Opinions needed: E46 or E90??

PeteG · #1 04-02-2005, 07:49 AM

Ok, so heres the deal:

I want to replace my wife's car sometime this year, she wants a car (not suv/sav/hybrid/etc.) with AWD (winter, safety, etc,). Our strongest contender has been an XI 3 series. I personally think the E46 325XI is a bit underpowered (she might not), but the E90 has 215 ponies (quite a bit better).

I stoppped by my dealer and spoke to my sales advisor (got a hot-off-the-press E90 brochure). He says XI's may be out by fall, but not confirmed. He also said he has a few new E46's on the lot that they would love to move before the E90's come. He has 2 new MY '05 330xi's, pp, step, xenon, hk, cold weather, etc-both silver w/ black leather. He offered either to me at $5k off MSRP, leaving the final price at about $39k or so for either.

When pricing out an similarly equipped '06 325XI, the price would be about $1k MORE than the '05 E46 330XI.

Any opinions on what to go for? I'm not in a hurry to pick up a car, so urgency is not a factor. He also has a few 325xi's that I'm sure he'd part with at a discount, I'm sure. I would convince my wife of the 330, of course.

Sorry for the long post, but I value the opinions of my fellow X5 World board members. TIA!

PS.- He asked me to call him either way in a couple of weeks as they will have some E90 demos in for test driving. Anyone checked one out in person yet?

UCrewX5 · #2 04-02-2005, 10:54 AM

If it were me I would wait and get the new e90, especially since you don't appear to be in a position where you have to act on this immediately. Resale wise, you will always be further ahead with the newer model, which will likely more than make up for the $1000 difference you noted above.

breytonX5 · #3 04-02-2005, 11:10 AM

I'm with UCrew. Personally I would never ever get a car that's in its last model year, especially when the E90 Xi is a superior car with X-drive. Sure the E90 will have some bugs assoc. with first model year but that won't stop me from getting it.

Good luck, Pete.

Chris F. · #4 04-02-2005, 11:17 AM

Pete, it really depends on what YOU like. Do you like the new E90? I'm not a big fan of the new Bangle designs. The interior does not jump out and grab me like the older interiors have. The exterior is OK -- the best of the Bangle designs. I think the E46 is a sharp looking car but what do I know

I say if you like the E90 go for it. Its just at the beginning of its life cycle and won't be replaced for another 6 years. You might have to deal with some nagging problems being a first year production, but hopefully they will be small enough that they won't be a big deal.

JCX5 · #5 04-02-2005, 11:41 AM

Get what you like most.

Personally, I like the looks of the current 3 series a bit more than the E90. But that is only my opinion - I am sure the E90 will grow on me. The current car is also fairly well wrung out - meaning - not much in the way of bugs as compared to the 1st year design E90.

If you can wait (and evidently you can) - drive the E90 demo back-to-back with the E46 330 - see what screams out 'buy me'. I would THINK that the current 330 may feel a bit quicker than the E90 325, but that is yet to be seen.

Good Luck

JCL · #6 04-02-2005, 01:42 PM

A few different things to mull over here.

My wife drives an E46 325x, and it has been great. It is time to replace it next year, and it will likely be an E90 or an X3.

325 vs 330: 325 has good power, with the manual trans, IMO. We couldn't see any reason to take the 330 over the 325 when we bought. If we get an E90, it will be a 325x again, especially with the revised engine.

New look vs old: I like them both. Up to you, personal preference.

Buying a model with all the bugs out: always a good idea.
Buying the first year of a new BMW: more risk than waiting a year.

Resale value: Agree that the E90 will have more value, but it matters mostly if you plan to rotate it out again in 2 years or so. If you keep it longer than that, the differences blur.

Does fuel efficiency matter? If it doesn't matter now, it might matter a little more going forward. Who knows where the prices will be. That would be one of the things leading me to the E90 325.

Good luck, let us know what you decide.

Jeff

Juanted · #7 04-02-2005, 02:20 PM

My wife's lease on her Jaguar is due in June. We're thinking about getting an E46. I simply like the style better than the E90.

I don't know that one thousand dollars is that huge a difference, though. So, if you DO like the styling of the E90, you should buy it over the older 3er. It's obviously a better car with improved performance.

Juan

Curious Joel · #8 04-02-2005, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteG

Ok, so heres the deal:

I want to replace my wife's car sometime this year, she wants a car (not suv/sav/hybrid/etc.) with AWD (winter, safety, etc,). Our strongest contender has been an XI 3 series. I personally think the E46 325XI is a bit underpowered (she might not), but the E90 has 215 ponies (quite a bit better).

I stoppped by my dealer and spoke to my sales advisor (got a hot-off-the-press E90 brochure). He says XI's may be out by fall, but not confirmed. He also said he has a few new E46's on the lot that they would love to move before the E90's come. He has 2 new MY '05 330xi's, pp, step, xenon, hk, cold weather, etc-both silver w/ black leather. He offered either to me at $5k off MSRP, leaving the final price at about $39k or so for either.

When pricing out an similarly equipped '06 325XI, the price would be about $1k MORE than the '05 E46 330XI.

Any opinions on what to go for? I'm not in a hurry to pick up a car, so urgency is not a factor. He also has a few 325xi's that I'm sure he'd part with at a discount, I'm sure. I would convince my wife of the 330, of course.

Sorry for the long post, but I value the opinions of my fellow X5 World board members. TIA!

PS.- He asked me to call him either way in a couple of weeks as they will have some E90 demos in for test driving. Anyone checked one out in person yet?

I would go with the E46 330xi. I love mine. You're getting a better deal. Also, who knows what kinds of first-year problems the E90 will have. The E46 has been out for a while, so you at least know what the problematic parts, etc. are.

PersonaNonGrata · #9 04-02-2005, 03:53 PM

I'm not sure what the price difference is. Would the E90 be $1000 more than the MSRP of the E46 or $1000 more than the discounted ($5000 off MSRP) price? If it is the former then the savings is really $6000 and makes your decision a little tougher. If it is the latter, then I'd say get the E90 for sure.

In any event, I'm not really sure about the looks of the E90 so I'm still biased towards the E46, which is such a simply good looking car. The engineering and mechanicals of the E90 are impressive indeed but again, it's the looks I'm not sure of. I think that if it were me, the only E46 I'd buy at the end of it's model life is the M3 and maybe a 330Ci ZHP. Otherwise, I'd probably get an E90.

SILENTx5 · #10 04-02-2005, 04:20 PM

I actually prefer the E46 over the E90. The styling, both interior and exterior, i believe is far better than the E90 right now. But like others have said, its usually not wise to get the first E90 Xi production model since those are the one's that have alot of bugs that need to be fixed. But then again, if you get the last current model E46 Xi, it'll depreciate alot once the E90 comes out in May. But if that isn't a problem for you, i'd go for the E46.