Differences between 2006 325xi and 2007 328xi

Now that BMW North America has updated the website to include 2007 sedans it's possible to pull up a side by side comparison of both vehicles.

According to the website the differences are:

Base price: 34,300 (2007) vs 32,800 (2006)
Horsepower: 230hp (2007) vs 215hp (2006)
Torque: 200lb.-ft. (2007) vs 185lb.-ft. (2006)

Double VANOS variable valve control on 2007 model (not on 2006 model)

Perimeter/approach lights: Standard on 2007, not available for 2006 (What are perimeter/approach lights? I don't think they are referring to the door handle lights)

Steering wheel controls: Standard on 2007, not available for 2006 (Is this something new also? I know the 2006 models offered steering wheel controls for the radio)

Speed sensitive wipers: Standard on 2007, not available for 2006. This sounds interesting. I wonder what this feature is?

Satellite ready radio: Standard on 2007 model, an option for 2006.

Front headroom: 38.5" (2007) vs 37.4" (2006)

Read headroom: 37.5" (2007) vs 37.1" (2006)



The picture comparisons both inside and out look identical

Also new for 2007, if you purchase the BMW-Assist feature, BMW includes for free 4 years, unlimited mileage BMW Assist Safety Plan which includes automatic colliision notification, emergency requests, enhanced roadside assistance, stolen vehicle recovery and TeleService services, previous a $720 additional purchase (1st year was free, with annual renewals of $240/yr)

Originally Posted by mskvarenina

Front headroom: 38.5" (2007) vs 37.4" (2006)

Read headroom: 37.5" (2007) vs 37.1" (2006)

The cars exterior and interior dimensions should be the same. Maybe they remeasured and the 06 numbers were a mistake

Ed

No 335xi sedan?

Originally Posted by krash

No 335xi sedan?

In the spring...

2006 325 has (had) Double Vanos. It is (was) missing the three stage air intake manifold of the 330 engine. Or my 2006 3 series brochure is misprinted

Well according to the website, the sat radio in the 2007 is still an option on the build menu. I guess it's just the $75 "sat prep that's included"

My 2006 has the approach lights (those little lights in the handles that illuminate the path and area around the car).

Also has the steering wheel controls. Wheel looks the same as the 328xi coupes on the website so unless they've finally added that passenger eject button I'm not missing anything.

No idea what the speed sensitive wipers are, but the rain sensor seems to adapt to different speeds and when I stop, the rain sensor in the same amount of rain, slows down. So perhaps like all the other options it's included on the 2006.

So far it sounds like the 2007 is a $1500 price boost for 15hp/torque. The rest could be a bug in the inputting of data or maybe they figure some people will want to upgrade already!

Originally Posted by commander_crash

Well according to the website, the sat radio in the 2007 is still an option on the build menu. I guess it's just the $75 "sat prep that's included"

My 2006 has the approach lights (those little lights in the handles that illuminate the path and area around the car).

Also has the steering wheel controls. Wheel looks the same as the 328xi coupes on the website so unless they've finally added that passenger eject button I'm not missing anything.

No idea what the speed sensitive wipers are, but the rain sensor seems to adapt to different speeds and when I stop, the rain sensor in the same amount of rain, slows down. So perhaps like all the other options it's included on the 2006.

So far it sounds like the 2007 is a $1500 price boost for 15hp/torque. The rest could be a bug in the inputting of data or maybe they figure some people will want to upgrade already!

I think some of the info is buggy. Web developers put that together and maybe did not know the difference. Most of those "2007" items are in my July 2006 E90.
The ZSP gets you steering wheel controls.
The rain sensor wipers are automatically speed sensitive in the sense that they wipe faster when more rain hits the windshield and more rain hits the windshield when you drive faster!
I doubt the dimensions changed, but I guess it's possible.
Via i-Drive, I have conrtol over pathway lighting and the handles do glow by default.

With the 15 HP / 15 ft of torque, I am guessing that the 328Xi = 325i in straight line acceleration?