2006 BMW 320Cd
Discussion
Late November 2007, decided to get rid of the mk4 Golf GT TDi I had been running for the last year and get an E46 coupe. Although I was really after a 330Cd, the one at the dealers I went to see had just sold, so I took a shot in this 320Cd.
Chewed it over on the way home, it would save a bit of money with the smaller engine, but I did kinda want the power of the larger one. Half way back along the M8, the Golf threw its classic overboost limp in to the mix and I concluded f
k this I'm buying the 320.
Mileage a few days after picking her up
At 18 months old and BMW approved used it came with the balance of the OEM warranty and the option to extend. Over the first couple of years it got used a few times; rearmost exhaust hanger twice, passenger seat occupancy sensor, maf sensor.
Reading more tales of woe with swirl flaps I decided to keep the warranty going.
We all know BMWs are horrendous in the snow. So when the lads suggested a ski trip to Val D'Isere, naturally I felt a bit nervous at the prospect. Well, actually, no, I didn't. Not at all. Bags packed, skis in, phone call made to my cousins who were going away at the same time so I could meet up with them in Morzine later in the week.
Ended up having to travel from Val D to Morzine in a blizzard. It didn't fancy the 6in of snow on the unploughed mountain road up from Cluses to Morzine, apart from that, no real problems.
So what else has happened in the last 7 and a half years. Not a hell of a lot really. At 165,000 I figured there wasn't a lot of sense in maintaining my £50 a month payments for the BMW extended warranty and cancelled it, so I booked her in to a mates garage and got the swirl flaps deleted just incase. Increasingly I've read the very latest iteration of that engine had thicker spindles so don't suffer the same problem. Being an 06 E46 it's likely mine has that engine but no point taking the risk.
About 170,000 the downpipe started blowing, so booked her in at PerformanceTek in Glasgow for some surgery. The intercooler's end tank had started leaking slightly so that got replaced at the same time and a quick remap thrown on. Baseline dyno run before the work showed the factory 150hp was down to just 110hp with the knackered downpipe and leaky IC. After the new parts and remap, 209hp.
Over the last 70k miles it has averaged 50.3mpg, with the blowing downpipe she's struggled to get out the high 40s. First 2 tanks after the map have been in the 53s and with a extra 100hp, it's a completely different car to drive.
Agenda for the end of the summer is to get the slight rust appearing round the tailgate fixed before it really takes hold and just keep driving her.
Chewed it over on the way home, it would save a bit of money with the smaller engine, but I did kinda want the power of the larger one. Half way back along the M8, the Golf threw its classic overboost limp in to the mix and I concluded f
k this I'm buying the 320.Mileage a few days after picking her up
At 18 months old and BMW approved used it came with the balance of the OEM warranty and the option to extend. Over the first couple of years it got used a few times; rearmost exhaust hanger twice, passenger seat occupancy sensor, maf sensor.
Reading more tales of woe with swirl flaps I decided to keep the warranty going.
We all know BMWs are horrendous in the snow. So when the lads suggested a ski trip to Val D'Isere, naturally I felt a bit nervous at the prospect. Well, actually, no, I didn't. Not at all. Bags packed, skis in, phone call made to my cousins who were going away at the same time so I could meet up with them in Morzine later in the week.
Ended up having to travel from Val D to Morzine in a blizzard. It didn't fancy the 6in of snow on the unploughed mountain road up from Cluses to Morzine, apart from that, no real problems.
So what else has happened in the last 7 and a half years. Not a hell of a lot really. At 165,000 I figured there wasn't a lot of sense in maintaining my £50 a month payments for the BMW extended warranty and cancelled it, so I booked her in to a mates garage and got the swirl flaps deleted just incase. Increasingly I've read the very latest iteration of that engine had thicker spindles so don't suffer the same problem. Being an 06 E46 it's likely mine has that engine but no point taking the risk.
About 170,000 the downpipe started blowing, so booked her in at PerformanceTek in Glasgow for some surgery. The intercooler's end tank had started leaking slightly so that got replaced at the same time and a quick remap thrown on. Baseline dyno run before the work showed the factory 150hp was down to just 110hp with the knackered downpipe and leaky IC. After the new parts and remap, 209hp.
Over the last 70k miles it has averaged 50.3mpg, with the blowing downpipe she's struggled to get out the high 40s. First 2 tanks after the map have been in the 53s and with a extra 100hp, it's a completely different car to drive.
Agenda for the end of the summer is to get the slight rust appearing round the tailgate fixed before it really takes hold and just keep driving her.
It's a bit of a puncture magnet, I've read a number of people talking about this, so it's had more than a few puncture repairs in that time. That could be something to do with the 20-25k a year though.
Front wishbone bushes are a pain on them but I polybushed mine the second time they needed done and they more than likely won't need done again.
Rear dampers and wheel bearings needed done around 125-150k.
Nothing else really needed doing. Just service it, feed it tyres and brakes as required and kick it's hoop daily.
Front wishbone bushes are a pain on them but I polybushed mine the second time they needed done and they more than likely won't need done again.
Rear dampers and wheel bearings needed done around 125-150k.
Nothing else really needed doing. Just service it, feed it tyres and brakes as required and kick it's hoop daily.
Bit of fixing and maintenance over the last 3 months.
Was getting a scuffing / scraping noise off the driver's front corner. Turns out the dust guard's mountings had rotted away allowing it to scuff the back of the disc. Due to the shape of them, there's not really any way to take them off without fully stripping the hub. Wasn't in the mood for that, so out came the grinder.
No danger I was putting the same discs back on with close to 80k on them, pity as the pads had plenty meat left on them (they were only 40k old though).
Didn't bother taking pics of the replacements, funnily enough they looked like new discs and pads. Standard fair motorfactor stuff, £65 all in.
Few thousand miles later and I was getting a stutter bump effect off the passenger side damper which I'd noticed was leaking a bit when doing the brakes. At 214,000 I figured that was allowable wear and tear so got a new set and some new top mounts. The old top mounts weren't shot or even knocking but figured at less than 20 quid a side it didn't make sense not to do them. Original springs were reused as they were in fine shape, paint wasn't even flaking on them.
We use a lot of Meyle stuff on the race cars so bought that, £115 all in, can't complain.
Was getting a scuffing / scraping noise off the driver's front corner. Turns out the dust guard's mountings had rotted away allowing it to scuff the back of the disc. Due to the shape of them, there's not really any way to take them off without fully stripping the hub. Wasn't in the mood for that, so out came the grinder.
No danger I was putting the same discs back on with close to 80k on them, pity as the pads had plenty meat left on them (they were only 40k old though).
Didn't bother taking pics of the replacements, funnily enough they looked like new discs and pads. Standard fair motorfactor stuff, £65 all in.
Few thousand miles later and I was getting a stutter bump effect off the passenger side damper which I'd noticed was leaking a bit when doing the brakes. At 214,000 I figured that was allowable wear and tear so got a new set and some new top mounts. The old top mounts weren't shot or even knocking but figured at less than 20 quid a side it didn't make sense not to do them. Original springs were reused as they were in fine shape, paint wasn't even flaking on them.
We use a lot of Meyle stuff on the race cars so bought that, £115 all in, can't complain.
Pretty much just keep putting fuel in it and driving it. The to do list has expanded a touch.
I've not taken care of the rusty rear end issue yet and I really will have to do something about that. Wheels could use a refurb. In the current climate I'm reminded just how st it is having no aircon, the belt appears to have gone missing at some point, no idea when as I'd stopped using it a ages ago, right about the time it started smelling of wet dog 
Trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get some better audio installed and phone connection, not particularly keen on how aftermarket headunits look in BMWs.
Need to get a replacement doorcard as I managed to deck it getting out the car in an iced over car park and put my knee through the speaker grille.
It's still doing 50+ mpg every tank, anything I would actually want to replace it with is going to lose £300-500 a month in depreciation so just doesn't really seem worth it.
I've not taken care of the rusty rear end issue yet and I really will have to do something about that. Wheels could use a refurb. In the current climate I'm reminded just how s
t it is having no aircon, the belt appears to have gone missing at some point, no idea when as I'd stopped using it a ages ago, right about the time it started smelling of wet dog Trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get some better audio installed and phone connection, not particularly keen on how aftermarket headunits look in BMWs.
Need to get a replacement doorcard as I managed to deck it getting out the car in an iced over car park and put my knee through the speaker grille.
It's still doing 50+ mpg every tank, anything I would actually want to replace it with is going to lose £300-500 a month in depreciation so just doesn't really seem worth it.
HybridAero said:
That's an epic car, what a great combination of performance and economy. How much torque does it make at the fly? I'm guessing those dyno figures are at the wheel? It's got the power of a 330d of the same era, will be considerably lighter and a 330cd would struggle to better 40 mpg. Top work!
Figures at the top of the graph are at the wheels, engine was 209hp, can't remember the torque figures off hand. Only graph I have is the picture taken off the dunk at the time, I was away on holiday when it got done. Recently did a bit of maths on what my driving regularly entails and generally close to 90% of my driving is extra-urban, be it motorway or A road so that definitely helps the overall average. It beats the official combined figure for the 320Cd by about 5% but there's no danger of ever hitting the official ex-urban 62.8mpg!NiceCupOfTea said:
Re audio, there are lots of Chinese Android double dins that fit the e46 dash and do look nice. I think they can be a bit of a lottery though, makes like Erisin seem to be the better ones, though still hit and miss. I have yet to bite the bullet myself.
Yeah, I've looked at a few options. There's an official BMW adaptor that was created for certain markets which offered a Becker satnav headunit but they're non-existent to find second hand. The Erisin etc units look great spec wise but the hit & miss reliability really bothers me since it's not throwaway money and every supplier I've found has a less than gleaming customer service record. The Parrot Asteroid double din unit is apparently thin enough to fit without butchering the heater box but it looks utterly horrific installed imho.msport123 said:
Good work! My 2005 320cd is approaching 190k and I've owned it since 30k, I'm the second owner I believe. FBMWSH bar the last service which was done a few k's ago. My car was remapped at 30k.
Picking up from a few points made throughout the thread:
Swirl flaps - 2005 cars onwards were not effected, like you say the new design came in. I recall checking my build date with BMW who confirmed my car had the new design. I personally wouldn't purchase a pre 2005 car.
Rust - if you have a full service history your car is covered by a 12 year anti corrosion warranty (unlimited mileage). If in the area of rust your car has had a previous repair/paint you will not be covered. You also won't be covered if the rust is due to stone chips or other external influences.
Over the last few months my car has had both rear arches treated and repsrayed under warranty. I found a few very small rust bubbles on the one arch, took it to BMW who inspected the car and my service history (which was with the same dealer) and the warranty repair was approved. Approximately one month later, when washing the car again, I saw the same bubbles on the opposite arch! Car was booked in again and the same process was followed and I now have a car free of any rust! Good to know the arches have been done and even better knowing they've been done properly as BMW warranty their repair work. I also saw the bill from body shop - ouch!
Hopefully this will save you some money if you're covered. The anti corrosion warranty isn't used as much as it should be as owners aren't aware of it, especially as cars pass through different ownership. Through the same process service history becomes patchy and the warranty will be void.
It's worth checking the condition of your crank pulley, the rubber can perish over time. I speak from experience as only a few weeks ago my pulley actually fell off the block! The air con belt went with it, but the main drive belt somehow stayed attached to the bell housing, how it stayed attached I don't know. Their was no difference in the way the car drove and I only knew something was a miss when my air con wasn't working and I could hear a clonk from the engine bay when I turned the car off. Turned out the pulley had fallen off and was resting against what I assume was the anti roll bar and every time the ignition was switched off the fins on the back of the radiator grill will move causing the pulley to clonk against the roll bar.
At the same time as having the pulley done (with new belts), I had both rear shocks replaced, and the front bushes done. I used Meyle HD bushes and mountings and meyle rear shocks. I've had the bushes done twice before and I've been surprised how well the car drives each time after the work. Heart ruling the head, I also had all my wheels refurbished at the same time, very satisfying to have a well looked after car even if the money spent won't be recouped.
There is no reason if maintained correctly that these cars shouldn't comfortable do 300K+ without any major work. Up until my crank pulley falling off the car has only cost me for servicing, tyres, brakes and bushes. That's pretty good considering I've driven it for 160k!
Whereabouts on the boot is your rust appearing? I've had a good look all over my car, including underneath (as did the body shop) and I can't see any visible signs of rust.
Ah yes, forgot about the crank pulley. Mine separated but I caught it when it was a grumble and replaced it before it came full off. It was when doing that we noticed the aircon belt was missing.Picking up from a few points made throughout the thread:
Swirl flaps - 2005 cars onwards were not effected, like you say the new design came in. I recall checking my build date with BMW who confirmed my car had the new design. I personally wouldn't purchase a pre 2005 car.
Rust - if you have a full service history your car is covered by a 12 year anti corrosion warranty (unlimited mileage). If in the area of rust your car has had a previous repair/paint you will not be covered. You also won't be covered if the rust is due to stone chips or other external influences.
Over the last few months my car has had both rear arches treated and repsrayed under warranty. I found a few very small rust bubbles on the one arch, took it to BMW who inspected the car and my service history (which was with the same dealer) and the warranty repair was approved. Approximately one month later, when washing the car again, I saw the same bubbles on the opposite arch! Car was booked in again and the same process was followed and I now have a car free of any rust! Good to know the arches have been done and even better knowing they've been done properly as BMW warranty their repair work. I also saw the bill from body shop - ouch!
Hopefully this will save you some money if you're covered. The anti corrosion warranty isn't used as much as it should be as owners aren't aware of it, especially as cars pass through different ownership. Through the same process service history becomes patchy and the warranty will be void.
It's worth checking the condition of your crank pulley, the rubber can perish over time. I speak from experience as only a few weeks ago my pulley actually fell off the block! The air con belt went with it, but the main drive belt somehow stayed attached to the bell housing, how it stayed attached I don't know. Their was no difference in the way the car drove and I only knew something was a miss when my air con wasn't working and I could hear a clonk from the engine bay when I turned the car off. Turned out the pulley had fallen off and was resting against what I assume was the anti roll bar and every time the ignition was switched off the fins on the back of the radiator grill will move causing the pulley to clonk against the roll bar.
At the same time as having the pulley done (with new belts), I had both rear shocks replaced, and the front bushes done. I used Meyle HD bushes and mountings and meyle rear shocks. I've had the bushes done twice before and I've been surprised how well the car drives each time after the work. Heart ruling the head, I also had all my wheels refurbished at the same time, very satisfying to have a well looked after car even if the money spent won't be recouped.
There is no reason if maintained correctly that these cars shouldn't comfortable do 300K+ without any major work. Up until my crank pulley falling off the car has only cost me for servicing, tyres, brakes and bushes. That's pretty good considering I've driven it for 160k!
Whereabouts on the boot is your rust appearing? I've had a good look all over my car, including underneath (as did the body shop) and I can't see any visible signs of rust.
Edited by msport123 on Sunday 28th May 18:39
Rust is mostly this section plus blistering at the corners and at the wheel arch where it meets the end of the bumper
No chance of getting it on corrosion warranty. Even though the boot area hasn't been sprayed the arches have on both sides and although not in a relevant area, it will give them enough to wiggle out.
MOT time again.
Last few weeks the handbrake has gone from poor to utterly useless.
Probably caused by the burst handbrake cable and the shoes starting to fall apart. New discs, cables and shoes.
Pass with no advisories
Possibly would upgrade speakers but not to the level of components, subs or amps.
Really the most important bit is being able to make handsfree calls, steaming would be an advantage/bonus though.
Last few weeks the handbrake has gone from poor to utterly useless.
Probably caused by the burst handbrake cable and the shoes starting to fall apart. New discs, cables and shoes.
Pass with no advisories
markirl said:
This isn't e46 specific, but when I bought my previous e39 a few years back I was so so disappointed with the audio I started to do some research. Everyone was talking about the Sony SOT amps which were crazy expensive. I wanted the fascia to be as OEM as possible so didn't consider any aftermarket headunit I ended up doing the following:
Bought and installed the following:
- BMW professional headunit from eBay.
- Genuine iPod controller from eBay
- Alpine MRX-V60 5 channel class D amp - this takes the speaker output from the headunit instead of a line input which means it can be used with OEM HU. There are lots of amps like this.
- 2 x DLS 8" subs
If memory serves me, I found out that the car had front components fitted that I knew nothing about which was a nice surprise.
I installed the headunit and ipod controller pretty quickly. I then fitted the amp in the boot where the CD changer was. If memory follows, I think I bridged 4 channels to 2 channels and powered the front speakers with it. I left the rear speakers powered by HU as they aren't important. I then fitted the subs under the parcel shelf so as not to rob too much boot space.
Just a recommendation!
Does the iPod controller work with iPhone 6 style lightning cables?Bought and installed the following:
- BMW professional headunit from eBay.
- Genuine iPod controller from eBay
- Alpine MRX-V60 5 channel class D amp - this takes the speaker output from the headunit instead of a line input which means it can be used with OEM HU. There are lots of amps like this.
- 2 x DLS 8" subs
If memory serves me, I found out that the car had front components fitted that I knew nothing about which was a nice surprise.
I installed the headunit and ipod controller pretty quickly. I then fitted the amp in the boot where the CD changer was. If memory follows, I think I bridged 4 channels to 2 channels and powered the front speakers with it. I left the rear speakers powered by HU as they aren't important. I then fitted the subs under the parcel shelf so as not to rob too much boot space.
Just a recommendation!
Possibly would upgrade speakers but not to the level of components, subs or amps.
Really the most important bit is being able to make handsfree calls, steaming would be an advantage/bonus though.
Well, that's disappointing. Looks like I'll need to download my images from Photobucket and re-host them elsewhere.
In the mean time, does anyone else's OCD extent to odometer photographs? After passing 200k there's been a few mirror image mileages. Helps break up the wait for 222222 and 246810...
In the mean time, does anyone else's OCD extent to odometer photographs?
After passing 200k there's been a few mirror image mileages. Helps break up the wait for 222222 and 246810...
I've had to replace one of the rears.
Years back driving down the M77 to work, a truck had shed a wheel arch including the metal pole it should have been attached to. It appeared out from under a vehicle in front and with a car along side and one behind I couldn't emergency brake or swerve to avoid it and ran right over the pole. The end (with bolts still attached) wrecked the rear tyre and burst right through the basket of the wheel. I actually got it weld repaired that time and all was well for a good 5 years at least after the incident. Roughly 2 years ago there was some roadworks done near my unit and lane marking was done via those bollards that attach in to black feet mounted to the road. After the works they removed all the bollards and feet, except one, which was right where they also left a street light not working. With an almighty thump the same wheel took the full force of running right over the top of the mounting foot left behind. Burst it at the exact same spot on the basket and I wasn't up for getting the same spot welded twice so bought a replacement rim.
The drivers front seeps air a bit so needs topped up weekly, that's due to corrosion round the bead though.
Years back driving down the M77 to work, a truck had shed a wheel arch including the metal pole it should have been attached to. It appeared out from under a vehicle in front and with a car along side and one behind I couldn't emergency brake or swerve to avoid it and ran right over the pole. The end (with bolts still attached) wrecked the rear tyre and burst right through the basket of the wheel. I actually got it weld repaired that time and all was well for a good 5 years at least after the incident. Roughly 2 years ago there was some roadworks done near my unit and lane marking was done via those bollards that attach in to black feet mounted to the road. After the works they removed all the bollards and feet, except one, which was right where they also left a street light not working. With an almighty thump the same wheel took the full force of running right over the top of the mounting foot left behind. Burst it at the exact same spot on the basket and I wasn't up for getting the same spot welded twice so bought a replacement rim.
The drivers front seeps air a bit so needs topped up weekly, that's due to corrosion round the bead though.
So with some careful planning (ok, I’ll admit I fudged the time ) this came to pass:
Also noticed the traction control was getting rather eager these days, not just the normal pulling away from junctions with attempted gusto but through cambers sweeping bends etc. Sure enough, this usually happens (well, the junction bit at least, sweeping bends was a new one) when the rears are getting to the end of their life, and they were just shy of the wear bars.
Dropping a couple of psi on this set has got much more even wear than I’ve seen previously but with that in mind, not very impressed with only 18k out of them when the Kumhos used to give 20-22k and even then the shoulders would have plenty life left it would be the centre hitting the wear bars. Hankook Ventus Evos off, Kumho PS71s on.
) this came to pass:Also noticed the traction control was getting rather eager these days, not just the normal pulling away from junctions with attempted gusto but through cambers sweeping bends etc. Sure enough, this usually happens (well, the junction bit at least, sweeping bends was a new one) when the rears are getting to the end of their life, and they were just shy of the wear bars.
Dropping a couple of psi on this set has got much more even wear than I’ve seen previously but with that in mind, not very impressed with only 18k out of them when the Kumhos used to give 20-22k and even then the shoulders would have plenty life left it would be the centre hitting the wear bars. Hankook Ventus Evos off, Kumho PS71s on.
Edited by emicen on Thursday 23 November 19:53
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