How I ended up buying a used BMW 330i M Sport as my daily driver

My first RWD car was a used Mercedes C Class W204. I had an accident in this (nothing too serious) and knew at that very moment that my confidence in this car was up.

BHPian Quackhead recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Good morning from Mumbai. Hope you guys are all well!

I've got quite an interesting read that sums up the last decade of driving from my eyes + a 6-month update on living with the 330i M Sport.

Fun facts + Disclaimer -

• Rear Wheel Drive aka 'Push me! Stop pulling!'
• Real facts about the cars I've driven.
• Finally giving back to the community where I've learned so much.

I was born and raised in a house with a RWD enthusiast Dad, who himself had a RWD car in his father's garage (my granddad's Dodge) + his absolute and unconditional love for the Contessa (yes, the Indian muscle car), and happened to marry a woman who grew up in and around a Chrysler Imperial (6 cylinder, RWD) and together, both of them couldn't digest Front Wheel Driving as 'fun'.

Epic Fate

It was destiny that drove me to get into German entry-level cars (true entry, not FWD badge slaps) with slight tweaks to their suspension treatment for epic levels of grip.

I'm talking about affordable cars that aren't true 'M's or 'AMG's or 'RS'-es. If Porsches were more affordable, I'd be in one right now.

I'm saying -

• The daily that you take to work
• The one you hang out and chill in, fast food included
• The one you go on a date in or sometimes have a date in
• The one you sweat in after the gym
• The one you park anywhere and everywhere
• The one which the valets farts in after you tip him too little
• The one someone may puke in
• The one your dog poops in because he's a dog
• The one to carry all different kinds of belongings. (guitars & amps for me)

Cars I've owned or driven as a family car

• Honda City 1.5 Vtec (a 90's enthusiast's wet dream): This was the fastest car I'd ever driven at the time, with an incredible sense of speed through Honda's incredible Vtec engine at high revs gave you an understanding of shifting through time as everyone around you was slower, and your only competition was the Baleno.
• Honda Accord 2.4 iVtec: Slow as hell but incredibly poised, nose was super friendly for a FWD car and had the best manual gearbox I've ever driven in a non-premium brand. A genuine luxury car for the price of today's Kia Sonnet. 6 CD changer, USB & Bluetooth connectivity in 2006 which is wild.
• Honda CRV 2005 iVtec: A giant hatchback pretending to be an SUV. 4 wheel drive at times, FWD biased 2.4 litre engine with enough power to touch 200 in about 25 seconds. Incredible suspension, phenomenal ride height & front wheel drive done extremely tastefully.
• Mercedes ML 250: This is a tank. Nuff said. 236 BHP and more torque than you'd ever actually need, 4matic works best in the rain, and a ton of diesel power to back you up.
• E Class 250 Avantgarde (2017): Outgoing class. Sheer loyalty to serving you power + comfort. Rear Wheel Drive for all the right reasons - Rigidity, balance, linear power all the while keeping comfort in mind. I learned a lot from driving this car.

My first RWD car - Mercedes C Class W204 Avantgarde (C200 CGI)

• Used 6-year-old for 1/3rd the price, stage 2 tuned, downpipe, E-tuner.
• Blacked out wheels, chrome delete and badges shaved off.
• I was SUPER lucky to have gotten this, and not the compressor.
• This drove like a dream, my actual daily and used it for close to 1Lakh KM with multiple trips out of the city every week. Did Mumbai to Punjab in under 3 days, clocked 225 on Rajasthani (BRO) roads, smoking a Polo in the dust when the car was 13 years old at the time.
• Tried multiple brake sets, EBC yellow stuff on stock rotors (Best combo for stopping power hands down), Purple Brembo drilled and slated rotors with matching pads (weakest stopping power, felt uneasy and unsafe at high speeds). Constant paint correction + detailing has kept the car alive for 15 years. 9 of those years with me. Oh, and I'd suggest a BMC air filter over a K&N.

The car for my 30s - BMW 330i M-Sport 2022 (used)

THE JOURNEY FOR THE PERFECT CAR 

After what seemed like ages of driving an incredible Mercedes C class, tuned to my liking and where the on board computer had spent years learning about my heavy right food, my off kilter braking, & turbo spool pumping, I had an accident in this incredible car that gave me the chills. Nothing too serious, my wheel popped off at high speed, leaving the car on the ground, dragging this gorgeous chassis into the ground. I controlled the car to a stop and through a very helpful random Sikh man who was convinced God saved me, found my wheel and tire, called for a flatbed and knew at that very moment that my confidence in this car was up. Time for another decade and the beginning of something new.

I remembered an old ex's Skoda Octavia RS which looked absolutely incredible from the mid 2000's. Black and blacked out, with everything looking menacing. I wanted something meaner, something darker when it came to the headlight design. Something that backed all that up with Rear Wheel Drive power instead of the RS's FWD rally+rollcage set up.

Booked a test drive of a C43 AMG through everyone's favourite American Indian (he's a friend, so not naming directly) who's probably the sweetest guy in the car scene. He really helped me out with understanding what I wanted and even came to the service shop himself to help me out with checking the car.

I was quite impressed but the car lacked 'pizazz'. Was clearly set up just to make noise by Mercedes and had a whole lotta 'oomph' but almost no design element that made it stand out. Plus a 205 to replace the 204? No WAY

My 204 handled better + has hydraulic steering, and if engined swapped, would smoke the holy shit out of the C43 205 since its wheelbase and pseudo-new tech was just not up to the mark.

MORE GERMANS? BMW? AUDI?

After a year of searching high and low, turning every rock in my way, I came across the M340i. This beast. This pure energy. Took the wind from my lungs and swept me off my feet in a heartbeat.

There's a massive 'BUT' with this car. Can I leave it out with that quad tailpipe? Can I not care if I'm busy doing something and the car is all alone in the rain? Can I sleep at night without thinking about someone keying my car or stealing a hubcap? Absolutely not. At close to 90 Lakhs on road (regardless of where you are + upgrades), there's no way in hell I'm spending years of savings on a car with Xdrive which severely beats your mileage, constant need of 100 octane fuel that eats your pocket from within and can never truly ever be a sleeper as it's as fast as M3's of old. Props to you folk who bought it and enjoy it. It's a gorgeous beast, one that I can't tame just yet.

So I went the Audi route. Tested the S5. Fell in love again, fresh warm butterflies in my stomach until I realised it was a CBU and there were no used ones for sale just yet.

A used 330i pops up. M-Sport. M Performance Exhaust already installed. Multiple M kits already on the car including the carpets. Portimao Blue with Mocha dark seats. The colour called to me and I went running.

I called for a long test drive. Requested a late-night one as I wanted to be alone in the car to breathe it in, and see if it was the right fit.

Booked the car in under an hour, asked for a discount, asked a complete detail, paint correction, modes of finance & a free ceramic coating as I'm really not into the PPF scene.

It's been 6 months of driving this every single day. I bought the car at 6k KM and have already passed 13k KM, averaging about 1k KM a month, not counting the first month of breaking it in.

It revs like a dream, reaching unholy speeds MORE than capable of being at the limit of traction constantly, an incredible tourer for 5-6 hour drives through the gorgeous Maharashtrian countryside, with epic mileage even with a heavy foot. Brakes are blinding quick, exhaust notes are of epic measure and nothing till date has beaten me on a straight open road besides the M340i and the M8 (both owned by friends who clearly wanted me to see that I'm slower).

This is a dream car for me. A daily with practical usage within the city, incredible suspension that takes potholes with ease, fits my entire family and sometimes whole groups of friends, handles the heat & cement roads with finesse. And when you get an open tar twisty or straight, it throws me back to games like Driv3r, Gran Turismo, Burnout Paradise. Places where tar was sticky and made up.

This Rear Wheel Drive obsession led me here over a used M340i, A6, a used CLA 45 AMG, an S5, and a used C43 AMG.

Pros -

• iDrive 7.0
• Incredible grip (Michelin Pilot Sport 4 - not RFT)
• 50/50 weight ratio = best handling in segment
• Real buttons, not only screen & touch tech
• On-board computer is incredibly intuitive
• Best in segment aero, coasting is too easy

VIP Pros -

• 258 BHP stock, very tune friendly
• Light speed shifts with the ZF gearbox
• Incredible exhaust note with m-performance exhaust
• True rear wheel drive, monster on the road and in the twisty roads of the Western Ghats. Will track this car next year.
• Steering feel closest to the hydraulic I've ever driven in this electric steering world.

Cons -

• No ventilated seats (Mumbai heat can zap energy in minutes)
• Small boot because of space saver
• Terrible in the rain
• Only rear cam - no 360 cam
• No connected drive in India, cannot upgrade or aftermarket without voiding warranty
• Voice command does not understand my accent, only for white people
• Reverse assist is dangerous as it jams the brakes if it thinks you're about to have a collision
• No keyless entry, key fob dies often
• Sunroof is tiny and almost never used
• No shades inbuilt like my W204, no ashtray inbuilt like previous Bimmers

VIP Cons -

• Terrible in the rain, will slip easily if you are not used to RWD cars.

That's pretty much it.

For the daily, it's incredible. For the track and taking on bigger engines like the V6 or an Inline 6, not happening.

Watch out in the rain if you're ever driving a 330i in peak Mumbai Monsoon. This car is finesse, BMW at its finest. They've rewritten their wrongs and built a car that bangs, pops & cracks on every level of enjoyment. It's pure joy and I'm proud to own it. With all its bells and whistles just a few meters way from me as I write this, I can't thank you enough for your time in reading this.

Cheers and have a good one!

-K

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