[akhbhaat]

The only way you can decide whether or not the extra power is worth it is to drive the cars back to back yourself. I personally think they're both slow, but others may appreciate the difference.

The N54 powered car is going to be something else, though. It will almost certainly be worth the likely ~$5000 premium over the 328 for the performance junkies among us.

[MINNOW]

Originally Posted by findtom

I've never driven the 330i, just like I never drove the turbo version of my Volvo when I had it.

Ignorance is bliss.

I can almost relate - in ten years of Volvo 850 ownership, I have only driven the 850 Turbo once, but then it was an autobox compared to my manual gearbox non-turbo.
Owning a smaller displacement engine means rowing the gears more often - not such a bad thing if the gearbox is a good one.

[a burrito]

Between the 325i manual and 330i manual i could only feel a slight difference high end. But the comparison between the 325i manual and 330i step (my car) was a lot more noticable. The 330i step felt like it had much more torque. Much quicker pickup.