1999 323is or 1997 328ci???? Hurry! tomorrow!!

Ok everyone i have a dillema! I am searching for a new car, and i
really wanted an M3, yet after shopping i notice that every M3 is
either overpriced, bad title, or its beat. SO i've been looking for
regular 3 series cars with not 120K like the M3, but now back down in
the 70 thousand miles range. Heres the dillema...

Here is a very clean 1997 328ci. 75 thousand miles on it. I live in
seattle, dad says no way it rains too much, but does that really
matter? He wants 15,500 for it. Heres an available picture, i hope it
opens.

http://us.share.geocities.com/cwuacu...xterior008.jpg

Next car is a very clean, also black, 1999 323is. Also a 2dr coupe,
and it has only 49K on it!!! He also wants 15,000 for his cause it has
such low miles. The owner of the 328 says that his car is night and
day performance wise over a 323. But i see that the new 323 (1999) has
a 2.5L not a 2.3L!?!?!? SO IT CANT BE THAT BAD??



Anyone care to say what car they'd take?? I'd appreciate it to all of
you thanks.

Darren

I don't know if this will help, but here goes...When I was BMW shopping for
a commuter car (I am a Porsche guy, but very impractical up through Renton
and Newcastle on any weekday) I asked my former Porsche guy in San Diego,
what to look for. He said...hands down look for a 325i from the mid to late
90's, and if you can afford it, get the 323...avoid the 318i's (The car is
too heavy for it to be fun) and the 328's (the car was just not good as the
325i's)

"BMW Group" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Ok everyone i have a dillema! I am searching for a new car, and i
> really wanted an M3, yet after shopping i notice that every M3 is
> either overpriced, bad title, or its beat. SO i've been looking for
> regular 3 series cars with not 120K like the M3, but now back down in
> the 70 thousand miles range. Heres the dillema...
>
> Here is a very clean 1997 328ci. 75 thousand miles on it. I live in
> seattle, dad says no way it rains too much, but does that really
> matter? He wants 15,500 for it. Heres an available picture, i hope it
> opens.
>
> http://us.share.geocities.com/cwuacu...xterior008.jpg
>
> Next car is a very clean, also black, 1999 323is. Also a 2dr coupe,
> and it has only 49K on it!!! He also wants 15,000 for his cause it has
> such low miles. The owner of the 328 says that his car is night and
> day performance wise over a 323. But i see that the new 323 (1999) has
> a 2.5L not a 2.3L!?!?!? SO IT CANT BE THAT BAD??
>
>
>
> Anyone care to say what car they'd take?? I'd appreciate it to all of
> you thanks.
>
> Darren
>

Devils944S2 wrote:
> I don't know if this will help, but here goes...When I was BMW shopping for
> a commuter car (I am a Porsche guy, but very impractical up through Renton
> and Newcastle on any weekday) I asked my former Porsche guy in San Diego,
> what to look for. He said...hands down look for a 325i from the mid to late
> 90's, and if you can afford it, get the 323...avoid the 318i's (The car is
> too heavy for it to be fun) and the 328's (the car was just not good as the
> 325i's)

There is really NO difference at all between the 323 and 328 except the
displacement of the engine. Same engine - just bigger (2.8 vs 2.5). Same
transmission, suspension. Might be some more bells and whistles on the
328 (power seats vs manual, convertibles were generally power top vs
manual) - but the basics are identical.

And Darrin - you're absolutely correct - the 323 should really be
labeled a 325 since it does have the 2.5L engine in it - and performance
isn't a lot different between the two. Contemporary reports at the time
gave fractions of a second different for 0-60.. You might loose some
top end - but do you care if you can't go 135mph instead of 130mph? I
don't think so..

You're probably wise in not getting an M3 - they are priced higher (I've
owned a few - own a current model now) - and tend to be driven harder.
Lots of young people buy them and thrash the stuffing out of them -
which leads to some rather expensive repairs down the road. They're
great cars - but you have to go into them with open eyes - they are a
performance car and the maintenance is likely to be higher than a more
standard BMW.

The 323 is a great car - and given the mileage difference - sounds like
that's the one you would do best with..

HTH

BMW Group wrote:

>The owner of the 328 says that his car is night and
>day performance wise over a 323. But i see that the new 323 (1999) has
>a 2.5L not a 2.3L!?!?!? SO IT CANT BE THAT BAD??

It's not. I never cease to be amazed by people who delude themselves
into thinking that going from 2.5L to 2.8L is some huge difference.
In fact it's barely noticeable.

Wow see i can sense maturity on this blog. I posted this same thing on
www.dtmpower.net and i'll tell ya its a bunch of kids, i know i know,
im only 24 (i consider myself mature for my age)... But most likely
people from 16-25 and they were both like go for the 328 more power,
blah blah, well guys!..... I followed your direction!?!!!

Turns out the 323is was black on black leather, and had M badges on the
steeringwheel, shift knob and seats! It was seriously like new. I'm
probably going to offend someone, but i'm telling you it had just a
DINAN intake and DINAN stage two ECU on it, and boom, its faster than
the 328 i drove by far! I couldn't be happier, with a car only costing
14G's and it only has 48K on it, i cant tell you how happy i am. I
probably will put the small one inch lip spoiler on it, M3 mirrors
(cause i like them better) and this is going to be my first car i dont
lower. it was so nice coming into downtown seattle in a completely
silent car! A dream come true! any suggestions, thank you all for your
very helpful compliments.

If you are curious, you can go to the bottom of the thread, my name is
"Revhard" and if you see i posted four pictures if you are curious what
it looks like guys!

http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/showthread.php?t=171455

In article >,
dizzy > wrote:
> It's not. I never cease to be amazed by people who delude themselves
> into thinking that going from 2.5L to 2.8L is some huge difference.
> In fact it's barely noticeable.

On an E39, there's a noticeable difference in the bottom end punch with
the 2.8. Not so much at the top end, though. And the 2.5 is a slightly
sweeter engine.

--
*What boots up must come down *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Depending on the 323 build date, I'd go with that - unless you are 100%
sure the 328 block has been replaced.

Nikasil blocks were put in both the 323 and 328 up until March 1998 -
and Nikasil is not something I'd be willing to gamble.

Inlet manifold, rebored throttle body and an ECU remap will see the 323
exceed standard 328 performance anyway.

check out our site

www.e36coupe.com for more info

In article .com>,
Russ (www.e36coupe.com) > wrote:
> Depending on the 323 build date, I'd go with that - unless you are 100%
> sure the 328 block has been replaced.

> Nikasil blocks were put in both the 323 and 328 up until March 1998 -
> and Nikasil is not something I'd be willing to gamble.

Not in the US, IIRC. Only V-8s, not sixes. They retained an iron block
after Europe went to ally. Then later used liners before finally Alusil.

--
*Forget the Joneses, I keep us up with the Simpsons.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

oh yeah...somewhow missed the "I live in Seattle" line! DOH!

admin wrote:

> There is really NO difference at all between the 323 and 328 except the
> displacement of the engine. Same engine - just bigger (2.8 vs 2.5). Same
> transmission, suspension.

I thought that the intake, exhaust and final drive ratios were
different?

The 323 is a detuned version of the older 325 in that it has less
maximum power but for most people they'll say that it drives better.
The 328 has the same max power as the old 325i but the extra 300cc or
so help with the low down power. if you can't tell or don't want the
20 or so hp difference between the two then you're better off buying
the 323.

The argument of "tune up a 323 and it'll be faster than a 328" is a bit
silly as you also have the argument of "tune up a 328 and it'll be
faster than an M3". Also if you want to tune up a 323 you may as well
buy the older 325.