[aruffell]

Got my e91 320d edition m sport and love it but after a few trips in London I'm toying with the idea of changing to an auto and an thinking it would be a nice chance to get a faster car too.

Been thinking of getting an LCI 335d auto around a 2009/2010 and have a few questions:

What am I likely to get mpg wise on an auto 335d as I do around 26,000 miles a year so need good fuel economy and currently get 55 ish on my 320d.

Will it be easy for me to find a fully specced 335d? As I currently have heated lumbar seats and Bluetooth, USB etc...

What kind of price will I be looking at for a good 335d from AUC?

How many gears are the LCI auto 335d's?

Thanks,

Andy

[IanS100]

There's a sticky on the home page here about e9x mpg, have a look through that & it should give you some real world mpg figures

[kaishang]

All E9x autos are 6 speed.

You can also look at a 330d. If you are looking at motorway driving at British speeds, there really is no difference. And there are a lot, lot more 330d around that 335d.

Where you benefit from a 335d over a 330d is:
- over about 120mph
- at very low speeds; the 330d is off-boost below about 1600rpm, the 335d isn't

[ukbeemerboy]

Originally Posted by kaishang

All E9x autos are 6 speed.

You can also look at a 330d. If you are looking at motorway driving at British speeds, there really is no difference. And there are a lot, lot more 330d around that 335d.

Where you benefit from a 335d over a 330d is:
- over about 120mph
- at very low speeds; the 330d is off-boost below about 1600rpm, the 335d isn't

Agree with this, plus the 330d gets the newer engine and is less to tax.

[aruffell]

Ok so a few more questions.

What are the autos like really? Does the 330d have flappy paddle gearshift as well as the 335d?

What kind of price would I be looking for a similar spec to my 320d?

Also, how much should I be expecting for my 2008 320d pre LCI ? 47k miles and clean as you like.

Thanks,

Andy

[mob17]

335D for pure performance. It's Twin Turbo so you should feel less lag than the 330D. The power delivery is very linear. Also more power than the 330D, obviously, and i'm pretty sure the 335D has bigger brake disks. The torque is amazing, power on constant tap in any situation. I get 44-47mpg ish doing a constant 70mph. 22-25 in town, but thats stop start and in traffic.

The choice depends really how much you value economy. But trust me, once you drive a 335D you'll forget about economy worries!

The best advice i can give you is test drive both the 330D and 335D.

Edit: The autobox on the 335D is very good. In D mode you hardly notice the gear changes, and is best suited for lazy driving. DS mode it feels like a different car. Feels more responsive and suited for fast driving. The standard paddles are shite as you pull to go down and push to go up (or other way round can't remember). For about £100 you can get plug and play M3 paddles, which you pull the left paddle to go down and pull the right to go up.

In both modes the gear changes via paddles aren't as fast as a DCT box.

[kaishang]

Originally Posted by mob17

The choice depends really how much you value economy. But trust me, once you drive a 335D you'll forget about economy worries!

The best advice i can give you is test drive both the 330D and 335D.

Edit: The autobox on the 335D is very good. In D mode you hardly notice the gear changes, and is best suited for lazy driving. DS mode it feels like a different car. Feels more responsive and suited for fast driving. The standard paddles are shite as you pull to go down and push to go up (or other way round can't remember). For about £100 you can get plug and play M3 paddles, which you pull the left paddle to go down and pull the right to go up.

In both modes the gear changes via paddles aren't as fast as a DCT box.

They must have messed with the paddles in the 335d then. 330d paddles (which are standard in answer to OPs question) are left paddle = downshift, right paddle = upshift.

[SBE92LCI]

99% sure the year of manufacturer dictates the type of paddle i.e. earlier cars have the pull/push feature however newer cars are left = downshift, right = upshift.

If you're getting a 09/10 plate, I'd say it would probably have the left = downshift, right = upshift paddles.

[ukbeemerboy]

Paddles changed for MY2010 cars. The earlier cars had the bull horn chrome paddles, later ones have F1 style paddles each side, one side goes up, one side goes down the box.

330d and 335d have the same brakes and the same gearboxes.