Differences between 325, 330, etc?

[morello]

Hi,

Where can I find a good source of information for each model type? I know the bmw website will list all of the specs for the new cars, but I am looking at purchasing something from 03 or 04. Basically I'd like to know the differences in HP, torque etc between the different models for a given year.

Any suggestions? There's probably an easy answer somewhere, but I can't find it :/

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

The 325 is roughly 180 HP and the 330 is roughly 230 HP.

Best site in my book would be edmunds.com

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Tom is not too far off, and edmunds will give you all the information. But since I've memorized it, I'll post . The E46's have two engines a 2.5 and 3.0, the 2.5 has 184hp at 6000rpm and 175 torque. The 3.0 has 225hp at 5900rpm and 214 torque at 3500rpm. It is bout a second faster to 60 and pulls way noticeably better at 80+ mph.

The specs have remained the same for the E46 models, the new 06' E90 models both have a 3.0 engine which is tuned for 215hp and 255hp respectively.

 

[Tom]

^^ LOL good job Steve, that's pretty impressive especially from memory.

 

[morello]

ok, thanks guys. I know they upped the HP on the '06 from 185 to 215, wasn't sure how the 330 had changed.

Followup question: How much of a difference is there in acceleration between manual and auto transmission? How about between manual and the BMW steptronic (pseudo-manual?)? 10%? More, less? I really have no idea :/

Thanks guys

 

[codex57]

Step is an auto. It really doesn't do anything. For the 325, 0-60 is @ 7.0 with the manual and @ 8.1 with the auto.

 

[coolmonk]

^^ Holy crap that's a whole second! Getting the manual would almost act as an extra 50 hp.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Step is an auto. It really doesn't do anything. For the 325, 0-60 is @ 7.0 with the manual and @ 8.1 with the auto.

I think the 325i E46 is more like 7.2-7.4 with a manual in the 0-60 dept, I do know for a fact it's not 7.0 which is what the auto 330i gets. An automatic 330i is still quicker than a manual 325i, thats for sure.

 

[codex57]

Maybe it's 7.1 than. It's whatever the IS300 gets. Basically a whole second faster than the auto. The auto (what I have) is a freaking turtle. We have a Camry that has the exact same 0-60 (sad in and of itself) but actually feels faster cuz it has more torque. Camry gets better city gas mileage too.