[e90jamaica]

I've ordered mine... thought the owners and impatients like me out there needed this... so, let's have lots of feedback on this remakable engine!

[thebigman]

Great thread! Most of the forum is full of you lucky Americans with your 3-litres and tiny fuel costs (by comparison!).

I’ve been reading this great forum for ages, thought I should give my 2-cents worth…

I totally agree; the 2.0 diesel is a corker. I test drove both the diesel and petrol and the diesel blew the petrol away – much faster, a smoother transmission and a better ride too.

I’m expecting delivery in mid-june and a road-trip across Europe is planned to run-her-in. Does anyone know of euro launch dates for the for the 6-cylinder diesels?

[weytie]

I've also purchased a 320d, I'm from Belgium, so high petrol prices here (for the moment about 1.25 euros for a litre/ 98 octane )
Diesel is about 1.00 euro here. And I've always driven diesel engines and i like the direct torque at low rpms.

When i went for a test drive with the e90 320 d, I was a bit disappointed of the power, compared to my dad's ride ( 520 d, with 136 hp) i didn't felt much difference. Probably because the car had only 250 kms at the dash.
But it still stays an amazing engine, so i've ordered the car in march .

The arrival should be next week. So i'm allreadt counting down for my new ride. Full option exepted navigation.

Stijn

[e90jamaica]

good stuff... Auto or manual? it seems that the step would be more lively given the higher torque in the d, have either of you driven the step?

[e90jamaica]

BTW, i ordered Arctic, terra with alum, sport package, bluetooth, logic 7...

[RedStripe]

Originally Posted by e90jamaica

BTW, i ordered Arctic, terra with alum, sport package, bluetooth, logic 7...

Fantastic... e90jamaica, we share similar tastes.

[e90jamaica]

In beer too? i'm assuming that may be part of why you share the name with our Great Jamaican beer!!!

[CorporalCarrot]

Its funny you raise this folks cos yesterday I took out a 320d auto for a test drive. I had previously test driven the 320d Manual (E90) and have had E46 320d loaners when my car was in for service.

Even though I don't do much mileage I had been thinking about getting the 320d as the best bank for buck performance option.

I have to say I was blown away by the 320d auto. This is simply an amazing car. The auto box suits the huge torque of the engine perfectly and its much better than the 320d manual. I found the manual to be a bit tiresome, the gearing is very tall, theres quite a lot of clutch travel and the lack of power early in the rev range means you need a lot of revs to get the thing away from the line. The dealer actually said to me that a lot of people on test drives had cut out the manual several times during the test because of this. I am sure you would get used to this though and once up to speed it will be tremendous but if you do a lot of city driving and stop start traffic, the auto is essential if you are getting a diesel.

In terms of performance the auto just flies along effortlessly, riding the wave of torque. Its is truly amazing for a 2 litre diesel. Believe it or not (and I'm sure lots of petrol purists will be sceptical), except for 0-60's, because of the huge torque the 320d (251 lb ft!!) will keep up with or outrun a 330i (just 220 lb ft) in the midrange and absolutely, no questions asked whatsoever, DESTROYS the 325i (185 lb ft ). It flies and overtaking is a total breeze. The 330d is going to be an absolute CORKER!! So unless your a traffic light madman, its actually hard to see why anyone would buy a petrol when they had the choice of the diesel (subject to one caveat below). Its no surprise that diesels are the majority of sales in Europe.

I had a bit of a play around with the Steptronic also. I am not sure sports mode really suits the diesel for starters. In regular "D" the car is a wonderful cruiser, the box shifts seamlessly to the gear supplying most torque at the wheels which makes for effortless progress. In "S" it obviously hangs on to the revs for longer but I felt that this didn't really suit the engine which does get a bit rough higher in the rev band. I played around with the manual changes a little also which is excellent. Ok it isn't perfect and not a substitute for a manual box but it is pretty good. (It still upshifts for you at high revs if you dont, and will downsift through the gears for you if the car slows). The salesman said that everyone at the dealership who used the auto, after the initial novelty had worn off, just tended to leave it in "D". This dealership is in the city centre however, so thats probably not a surprise.

One downside and the caveat I referred to earlier. The noise at idle. Do not believe car magazines that claim "you really can't tell its a diesel!". You can. There is still that diesel sound although with each incarnation it gets less noticeable. The salesman told me that you get used to it and generally with the stereo on you wouldnt notice it. Surprisingly, once you start driving the noise completely disappears. When the car is moving you definitely can't tell if its a diesel or not and its an extremely quiet car. This has seriously improved over the E46 320d where there was still a slight roughness to the engine tone, no question. Nonetheless there will undoubtedly be people who just cannot get over this sound (and I haven't decided yet if I am one of them) and I certainly wouldn't ridicule them for it. Also, you are probably not going to ever get that feeling of revving an engine to 7000 rpm like you do with the 6 cylinders.

All in all, I would be delighted to be getting one Jamaica. You won't regret it.

Oh and wait to see the looks on a 325i drivers face when he tries it on.....you will leave him for dust

C

[Robin_NL]

CorporalCarrot says"In terms of performance the auto just flies along effortlessly, riding the wave of torque. Its is truly amazing for a 2 litre diesel. Believe it or not (and I'm sure lots of petrol purists will be sceptical), except for 0-60's, because of the huge torque the 320d (251 lb ft!!) will keep up with or outrun a 330i (just 220 lb ft) in the midrange and absolutely, no questions asked whatsoever, DESTROYS the 325i (185 lb ft ). It flies and overtaking is a total breeze. The 330d is going to be an absolute CORKER!! So unless your a traffic light madman, its actually hard to see why anyone would buy a petrol when they had the choice of the diesel (subject to one caveat below). Its no surprise that diesels are the majority of sales in Europe."

Well, agreed, but I am currently driving a 120d(same engine) for 20000km now and its good, but so is the rest (VAG, Pug/Renault/Ford) so it's fast on the motorway, but not like a big petrol engine. Having had a 330d a few years ago with equal performance I must admid that times are changing.

Still I prefer a 6potter petrol, thank you

[chrisbin]

Interesting read - thanks CC.

Unfortunately I have specified the manual....I would have preferred auto to be honest, but it just increases the emissions, and hence tax I would pay, considerably...so I will just have to put up with shifting myself!!

[CorporalCarrot]

Chris

Be happy with your choice. Its still a fantastic car and judging by where you live I suspect it won't matter for the type of driving you will be doing.

C

[chrisbin]

Thanks CC! My post was kind of tongue in cheek! I know that the E90 320d is the best company car I can get while keeping the amount I have to pay the Govt to a reasonable level!

[e90jamaica]

Really good review CC! i have been wondering about the auto, as in my market it will be difficult to eventually resell manual, much less a diesel! (Until they are converted..)

I have not been able to test drive a 320d, but figured so many reivews couldn't be wrong! And i believe it would have been tweaked since the 120d came out.

So now the wait is even more intense... Where does the redline begin?

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by e90jamaica

Really good review CC! i have been wondering about the auto, as in my market it will be difficult to eventually resell manual, much less a diesel! (Until they are converted..)

I have not been able to test drive a 320d, but figured so many reivews couldn't be wrong! And i believe it would have been tweaked since the 120d came out.

So now the wait is even more intense... Where does the redline begin?

at about 4500rpm.
But no worries: The thing pulls from below 2000 to 4000 like a train

10 mins. ago I was doing 130mph like it's nothing actually(1 series) so the 3er even is a more stable and comfortable ride.

But I also cannot wait to collect my 330i hopefully next week

[weytie]

As i can see in the the technical specifications, the 320d isn't much slower than the 330i when accelerating from 80-120 km/h

Here are the specs : 4/5/6 th gear

320 d : 6.5s/8.2s/11.1s
330 i : 6.5s / 8.1s /10.5s

Both with manual transmission.

Stijn

[CorporalCarrot]

weytie

and check it out vs the 325i


320d : 6.5s/8.2s/11.1s
325i : 7.5s/9.5s/dunno

It smokes it and you really feel it, especially in the auto. They dont quote actual figures but I note the 325i suffers a .7 second penalty to 60 [7.7 vs 7] whereas the 320d suffers just a .3 second penalty [8.6 vs 8.3] so I imagine in the midrange (which is where the diesel really comes into its own) the difference is even more stark. incredible really.

As I said, the 330d is going to be amazing but what would really rule would be a 335d Imagine that engine in an E90. Drool.

C

[Robin_NL]

Originally Posted by CorporalCarrot

weytie

and check it out vs the 325i


320d : 6.5s/8.2s/11.1s
325i : 7.5s/9.5s/dunno

It smokes it and you really feel it, especially in the auto. They dont quote actual figures but I note the 325i suffers a .7 second penalty to 60 [7.7 vs 7] whereas the 320d suffers just a .3 second penalty [8.6 vs 8.3] so I imagine in the midrange (which is where the diesel really comes into its own) the difference is even more stark. incredible really.

As I said, the 330d is going to be amazing but what would really rule would be a 335d Imagine that engine in an E90. Drool.

C

Well I 'd opt for a 335i thank you

Having had a 184HP 330d and a 330i (both E46) I can say this:
IRL the 330d was maybe a little faster(or it felt faster because of the torque) when driving very lazy(not shifting at all)
BUT, and I mean BUT, when putting pedal to the metal the 330i was WAY faster than the 330d.

Just like those 4/5/6th gear accelerations with petrol engines:
A diesel has it's torque/rev advantage. But put it in 2nd/3rd and you know what I mean

[weytie]

Here's the full compare :

320 d : 6.5/8.2/11.1
320 i : 8.9/11.4/15.1
325 i : 7.5/9.5/12.4
330 i : 6.5/8.1/10.5

Off corse the petrol engines are fatser accelerating from zero, but if you compare the 320d with the 320 i, the diesel is 0.7 sec faster then the petrol one. And if that isn't enough, the diesel weighs 100 kg more then the 320i. And still that fast

Stijn

[- Paul -]

Love mine to bits, easily fast enough to get rid of most of the annoying tailgaters in the fast lane (UK). Great on b roads, overtaking the 55mph crew. Even in sixth, this baby pulls.
Its quicker than the petrol - enough said. Well....... and the fact that I get 47.8 mpg average!!!!!

[thebigman]

Top comments... keep them coming!

How are you all finding the ride quality on our rutted UK roads with the 320d? I test drove the 320d with standard 16" wheels and the car coped admirably on the roads around Tayside/Fife. I just hope the 18" 162's I've ordered don't spoil the ride too much.

It would be interesting to hear from any 320d owners with the sports suspension too.

[chrisbin]

Originally Posted by thebigman

Top comments... keep them coming!

How are you all finding the ride quality on our rutted UK roads with the 320d? I test drove the 320d with standard 16" wheels and the car coped admirably on the roads around Tayside/Fife. I just hope the 18" 162's I've ordered don't spoil the ride too much.

It would be interesting to hear from any 320d owners with the sports suspension too.

Yep, it would!

I have specced the 162's - just had to be done!! But left off the Sports suspension as a compromise....

[CorporalCarrot]

Bigman

I think it will definitely affect it. I have driven 2 320d's, one manual with 17's and the auto the other day with the stock 16's. Now its about a month between the two tests but I definitely felt that the 16's was a much more comfy ride. Having said that, when I test drove the manual with 17's originally, I didn't feel that the ride was uncomfortable or anything......my current car is an E46 coupe with 17's so it wasn't much of a change. But I would imagine the 18's do firm things up somewhat.

Tell me, when do you receive your car? I am still deciding on my spec and would love to know what its like with the 162's.

C