Hi all..... going to purchase my first BMW I guess

Kinda of confused whether or not its worth waiting for the new model, or gettign a good deal on the old?

exlcuding tax, I can buy a new BMW 330 4dr with automatic and the sport package for just under $33 000

How much would the same config in the new 330 run me? I am guessing just over $40 000, right? (I looked at someones pricing list and I dont even think the new 330 comes with leather??) - the new one does sound like it has some nice options, like the mp3 sound system, more powerful engine.....

I guess my question is whether or not its likely that the new BMW in similar config is worth a 20% premium over the old model? I guess very few people have driven or seen the new model in person, so it may be hard to get an answer....

I mean the e46 330 BMW with the automatic and sport package should be a pretty good car right? anything I need to upgrade it with?

the new one has many bells and wistles as well as more power, but if your getting an auto, im sure performance is not top of your list.

That's a good deal. I would grab up the E46 myself.

You can configure an E90 on BMW's website now and compare.

went to the website: E90 price as configured: $42545 - OUCH

that E46 330 looking better and better......


hehe - the wife driving manual when she borrows my car? hehe thats funny :-)

You may want to check out the SMG transmission. That way you can have fun shifting :D and the wife can put in into "auto mode".

I too am in a similar solution. My choices are a 325i 2005 and 2006. I can probably get on the cheap now but if I choose the 2006 I have to wait maybe 2 months for a shipment from Germany.

the price difference is huge

like $6000+

Prices don't look THAT huge of a difference to me. carsdirect.com just started allowing online orders of the 2006's and they want MSRP.

Coming from a design engineer, I have my doubts about getting a 1st model year of any car.

wait for the e90, it's suppose to kick ass from what i've read.

It takes a patient person to own the first model year of any product, its nice to be one of the first but with new products their is always teething issues, just my opinion but I would wait till its a year old and get a deal on slightly used one that would have any potential problems already fixed or just get a new one then, Josh

P.S. why no manual ?

I got the best deal on a new 2005 BMW 325i; included Premium Package, Auto trany, heated seats and Silver Gray Metallic color. $26K, NEW, less than 80 demo miles. I'll wait until all the bugs are out of the 2006 before I try to get another deal again.

Wow... 26,k? I'm so getting ripped. I'm paying 28,k with no options... but it's the color I want in a manual. Oh well. I've tried bargaining but they wouldn't budge.

Anyway, The E90 vs. E46 decision was easily decided by back-to-back test drives for me. both were automatics without lots of options. I made my decision on the E46 but the E90 has a different appeal you may like much more.

The price differences weren't terrible but with the current discounting it's substantial. The E90 gets no discount at all around here. So, the 2500 incentive (to the dealer) on the '05 helps in that regard.. plus any additional discounting from the dealer. Don't be a crappy negotiator like me and you might be able to get a stellar deal on a great car. However, you may love the E90 and wish you'd driven it before you made a decision. It's about a 10% difference in price for a comparably equipped E90 to E46 using real-world numbers.

Good luck!

Well, I'm going to answer a bit differently.

I leased an '05 330i ZHP manual in December. This was my first manual. I was coming out of a larger, more luxurious but decidely less sporty car. If I didn't need the back seat for a 6 year old & a 3 year old, at this point in life I'd have been looking at 2 seat sports cars. C&D got the same 0-60 & 1/4 mi times with the 330i ZHP as with an E36 M3, so call it the poor man's M3. Also the price was right, all things considered.

When the E90's first hit the local dealer, I went down to test drive one and see if maybe I should have waited. BMW claims 0-60 in 6.1 for the 330i E90 manual, vs 5.9 for my car - but probably I could not tell the difference (the car rags all say it takes 0.3 to be significant anyway). However, the driving experience was entirely different. The car I test drove was a 330i with sport package & manual. The ride in the E90 is very soft compared to the E46 ZHP - and that's a sport suspension on that E90! The shifter is very smooth - not having that much manual experience I don't know where to two compare to "normal". Anyway, driving the E90 didn't feel much like driving my car, and not very sporty.

The interior ambience also wasn't very sporty. Now, I'm not one of those guys that says "wood isn't sporty" - the Brits invented the sports car and classic Brit sports cars almost all have wooden dashes. So, it wasn't just having wood instead of the black cube aluminum (in fact, although the black cube has grown on me, I would have preferred wood at the time but you can't get it on a ZHP). However, the classic driver-centric layout of earlier 3ers is gone in the E90. The car didn't have iDrive, but the dash is still straight across. There are certainly improvements over the E46 (like a real storage compartment under the center arm rest), but the overall look of things says "luxury" not "sport".

Since "sport" is particularly what I was looking for, I have no regrets about my choice not to wait for the E90 (except maybe that I didn't spring for a real M3).

Your priorities may differ, of course...

Carlman - what dealer? I talked to a few in NC and all of them said they were discounting the E46 heavily right now. I can suggest one maybe.

I thought the 330i drove was pretty sporty. The runflats may it feel a little stiffer and I thought the roll was under control nicely and reaction seemed quick for a good street car. I didn't get it too wild, but we definitely hustled through one section nicely with transitions which show flaws.

don't forget , the more old 3's they sell the more new 3's they get in. If

you're looking for a good deal on any BMW....head straight for the Internet/Fleet department. they're able to make deals that the sales people on the floor are not able to. the Internet/Fleet department get paid on a salary bases on X amount of cars going out each month.

Sale people get paid by how much gross is in the car. thats why it's hard to get a low price from them with out breaking their arms.

The E90 will be at MSRP for a long while. or untill there are no more '05 3's left to sell.

Not to mention, I went to 3 dealers and could not find any manual transmission with performance package in the E46 in the colors that I wanted.

Almost every E46 I found was at least 38K, and they were not budging on the price. So I decided to go new. I never thought I would buy a car in the first year of release, not to mention the first MONTH of release, but I did. I got under sticker (not much) and got basically the car I wanted. Car and Driver tested 5.6 seconds to 60 in the E90, and the car has 255 hp as opposed to 235 in the E46 performance, and the car is only 150 pounds heavier or so. I have driven both cars, and I have to say I thought the E90 was a better drive. But it was over a year ago when I drove the E46. I really liked the interior and steering wheel in the E46 Performance Package, but I didn't find the performance any better.

I think it has to be more of a gut decision instead of a money decision, because the resale on an E90 will be much better in 3 or 4 years than it would be on the E46. So unless the purchase price is considerably lower, you may actually end up paying more for your E46 long term. If you really don't like the E90, by all means go for a good price on an E46 (if you can get one for $3K less or so than a similarly equipped E90, I think you would be doing well).

I was considering a B6 S4 before the 330i, and was offered $500 over invoice (about $48,600) when the B7 S4 was going for about $51,500, and I didn't think that was that great of a deal either, considering the possible resale hit on the older style. (Remember, the E46 is last year's body style, but it is also 1999's body style. People tend to adjust to the looks of the new car pretty quickly, and it doesn't take much time for the "old" one to look really dated).

It takes a patient person to own the first model year of any product

Or an impatient person, depending on how you look at it! :buttrock

I couldn't wait! But I know what you mean. Hopefully it won't live in the shop.