Review: 2005 BMW 330Ci ZHP (Manual)

[Music] what's up everybody super directs man here for yet another review this is the 2005 BMW 330 CI z HP edition these are pretty hard to come by so I'm very excited that I'm able to review this car I'm very appreciative of the owner for letting me drive it today so this one is a daily driven it's a very usable car so it's as a 6-speed manual this is basically for those of you that don't know what the CHP is like it's basically the m3 without the m3 motor so this has the 330 motor suspension and all that other stuff is basically identical to the m3 so a lot of you guys have been asking me to review more affordable cars so if you want and three levels of performance and handling but without the m3 insurance rates and the m3 prices you can find one of these you can really get a good deal and you get all the fun and just a little bit less power which you can always help with the aftermarket anyway get some more power out of it anyway so it's just it's a really cool car for you know what it is I'm really glad to BMW even offered something like this I think if other car companies did similar things with making aggressive handling cars and just slow them down a little bit I think people would have a lot of fun so yeah I mean looks great in yet classic e46 3 Series up front here you know whenever they updated these in 2005 you know they have slightly different headlights than the older 846 versions and so it's a little bit more up upgrade and you have the LED tail lights in the back that also gives it a slightly more upmarket feel than the previous version of the e46 otherwise though I mean it looks great it has the M rims you'll see on the interior it has all the M bits it looks really cool and obviously in this red color that's explosive you know this is basically m3 red that you normally can only get on the m3 to be able to get this on the CHP is awesome as well so very cool car has all the options the cold weather package things like that very nice car didn't get these for a great deal too so yeah we'll go inside check it out so the interior on this car you know it's 2005 so this isn't gonna be the most modern interior you've ever seen but I mean it's it looks great the way it is I mean you simple you have the radiant controls it's just you know very old-school no screens or anything like that to distract you from the driving experience which is what I like it's nice and simple so you know you have nice six-speed manual here with the suede boot you know it says all the M stuff you have the M wheel you have these gauges that are specific to the CHP that have and the red needles you have the slightly higher redline to that they did for the CHP so custom gauges in this car and then you know it just it's great with this faux carbon fiber stuff you have here on the door handles and here on the center console and I mean otherwise it's great I've driven a lot of e46 as before and it's very easy to get used to you know it's cozy but you have plenty of room I mean I'm not cramped or anything but it doesn't feel enormous either - is pretty short so you don't have huge overhangs or anything like that it's a really nice place and this one obviously has the moon roof so that adds in a little bit real light so it gives it a bit more of an airy feel yeah really a nice interior I never have any complaints about BMW interiors and this one is no exception it's just as nice as the others all right so let's take it for a drive and see how it goes the Valentin one on this car as well which is always nice for the highways and stuff ok shopping driving this car for a little while now and my first impressions of it I've driven a lot of these e46 before but it's been a while since I drove one always comes back free of these it's just how smooth the mechanical components in this car are this gearbox is extremely smooth I mean this car is actually done none for one hundred and five thousand miles so it's nicely broken and it still runs like a top it's just really smooth the way that it performs and this motor it's really I mean these street sixes you just you get ottoman is just buttery smooth all the way up to redline it's just really nice to feel I mean there's nothing jerky there's nothing a prop they're crazy about it it's just it's smooth everything about it's smooth the suspension is smooth it gives you good feel whenever you're gonna have our expansion joints and get potholes and things like that you feel it pretty well but it's smooth whenever you're just cruising along and so you get great feel of the road the steering in this car is nicely a way to give this nice and thick wheel I always love fix Jack Mills a BMW does thick steering wheels better than anyone else and so the thick wheel is nice the steering feel is great in this car and so that's always appreciated and it's got a nice little exhaust note - I'll do a little acceleration here plastic straight-6 sound for BMW it's a wonderfully harmonious sound and I mean if you want to increase you know the noise with an exhaust system that's always an option this is a daily driver so he has the standard exhaust on it but even with the standard exhaust no complaints there whatsoever so yeah I mean you know as far as the actual driving dynamics go there's a little bit of body roll and there's you can feel the weight a little bit more than you would if you're driving like an s2000 or BRZ or even like a 135 I think has a less body roll it feels a little bit lighter on its feet than this car does but it still is a very lively car it feels very sharp it's quick to respond your commands you know I wouldn't second guess taking a turn at double the speed limit not wearing this car is very good it drives really nicely and I mean obviously 405 thousand miles on that shows you just it's a testament to these cars reliability there's a few that are looking for affordable fun cars check out these order 3-series because you know they're starting to come down now because everyone wants the key nine he's the new brand new one that just came out so you can get these for a great deal it's tons of fun these flat are these straight six motors are just spectacular they're super reliable you know these cars there's not a whole lot of electrical components to go wrong Jeremy Clarkson made that comment I remember in his Africa special his throttle was the only thing that gave him trouble but this car yeah there's nothing wrong with it about the way it drives yeah radio system in these you can come card and sound system like this one does others have the standard be able to be business radio but the Harman Kardon sounds really good in these cars it's the better sound system Harvard cartons really had quality these second systems many many times and really liked them a lot [Music] yeah that's really all I can say about these cars they're great value a really good value you know whenever these were brand new back in 2005-2006 I was a little less keen on them back then just because they were they're expensive new BMWs are always kind of expensive they kill you on the options list that kiddie with you know just the standard price of entry on these cars is really high but luckily you know after a few years these things are built so well you can get an older one and sometimes they're more fun than the new ones a lot of people that have said BMWs have kind of gotten off track and they've lost their way recently and that these old ones are better and you know I've been driven a ton of the new BMW so I can't really comment on that myself but all I know is these ones are a ton of fun to drive they're great handling cars they're comfortable so you know you won't upset the girlfriend of the wife in this car you know but you can still have fun it's still an enthusiast car this 6-speed manual is buttery smooth it has a great nachi feel right as soon as you go into care but I mean it's it's loose enough that it's not heavy it's not a pain it's not doesn't it this car doesn't feel like you're working to drive it it's just it's enjoyable to drive yeah this motors just really sweet - I really love this it really gets a lot of torque around 3,500 rpms it has yeah I mean obviously this car isn't going to be is prone to oversteer as the m3 it's in a not going to have a low-end torque of the m3 this motor it doesn't feel as fast but one that keeps you out of trouble too like I said you can always boost it in the aftermarket if you want and three it's just you know it's more fun because you can wind this motor out you're not doing triple the speed limit you know and an m3 you just think about it you're going way over the speed limit so is really a sweet spot in the rage and like they only made a few of these and I wish they had made more so that these wouldn't be so rare because this is really a great car I mean the standard 330 is good too but to have all the n3 suspension components you know the slightly more aggressive styling and things like that really this is the best e46 to get especially if you don't want to get in trouble with all the m3 stuff really a sweet car like these a lot so very appreciate from the editor again for letting me drive it and yeah give me more feedback about what you think about this review and you know what other affordable cards you let me interview for you guys because I really want to help you kind of find the awesome enthusiast cars that are affordable you know you can enjoy driving without having to spend tons and tons of money on some crazy supercar you just get something like this and you still have tons and tons of fun so until next time guys you know be sure to like the video I leave your comments let me know what you think about it share it if you liked it and as always take care and I'll see you next time

Channel: Matt Maran Motoring

Views: 214,897

Keywords: subaruwrxfan, review, bmw, 330ci, zhp, 2005, red, driving, impressions, thoughts, driving impressions, reviews, interior, exterior, acceleration, handling, performance package

Id: cc-fheVcIE4

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 06 2013