I took a 330d out for a test drive today as there is one at a local dealership. Not a great spec but thought I've got this itch, let's go and scratch it! Was very surprised at how well it went compared to the ST. Absolutely loads of grunt! It didn't sound bad either. It also had the flappy paddle gearbox, which I'm not totally convinced about. However, if I do get properly serious about this, I don't think the flappy paddles would necessarily be a deal breaker if the car was the spec I wanted. Think I need to drive a manual one as well.
A friend of a friend has a remapped 330d so gonna see if I can have a go in that sometime, although that's a bloody auto as well.