"5, 6, 3, 5, 5, 3, 3, 1 ... and now ..."
So, after about a year of thinking about it I recently replaced my ol' E87 120d with something new. The 1-er has served me well, but an accumulation of faults and bodywork damage made it simply not worth the hassle or money, I've agreed to give it away to chap that want's something to work on... he will certainly get good value for money
After mulling over lots of E numbers I've never had before, I couldn't shake a certain niggling desire... a desire that's roots started growing back in 2006 whilst watching Andy Priaulx (and Jorg Muller) battle against Augusto Farfus (then driving an Alfa Romeo), for a FIA World Touring Car Championship title... yup I've not been able to shake off wanting to buy an E90 320Si.
Having kept an eye out for any of the 500 originally sold here popping up for sale, it became clear pretty quickly that despite less than 200 remaining on the road, they weren't actually that scarce. The bigger problem was finding one with a sensible history that was in good condition... and most preferably, one whose engine I could determine the history of - since, as I'm sure will get pointed out - the N45B20S has a habit of eating it's cylinder liners. Well after a little over a year, and having seen several examples, and considered only two, I settled on one.
So far, I'm very happy with it. I was going to wait until I'd had chance to clean it before posting, but the weather's been crap.
It's NOT a relaxed drive, nor is it that fast, and it's worlds away from the diesels I've driven for the last 10 years. Having had two M20B20 engined BMW's before (i.e. 2 litre inline 6's), it's not an unfamiliar experience, the primary difference being that at lower revs the sixes were still buttery smooth - this is jittery and torque-less. Once it's warmed up, and you can push the revs further, it starts to make a lot more sense - the power comes in and becomes way smoother, and not unlike the old 2 litre sixes were - with the benefit that the N45 feels like it actually starts pushing out more power, whereas the M20B20 sixes didn't really offer much other than aural stimulation when pushed towards the redline. Handling wise it feels very stable, and the ride is perfectly fine on smooth roads. On the 'fun' roads around where I live, the road surfaces are ****ing garbage it's still fairly composed, but it's not comfortable, but outside of big soft SUV's I'm not sure what would be on these roads. It doesn't crash over the bumps or through the pot holes, but it doesn't absorb much of them either!
But, I didn't buy it because of how it drove, I bought it because as a touring car fan, and a BMW enthusiast, it is a special car - there were no doubt safer choices, faster choices, and better value choices, but the fact is, nothing else I was considering was anything other than just another Bimmer, in a sea of common Bimmers. I haven't felt this happy just to be driving a car since my E24.
So, after about a year of thinking about it I recently replaced my ol' E87 120d with something new. The 1-er has served me well, but an accumulation of faults and bodywork damage made it simply not worth the hassle or money, I've agreed to give it away to chap that want's something to work on... he will certainly get good value for money
After mulling over lots of E numbers I've never had before, I couldn't shake a certain niggling desire... a desire that's roots started growing back in 2006 whilst watching Andy Priaulx (and Jorg Muller) battle against Augusto Farfus (then driving an Alfa Romeo), for a FIA World Touring Car Championship title... yup I've not been able to shake off wanting to buy an E90 320Si.
Having kept an eye out for any of the 500 originally sold here popping up for sale, it became clear pretty quickly that despite less than 200 remaining on the road, they weren't actually that scarce. The bigger problem was finding one with a sensible history that was in good condition... and most preferably, one whose engine I could determine the history of - since, as I'm sure will get pointed out - the N45B20S has a habit of eating it's cylinder liners. Well after a little over a year, and having seen several examples, and considered only two, I settled on one.
So far, I'm very happy with it. I was going to wait until I'd had chance to clean it before posting, but the weather's been crap.
It's NOT a relaxed drive, nor is it that fast, and it's worlds away from the diesels I've driven for the last 10 years. Having had two M20B20 engined BMW's before (i.e. 2 litre inline 6's), it's not an unfamiliar experience, the primary difference being that at lower revs the sixes were still buttery smooth - this is jittery and torque-less. Once it's warmed up, and you can push the revs further, it starts to make a lot more sense - the power comes in and becomes way smoother, and not unlike the old 2 litre sixes were - with the benefit that the N45 feels like it actually starts pushing out more power, whereas the M20B20 sixes didn't really offer much other than aural stimulation when pushed towards the redline. Handling wise it feels very stable, and the ride is perfectly fine on smooth roads. On the 'fun' roads around where I live, the road surfaces are ****ing garbage it's still fairly composed, but it's not comfortable, but outside of big soft SUV's I'm not sure what would be on these roads. It doesn't crash over the bumps or through the pot holes, but it doesn't absorb much of them either!
But, I didn't buy it because of how it drove, I bought it because as a touring car fan, and a BMW enthusiast, it is a special car - there were no doubt safer choices, faster choices, and better value choices, but the fact is, nothing else I was considering was anything other than just another Bimmer, in a sea of common Bimmers. I haven't felt this happy just to be driving a car since my E24.
