatic gearbox. The diesel E90's are generally very very good, but a common failing on basically all of them is the pulley dampener which eventually becomes brittle and cracked, and then fails. Hope some more members will chime in, but I would strongly suggest the 320d long before the 320i. Plus, the performance and economy is great on the diesel!

 

[Kish2604]

Thread moved to correct section...

more members will reply soon...

 

[kazman]

The 320d is nice, the 320i is a dog, especially if it has the automatic gearbox. The diesel E90's are generally very very good, but a common failing on basically all of them is the pulley dampener which eventually becomes brittle and cracked, and then fails. Hope some more members will chime in, but I would strongly suggest the 320d long before the 320i. Plus, the performance and economy is great on the diesel!

Thank you for your your response. I have also heard that the 320d has a problem with the turbo as it can easily die. Is this true? N hw often is it advisable to.service a 320d?

 

[Philip Foglar]

I am not so well versed in the details of the E90 diesel engines and their common faults, but they are not nearly as bad as the previous generation of diesels that were in the E46 - the earlier E46 320d turbos were a problem especially, and all of the turbos that had swirl flaps were just waiting to swallow and munch those swirl flaps, so best thing was to remove them and fit blanks in place. I am sure member with more experience and knowledge regarding these engines will add more information to this.

At the end of the day, you will enjoy the 320d a lot more than the 320i.

 

[JadielM]

320d. Better fuel efficiency, much more fun to drive, probably slightly more expensive to maintain, though.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

E90 320i or 320d? 320d all day long. I owned one, its a awesome car.

 

[China]

The diesel man, you will be hating the lack of power in the 320i, fuel consumption is bad as well.
Oh and on top of that, those 2.0l engines are prone to valve stem seals going on holiday.

 

[sunnyj]

320d. Trust me, torque is addictive.

 

[kazman]

seems like everyone is on the 320d. As they say, the majority rules, I guess will go for the 320d :ty: Thank u

 

[tman]

320i is slow and heavy on juice.

320d every day, all day

 

[GPGrobler]

The E90 320i is a 4-pot 2lt, that should say more than enough, I have E90 320i's for breakfast almost daily before getting to work :rollsmile:

 

[deanbenn]

I had a 320i and I will advise you to go for a 320d!

Nothing further!

 

[Mattks]

320d. Recent diesel convert. Balance of performance and economy is incredible.

 

[Zane87]

I say go for Diesel.

The power - Insane
Economy - unbelievable.

 

[AadZO]

320d. With all due respect, not even a comparison
Just do oil changes every 10k and hopefully no turbo issues as well

 

[deanbenn]

i guess you have the answer now my friend....I wish I did what you are doing now before I bought a 320i.

 

[kazman]

320d. With all due respect, not even a comparison
Just do oil changes every 10k and hopefully no turbo issues as well

Thank you.... but is the turbo much of a problem?

 

[Bavarian1]

I say 320d as well better performance and economy, enjoy your purchase :thumbs:

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

E90 320i = no go
The 320d wins hands down :coolShake:

GL with your search!