Audi TT mk1 V6 or BMW E46 330Ci MSport?

[Portent 0]

I'm considering one of these two cars in the next 6 months to a year and wondered what people's opinions are. Strangely I almost bought an E46 series coupe back in 2002 but decided on the TT 225 at the time. My budget is about £4.5k to £5k.

 

Both of these cars seem similar on paper and each has its own pro's and cons:

 

TT V6

Sounds great

A proper coupe rather than having a saloon stablemate so feels special inside

Unique styling. While I don't think they will ever be true classics they are getting rarer on the roads

Option of DSG (not sure on this yet)

4WD so fantastic traction when launching out of a damp side road

More supportive seats than the E46

NEGATIVES - Unusable rear seats, seems to be more expensive than the E46, No sunroof option, arguably poorer handling than the E46

 

 

E46 330Ci MSport

Better handling than the TT

Usable rear seats without having to amputate legs

Optional sunroof

More spacious inside

Supposedly a better engine than the VR6

RWD

NEGATIVES - Optional Tiptronic not as good as DSG, not as unique styling as a TT, less supportive seats than the TT

 

 

I keep flip flopping between the two :)

[seanl82 23]

I think I prefer the E46. Not sure why but I've never been taken with the TT in any flavour. I think the E46 just looks classier imo, and although your TT list has more pro's, I'm not sure it would feel as 'special' to drive. Just my thoughts anyway.........

[Gareth192001 10]

I'm currently thinking of a TT at the moment it seems the older and slightly less common they get the better they look.

Personally i'm looking at the 1.8 the turbo noise is the only thing i miss from my mk4 golf

[Jim 1]

Always liked the Audi TT but.. on this occasion it'd have to be the E46 for me. By a country mile.

[Ralphead 0]

You could get a nice E36 M3 for that money, more feeling and performance than the 330. Or a Porsche 944 S2 or..

 

TTs just don't tickle me at all, yes they're very efficient but on the other hand they are just very efficient.

 

How about this one?: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C458176

[Portent 0]

I'm currently thinking of a TT at the moment it seems the older and slightly less common they get the better they look.

Personally i'm looking at the 1.8 the turbo noise is the only thing i miss from my mk4 golf

 

If I was looking at a 1.8T then it would have to be one of the really early ones before the 2002 facelift, preferably with the highly polished competition alloys. They don't look quite as modern as the facelift cars but they seem truer to the original concept.

 

 

You could get a nice E36 M3 for that money, more feeling and performance than the 330. Or a Porsche 944 S2 or..

 

TTs just don't tickle me at all, yes they're very efficient but on the other hand they are just very efficient.

 

How about this one?: http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C458176

 

Nice car :D

 

I did consider an E36 M3 but they are getting quite old now and the general running costs would be much higher.

[VAG-hag 0]

BMW e46 all day long

[Harrier 1]

I have a e46 330 sport touring auto as my daily & love it,really nice to drive & a quality thing,although a bit more common on the road think they are much better for reliability,though the TT's are quite nice I would avoid the DSG's & potential big garage bills that can occur with them

[maff 10]

Gotta be the e46 for me, i can't see the tt coming close as a drivers car.

 

The 330i's straight six sounds sweet also.

 

I bought my 330d sport four years ago now and it's been faultless, i wanted a saloon, manual and the right colour/interior combo.I have split folding rear seat in mine and a sunroof with aircon.

If you don't need the economy then then 330ci will be great fun, surprisingly really good steering feel as well as from 2002 they updated the steering racks. From 2003 they face lifted the car and brought in the 6 speed box and called them m-sports instead of just sports, exactly same spec just different name,there where engine changes to the diesels but not sure on the petrol model.

 

Rear wheel drive is also a big bonus and the traction control on the e46 is a clever bit of kit, its pretty impossible to lose then car with it all turned on but you can still have a bit of fun, it also has yaw control if the car starts sliding.

 

With your budget you could get a 2005 model but also e46 m3's are now down to £5000, if it was me i would be stretching a little further and buying an m3 for 6k, plenty out there with reasonable mileage.

 

Heres mine, mapped to 245bhp 370lbft tan interior with carbon trim

[maff 10]

Ps, are you selling your vr6?

[Portent 0]

Thanks maff. That looks lovely. It would be the coupe I'm after as it's for me rather than the family. If I pushed it to an E46 M3 I would only be able to afford the bottom of the barrel and running costs increase a lot. I would love one but realistically it's not ideal to run one on a budget and I simply don't drive fast nowadays.

 

Just considering things at the moment, not sure what my car plans are but I've not been able to bring myself to sell before so it's unlikely :)

[j_s14a 0]

The E46 out of those two.

[maff 10]

Thanks maff. That looks lovely. It would be the coupe I'm after as it's for me rather than the family. If I pushed it to an E46 M3 I would only be able to afford the bottom of the barrel and running costs increase a lot. I would love one but realistically it's not ideal to run one on a budget and I simply don't drive fast nowadays.

 

Just considering things at the moment, not sure what my car plans are but I've not been able to bring myself to sell before so it's unlikely :)

 

Definatly agree on the running costs regarding the m3, so tempting though and i'm even considering one myself for that 8500rpm rev limit.

 

A friend has recently sold his V10 m5 after replacing the throttle butterflies, i drive ecu, four new tyres which were well over a grand, he hated that he could not fix it himself.

 

Ten grand would be proper m3 money i reckon so a nice 330ci in atlas grey with heated seats and all the toys would be very nice, and the straight six engines go on forever. I think the sports look nearly as mean as the m3 anyhow.

[Portent 0]

So tempting...

 

http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/51593-2003-facelift-330ci-club-sport-estoril-blue-black-leather-harman-kardon-sunroof-xenons-big-spec-l4695/

[maff 10]

Link doesn't work for me but I see it's a club sport, a tarted up 330ci but not many around, didn't they have an lsd and a different rear spoiler over the sport?

[Portent 0]

Mostly cosmetic differences compared to the regular Sport... a few badges, different wheels and a boot spoiler. The wheels and spoiler are marmite (love it or hate it) but there is a slight weight reduction and they are fairly rare(ish).

[clumpy1 11]

Are you thinking of selling your Corrado? Not that I'm interested nice Rado though

[Ruggy 10]

I'm going for an E46 330Ci in November, when my 5 year NCB kicks in, it was a toss up between that and an S3. I'm still keeping my Corrado though, but as it's only an 8v daily it will be mainly used as the winter car. Rear wheel drive and low profile tyres are absolutely useless in the snow and ice etc.

 

I've been looking at the Club Sport editions too, but I can't get past that ugly rear spoiler, really let's it down. It looks like something your buy from Halfords.

[Portent 0]

I'm going for an E46 330Ci in November, when my 5 year NCB kicks in, it was a toss up between that and an S3. I'm still keeping my Corrado though, but as it's only an 8v daily it will be mainly used as the winter car. Rear wheel drive and low profile tyres are absolutely useless in the snow and ice etc.

 

I've been looking at the Club Sport editions too, but I can't get past that ugly rear spoiler, really let's it down. It looks like something your buy from Halfords.

 

Yes I can't decide whether I really like or really dislike the spoiler but I like the rarity factor.

 

My brother just took his E46 M3 up to a ski resort in the Cairngorms using winter tyres and said the tyres transformed it into something very usable.

 

A quick check on a comparison website gave me an insurance quote of about £350 even without using any of my NCB :) (actually that was for a standard 330ci, not sure how much different the CS makes).

[Ruggy 10]

Winter tyres are a lot cheaper in 16" for the Corrado, plus it's a lot cheaper to repair if I do end up sliding in to a kerb! I know it might be a bit blasphemous to some on here, using a Corrado as the winter car, but the way I see it is that it keeps it on the road, and I can't bring myself to break it. It's a little tatty, so not really worth that much if I try to sell it.

 

I've looked at the insurance situation and it looks like it's going to cost me approx £200 for the Corrado on a classic policy with limited mileage of approx 3k. BMW should be about £500/£600 with the 5 years NCB applied.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

As a package, the TT with it's better interior, R32 noise, DSG shifts and 4WD is the better of the two imo.

 

Fit a blue haldex, defcon bushes and MK4 R32 struts to the TT and you'll have a very tidy handler indeed.

 

I don't really like TTs that much but I'd take that over an E46. Don't be put off by DSG issues. Anything German and 6 cylinder is going to cost you regardless.

[n3p 3]

After speaking to you at a couple of shows I got the impression that you've got a TT itch that needs to be scratched! My friend had a 330ci coupe and to be fair it was a really nice car - hardly set the world on fire though!

 

I'd probably take a TT if in quattro guise

[Portent 0]

Thanks again for the input. I had leaned quite strongly towards the 330 but I think that clubsport has gone but I'm certainly going to have a look at a couple of TTs and 330s.

[mic_VR 3]

As a package, the TT with it's better interior, R32 noise, DSG shifts and 4WD is the better of the two imo.

 

Fit a blue haldex, defcon bushes and MK4 R32 struts to the TT and you'll have a very tidy handler indeed.

 

I don't really like TTs that much but I'd take that over an E46. Don't be put off by DSG issues. Anything German and 6 cylinder is going to cost you regardless.

 

Then just add Turbo!

[KADVR6 0]

Had a TT and had a 330CI and out of the two the bmw was better in every way. Smoother quiter, much more refined and just loads better built. The tt was very rattly and just felt very vague when driving. Plus loads of common problems with mk1 tt arising like dash pods not working and central locking not working.

 

Do the right thing and buy a 330ci as just a better car to own and drive.