New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

[dsdfan]

Considering the many teething problems early purchasers suffered, is it safe to buy a new E90 at this point? After one year, have they ironed out manufacturing problems yet?

An alternative is a used 2004 320. Does the E90 offer much improved handling and ride compared to a 2004 320? Does the new design offer significant technological advances over the old 320?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[xuexun]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

First of all, the 2004 320 do not come with a V6 engine

Instead, its a in-line 6. 2004 320 is 2.2L while the e90 320 runs a valvetronic 2L engine, same as e46's 318. Performance wise, the e46 320 should be better then the e90. However, i would say the 2L engine is very economical and should be sufficent for your everyday drive in our small country.

There are many happy e90 buyers out there, i believe major glitches would have had been figured out already and it should be a reasonable stable car.

 

[dsdfan]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

Thanks for the feedback. Is E90 handling and ride much improved over previous models?

Post recitifed, 2004 320 features in-line 6 indeed.

 

[meganbel]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

I'm stuck between the IS250 & e90 320i. Basically, I'm indecisive due to the following:

IS250 is more feature packed than the 320i - higher specs, inline 6
E90 320i is cheaper to maintain in terms of servicing & road tax.

The IS250 is now selling for S$125,888. Give it some time, I hope that the px will drop by S$10k. Until then, I remain in a dilema.

 

[22tang]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

Previously, I owned the E46 320i for 3 years but under utilised it (only clock 28,000Km) before letting go last August. It's a mid range performance car but I enjoyed every moment while owning the 320i. The only thing that I dislikes was the petrol consumption and the rear passenger space. But apart from these, it a very good experience that I had for the past years.

In fact, I almost book the current 320 but comparing with my previous experience I am still dreaming of my E46

Cheers...

 

[chickenbackside]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

I'm stuck between the IS250 & e90 320i. Basically, I'm indecisive due to the following:

IS250 is more feature packed than the 320i - higher specs, inline 6
E90 320i is cheaper to maintain in terms of servicing & road tax.

The IS250 is now selling for S$125,888. Give it some time, I hope that the px will drop by S$10k. Until then, I remain in a dilema.

Just a little detail: the IS250 has a V6 engine, not a straight 6.

 

[dsdfan]

Re: New E90 320 vs. 2004 320?

Got info from Lexus that OMV for IS250 will be "in excess of $35K." Even at 36K this means higher depreciation than an E90 320.

The IS250 offers 2 years free maintenance only for pre-booking customers plus a holiday for taking the HSBC loan before end of March, which closes the gap with 3 year free service of BMW. However IS250 road tax and fuel costs will be higher.

The extra features and superior power of the IS250 over the 320 might be worth the extra cost and depreciation. The 320 counters with supposedly better handling (I look forward to compare the two in this aspect) but if the IS250 is a more bug-free and reliable product than the 320, then the supposed handling advantage might be worth sacrificing.

If IS250 price drops by at least 5K after the launch, this would give the IS250 an definite edge over the 320 in terms of a good buy. Are there any other factors which can be called into comparison?

Looks like an even match here. But if the current e90 is still known to exhibit severe problems, then for me the battle straightaway goes to the IS250 by default.