01 v. 02 325xi

What's the price of the 01? There's also the 01 facelift, unless you're talking about the coupe.

If this is your first BMW, you may not notice the steering difference. This is my first BMW and to me, it's just fine. (Flame away...)

But at the time i got around 6k off MSRP and i'm not a big fan of the facelift. Ummm, i'm not sure if this makes any sense. Oh well...

The redesigned facelift for '02 makes me want to puke every time i see it, so i for one would much rather have the looks of the '01. I was just at the dealer yesterday, parked next to an '02 topaz sedan and couldn't help but notice how much better my topaz '01 looked. Look at the guy who designed the '02 above - if he likes it you know it has problems (no offense Adrian ).

However, all else being equal, i would definately go for a new car rather than an used car. HACK is the authority, and my dealer concurred that the steering racks were never changed in the xi (although all xi steering seem a little light after driving an '02 330i SP). But otherwise, no suspension differences, etc. between '01-'02. On a side note, if you're wavering on the SP, get it! The seats alone are worth it. I don't really care much for the different wheels or the sports steering wheel (except that the upgrade to the M steering wheel is only possible with the Sports Steering wheel unless you want to buy a new airbag), but i notice that my fat @ss seems to slide around a lot more than it should in the seats - the car's ridiculous amount of body roll may have something to do with that to though. Good Luck.:thumb:

I feel a little uncomfortable when people call me "the authority.":yikes: However the fact the Xi's come with skinnier tires probably is why the Xi steering rack feels slightly lighter than the 330i SP you drove. From what I gathered when the new steering racks came out in June of 2000, most of the initial Xi owners all reported that the Xi's steering feel was nearly identical to that of the original E46 steering. Some speculated that the Xi's front suspension was a lot heavier than the normal E46 front suspension (true) and that the overboosted steering was designed to counter that in the Xi (speculation). In the Parts CD the Xi's shows a different steering rack than all the other E46es.

The HACK said:

I feel a little uncomfortable when people call me "the authority.":yikes: However the fact the Xi's come with skinnier tires probably is why the Xi steering rack feels slightly lighter than the 330i SP you drove. From what I gathered when the new steering racks came out in June of 2000, most of the initial Xi owners all reported that the Xi's steering feel was nearly identical to that of the original E46 steering. Some speculated that the Xi's front suspension was a lot heavier than the normal E46 front suspension (true) and that the overboosted steering was designed to counter that in the Xi (speculation). In the Parts CD the Xi's shows a different steering rack than all the other E46es.

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I drove an 01 xi back to back with an 02 no apparent difference to me but I too an no expert. I have driven 01 325 loaner and 02 model none SP, defiantely could tell difference between those 2 and the xi's. The xi falls some where in the middle of the 2 IMO, closer to the non SP 02 model.

Recently I have driven:
My father's early build 323Ci, non-sport, 16 in. wheels (I believe)
My June 2001 build 330xi, w/ 205/50 R17
My friend's 2002 330Ci, sport w/17 in wheels

I love the heavy feel of the 2000 323, even without the sport package it feels great. This is the BMW steering everyone wants.

The steering on my xi is lighter but doesn't feel overboosted. Definatley NOT the light, light steering everyone complained about on the 2001 non-x's.

After only I short drive, I think the 2002 330Ci felt similar to my xi. The suspension and ride was tigher overall :thumb: compared to the xi but the steering didn't seem much different. Esp. when compared to that of dad's 323.

Sorry, HACK, but you *are* the authority

As the still-proud owner of a 2001 325xi sedan w/"sport package" (you have to use parens when there's no sport suspension included), who almost immediately upgraded his car to the H&R Coilovers to lower the car back to sport suspension ride height and eliminate the attendant body roll, I must agree with most fellow posters on the F.E. styling (I hate "eyelids" and "glowing circle surrounds" and any other B.S. gimmicks to make cheap Halogens look like more expensive HID assemblies!) and also agree on the steering feel w/the Hack & ERK. When warm weather finally returned to Colorado last year I upgraded to 225/45-17 Yok AVS Sports and all fears/complaints of lighter steering vanished!

I haven't made any mods to my suspension and I am running the OEM Condi tire set. One big thing that did effect the way the steering on my '01 xi was tire pressure. Off the dealer floor it was about 50 psi all the way around. That gave the car a lighter feel in the steering. I run with specs on the door jam (or close) and get the "not overboosted, kinda heavy" feel.