Sweet, thanks all for the advice!
I would love to go and test drive a few examples of both, but time is always my enemy, never have enough of it! I have an option to buy a very low miles 2000 model 330i for $15k so I'm thinking its too cheap to pass up... if its well maintained.
I do prefer refinement in my cars over cornering ability. Previous cars include Toyota Crown, Merc 500SEL, Ford Fairlaine (embarassing... but I was living in Australia so when in Rome...) and a few Legnum VR4s.
In my younger days I had some track cars that were barely road legal and set up to corner like a go-kart, but I think I've lost that passion in my old age (27 lol).
In a 330i would I be wringing its neck all the time to extract the power? If so the car would be wasted on me.